Or Was It?
The cold excitement of staying in a haunted house does not arise often. In my case, I had to work hard to create such an opportunity
For many years, several articles and reels have been made about the Morgan House in Kalimpong, India. These always piqued my curiosity. The house was owned by the Federal Government of India after independence. In recent times, it was taken over by the state government of West Bengal and converted into a guest house. So when summer became unbearable in Bangalore, I decided to climb the mountains and went to Kalimpong, a quaint hill station that is perennially covered in mist. I had manyl stay options there but my heart was set on Morgan House. After several attempts the wobbly government website, I was able to book a room for three days. Why three days, you ask? Well , that’s an absolute minimum to check if a place is haunted.
I arrived at Morgan House around noon and it was a sight to behold. It was a stately grey stone house covered in ivy. It looked very charming and romantic So how can such a place be haunted? Well the story goes that it was owned by a wealthy British jute plantation owner named George Morgan. He somehow managed to build this property. In 1893, the British government enacted the Permanent Settlement which prevented British officers from owning property in India. This was done to prevent an English settler led uprising like the one in America. Mr. Morgan was a very cruel man and his wife bore the brunt of his wrath. This eventually drive her to suicide. Since then, she haunts the house (or so says the urban legend)
I was shown a beautiful room on the first floor overlooking the gardens. It had glass windows on one side. There was a fireplace with cozy chairs where you could curl up with your books and take an afternoon snooze. After a sumptuous lunch made my the in-house chef Eric, I took a leisurely walk to explore the grounds. Then my friend Desoi called . On learning that I was staying in MH, he asked me if I had seen a black dog ( aka the one in the movie ‘The Omen”). And exactly at that moment, a huge black dog came running towards me. But this one was the friendly kind. He was checking if I had any biscuits on me.
I took a short nap, had another giant meal and retired to my room with a lot of excitement. But nothing happened….
The next morning was very noisy. Few guests on the first floor left the guest house and the manager told me that I had the entire floor to myself for the next two days. Mrs. Morgan’s room was also on my floor but it is permanently locked.
I decided to explore Kalimpong and soon found myself in the local bazaars buying cheese ,super hot Dalle chillies and trying out the local food . I returned to MH in the evening. I was reading my book when the power suddenly went off and it started raining with a lot of thunder and lightning for added masala, How very spooky . Just the perfect setting for a horror movie
I decided to call it a night. I checked that all the windows and doors were latched properly. It was 9 o’clock and in no time, I was in deep sleep. Then I heard a small tap. It was enough to wake me up as the place was very quiet. The tap seemed to come from the bathroom door. It was a persistent tap. As I was snugly settled in my blanket, I did not want to get up and investigate. But the tap did not stop, TCK-TCK-TCK…SILENCE…TCK-TCK-TCK. It was in a loop for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, I could not take the sound any more. I got up, walked towards the bathroom with a torch . I went inside the bathroom. It was empty, But the window that I had closed firmly was wide open and a bone-chilling wind was blowing into the room. I closed the window again , latched the door firmly and went back to bed.
The next morning was bright and sunny. You would have never guessed that the night had been so stormy. That’s the beauty of hill stations. I visited the handmade paper factory, bought my writing supplies and then went to the orchid’s museum. Then late in the afternoon, I trooped back to MH.. Eric had rustled up some Tangra Chinese for dinner. After dinner, I went to my room and decided to finish my packing. I was leaving early in the morning the next day.
Before long , I was fast asleep. Then I was woken up by the sound of creaky footsteps walking up the wooden stairs leading to my room. The steps seemed to be a little unsure. Or a little stealthy? Then the sound stopped. I was a little panic stricken. But after a while, I decided that I should investigate. I quietly opened my door. The passage outside was dimly lit. But there was no one around. I waited for sometime. Then I bolted my door. and dragged the heavy table across the door (for safety against an immortal spirit?)
I woke up early the next morning and dropped off the room keys to the Night Manager. I casually asked him if he or any other staff member had visited the first floor the previous night. He replied in the negative. As my taxi was 10 minutes away, I decided to take a few last minute photos of Morgan House.
So is Morgan House haunted? My personal view is that it is not. All the events / incidents that happened can be explained my simple facts
- Strong winds opened the window and that led to the bathroom door tapping sounds
- The creaky footsteps could have been somebody walking on the wooden floor boards in the ground floor. Sound does carry over far on a quiet night in an old house in a hill statio
But if you are a believer in the occult world. maybe Mrs Morgan was trying to tell me her story….
Will I visit Morgan House again:? If Eric the chef is still there, ABSOLUTELY YES.
And if you decide to go there, please stay there for at least three days. And let me know how it went.