R. A. Mirza  1 The narrow winding roads of Himachal twisted like ancient serpents through the towering pine forests as the jeep rolled into the remote village of Kharota, nestled quietly on the edge of forgotten maps. The air was thinner here, tinged with the sharp scent of resin and mystery, as if each gust carried whispers of old gods and unshed secrets. The group of four researchers—Dr. Kavya Sen, a cultural anthropologist from Delhi University; Raghav Mehta, a young videographer with an eye for the eerie; Tanya Verma, a mythologist obsessed with Himalayan folklore; and Arjun Das, a skeptical…