A woman who disappeared into the woods with a non-existent man, a long-dead barber who held a lamp on a dark night, a tribal activist who saved a police team from a Naxal attack even after his death, a double murder in a village that eventually just disappeared and a spooky post-midnight meeting in the North Block. These are some of the stories that are part of a book written by former IPS officer and National Security Guard (NSG) ex-chief M A Ganapathy.
Unlike most police officers who articulate their achievements or general administrative malaise by recounting their careers in their first book after retirement, Ganapathy has chosen to fictionalise his professional experiences with a paranormal twist.
A 1986-batch IPS officer of the Uttarakhand cadre, Ganapathy has had an illustrious career serving long years in the Central Bureau of Investigation, at the Ministry of Home Affairs as joint secretary, as aviation security chief in the Central Industrial Security Force, and as DGP of Uttarakhand before retiring as the chief of the NSG, the country’s elite counter-terror force, earlier this year.
Ganapathy sets the tone of the book in the first story itself, which draws from his childhood and all the stories he may have heard then. The book also encapsulates the author’s love for nature and the hills with vivid descriptions of the jungles, the hills, the mountain air, and the sounds of nature.
Most stories in the book start with a regular murder mystery but end with a supernatural event. Announcing its intention in the title, ‘Whispers in The Shadows: Paranormal Encounters of a Policeman’, the book even takes potshots at the power-obsessed Delhi culture and sarcastically articulates the boredom of government meetings.
For example, the Lodhi Gardens is described as a large park in central Delhi with towering trees, ancient mausoleums, sprawling lawns, and “petty egos”. The North Block is a sandstone building where “Extremely Important Meetings” are held. Even a paranormal event in the building has an “Extremely Important Meeting” going on.
In many stories, it would appear that the officer is talking about cases he investigated himself. Some of these are very famous murder cases. But here too, the author has inserted a supernatural event to bring closure to the real incident.
The tone and flow of the prose show signs of inspiration from Ruskin Bond stories. The author even pays him a tribute, saying he grew up reading his spooky tales. Bond has reviewed the book as “compelling, intriguing and genuine”.
A fast read and mostly enjoyable, the only flaw with the book is that characters rise from the dead a little too many times to retain the unpredictability of the narrative.
Why should you buy our Subscription?
You want to be the smartest in the room.
You want access to our award-winning journalism.
You don’t want to be misled and misinformed.
Choose your subscription package