The fort at Gingee

A few months ago, we did a 10-day trip around Karnataka. As we drove long distances each day, I had a specific job at hand- to sit beside the driver, Mr Murti, and engage him in conversation. That way, we were sure, he was alert and attentive at the wheel. The following is an account of one such conversation piece, reproduced verbatim.

“Murti saar, in all these 25 years of driving, have you had any paranormal experience?” I suddenly asked, to break the lull in the conversation. “What do you mean by paranormal experience?” Mr Murti asked, all puzzled. I spelt it out, “Something unusual…something inexplicable- involving spirits and ghosts, the kind we see in the recent Kannada film ‘Kantara’!”

Mr Murti thought for a moment, “Yes, I had one such experience. We were driving close to the Gingee Fort.” “You mean Gingee, that place in Tamil Nadu?” I asked. “Yes, the same Gingee!” Mr Murti clarified.

I knew Gingee (pronounced “jinji”). I had passed by the place many years ago. From Chennai, as you drive towards Tiruvannamalai, you take a turn to the right, just after Tindivanam. Gingee is on that road.

The word “Gingee” has an esoteric ring to it! Just intone the word “Gingee” repeatedly- it has an unmissable oddity, both in its wording and sound! In Tamil, it is called “Senji”, but trust the British, to come up with a twisted, Anglicized version of the name called “Gingee”!

The fort at Gingee arrests your attention.  You cannot drive past it nonchalantly. A gasp of “wow” escapes your mouth, and your eyes turn wide with wonder. The landscape reveals a gentle roll of the hills. Seated on top of a rocky hill, not too far from the road, is the Gingee Fort. Ramparts of the fort are still intact and well preserved. There’s the king’s fort on one side, the queen’s quarters on the other, and the road slices right through the middle of the ruins.

It was this Gingee Fort that Mr Murti was referring to. Murti saar continued, “It was dead at night. The driver-side window was open. While driving past the fort, I felt as though someone slapped me on my cheek from the window!” Mr Murti’s face turned pale. “Slapped you on the cheek? It must have surely been the ghost of a primary schoolteacher!” I joked. Mr Murti did not respond. He was caught up in his recollection. “I felt some enormous force was pushing the car from the opposite direction. I tried to accelerate. I couldn’t. Some power was decelerating the car, so much so, it was slowing by the second and coming to a halt. I was mortally scared. But I had some presence of mind. Immediately, I closed all the windows, pressed the accelerator at full throttle and hurtled past the place. Soon, things became totally normal!”

Mr Murti’s narration made my hair stand on end. “What was that?” I asked. Mr Murti explained that his experience was later corroborated by others. It was apparently common knowledge among drivers- either you totally avoided Gingee Fort after sunset, or if you had to drive at night, you ensured that the windows were shut-tight, and you never slowed the car.

“You do not have to believe me!” Mr Murti added, “Just search for Gingee-Fort and ‘mysterious incidents’ on the internet!" "Several drivers were not as lucky!” Mr Murti trailed off.

The topic was too spooky. I shifted the conversation immediately to Cricket and other irrelevant things in life. In a week’s time, the trip was over, and we were back home.

Once home, I had to read about Gingee. Somehow, in school, it had never figured in our history textbook. The fort has stood for over 800 years, (renovated multiple times), from 1190 AD onwards! Its occupants were many, in a reign of successive kings. Shivaji, in his time, called it “the most impregnable fort”. Over the centuries, the Marathas held the fort, followed by the Mughals.  It was captured later by the French and finally by the British! The “Battle of Gingee” and the “Great Carnatic wars”-all that action happened right here.

The fort at Gingee…like a silent sentinel, it must have witnessed such tumultuous twists and turns in its long and checkered history. What voices…what stories…from a dim and distant past…lay captive within…echoing through those stony embankments and rocky hillsides?

Any takers…for a leisurely stroll around Gingee, late at night? Who knows, you may catch the tinkling of anklets and the jingling of bangles. And perhaps, spot a lady draped in flowing white, rocking on a swing, and the yesteryear song in the air- "Ayega…ayega…ayega…aanewala…ayega...” Who knows?

Any takers?