“Silence lay heavily upon the wood and the stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone” — Shirley Jackson in The Haunting Of Hill House

The Land Of The White Orchids is about an hour-and-a-half drive, in favourable weather, from Bagdogra airport. The panoramic view from our balcony, which was a heritage property called Cochrane Place, aptly justified Kurseong’s claim to the epitaph. The fog that settled on the greeting greenery reminded me of the cotton I used to stick on chart paper while illustrating Yuletide during my nursery days. And in the midst of the mist, I couldn’t help but wonder why we associate mystery and everything spooky with the mountains.

About 30km from Darjeeling, a definite tourist spot is found in these Kurseong hills, the enigmatic Dow Hill of Kurseong. The Dow Hill Church is known for its mystery and macabre. There’s no dearth of paranormal stories and happenings, and not just among the locals. Dead road, haunted school and a headless woman are some of the key characters that one gets to hear of in these hills of Kurseong. But what is it about mountains and mystery? Why are they used as tools, as if they are hand in glove, while conspiring horror tales and mystery novel plots?

The relationship between mystery and the mountains often stems from their awe-inspiring and inaccessible nature. Mental health specialist Alokika Motwane offers her views as she shares the “element of unpredictability and uncertainty”. She further adds that both mountains and mystery plots deal with “a sense of things we can’t control”.

Mountains trigger thoughts related to unexplored terrains. Throughout history and literature, mountains have been depicted as places of danger and hidden treasure. An avid reader of Agatha Christie thrillers, Sanjukta Deb nearly did a PhD paper on the author and reasons that hills and mountains have a “sense of indescribable feel”. The head of operations and analytics of a Calcutta-based eldercare unit is a regular travel partner to my annual mountain expeditions. She further adds that the “atmosphere of cold (usually associated with fear), dark and gloom are some things that thrillers can’t do without”.

The travellers - Sanjukta Deb and Tathagata Chowdhury

Theatre actor Dhruv Mookerji, a regular face in television commercials and fellow Theatrecian member, explains that mountains are “bigger and more awesome than humans to keep as the backdrop”. Interestingly, Suyash Saraf, the young and enterprising CFO at Alphabet International School, Chennai, shares his views that mountains are “rugged landscapes symbolising isolation and danger”. Though he hears the roaring sound of the waves lashing against the Pallavakum shores from his swanky office, he too resonates with the enigmatic character of the mountains.

The dean of Jaipuria schools and another founder of Theatrecian, Kanak Gupta, from his Dwarka residence, mentions “the hollowness in the vastness” of the mountains, while expressing the alluring character of this exquisite gift of nature. Advocate Deborshi Barat, a lead performer in Theatrecian classics, has performed in several Christie thrillers including The Mousetrap, where fog, mist and a cold climate are essential ingredients of a thriller, demystifying the mystery of mountains. He says that “the fear of falling, the dizzying aspect of height, coupled with low oxygen and treacherous terrain” are the features that add to the awesomeness.

Filmmaker Tathagata Bhattacharjee, fresh from the Rituparna Sengupta and Victor Banerjee starrer Akorik, also shot in the hills, mentions that the “landscape becomes so vast and soothing to the eye and the mind that the story proceeds interestingly”. It’s evident that he doesn’t restrict the mountains to mysteries only.

Anuradha Datta’s official designation reads OS/personnel department, Metro Railway, Kolkata. She has performed in several classics including the Christie thriller Towards Zero. She mentions a list of thrillers where the mountains play pivotal roles — Netflix’s Haunting of Hill House, to the Amitabh Bachchan-Emraan Hashmi starrer Chehre to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is set in the Alps. “Hills and horror go hand in hand through the eras in literature, movies and life,” she contributes.

Calcutta girl Laura Mishra, now settled in Mumbai, is the head of content and associate producer at Locomotive Global Media. Laura directed the Theatrecian production of Christie’s The Mousetrap and The Witness for the Prosecution, which ran to packed houses in St. Andrews Auditorium in Bandra and Sophia Bhaba Auditorium in Breach Candy, Mumbai. She reasons that “hills and mountains add atmospheric themes to the narrative.”

A cemetery in Kurseong on the way to the Dow Hill

Lopa Sharma, Theory of Knowledge (International Baccalaureate®) global examiner and an avid reader who loves to drive her Bolero, has the experience of steering the wheel for more than 24 hours at a stretch. She drove from Gurgaon to Leh and back. Lopa, too, feels the “intriguing mysterious element which is not obvious” is the reason for mountains being the obvious choice for a mystery.

“Ay to the proof, as mountains are for winds, that shakes not, though they blow perpetually,” wrote Shakespeare in The Taming of the Shrew. The bard explains it in this quote about the testimony that mountains brag.

While absorbing how ethereal the Kurseong hills are at this time of the year, I have to reflect on the eerie reputation of Dow Hill that juxtaposes with the serene beauty of its surroundings. The unsettling tales prompt contemplation of life’s dualities — light and darkness, certainty and ambiguity. The magnanimity of the mountains makes us acknowledge that life’s richness lies in its contrasts and complexities. Murder in the Mountains, a Feluda novel by Satyajit Ray, is yet another evidence of the appreciation of tangible and enigmatic aspects of existence, as metamorphosed by mountains.