Misguided

Google Maps has an agenda. The agenda is to do away with people. 

Like I explained in the previous post, Google Maps disappointed us in the matter of food. Unfortunately, it became downright murderous as our trip progressed. We traveled at night. It was beautiful to zip by on the roads as the sun was setting. This went on for hours and hours together, without much incident. 

However the troubles began when we had to reach our destination. 

We were supposed to continue on the highway, and take a deviation near the city we encountered. Instead, Google had this brilliant idea of pushing us towards the first deviation into a village nobody knew about. To say it was scary would be an understatement. 

I am usually a person who laughs while watching horror movies. Well, this was the day, when I believed every scary story that was ever told to me. 

I had a friend at school who would love to tell stories about demons possessing people, and about how one could identify ghosts. Apparently witches and ghosts (they are always female in India. I guess the sense of entitlement the males have here ensure that they have nothing to pine for or regret after dying), could be identified by looking at their legs, which would point at 180 degrees to how they usually should be when they walked. They could walk extremely fast and would keep up with cars at night. 

These thoughts were totally not on my mind as we began going through that isolated road. (Yep, totally not on my mind, peering through the gloom and hoping against hope that a lady in a white saree did not press against the glass of a car going at 100+km/hr)

Someone in our group mentioned that if we were to see a black cat crossing the road we were to inform the groom that we were backing out of the wedding and turn back (we were 10 kms away from our place of stay). Almost immediately we saw a black dog (The Grim was totally not on my mind. At all. What was a Grim? I am going to be reaped now). We all fell silent. After we had crossed that we said, well that wasn't so bad was it? Almost immediately after that we see a white dog, whose eyes shined green from the light of the car. We laughed at this one, and our stupidity. 

Then of course a cat crossed our paths. We did not know it's colour, but we were all willing to bet it was black. Again, there was tensed silence in the car. Another person mentioned we were not to stop the car for any stragglers who tried stopping for whatever reason. Google Maps was happily leading us on deeper and deeper into this maze. 

That's when people started getting the bright idea of telling ghost stories. One of them recounted some "true" incident about a woman drenched in blood stopping a car to point to an accident. Turns out the lady was a ghost. Another one said that a lady forcefully got into a car and made the car crash, killing the guy who was driving it. Then there was some retelling of a story where they did not stop for the ghost and were punished anyway. 

During all this everyone was nervously laughing and looking out the windows which are all shut tight. After some kilometers we saw a man that appeared to be hovering in the air. On going closer we found he was sitting on a chair that was as black as the night. After heaving a sigh of relief and laughing at our stupidity, we continued. Only to be faced with a lady standing in a field, with a bright red dupatta. I think most of us believed we would die that night.Turns out that was an idol, and people prayed to this idol out in the open. Okkkaaayyy then! (There is no such thing as a ghost, no such thing as a ghost, dear God, please no)

Later on Google Maps lead us to a narrower and more scarier road. Eventually we reached a road that waas flanked by two Peepal trees on either side. My friend told me that that's where ghosts live. Go figure! By now we were all on edge. A quick call confirmed there was no road there at all. So we had to turn back and take another road that would get us out of there. Somebody had to get out of the car, and guide it to reverse carefully, because it was dark and there was no soul or light in sight. There was however, a conveniently placed abandoned house. We obviously decided, the car can afford getting damaged tonight (take one for the team dammit!), and reversed as it was and left that godforsaken place. 

We finally reached our destination, and thanked our stars. Nobody realized much about Google maps being the reason, because only I had some inkling of it's dark tendencies. 

Now, you know about this too. Don't say I didn't warn you, and stay safe ;)

Until next time,

Dragon Rider