The Mysterious Pillion Rider

The experience was really chilling at that point of time when it happened. The year was 1986. I was just recruited in one of the banks of the country and was posted to Coonoor branch, situated in the Ooty hills in Tamilnadu. I was enjoying my stay in Nilgiris Mountains and was having great fun among friends and roommates, many of whom were bachelors staying away from their families. In those days, owning a two wheeler was a luxury and we used to borrow from our colleagues or friends to roam around Coonoor.

The place Upper Coonoor is really beautiful and we used to go around places quite regularly and especially in weekends, when we have enormous time to spend.

The incident happened near Bedford circle just in the vicinity of Coonoor Guest house. I borrowed a scooter from a mind of mine and went to meet some of my friends in Upper Coonoor. It was around 6 o'clock in the evening. I stopped over to have a cup of tea in the petty shop in the Bedford circle. The shop still exists to this day and they serve one of the best varieties of tea even now.

After spending about 10 minute's time in the tea shop, I went to the scooter. I had a weird feeling as if the scooter got heavier than it used to be. I just pushed it for a couple of yards before I could kick start. I thought initially that it was due to the fact that I was in a hill station. But the fact was that I was going downhill. Still I managed to start the vehicle and climbed on it. There I really had the feeling. It was as if someone was riding in the scooter as a pillion-rider only that I could only feel but could not see anybody.

Initially, I never felt any fear but only I was thinking about the fact as to why I was experiencing weight behind me. I also looked back and saw nothing. I would have travelled about a kilometer and I was passing through the pond that would take me to Mount Road and to where I was staying. When I just crossed the part of the pond, I felt relieved and could not feel any weight. It was as if someone had got down abruptly from the scooter and I was feeling very light.

I came to my room and shared my experience with the roommates. They were joking at me. Next day, in the office, I discussed the matter with my colleagues. One of them, Mr. Rajalingam, said that a couple years ago, he had a similar experience in the same vicinity, from the Bedford circle to the pond. He also said that one of the officers, who were working in our bank, Mr. Sudhakar, had the same kind of experience and feeling at the same place.

Subsequently, one of my colleagues, Mr. Srinivasan, who was working at Coonoor subsequent to my transfer from the branch, also experienced the same phenomenon. But, all the incidents happened between 6 and 7 in the evening and at different intervals.

Why I wanted to share this experience was that recently, I met one person called, Mr. Muthukumaran, who is presently working in Telephones. He was working at Coonoor for a period of 2 years from 2007 to 2009. Muthukumaran had the same feeling and in fact, he could remember the date as 15.6.2009.

So, for the past several years, this phenomenon goes on. I made some enquiries even when I was in Coonoor several years ago. They said that it may be because in that pond, many people drown and die quite frequently and that may be the reason for these weird happening. But nobody got hurt because of these incidents.