Kala bunder

Anither story from my adolescent age that was enough to give shivers even to the grown ups.

I remember that time I was in school. It was the year 2001. The new millennium had just begin. With the new millennium a chaos erupted in the capital city of India (Note: As a Mumbai resident I was not affected but was really curious). This time the culprit was not a woman but a primate. The name of the culprit was "Kala bunder" also known as the Monkeyman.

I remember watching a news story about Kala Bunder on the national news. The news reporter had been interviewing a person was supposedly attacked by the primate. The victim had been sleeping on the street. He was attacked by a tall creature who had black, thick fur on the body. The creature had long canine teeth and sharp claws. The victim had shown the scratches on his body to show how the attack had been brutal. This what the first news report where the chaos of Kala Bunder was identified. Later every night there would have been more and more attacks. These attacks would be covered in detail by the national news channels.

The creature was never recorded on the camera, yet the witnesses had provided different descriptions. Some had reported that the creature had red glowing eyes as if we can see fire in them. Someone mentioned that the creature's claws were not like any animal but rather they were made of iron and they were sharp like knives. Someone had also mentioned that the creature was wearing a black hoodie and bikers helmet. The description of the creature was not consistent across the witnesses and victims. However every witness had confessed something similar: the sight of the creature was terrifying. If the creature had seen a human, then the creature would definitely attacked them.

And then the precautionary measures began. Residents were instructed not to go on galvanting after the sunset. They were told to not sleep outside there homes. All the doors and windows should be locked at night. Even the access to the terrace was restricted because it carried the danger of being attacked by the ape. People were told to lock there terraces at night. The government had special forces deployed in the capital to protect the citizens and prevent any attacks by the primate. The attacks went on for a few months.

Recently I decided to go down the rabbit hole to understand the phenomenon of this urban legend. I visited various chat forums where I could see a few similarities. The attack of primate was predominant in the areas where there where people with low income groups. The attacks were mostly on the labourers, farmers, and blue colour workers. Additionally the victims were visiting specifically government hospitals and not privately owned hospitals. The victims had been reporting attack by the Kala Bunder to claim compensation from the government.

After 25 years from its occurrence the phenomenon of Kala Bunder is still popular. The topic of Kala Bunder is often discussed when we refer to the Urban Legends which originated from India in the recent times. Not only that Kala Bunder found its own place and recognition in the pop culture with a movie called Delhi-6.

Undoubtedly Kala Bunder is a phenomenon that started with a rumor and has become a popular and well recognise Urban Legend.