Ghost Stories of Shimla Hills

Minakshi Chaudhry has travelled extensively as a reporter for The Indian Express. She has authored two books, Exploring Pangi Himalayas: A World Beyond Civilization and A Guide to Trekking in Himachal.

The fear of the unknown, eerie and the strange—enhanced by pattering raindrops, mist, darkness, thick deoder jungles and lonely forested paths—is part of life in the hills. I spent six months in 1999 wandering around Shimla hills; my aim was to collect as many stories as I could about British ghosts. Perhaps inevitably, I came across several tales about 'native' ghosts and spirits, which also find a place in this book. During my travels, I met people who claimed direct personal experiences with ghosts, and people who had heard these tales first hand. I spent many hours talking to these people, hearing the most fascinating tales of experiences and encounters with supernatural beings.

I did not meet a bhoot or churail face to face (thank god!). Although, truth be told, the supernatural beings I heard about were not always things to be feared—I heard of many friendly and helpful spirits. In fact, most of the ghosts, I found, were harmless and content to be among themselves.

All the stories narrated here are based on a core belief which my sources swore to be true. My research was not a scholarly project, but was a result of interactions with people. Most of the stories, told to me by elderly people, go back to pre-independence when Shimla (then Simla) was the summer capital.

I have changed the names of the people involved as per their wishes. I also want to emphasise that I do not intend to hurt anyone's sentiments or tarnish the reputation of institutions. All I have done is tried to recreate an ambiance for tales that have circulated for generations.

Do ghosts exist? We do not know. Perhaps we can never really know. But yes, ghost stories do exist. And these tales are real.

It's good to know that Mussoorie is not the only hill-station with a generous sprinkling of ghosts. Shimla, it appears, has more than its fair share. Indeed, judging from Minakshi Chaudhry's entertaining collection of tales, there are almost as many ghosts as people parading on the Mall or under the deodars.

Kipling started it all with his phantom rickshaw and its ghostly occupant, and since then there have been any number of phantoms, of one kind or another, haunting Shimla's old schools, hotels, cemeteries and places of entertainment. In 1947, the British left the country but left their ghosts behind!

Countless sahibs and memsahibs, and sometimes their children, are known to reappear in their old haunts and homes, or in dak bungalows scattered throughout the land. It's high time we got these British revenants to quit India before they get up to further mischief.

The dak bungalow or forest rest house was and still is a favourite haunting-ground for long-dead British officials. Today, Indian Civil servants do not return from the dead with the same frequency as their predecessors; they look forward to a long rest from the problems associated with the administration of their districts.