Mumbai's Most Haunted

Dear One,

Mumbai is famous for it's legendary landmarks such as The Gateway Of India, the iconic Taj Mahal Hotel, the beautiful Queen's Necklace and much more for the eyes to feast on. But there is also a dark side of Mumbai, which is unknown to many Mumbaiites - A Mumbai, which is filled with urban legends of ghosts and goblins, haunting the very places you often visit everyday, forming the dark under-belly of this famous city.

There are many stories of haunted buildings in Mumbai; residence to many humans and their ghostly neighbors. One such place is the railway quarters in Byculla. This cluster of high-rise residential buildings form the backbone of Byculla, standing tall and strong. Yet it has a murky history attached to it. Many cases of suicides and murders still haunt the lonely stairways of these tall structures.

As a renegade collegian, I often visited this area, as one of my close friend was put up there along with his family. The first few visits were filled with mute curiosity and fear, as my friend recounted many tales of mysterious happenings in and around that damned area. Our heads were filled with stories of sightings of apparitions, mysterious clawing of invisible prying hands, unknown voices from the past and unexplained human possessions. We were a mix of hard nosed skeptics and gullible believers, and some of us were both put together. Taking this cue as a challenge, we set out, as every hot-blooded collegian would, to explore these "haunted" corners of Mumbai. (Later we changed our mind, and decided to focus on studies instead lest our parents haunt us)

Many places in Mumbai, some known and many unknown have a silent tale of  untold suffering and eerie haunting. The residents of these areas swear by their lives to lend credibility to these mysterious happenings. One such area is the Gokuldham Towers, in Goregaon (E). For years, these queer identical towers had no takers, due to ghostly presence circulating around the vicinity. This prime property was up for grabs for a mere pittance, yet no one wanted to invest for the fear of losing their lives or least said, their sanity. For many years, it continued to hold a deathly sway over the locals; then the rumors died down just as it appeared and now it's fully sold out. People say, it was a marketing gimmick to bring down the soaring property rates, but nobody knows the real story.

Other such "ghostly" stories are splattered across Mumbai for the skeptics and the brave to authenticate and live to tell the tale. Few urban legends are given below to make your blood and imagination race beyond control.

- D'Souza chawl, near Canossa School, has a well with no boundary walls. A woman once fell into the well while filling water and died. Ever since, locals say, her ghost comes there every night, strolls around, and disappears by dawn.

- A man committed suicide at Vrindavan Society, Thane. Security guards here have reported some bizarre incidents, including the one, when one of them was slapped so hard he fell off his chair. The only other guard so far off, he says, could not have touched him.

- Forest guards at the Borivali National Park, swear that a ghost often asks people for lifts late into the night, and also throws stones at the homes of staffers.

- Goregaon Aarey Milk Colony is an infamous site for ghost visitings. Many film actors, even today, refuse to shoot here after 6 pm due to the rumour that there is a ghost in this area.

- Juhu locals claim they have heard ghostly sounds from a forsaken bungalow on 12th Road, Juhu. The bungalow is still unsold.

- In one of the flats at Grand Parrari Towers in Kemps Corner, all three generations of the family committed suicide, with the last case in 2004. The flat is unsold because it is said to be possessed by spirits.

Any takers???

Peace in oneself. Peace in the world.