Shimla: Less than six days later she came out with her first volume of ghost stories, writer Minakshi Chaudhry is penning another aggregation of spooky tales based on this hill town. "Real, strange and eerie tales which were not included in my first book 'Ghost Stories of Shimla Hills', will be partly of the upcoming record that will hit the book stores by the heart of following year," journalist-turned-writer Minakshi, 41, told IANS. She said the 1st book, published by Rupa and Co. encouraged many readers to get in contact with her to part their paranormal experiences in and around the town, the old summer cap of the British. "These stories till now, like the ones in the 1st book, only circulated in closed groups. Tales of many strange and shy protagonists have found their way into the second collection," the Shimla-based writer said. "Shimla is good of these tales. Fear of the unknown, eerie and the strange enhanced by the mist, darkness and the pattering rain drops are section of living in the hills. Do ghosts and witches exist? We do not know. Perhaps we can never know. But, yes, ghost stories do exist. And I am writing these real tales," said the writer, who has nine books to her credit. Currently, she is busy researching and look for new stories. She interviews people who have "experienced an interaction with a smell or ghost", visits the sites, and goes through official records and references in local literature, history and folklore. Sharing her experiences of researching for her first book, Minakshi said: "I spent six months in 1999 looking for 'angrez' (European) ghosts of the Raj (British colonial rule) days in Shimla hills. During these wanderings, I came across tales about many non-'angrez' native ghosts and spirits too." So what did she read about them? "Ghosts prefer thick, dark groves, murky alleys and lonely spots, uninhabited forested paths, bowlis (natural water points) and springs. Ghosts and spirits love mountains and only like people in other hill towns, many generations of Shimlaiites grew up with stories about 'bhoots' (ghosts), 'churails' (witches) and such creatures," she said. There are numerous tales of ghost sighting in the 'King of Hills', as Shimla was fondly called by the British. The usual tales include one almost a European woman, with her feet pointing backwards, asking for a lift near the Ridge; a household in Jakhu hills which couldn't get tenants as locals believed a British soldier roamed there with his mind in his hands; and a ghost orange seller often seen near Snowdon hospital (now known as Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital). "These stories will die out with the elderly. I am merely trying to stitch them together for the upcoming generations," the author said.
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