The rickshaw that drives itself

 


🚖 The Rickshaw That Drives Itself

Genre: Urban Legend Horror
Setting: Karachi's Saddar & Lyari districts
Theme: Haunted transportation, revenge from the dead, folklore in a modern city

By Faraz Parvez

Professor Dr. (Retired) Arshad Afzal
Retired Faculty Member, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, KSA
(Pseudonym of Professor Dr. Arshad Afzal)

In the heart of Karachi, where Saddar’s chaos melts into Lyari’s shadows, a strange tale circulates among late-night rickshaw drivers.
They whisper about a black-and-yellow auto-rickshaw, Plate #KYB 771 — with no driver inside.

It appears around 2:30 AM. Empty. Engine humming. Lights on. Moving slowly down narrow streets.
It stops. Waits.
If you're desperate enough, you'll hop in.
The seat is warm. The mirror tilts by itself.
The ride feels normal… until you try to speak to the driver.
And realize: there isn’t one.

Saad, a medical student, hailed it one humid July night after a late shift at Civil Hospital.
Too tired to notice the absence of a driver, he slumped into the backseat and said,

“Model Colony, bhai.”
The rickshaw jerked forward.

As the vehicle twisted through alleys, Saad noticed familiar landmarks weren’t passing by.
Instead, they were repeating — the same corner, the same billboard, the same barking dog.

“Stop! Stop the rickshaw!” he yelled.

The rickshaw halted in front of a burned-out building.
A shadow appeared in the front mirror.
Not a reflection — a face. Burned. Twisted.
It stared into Saad’s soul and whispered:

“This is where I died. They never found my body.”

Next thing Saad remembers, he woke up on the pavement, trembling.
His phone was still on. Google Maps had recorded his route — it showed he’d been going in circles for three hours.

Police say the original driver, a man named Bashir, was murdered by passengers and set ablaze inside his own rickshaw.
They were never caught.
Locals say Bashir still picks up lost souls and shows them what it means to be forgotten.

🚧 In South Asia’s mega-cities, ghosts don’t haunt forests — they roam through traffic, neon-lit bazaars, and rusted alleyways.
💀 For more urban horror drenched in local lore and modern despair, follow our blog.
🔮 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Bollywood storytelling

Image
  The Bollywood Storytelling: An Evaluation from 2000 AD By Dr. Arshad Afzal (Faraz Parvez – Pen Name) Former Faculty Member, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, KSA Introduction: The Changing Face of Bollywood Narratives The Bollywood film industry has undergone a dramatic shift in storytelling since the dawn of the 21st century. The transition from formulaic love stories and melodramatic family dramas to more nuanced, socially relevant, and experimental narratives is striking. With globalization, streaming platforms, and an evolving audience, Bollywood has redefined its storytelling approach. This article examines Bollywood’s cinematic journey from 2000 AD, analyzing its themes, creative shifts, and impact on global cinema. The Early 2000s: The Age of Blockbuster Romance and Family Drama The early 2000s were dominated by grand, family-oriented dramas and larger-than-life romances. Films like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001) and Devdas (2002) thrived on opulence, traditional v...
Read more

The rise and fall of imran Khan niazi... A satirical essay

Image
  The Rise and Fall of Imran Khan Niazi: From The Establishment’s Golden Boy to The Fallen Messiah Written by Faraz Parvez Pen Name of Professor Dr. Arshad Afzal Former Faculty Member, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, KSA There are few figures in contemporary politics as paradoxical as Imran Khan Niazi. A man whose political career reads like a tragicomedy, a cricketing hero who tried to bowl out corruption but ended up hitting his own wickets. Once the beloved poster boy of the establishment, now the self-styled revolutionary with a martyr complex—his journey is the stuff of a Shakespearean farce, with generous doses of slapstick and irony. The Saviour Who Needed Saving Once upon a time, Imran Khan was the chosen one . The establishment cradled him like a newborn prince, whispering sweet nothings of ‘Naya Pakistan’ into his ears. He was the hero with an Oxford degree, a World Cup trophy, and a playboy past that magically transformed into Islamic piety overnight. The masses, ...
Read more

The dying whispers of bhera haveli

Image
  Title: “The Dying Whispers of Bhera Haveli” Theme: In a forgotten corner of Punjab, where time stopped and shadows moved without reason, a cursed haveli holds a horrifying secret. What happens when someone hears the whispers that should have stayed buried? By Faraz Parvez Professor Dr. (Retired) Arshad Afzal Retired Faculty Member, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, KSA (Pseudonym of Professor Dr. Arshad Afzal) The Dying Whispers of Bhera Haveli Based on chilling oral tales from the subcontinent's dust-ridden ruins... In the neglected outskirts of Bhera , an ancient town once glorious in its Mughal past, there stands a crumbling haveli, twisted like a half-dead serpent among the eucalyptus and sheesham trees. The villagers call it “Khooni Haveli”—The Mansion of Blood. No one lives there. No one dares to enter. Except Tariq. He was a small-time real estate broker from Faisalabad. He dealt in disputed lands and run-down buildings, flipping ghost stories into desperate...
Read more