Hari bhaiya was assigned to drop us home one morning at 2:30 from noida to delhi. He was a nice young jovial person and seemed to gel very well with the staff. He went to crack jokes and narrate stories of his experiences. Originally from Haryana, so his accent was as pure as it could get.
As we crossed noida, he confirmed the drops that was assigned to him. A thunder struck him when Sharma from behind said that he is from Gurgaon. He requested us to first drop Sharma and then return to drop the rest. We were not at all happy about this idea and revolted with full conviction. He said he is afraid to come back alone from the Gurgaon-Mehrauli road. He has heard many stories of evil that lurks there....he has seen one. The look on his eye confirmed that this has changed his life. We asked him to stop the vehicle and assured him that we will not leave him alone on that stretch. Our hearts were inquisitive. Scared but hungry.
Hari Bhaiya is 33. This happened when he was 29. It was a morning drop at 3:30 from a bpo, gurgaon to south delhi. At that point in time, the staff usually dozes away in the cab with the open windows bringing in the cold night wind. It was a Tata Sumo with 8 staff and a driver. The complete journey till the last drop estimated to be around 1 hours and 15 minutes. 5 staffs went into their dream land the moment they got into the cab. 2 were cribbing about their managers, an usual scene in the cabs. Joy was a loner. He sat on the co-passengers seat and put on his head-phones and he was gone. At a distance of about 15 mins from base was an accident prone area. And this area has been hot with incidents and stories, mostly rumors but some they use were true. The locals had constructed a small Ganesh-ji's temple to ward off any evil spirit in the area. This place was about 100 meters from the village. A little secluded but in the night it feels like a mile.
Being repeatedly true to its reputation, drivers usually reduce their speed and get more focused. This area is a bend with little visibility of what's beyond the other side. There will be less life at this hour, again as always. Hari Bhaiya, as per norms reduced his speed and kept his eyes fixed on the road. However, he failed to see a block of concrete on the road and the vehicle suffered a big jerk as its tires rolled over it. All the staff woke up with surprise and anger and screamed at the driver for such rash driving. What can the driver do except to apologize. Everyone settled down and make an attempt to catch up on the sleep. At the moment they were crossing the bend. As the vehicle crossed the curve, both Joy n Hari bhaiya noticed a woman waving her hand, asking for a lift. The cab was full and sting operations posing as prostitutes were very common so they didn't respond and continued. Couple of the guys from the rear part of the vehicle joked that she might be Hari bhaiya's girl friend from the previous birth and has come for him. Everyone had a laugh on it. Joy, an introvert did share a smile with the gang. Now the vehicle had crossed the danger area and Hari bhaiya put some weight on the accelerator. The crowd settled down and Joy put on his headphone again and looked out of the window to let the cold summer night wind blow his mind out. As he turned his head to the left he screamed as if his life was at stake. Everyone turned to the left to see the same woman running along with the speed of the vehicle at a speed of 60 kms per hour with her face towards the vehicle and her tongue out off her jaws till her chest. Hari Bhaiya and the rest couldn't believe what they saw and just sped off to the 1st drop.
Life changed for these 9 people in about 2 minutes. Most crossed this stretch but it seems some have seen the same.
