Tome And Plume: Mystery Respires Into Lap Of Three Railway Stations In Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): “In one aspect, yes, I believe in ghosts, but we create them. We haunt ourselves.”

Laurie Halse Anderson, Wintergirls

On a foggy wintry night, if someone walks along a lonely forested path, just a rustling sound might frighten him. Against this backdrop, if he hears the cries of a woman, a child or even the noise of hungry vulture chicks, a fear might swirl in his body, making him feel as if he had left the world of the living.

Many of us with a rural background know the cries of a vulture chick are like the cries of a newborn baby. So, they horrify a man walking along a lonely path at night. Ghosts may or may not exist, but fear does.

A logical mind rejects the existence of such a paranormal thing because they think had there been ghosts, the human activities would have come to an end, and the spectres would have ruled the world.

They are right, but their number is equal to those who believe in the existence of spirits. Yet, those who believe in the existence of ghosts and those who do not have one thing in common: they enjoy reading spine-chilling ghost stories.  

Such stories generally emerge from the British-era bungalows, ancient forts, and abandoned houses. Such spooky yarns are also associated with a few railway stations across the country. Madhya Pradesh, with many haunted ancient forts and British-era bungalows, has three such railway stations: Kohdad, Sohagpur, and Patalpani.

An uncanny silence, prevailing at the Kohdard railway station encompassed by forests in the Khandwa district of the state, chills the dauntless even in the day. The station, which becomes creepier at night, has not heard the chugs of a train for over five years. The giant clock that used to herald the advent of each second, minute, and hour has stopped gonging.

The Kohdard railway station, set up in 1960-61, was once abuzz with activities. Passengers used to board trains and alight from them at the station, but it has turned into a haunted place since 2020, when the corona pandemic surged through the world, icing millions of people.

The broken benches at the railway station have become relics mocking the present, and moss has grown around them. Only stray cattle move on the station, though the Khandwa junction is not far from Kohdard.

After the pandemic when all other stations across the country began to function, the Kohdard remained defunct. Many villagers, visiting the surroundings of the station, often hear weird sounds. So, they avoid the place.

Another haunted station in the state is Patalpani, where the British executed freedom fighter Tantya Bheel. It is a metre-gauge railway station where the Kalakund Heritage Train stops.

A few passengers related their experiences. They said many passengers had heard unusual sounds and the snivelling of a man. Also, they came across strange shadows, so the passengers alighting from a train avoid going to certain places at the station at night.

Whether the passengers have really come across the paranormal or not may be questionable, but there is little doubt that the eerie tales have frightened them.

Sohagpur is another railway station in Madhya Pradesh, which locals have declared ‘haunted’ and ‘Paradise of Suicide’. Many late-night passengers claim to have heard the heart-rending cries of a woman and seen her spectre.

Locals say that many people have committed suicide by jumping before running trains at the railway station after experiencing supernatural things. Their claim, however, lacks evidence.

The spooky stories have an impact on some people who avoid the Sohagpur railway station at night. When they alight from a train, they cross the station in groups. Such is the fear.

But the station is in operation, and several passenger and express trains stop at this place, which is nearly 50km from Narmadapuram and 125km from Bhopal.

A lover of mystery, under none of the ghostly circumstances, and encompassed by none of the traditional unearthly surroundings, will enjoy reading the spooky stories about these three railway stations.

news