Who doesn’t enjoy a good session of spooky ghost stories? On the evening of April 11, Starmark, South City Mall played host to popular children’s author Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay at Anandamela Bhooter Golper Aasor, a storytelling session organised by Anandamela, where the 82-year-old veteran writer shared his experiences and answered questions of his inquisitive little fans about his stories, ghosts and monsters. t2 caught up with him too. Excerpts...

Ghosts are generally perceived as something very scary. But the ghosts in your stories are funny and helpful. Is this something you came up with by yourself or was it inspired?

It’s difficult to talk about the source of this idea because I had started writing several years ago and the first ghost stories I had written were probably Gondhota Khub Sondehojonok and Gosain Baganer Bhoot. My ghosts help people and they can do all sorts of supernatural things which normal people can’t, much like your Spider-Man or Superman. Just as they have superhuman abilities, so do my ghosts! They are very different from the ghosts that we fear.
 
In your childhood, who read you ghost stories?

During my childhood, children were hardly given any attention. At times our grandparents used to tell us fairy tales and stories of ghosts and monsters. We loved to listen to these stories and begged them to tell us more. Not everyone had time for us, neither did everyone know stories as such to tell. I had an uncle who used to live in Burma (Myanmar). After he returned, we became very close and he used to tell me many stories. I remember he had gifted me a storybook as well.
 
As a child, when you heard such stories, did you have ideas for stories?

No, I never had that thought. I never even imagined at that stage of my life that I would be a writer. And to be honest, being a writer is kind of unromantic! I’d have rather become a sportsman because I loved to play a lot and I was pretty good in sports. I wanted to become a sportsman or a doctor or even an engineer. All these thoughts come to you in your childhood but I never had the will or the ambition to accomplish these. 

What kind of books do you like to read? 

It is one of the biggest tragedies of my life that although I love reading, I get absolutely no time to read these days due to work pressure. Getting the time to read a storybook feels like luxury. I don’t read horror stories because I don’t like them. I love to read detective novels and books on philosophy, so whenever I get time, I read those.

What is the difference in your approach when you write ghost stories for children and for adults?

For adults, I have written fun stories like Goynar Baksho, or introduced a ghost in the middle of a husband-wife relation. I like to introduce a little humour, have a bit of fun. It is in my nature to always experiment with my writing as I never like to write the same kind of stories. I break down my plots, alter them and think in many different ways as an effort to change my line of thought.

You have given us a positive perspective on ghosts. Do you feel it is harmful for children to develop a fear of ghosts?

Fear of ghosts, rather of anything, is harmful in a way. But at the same time, it cannot be completely ignored either. It is good to keep an open mind and believe. We have grown up listening to fairy tales, people’s experiences and getting scared. Perception is also important — feeling and believing that life exists beyond what we can just see. I feel there is no need to completely disbelieve in ghosts and spirits. A lot of famous, well-educated personalities believe in the supernatural!

We got to know about his (Shirshendu’s) experiences with ghosts, and he also answered a question I had about one of his stories, so that felt really nice 

— Suchetana Sen, Class VII, 
Shri Shikshayatan School

I made a lot of friends today who love Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay’s stories like me and it was great to be able to interact with him. My favourite story by him is Madan Tapadarer Baksho

— Diya Chakraborty, Class VII, Sankrail Girls’ High School

I have been reading Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay for two-three years now, and I am a very big fan. I really enjoyed the talk session. Patalghar and Gosain Baganer Bhoot are among my favourites

— Swastika Bhunrhe, Class VIII, Birla Bharati

Udayan Mitra
Pictures: Arnab Mondal