This world is such a weird place. Earlier, my parents wanted me to just study and become a doctor. And now when I was a doctor, they wanted me to get married and run a family as soon as possible. Basically a typical Indian household.

But then life has its own ways of leading us to our destinations. As a result, here I was, thinking about my crazy stupid life and driving on my way to Lansdowne, Uttarakhand.

I was never really into studies, only reading. But since I had to be a doctor, I chose to be a paediatrician because it is simple. Plus I loved children, and their innocence. Sometimes I considered them even luckier for they didn't know what lied ahead of them- a tough life, tougher than they expected.

Luckily, much degrees and qualifications are not required for doing so, and getting a job in a remote hillstation like Lansdowne was easier than I had anticipated.

When I told people that I'm going to shift to Lansdowne, they thought I was shifting to the UK or US or something. The misconceptions were due to the English name but according to Google, it has been named for Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice,  the 5th Marquess of Lansdowne. And then I had to tell them that it was in Uttarakhand. So basically it led me to further imply that this place was not very popular even among Indians.

Plus, I was not even living in the actual town. About a few miles from Lansdowne, there was an old villa, which was located in a remote and quiet place between the beautiful oak forests, and I chose to stay in it. All my stuff had already been shifted there- and now it just awaited me and my arranging of all the stuff.

My parents really tried hard to convince me to stay and earn a few more degrees, so that I can become qualified for a better job, but the real reason behind was that they want me to stay with them. But this time I was determined for a change. This time I really wanted to escape the city rush, and I felt that this was my perfect opportunity. Lansdowne could prove to be my ultimate salvation.

My salary was not very fancy, but if I would have cared for money, then I would never have come here at the first place. Money has always been the last of my priorities. Plus, it would be enough for me to make a living out of it in Lansdowne. Wow, I really fancied the name. I would be living alone in 'my' villa and since Lansdowne has got British history, it interested me all the more. The villa was very old, it is said to have been built during the British times, just acting as a supplement to all my excitement. Yet I wondered how such a beautiful, old and antique villa as graceful and serene as it, was handed over to me at such a low rate. I guess I was just lucky.

The road was abundant of turns and blind spots. After a lot of careful and slow driving, I reached the main town. It was raining hard- it is just the beginning of July and monsoons have reached here already. But Google says that it always rains here in this place. Thus it was also quoted as the 'cloud hub' of North India in a guide book.

I reported to the hospital where I was appointed as a child specialist- St. James Hospital, which is not that fancy either;  it is just a basic hospital with some mere simple medical equipments and machines, it is one of the most popular in Lansdowne.

I set back on the road and began to enjoy the view- the oak and pine trees, the cool, fresh air, the clouds, the dark- the Himalayan sensation. The raindrops pattered on the windshield, and the wiper wiped it, only to be blurred again by the raindrops.

Though the villa was only a few kilometres from the main town, these hilly tracts are so narrow and round, and full of sharp and dangerous turns that an average driver like me could drive no more than at an average speed of 10 km/hour. So I could manage to reach the villa only after about half an hour.

The villa is known to all as the Hargreaves' Residence, and thus this remote area which is not even mentioned on the map of Uttarakhand, let alone the map of India, is known as Hargreaves. British names, British culture, and their architecture has always fascinated me. So have British songs, and a few male celebrities.

The villa is said to have belonged to William Hargreaves and Jane Hargreaves, and their children- William Hargreaves the Second and Elizabeth Hargreaves. One day, all of them had suddenly gone missing- so I had been told by the man who showed me this place. He said that it was haunted by spirits. Now, now, these ghost stories had never really interested me. And now being a doctor, I knew that living once dead remains dead, no matter what.

The villa is very beautiful, and the stupid story just adds to its mystery. The atmosphere of the place is gloomy, with the background dark, and just to make it all the more like a scary movie, surrounded by lush green forests of Eucalyptuses, which were planted by the English residents themselves. In simple language, the villa was located in the centre of nowhere but the Victorian-style architecture attracted me so much that I just couldn't say no to it.

The villa was carved with wooden designs on the inside, and the oak stairs creaked when you stepped on it. The villa was not very huge, but very Victorian. Victorian enough for the 21st century.

No, history does not interest me, it never caught my interest, but this place definitely did. This place had an air, a chill, a beauty- something about it tempted me to take it. And now, this place was to me my new home for a year (or two).