Radha Bhawan- a manor set among mists

by Deeplakshmi Saikia (India)

I didn't expect to find India

September 2019, my friend and I planned an impromptu trip to Mussoorie in Uttarakhand. It was supposed to be a short 2-day trip and we quickly scanned through all the places worth visiting in the “Queen of Hill Stations”. Most hill stations have their fair share of spooky stories and Mussoorie is no exception. Many of its so-considered haunted places have also been immortalized by its resident writer, the famous and beloved Ruskin Bond. Therefore, one site that featured in our to-visit list was Radha Bhawan. Radha Bhawan is a now dilapidated manor house which was built around the 1800s. It then functioned as a brewery in the early 1900s after which it was shut down and abandoned, owing to which it fell to ruins. Google informed us that Radha Bhawan is a supposedly haunted place and so even though we were in a hurry to catch our bus back to Delhi on the second day of our trip, we walked from Mall Road to Sher Garhi where the manor is located. We had to go by foot because no autorickshaw or bus would go towards our destination. We started on our journey at around 6 in the evening. Enroute, we asked a bookseller about Radha Bhawan and he told us, “Why do you want to go there at this hour? There is nothing there.” By then, dusk had fallen and being monsoon, it was also drizzling. Drenched and tired, we carried on our uphill journey with the guide of GPS as the road narrowed down and after taking a by-lane, it soon felt as if we had left civilization. Scanning the broken rocky path with our mobile phone torches, we treaded on with hilly woods on our left and the misty valley on our right. After some time we came upon a high ornate although broken gate. We were clearly entering the estate then. After just a few minutes, we could witness the form of the Radha Bhawan from a few hundred metres away. But form kept on appearing and disappearing as we approached it, owing to the mists. It only added to the eeriness. Upon coming closer, there was another smaller gate which was locked but could be climbed over by the sides. Our fear and anticipation knew no bounds as we entered the compound of the Radha Bhawan, which was full of wild plants and grasses. Just then some one came up from behind some of the bushes and approached us. It turned out to be a man and a rather rude one at that! He told us that tourists were not allowed at Radha Bhawan and that it was not safe. Although we protested that we would be staying only for a little while and just wanted to look around, the man argued with us till we had to leave. Although we were a little disappointed at not being able to enter the Radha Bhawan and also at not spotting anything spooky, the mere anticipation more than made up for it. And probably that is what really matters. We had read up so many times even the little information provided about the manor online that there had formed a whole strange and scary idea about the site in our mind. So even though we did not actually chance upon any ghost, the dusk, the narrow winding rocky desolate road, the broken ornate gate, the fog alternately hiding and revealing Radha Bhawan, the rain, the woods, the silence, etc. more than realized the image that we had in our mind. Our expectations were not met with but in a curious way, were exceeded!