Hello from the Other Side

Outside of Mumbai, in the middle of nowhere, is a beautiful river. One side of the river is cursed. But which side is it? This episode contains strong language. Sensitive listeners, please be advised. This story comes to us from our evil-twin, Spooked https://www.kqed.org/spooked! You can listen to Spooked on any podcast platform. If you want more supernatural fun, check out Spooked on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@spookedpodcast/videos. Produced by Anne Ford. Original score by Nicholas Marks. Artwork by Teo Ducot. Season 16 - Episode 18 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices https://dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:08Glynn Washington?

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• 0:53Glynn Washington?

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• 2:16Glynn Washington?

  Late Friday, I get off the bar train. In the bad old days, downtown Oakland, near City Hall, is deserted. Nothing but boarded up windows, locked doors. And with the four women, three guys, friends walking, huddled, closed for safety, head on a swivel, don't want no funny business. And then, like from a fairy story, we hear the peals of a bagpipe. Why? Who knows? Maybe there's some underground Scottish thing going on, let's maybe check it out.

• 2:56Glynn Washington?

  This music, pied pipers us along, and there, between two dark buildings, warm light spills onto the sidewalk, an open door, and there are people. Old people, young people, mothers holding babies, men hugging old friends, laughing, shouting, singing. Grandmothers dancing to the bagpipe. Throwing back tiny glasses of something that looks alcoholic in the window. A small handwritten sign reads, "Bulgaria at night."

• 3:35Glynn Washington?

  We peek in like wild-eyed refugees, and fore greeted with smiles, with slaps on the back. "Hey, man, what's going on with the bagpipes? Is there some kind of Scottish..." "There are bagpipes." "Our Bulgarians, don't you know? Scots stole the bagpipe from Bulgaria. It's our national instrument." Then he's pressing the cups of something called raka into our hands. One sip, and I almost go blind. Some kind of crazy Balkan moonshine. They laugh as I stagger. Pour another. There's food, thick, blood-red sausages.

• 4:19Glynn Washington?

  A woman shoves spiced beef into my mouth, cabbage rolls, and cubes of cheese that don't come from a cow. In the corner, a couple sing, "I brad a accompaniment to the bagpiper. A guy hands me a baby to hold while he dances. More moonshine. Hey, tell a story! Alcohol gives me courage. My tail makes him laugh and pour more moonshine. At a table, an old man slams my buddy's wrist down at arm wrestling. Everybody else is dancing, dancing, dancing, eating, dancing, dancing, laughing, drinking, dancing, spinning.

• 4:59Glynn Washington?

  We finally stagger away from Eastern Europe, back onto the streets of Oakland. Four in the morning, smiles on our faces, songs in our heart, fifty brand-new best friends, and I know exactly where I'm spending every weekend for the rest of my life with my people, the Bulgarians.

• 5:24Glynn Washington?

  When I return the next night,

• 5:29Glynn Washington?

  there's no warm light, no sign, no bagpipes, nothing.

• 5:38Glynn Washington?

  And I know it was right here.

• 5:43Glynn Washington?

  I know it. My friends, over days, we give search, empty. I even looked online, Bulgaria at night.

• 5:55Glynn Washington?

  Scarcely brief mentions, a few broken links, what?

• 6:00Glynn Washington?

  And this was years ago. Every once in a while, I see one of us who walked into the light that night, one of us who was there. We'd look at each other in the eyes.

• 6:12Glynn Washington?

  That happened, right?

• 6:15Glynn Washington?

  We were there, right? Right?

• 6:21Glynn Washington?

  Here's the thing.

• 6:24Glynn Washington?

  Every once in a while, I still go by that spot.

• 6:29Glynn Washington?

  I'm still looking for that sign.

• 6:33Glynn Washington?

  Believe me, this time,

• 6:39Glynn Washington?

  if I hear bagpipes,

• 6:45Glynn Washington?

  I don't know if I'm coming back.

• 6:56Glynn Washington?

  Spook Star.

• 7:00Glynn Washington?

  Now.

• 7:39Glynn Washington?

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• 8:23Glynn Washington?

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• 8:51Glynn Washington?

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• 9:36Glynn Washington?

  That's article.com/snap for $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more.

• 9:54Glynn Washington?

  Day on Snap Judgment, we're featuring stories of mystery and wonder from our sister Shell Spooked. And our first storyteller comes to us from India. About a year ago, he wanted to just get some space to himself in Mumbai. He thought he'd find some peace and quiet down by the riverside. But what he discovered instead, he's still trying to figure out. Snap Judgment.

• 11:00Speaker 01

  I went on this trip with three of my friends. Because we were bored. Just a weekend getaway.

• 11:10Speaker 01

  We started early.

• 11:13Speaker 01

  We left our city, we took a long drive towards the countryside.

• 11:18Speaker 01

  We are joking, we are laughing. We were there by 11, 12 during the day.

• 11:27Speaker 01

  This was right in the middle of nowhere. A remote village kind of a place and I could see a very small beautiful lake out there. And over this side, we have just a small trailer where we can get our food.

• 11:46Speaker 01

  Also, there were small tents to sleep on. And a small bonfire place. That's it, nothing much. I was like, that's fine, I can spend two days here, very comfortably.

• 12:00Speaker 01

  The host wasn't available that day, there was only the cook who would just help us out in whatever we need.

• 12:19Speaker 01

  We went down to the lake.

• 12:22Speaker 01

  Sat on the rocks.

• 12:25Speaker 01

  Put our feet in the water.

• 12:28Speaker 01

  And just sat around listening to the sound of water crashing the rocks.

• 12:35Speaker 01

  Very silent. It was a peaceful place.

• 12:41Speaker 01

  Took some pictures. Came back up, had some tea. And then we lost the daylight.

• 12:51Speaker 01

  And you can hear the night. Some animal sounds, some birds' sounds. We knew that the biggest animal here could be a fox. So, nothing much to worry about.

• 13:06Speaker 01

  My friends prepared are a chicken on the bonfire. Helping the cook do the barbecue. You basically hang it over the fire.

• 13:18Speaker 01

  And I wanted to take a smoke break.

• 13:27Speaker 01

  Across the lake is some mountains. And on my right hand side, there is a small river. I went to that spot by the riverside.

• 13:39Speaker 01

  It's not very far, like what fifteen, twenty steps. They could see me from the tent, it's that close.

• 13:48Speaker 01

  I light up a smoke. It's very dark. There was birds noises. I could hear the sound of water and puffing in the cigarette.

• 14:01Speaker 01

  All of a sudden, I hear a slight sound of someone's presence there.

• 14:09Speaker 01

  I turn to my right. I see a man standing on the other side of the river.

• 14:15Speaker 01

  Not very far. It's just a small jump and you're on the other side.

• 14:21Speaker 01

  I cannot see his actual face because it's dark.

• 14:26Speaker 01

  But I can see a silhouette of him.

• 14:32Speaker 01

  He just looked like a normal guy to me.

• 14:37Speaker 01

  He says hi.

• 14:40Speaker 01

  I say hi.

• 14:42Speaker 01

  I was like, how is this place? I'm here for the first time.

• 14:47Speaker 01

  He's like, oh. So, you don't know much about this place?

• 14:52Speaker 01

  I'm like, okay, enlighten me.

• 14:56Speaker 01

  This cook interrupted me, saying, sir, please come on.

• 15:02Speaker 01

  I don't know why he was calling me, but I just ignored him and I continued my conversation.

• 15:12Speaker 01

  The guy who was talking to me is like, "So, the thing is, probably you are on the wrong side."

• 15:23Speaker 01

  I'm like, "What do you mean by wrong side?" And he goes, "Something really bad happened very, very, very long ago."

• 15:34Speaker 01

  "There was an angry god who cut that land into half and passed a river through it, because that side is banished and that side is cursed."

• 15:46Speaker 01

  "The story of this place is that,

• 15:50Speaker 01

  there's one side of the river that's completely fine to go to, and the other side of the river is where you're not supposed to step into.

• 16:01Speaker 01

  It's said to be a very haunted place.

• 16:06Speaker 01

  Now that you are here, be very careful."

• 16:18Speaker 01

  The first reaction that I had was, "A random person is trying to bully me." "You're trying to scare me? Okay, fine. I'm not gonna buy it." I was like, "Okay, it's nice meeting you. I need to go back now." And I left.

• 16:37Speaker 01

  While I walked, I'm like, "Look at this place. What do I have to worry about here in such a nice place?"

• 16:44Speaker 01

  I walked back up to the tent and just sit back with my friends and start chilling again, listening to music, having barbecue, talk about random things. Chicken is delicious.

• 16:58Speaker 01

  I did not mention to anyone that I met someone. It just slipped my mind. I'm talking to my friend who came along with us. He's the guy who always researches on everything.

• 17:13Speaker 01

  And he tells me, "This place has a story to it."

• 17:19Speaker 01

  I'm like, "Yeah, what's the story?"

• 17:23Speaker 01

  Very seriously, he tells us,

• 17:27Speaker 01

  "There is a side of the river that is cursed."

• 17:34Speaker 01

  You're not supposed to go there.

• 17:37Speaker 01

  If you go towards that side, you'll never come back.

• 17:45Speaker 01

  Before I could utter a word, he goes on and saying,

• 17:50Speaker 01

  if you hear anybody from that side, you're not supposed to respond. I'm like, oh, what, what happens if I respond?

• 18:01Speaker 01

  Then he goes, the story goes, someone tries to call you on his side. Then the moment you jump the riverbank and go towards that side, is the time that you're not coming back.

• 18:20Speaker 01

  And now a little fear does come into me. What is happening? Why is someone telling me something like this?

• 18:31Speaker 01

  I kept on thinking in the back of my head. Am I on the wrong side?

• 18:38Speaker 01

  Are they on the wrong side?

• 18:47Speaker 01

  I tried to go back to my tent and take a small nap.

• 18:53Speaker 01

  One hour passed, I cannot fall asleep.

• 18:57Speaker 01

  I was like, you know what, let me just go back to the riverbank and see if I can see someone again. And I go back to the river side again.

• 19:07Speaker 01

  Now, when we were kids, the thing that we were told about paranormal things or ghosts and stuff was light up any sort of fire, the ghost will never come near.

• 19:19Speaker 01

  So I am lighting a cigarette because I know I have fire in my hand. Nothing's gonna go wrong.

• 19:29Speaker 01

  I'm standing there listening to the silence of the river. And then I again hear someone's presence.

• 19:41Speaker 01

  And I see a silhouette again. The guy is sitting there. I can see his back.

• 19:50Speaker 01

  This time, I am a little scared. And I am also very curious. I want answers now.

• 19:57Speaker 01

  So I say, can I continue the conversation with you? Last time you were saying something about me being on the wrong side. I am a little curious because the information I am coming with says that I am on the right side and the side that you are on is the side that is cursed.

• 20:19Speaker 01

  He is like, I am not meaning to scare you, but your side is really small. There are not good stories of people coming back from that side.

• 20:35Speaker 01

  All of a sudden, my cook comes and calls me and he is like, "Sir, what are you doing? Come up." "Can, can, please just come up." And I am like, "I am having a cigarette." "Why is this guy calling me up at four o'clock in the night?" "Every time I come down, this guy calls me up."

• 20:56Speaker 01

  And suddenly, my friend in the tent screams at the top of her voice.

• 21:06Speaker 01

  I run back. I am like, "What happened to you?" And she said, "I thought something came and touched me."

• 21:16Speaker 01

  I tried to calm her down. "He is okay."

• 21:27Glynn Washington?

  The mystery continues. Right after this break, stay tuned.

• 21:44Glynn Washington?

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• 22:23Glynn Washington?

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• 23:20Glynn Washington?

  Welcome back to Snap Judgment, the Hello from the Other Side episode. Today, we're bringing you stories of the shadow from our evil twin podcast, Spooked. We return down by the riverside, and we are not alone. No, we are not alone. Spooked.

• 23:45Speaker 01

  All of a sudden, my cook comes and calls me and he's like, "Sir, what are you doing? Come up." "Can, can, please just come up." And I'm like, "Why is this guy calling me up at 4 o'clock in the night?"

• 24:00Speaker 01

  Every time I come down, this guy calls me up.

• 24:04Speaker 01

  And suddenly, my friend in the tent screams at the top of her voice.

• 24:14Speaker 01

  I run back, I'm like, "What happened to you?"

• 24:17Speaker 01

  And she said, "I thought something came and touched me."

• 24:24Speaker 01

  I tried to calm her down, "It was okay."

• 24:33Speaker 01

  I get into my tent, I take a small nap, get up in the morning, 7, 8 o'clock.

• 24:41Speaker 01

  I get out of my tent and I tell my friend, "Why did you scream last night?" And she says, "When did I scream?"

• 24:55Speaker 01

  And like, last night, I was smoking on the riverbank.

• 24:59Speaker 01

  "You screamed at the top of your voice."

• 25:03Speaker 01

  "You said that you felt like something touched you."

• 25:07Speaker 01

  She's like, "No, I don't remember screaming."

• 25:12Speaker 01

  I'm like, "Okay, you must have forgotten."

• 25:23Speaker 01

  We set, we leave around 10, 10:30, 11 o'clock in the morning.

• 25:28Speaker 01

  And in that 2, 3 hours, we again took a small bath in the river, took some pictures, packed our stuff. I'm like, "You want to just tell the cook we are leaving?"

• 25:41Speaker 01

  He's like, "What cook are you trying to talk about?"

• 25:47Speaker 01

  I'm like the guy who was making the chicken barbecue for us on the bonfire.

• 25:56Speaker 01

  He's like, yeah, I did it. I'm like, okay, I saw you there, but there was a cook there.

• 26:04Speaker 01

  Both of them are looking at me in surprises.

• 26:08Speaker 01

  Are you trying to mess with us early in the morning? We haven't had a coffee yet.

• 26:15Speaker 01

  But there's a small shiver in me. I have goosebumps and I'm a little scared.

• 26:23Speaker 01

  I'm like, guys, please do not mess with me. We had a cook.

• 26:30Speaker 01

  I spoke to him every time I would go to the riverbank for having a cigarette. He would call me and I would tell him, I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming.

• 26:41Speaker 01

  One of my friend told me, listen guys, let's get out of this place. Let's just get out of here. Let's start walking back to our car.

• 26:56Speaker 01

  There was silence for some time until we hit the main road highway.

• 27:03Speaker 01

  The moment we hit the highway, we started talking about it again. I'm like, guys, I saw the cook, I spoke to the cook, I saw you helping him do the barbecue.

• 27:15Speaker 01

  He's like, there was no cook there.

• 27:20Speaker 01

  And then he says, you know what else was weird? Every time you're going on the riverside,

• 27:28Speaker 01

  we hear you talking to someone.

• 27:32Speaker 01

  Why were you talking out loud to yourself?

• 27:36Speaker 01

  I'm like, I'm not talking out loud to myself. I was talking to someone on the other side.

• 27:43Speaker 01

  And he's like, all we know is, we would overhear you talking out loud.

• 27:49Speaker 01

  Why were you shouting, I'm coming, I'm coming again and again?

• 27:54Speaker 01

  I was like, that cook was calling me.

• 27:57Speaker 01

  They're like, there was no cook.

• 28:08Speaker 01

  So the story is left to a big question mark.

• 28:12Speaker 01

  Who was this cook?

• 28:15Speaker 01

  What side I was at?

• 28:18Speaker 01

  And who was the guy I spoke to on the other side?

• 28:23Speaker 01

  We never know the reality of anything.

• 28:27Speaker 01

  Could be that the guy who says you are on the wrong side, he was on the wrong side.

• 28:36Speaker 01

  Maybe the cook was my savior.

• 28:39Speaker 01

  Maybe the guy was my savior. I can tell you for sure, something was trying to get me on the other side.

• 29:15Glynn Washington?

  Big thanks to our storyteller for coming back to tell his tale. The original score is by Nicholas Marks. It was produced by Ann Ford.

• 29:30Glynn Washington?

  Now this, not only is the Spooked Podcast available each and every week, wherever you get your podcasts, now you can see the magic yourself. Get Spooked on YouTube and peek behind the shadow. The mystical, magical, monstrous Spooked Podcast.

• 29:53Glynn Washington?

  I don't know if you've noticed, but there's an awakening happening right now. Things that people were reluctant to utter just a few years ago, a few months ago, are now finding a receptive audience. Like we're starting to collectively realize that there exists far more than meets the eye. And if you have a story, an encounter, an ability that you think the world needs to know about, you are right. The world does need to know. We need to know. Let me know, [email protected], because there's nothing better than a spooked story from a spooked listener. We want to hear it, we want to share it with the spooked world.

• 30:37Glynn Washington?

  Spooked is brought to you by the team that loves to first warm their hands by the fire. Except for Mark Ristich, he likes to first warm his other side. Now, there's Davy Kim, Zoe Fergino, Ann Ford, Eric Yanez, Teo Decot, Marissa Dodge, Miles Lassie, Doug Stewart, Paulina Kriki, Elizabeth Z. Pardue, Aditya Matu, Lulu Jemima. The Spook theme song is by Pat Masidi Miller. My name is Gun Washington. And I went to yoga class, and the beautiful yoga instructor told me to stand up straight,

• 31:17Glynn Washington?

  then reach down without bending my knees, and put my hands under my feet. What? I'm lucky to touch my knees, much less my toes, and I felt hot shame as everyone looked at me and laughed. But I tried, and I tried again the next day and the next, and I noticed something. My toes aren't getting any closer now, but I look around, and no one's laughing. Not my beautiful teacher, not the beautiful people, no, they're smiling. They never laugh. This is all in my head.

• 32:03Glynn Washington?

  Like when I stop drinking for a while, and I think people will see and point and ask me, "What's wrong? What's going on?" But people don't care. And if they do, they don't call me out.

• 32:16Glynn Washington?

  They give me love, like the monster opened its maw and it grins.

• 32:23Glynn Washington?

  Blessings sometimes wear a shadow as their disguise, and I wonder how many I've missed.

• 32:31Glynn Washington?

  How many blessings I've rejected because of my fear. I cannot afford to waste blessings anymore. So, my strategy going forward, from here on out,

• 32:48Glynn Washington?

  I will never, ever, ever, never, never, ever, never, ever, never, ever, turn out the lights.