Abhirup Dhar probes the paranormal in new book Ghost Hunter Gaurav Tiwari

Gaurav Tiwari, a young paranormal investigator and popular television personality passed away mysteriously in 2016. Five years later his life and his work have been turned into a book by the writer Abhirup Dhar. In a conversation with Firstpost, Dhar tells us about the challenges of approaching such explosive material, Gaurav’s legacy and what he believes about the existence of ghosts. This book could have been about so many things – Gaurav’s life, his cases, the history of this society or your own experiences knowing them – and yet it is a mixture of everything. Why that approach? When I got in touch with the Indian Paranormal Society and learnt that a book on Reverend Gaurav Tiwari had never been written, it came as quite a shock to me at first. I had personally followed his works through the various shows he was a part of and like many others, his passing away in 2016 had left me both shocked and disturbed. Which is why, when we decided to work on a book about him, I wanted to touch upon various aspects of his life including the cases he investigated. This is when I thought I should stick to a non-linear storytelling format for this book. You will observe three narratives running in parallel in the book. As a writer, how do you approach something that is fascinating, as it is also suspended by belief – how do you distinguish between what is worth noting down and writing about and what isn’t? In the context of Ghost Hunter: Gaurav Tiwari, a lot of research was done and noted down. I had frequent discussions with his team as well as many others he worked with, both in India and abroad. But when it comes to writing a book, and more importantly, a non-fiction work with a narrative, it becomes important for the readers to relate to it. For instance, I couldn’t keep repeating the paranormal investigation process in the same manner in all the chapters as readers would get bored. Indian Paranormal Society has a robust scientific approach which they follow to determine the truth and the results are unquestionable. But mentioning the same thing in all chapters would make the reading experience a tad monotonous. You briefly touch upon Tiwari’s life in between chapters, his marriage etc. Who was Gaurav as a person, as an intimately known friend? And what are some myths about him that you have come to realise just aren’t true? The idea was to intermittently touch upon his life in between the real-life cases he and his team investigated together. But it’s not only his personal life that I emphasized. The many obstacles he faced in establishing the first professional paranormal research society and the further hassles in running it are also crucial points in the narrative. Talking to all his team members and others who were close to him, I personally feel he was more of an introvert who sometimes liked to be on his own. That’s when he felt the most creative. Over the course of writing the book, I was so involved in everything related to him and his works that I eventually realised I had begun relating to him. I’m a lot like him in a few ways. As a professional, he was a completely different person with his team. His sense of humour was infectious, I’m told. He loved to mimic them for fun. The bond he shared with them was real and inspired them to give their best. For the myths about him, I’m really not sure what they are. He was a public figure and he must have had both followers and adversaries. I believe he was never really acknowledged while he existed in the physical world in spite of doing so much. You’ve also introduced some members of the Indian Paranormal Society, as a way to maybe humanise them. But surely there are things that set them apart and there are things that make them like anyone else. What are these traits? Indian Paranormal Society now comprises of Waqar Raj, Meghna Porwal, Siddharth Bantval, Rith Deb and Mohan Kattimani. I’ve also included other paranormal investigators from Haunting: Australia whom Gaurav frequently worked with. Knowing most of them while plotting the book and then writing it was a part of the process and I observed their mannerisms and certain nuances while at it. I wanted flesh-and-blood characters whom readers could relate to. As it is, horror is a difficult genre when it comes to making a connect but over the years, I’ve managed to stay relevant. I’ve written these characters just the way they are – humans like you and me who feel happy, sad and angry at times too. They are like anyone else but their passion to know the unknown is the differentiating factor which still needs to be understood and accepted by Indian society though there has been more acceptability after Gaurav Tiwari introduced the concept and attempted to make people aware. Anyone picking up the book would approach it with the expectation of being told, in black and white terms, whether ghosts exist or not. Is it that simple a question? And how would you answer that question based on all that you now know about paranormal research and Gaurav’s work? Ghosts do exist. I’ll tell you what I believe in and this has been reinstated while working on this book too. There is a world that runs parallel to ours. I call it the other world. In the afterlife, we dwell in a phase between the physical world and the spirit realm. The ones with no or less anger, frustration, unfulfilled wish or any baggage from life enter the spirit realms through the other world. For some, the time inside the spirit realm may be relatively brief before they reincarnate; for others, it may be for many hundreds of years. Each case is different. In each instance of life, we have the opportunity to improve our karmic pattern and the vibrations of our aura through the choices we make. This means that the next time we pass to the spirit realm we may find ourselves in a different realm, whether that is higher or lower, depending on our actions in our current life. But then, there are those with the baggage who have not moved directly to the spirit realms and keep lingering in the other world, many of whom have a strong draw to something in the physical world or stubbornly refuse to accept that they are dead. Many are frequently unaware that they are dead. These entities want to stay closer to us and may desire a physical body mostly to fulfil some wish or simply, to make their presence felt. I must say while working on this book, I learnt one thing – the dead lived once too and we need to have empathy for them. There are boundaries not to be crossed by humans too. Certain cases, like the Karkardooma court case for example, almost read like a fiction story – too twisty to be true. How would you respond to that seed of doubt? In a context like this, where the source material is so explosive, how does the writer find balance? Good question. Like I said earlier, it is narrative non-fiction. The book is based on true incidents and real-life investigations. However, certain creative liberties have been taken though very few and far between. This has been done only to enhance the reading experience and the same is mentioned. The source material is explosive for sure but the writer needs to understand a book should run on content and not on controversies. Tiwari’s life and his work will subsequently be turned into a film/series I believe. What is the significance of his work, what is his legacy and what are some things you expect people to take away from this book about him, the society he helped found and ghosts in general? Yes. It is being adapted into a major web series by some of the most reputable names in the film industry. Gaurav Tiwari pioneered the concept of paranormal investigation in the country and made us proud. A field of study i.e. parapsychology research was never in the limelight in the country till he made inroads. It’s an inspirational story of bravery and love… love for the paranormal which took Gaurav to uncharted territories while he emerged a winner despite many obstacles. He never had it easy while pursuing his passion. For the spirits or ghosts, he helped in maintaining a balance between the two worlds which should not be broken by either them or us. There is more to the book than what meets the eye. There are layers and spiritual connotations. I must tell you writing this book has taken me the most effort so far and it will always be very special.