Mon Plaisir - A House Shrouded In Obscurity

I recently visited this hill station called Panchgani (which I have already mentioned in the last two posts). While I was out on a walk with my revered camera, I came across this old, dilapidated but awe-inspiring house.

 I was told by locals that I wasn't permitted to go anywhere near it. There was a Kali Mandir outside with a board which said "vetala", which in Sanskrit means an evil spirit taking demonic possession of a corpse, according to folklore. Being the avid photographer that I am, I wanted to get closer to capture the mystique of the house. However, I had to abide by the locals. A certain community had built the temple and had performed several rituals to keep the spirit out. When I asked them about the story behind the house, they told me this : years ago, a family of four who lived in the house set themselves on fire under uncanny circumstances and died. Since then the house had been out of bounds and subject to several protective enchantments and rituals. There was another house named Mon Plaisir nearby, which was abandoned as well because it probably belonged to the same family or was considered just as ominous. It was the quintessential "Bhoot Bangla". I just dismissed it as an old wives tale. It was undeniably just a source of entertainment for the people in a small, uneventful town.

The Actual Haunted House

I don't believe in paranormal, unearthly and supernatural elements and occults. So instead of being haunted by the extramundane story I had just heard, I tried to find a rational reason for their death. The most probable and pragmatic answer that struck me was that the family may have been facing unresolvable financial problems, and so resorted to death. Isn't that possible? Why can't we think logically? Just because we can't find an answer, why blame it on supernatural elements?

 

Mon Plaisir

P.S. - Sorry for the overload. This is the last post on Panchgani promise :p

The Best Meal of My Life

Where did you have the best meal of your life? Which was your most distinct gourmet experience? A lavish all-you-can-eat buffet with a spread that was a pure gastronomical delight at the Taj? That's what you mostly hear. Well I had the best meal of my life cooked by a farmer in the middle of a rural road.

I was on my way back home after a memorable road trip with family when we stopped over for lunch in the middle of a road, at a shack selling sugarcane juice. Initially, I had reservations about having a rustic Maharashtrian meal. But once the modest steel plate was handed to me, I gorged on it. It was the most ambrosial, delectable meal my taste buds have ever experienced. The dish is traditionally eaten by farmers in Maharashtra and called pitla bhakari. It consists of a gravy made from gram flour and flat bread made from bajra (pearl millet). It was served with an appetising chutney made from garlic and chillies. We ended the meal with several glasses of sugarcane juice which trust me, is nothing short of elixir. It was one of the best moments of my life.

Turned out the farmer and his family had that everyday. So simple yet so delicious. Now coming to the philosophical side (sorry not sorry), why did those villagers look more content than us city dwellers? Is it that possessions are directly proportional to discontent? The more we own, the more dissatisfied we are. How could the farmer and his family be happy living in a house in the middle of a rural road, making their living from selling sugarcane juice and farming? Is it that possessions are directly proportional to discontent?

The Sugarcane Juice Shack

The Stable

The Farmer and his Wife quite readily posed for the camera

My dog slurping up sugarcane juice

P.S. - Being the glutton that I am I couldn't get a picture of the meal since I was too engrossed hogging it up.