Meet The Desi Ghostbusters

It was 2015. Siddharth Bantval of the Indian Paranormal Society (IPS), a group of ecc­e­ntric professionals, got a call, claiming that some par­anormal activities had been det­ected in a house. Bantval and his team rushed to set up their equipm­ent in the house—CCTV cameras, electro­magnetic field (EMF) meters, night vision cameras, IR torches etc. They were told that objects get displaced from their original places, the TV is put on, light flickers and some strange and ghostly noises are heard by the family living there.

“We set up CCTV cameras in their bedroom and started tracking the visuals, but all of a sudden the camera pushed and somebody locked us inside the room. I had only spent a year in IPS, and I was sca­red,” said Bantval. “But before we started this, we had also asked some questions, the responses to which were inconsistent. So we surmised that the resid­e­nts are disturbed.”

ALSO READ: Horror As The Theme Of Our Lives

Bantval and his team are “paranormal investigators”. They investigate “haunted locations” for signs of paranormal activity, using electronic devices like digital cam­eras, EMF meters, dog dazers, etc. “Ghost hunters” accumulate evidence of patterns and coincid­e­n­ces to connect the dots.

A YouTube search about Bhangarh fort in Ajm­er, Rajasthan, brings up several videos suggesting paranormal things related to the ruins. It also thr­ows up videos of eccentric content creators interested in “ghost hunting”.

There are several vlogs about visits to the fort, whi­ch is said to be Asia’s most haunted place. Amit Sha­rma, who runs the YouTube channel Crazy XYZ, has made at least four videos on Bha­n­garh fort, and thr­ee of them have over 15 million views each. “The notoriety of Bhangarh makes people visit this fort and look for such content on You­Tu­be,” says Vikash Yad­av, a local, who has visi­ted Bhangarh fort several times.

ALSO READ: How OTT Turned Into A Game-changer For Horror Movies

“There is a famous folklore among locals that You­Tube has popularised,” Yadav says. The myth goes: a tantric (wizard) fell in love with a queen named Rat­na­vati. He knew his love wou­ld not be reciprocated, so he created a potion to trap her. But she anticipa­ted that and threw the potion on a boulder, which crushed the wizard. While dying, he cursed the fort, and it was subsequently ruined in war. So all those who lived the­re are trapped inside. However, offici­als of the Arc­hae­o­l­ogical Sur­vey of India deny this, calling it a “total myth”.

In a video titled Searching ghost in Bhangarh fort at night, Sharma spent hours with an EMF met­er to cap­ture any electromagnetic field, indic­a­ting the par­anormal. The video is wacky and dramatic—but doesn’t bust the myth about the fort being haunted. It did however bust the myth that whoever goes the­re at night, dies, because he saf­ely spent the night at the fort. However, his other video is not just about “ghost hunting” but inclu­des bewildering stunts, weird hacks and pseudo-sci­ence experiments. Many like him make content on ghosts to get “views”, as material that con­tains surprise and mystery gets a lot of views. Sharma also recorded deviations in his EMF meter, but he left this unexplained.

ALSO READ: The Horror Of The Haunted House And Lonely People

There are questions of reliability of these dev­i­ces, as deviations can be linked to something else that is not paranormal. For instance, in Bhan­g­arh fort, it is said that there are underground water flows that cau­se these deviations.

Content creators like Sagar Tiwari, on his epo­n­y­m­ous YouTube channel, had more focused videos on ‘ghost investigations’—with the intent to bust myths about paranormal activity in a place. He visits places notorious for evil spirits.  

In 2019, the Delhi-based YouTuber decided to make a career busting myths about haunted pla­ces. “It all started with a dare. My friend asked me to visit a haunted place in Lajpat Nagar and I did and made a video about it.” Sagar is inspired by Gaurav Tiwari, a celebrated ‘ghost investigator’ and founder of Delhi-based IPS, who had freque­n­tly appeared on TV shows and news bef­ore he died allegedly by suic­ide in 2016. “Gaurav Tiwari brought this profession to notice in India. I sta­r­ted to follow his work and got inspired,” Sagar says. Now, his channel has around 3 lakh subscribers.

ALSO READ: Fatal Attraction: In Horror, Our Lives Are Redeemed

Waqar Raj, the technical head of IPS, is one of the leading names in India for tracking ‘paranormal’ activities, taking forward the legacy of Gaurav Tiwari with his own non-profit organisation. Raj says in his videos on YouTube that “Paranormal has no future in India. I do it as a hobby and for my friend Gaurav Tiwari.”

Sagar too believes this profession has a lot of challenges because the government doesn’t recognise it. “Since the profession is not recognised, no professional course is available in India. If I want to study it, I can’t.”

“We face a lot of hurdles. Most of the time I don’t get a permit to visit such notorious places. Police and locals eye me with suspicion. We don’t have any inc­ome source except YouTube,” he adds.

ALSO READ: The Ghost As A Metaphor In Bengali Cinema

Several ghostbusters that Outlook contacted felt they didn’t find any ‘paranormal activity’ in the most notoriously haunted places like Dumas Bea­ch in Sur­at and Sanjay Van in Delhi. “Often, I saw there were some vested interests that had cre­ated a myth about some evil spirit, so that peo­ple don’t try to buy or visit it, especially in the case of priv­ate propert­ies,” says Sagar. “I’ve also observed that some people behave ecc­entrically due to psychol­o­gical reasons, which people call an evil spell.”

Giving the example of Bhangarh fort, Sagar adds, “The myth serves a purpose. Bhangarh’s haunted tag made it a tourist destination. People come from acr­oss the world to visit ‘Asia’s most haunted place’.” Also, “Ghost stories deter people from damaging the fort, which otherwise requi­res a big police contingent to protect.”

ALSO READ: The ‘Spirit’Of Filmmaking

Though ghost investigation may not seem an att­ractive career for many, for YouTu­b­ers, it is. Content creators like Deepak Verma, with his cha­­nnel The Real One, and Rajesh Mee­na of Exp­l­o­ring India are garnering millions of views and attracting sponsorships from various brands. The­ir content, like that of Sagar Tiwari, is syste­m­atic and focuses on “ghost busting”. But unlike in the West, their content is more “wacky” and “daring”.

In India, ghost investigation is a niche market. Not many people know about it. “We help peo­ple by bursting myths and creating awaren­ess,” says Sagar. But “the government doesn’t consider this,” says Sagar.

"Our profession is ser­ious. We res­p­ect our clients and their privacy and don’t make clickbait,” says Bantwal, adding "IPS has its own You­Tube channel since 2012, but “we’re not cont­ent creators, we are certified professionals trained by Gaurav Tiwari.”

***

On YouTube, there are umpt­een videos of ghost stories and myths. Even mainstream news channels have done stories of haunted places—invest­igating the “presence of ghosts”—sometimes refu­ting the paranormal with scientific evidence. But many a time, they propagate myths, fuelling the curiosity of people based on unscientific myths and age-old folklores.

In an article in the Harvard Business Review, professors Haiyang Yang and Kuangjie Zhang expl­ain, “Some research indicates that people with a higher sensation-seeking trait (i.e., a stronger need for experiencing thrill and excitement) tend to seek out and enjoy horror-related experiences more. Those with a lower sensation-seeking trait may find these experiences unpleasant and avoid them.” Also, content with an element of curiosity increases interest.

ALSO READ: Resident Evil: The Zombie Apocalypse In Goa

In an India riven by superstition, myths, ghosts and evil spirits, social media has amplified cons­u­mption of such content. “An armyman once wro­te to me that after watching my video, he felt confident to go out and take a leak at night,” says Tiw­ari. “He was scared of ghosts, because in a pla­ce where he was deployed, someone had told him ghost stories and scared him. My audience inclu­des many lawyers and judges who grew up listening to ghost stories,” Tiwari adds.

Another popular theme on social media is the prank video, which gets a lot of traction. Ghosts in stereotypical white clothes and long hair slowly walking towards people to scare them, has become a popular template for such content.

***

Sristhi Gurjar (name changed) was in college when she heard there was some spirit in her hostel room. “After hearing rumours, I started believing them,” she says. She started watching videos related to ghosts and similar stuff on social media. “I got two anxiety attacks in a year, and even considered dropping out.”  

ALSO READ: Skin-Deep Scary: The Cult Of Sleaze As Horror

For Sristhi, horror-related content gives relief. A few researchers say that in some cases, watching horror films can help cope with trauma. A research paper published in the journal Science Direct, titled Dissociable neural systems for unc­o­n­ditioned acute and sustained fear, says, “Anti­ci­p­atory fear increases functional connectivity bet­ween anticipation and response networks.” This interaction is “dynamic”, and in some cases can also adversely affect people.

Rumours spreading in digital space also keep people engaged and force them to consume more cont­ent around it. Harmful games like ‘Momo Cha­llenge’ and ‘Blue Whale’, where kids and adolescents were all­e­gedly targeted to perform self-­har­ming tasks—get huge traction in all media. Investigations, for instance into the “Blue Whale” game, revealed there aren’t many users of it. Des­p­ite that, they are all over the internet, preying on the curiosity of people.

***

In an interview, Anand Gandhi, the creative director of the movie Tumbbad, said horror stories across the world weave in human emotions like reve­nge, guilt, sin, greed or patriarchy. And popular ghosts stories emanate from such emotions.  

ALSO READ: An Allegory Written In Blood

In India, ghost stories have characters like “disgru­ntled wizard”, “slaves”, “vengeful souls of che­ated people”, etc. The moralistic underpinn­ing and re-tel­ling of old folklores with more twi­sts, provide a commentary on dynamic changes in society. A lot of this content is repackaged on social media and later goes viral, because people want such content.

Many people told Outlook that they heard stor­ies about “the spirit of a woman taking revenge for mistreatment”, “spirits of a family trapped by unf­ulfil­led purpose”, etc, and got curious. For insta­nce Mal­cha Mahal in Delhi’s Chanakyapuri, on whi­ch you will not only find YouTube videos, but also videos of ghost stories with millions of views.  

No wonder Bollywood keeps returning to the hau­nted house for inspiration. 

(This appeared in the print edition as "Desi Ghostbusters")

ALSO READ

Brothers Grim: When Indian Horror Was The Ramsays Genre

Of Aflatoons And Djinns

A Shadowy Hand: Kashmir’s Tryst With Horror

The Horror! The Horror!

The Witch’s Tale: Women In Indian Horror Films

Fear Of The Dark: Life As A Ramsay

Ghost Diary: Journey To The World Of Spirits