A trip worth it.

We left Shirdi and started towards Mahabaleshwar. The plan was to reach before dark. The fogs of Mahabaleshwar are notorious. And the rains wouldn’t help we knew. Apart from a small round apricot shopping on the way and a tiny confusion in Pune, we were on schedule. I was going to this beautiful town for the first time. So was eager to get there sooner. The fogs beat us to it. The drive up was nice. Everybody somehow seemed quieter. Intermittent rains accompanied us all the way up. The highway was buzzing. Not uncommon. Mahabaleshwar is the favorite of all the IT clan from Pune and Mumbai. No worries about accommodation though. Our cottages were already booked. Only one thing was eating us –how to get there? The place we’d booked our cottages was nearly 2kms away from the main town. The roads were super foggy and few people in sight. We finally got there, thanks to GPS and a kind soul who put us on track. We were told we were reserved 2 beautiful cottages. But the only problem is they were at the far end (That’s cos we got there last). We din mind initially. But once Parag and Anup (my husband’s 2 good friends) got the feel of how deserted the cottages looked and the forest looming behind it, did not waste a minute to start about leopards being a menace in this part of the country. And obviously the Ghost stories weren’t too far behind. After a quick dinner, we settled down for some high scale chatting. Believe me I laughed like there was no tomorrow. My belly hurt for almost an hour into sleep. Those are the times you treasure. I can’t remember when we fell asleep. We set out for a walk when we woke up. And there in front of me was the name of the Cottage. (I missed it in the dark the previous night). “Krishna Cottage” the stone outside said. My heart skipped a beat literally. If it doesn’t strike a bell, let me tell you more. Krishna Cottage is the name of a Indian movie. A horror movie to be precise. I knew the night that followed would be difficult now that I carried this knowledge. I’m not particularly afraid of ghosts. It was the two pranksters I was worried about.