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Irish Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Getting to Ireland's UNESCO treasure Skellig Michael was like a Star Wars saga
There's a case to be made that Maureen Sweeney was the most important Irish person in history. If you don't know, Maureen was the Kerry weather woman who won the war. Her innate west of Ireland grasp of isobars and wind directions saved the D-Day landings from being one of history's most spectacular military catastrophes. Without Maureen's weather forecast from Blacksod Bay in Co Mayo in June 1944, the invasion and liberation of Europe would have crashed and burned and, as the gag goes, we'd all be speaking German. If we were, we would probably be speaking a lot about 'Das Wetter' appropriately enough - or the Weather if you prefer. It's our one true national conversation. And recently it has become my mild obsession and the reason I found myself sitting in a Killarney hotel room earlier this month channelling my inner Maureen Sweeney. In recent weeks I had become a citizen forecaster, looking up wind speeds, 'falling slowly' pressure systems and high tides. The madness is fuelled by another slight obsession. In the morning I'm due to embark on my fourth attempt to set foot on Ireland's mystical national treasure island, Skellig Michael. The Skelligs have long held an allure. The two islands form the jagged edge of Europe and are among the most breathtaking landscapes on earth. Skellig Michael also has a rich human story dating back over a thousand years to a group of mad monks who somehow decided it was the perfect place to build one of the most unlikely settlements in human history. A modern equivalent might be setting up home on Pluto. The islands also provide a sanctuary for 80,000 gannets and a haven for one of nature's rock stars, the Puffin. A puffin guards its nest on Skellig Michael (Image: Irish Mirror) For centuries their mystique has captured the imagination of poets, artists, storytellers and moviemakers. Most recently as a location in the Star Wars saga. But if the monks found it hard to get there in the 6th century, my own pilgrimage has honoured their perseverance - not to mention the islands' recent movie heritage. Episode I: In 2017 a first attempt fell foul of a ticket sellout. Just 180 people can land on Skellig a day from May to September. Episode II: Last summer we stayed for three days in the village of Portmagee, the gateway to the Skelligs, our landing tickets secured well in advance. But on the morning of our departure a two-metre Atlantic swell made docking on the small island jetty treacherous. We headed out in hope but by the time we crossed the 12 kilometres to Skellig Michael the OPW had closed the island. Episode III: Having booked again this summer I opened my email inbox one morning to see I had been snared in the phantom menace of a High Court injunction. My boat operator was one of two that had been refused a licence for the season, sparking a legal battle which stopped all access for several weeks. Episode IV: Not to be deterred, I rebooked with a company that did have a licence. The court injunction eventually lifted like an Atlantic front. And so now here I was sitting in a Killarney hotel room ready to embark in a few hours. Then another email landed. It darkly warned of a high tide that meant the OPW was leaving any decision on opening the island until 10am tomorrow.. Following a restless night's sleep I awoke to grey skies and sheets of west Kerry rain. I drove the 75 minutes to Portmagee but about 10 minutes out another e-mail dropped: 'Unfortunately today's landing tour has been cancelled by the OPW as conditions at the island are not good enough for visitors.' Skellig Michael (Image: PA Photo/Nick McAvaney) With a mood as black as the rain I parked and strolled down to the harbour to look uselessly at the boats. By chance, or fate, the boatman from my cancelled crossing was also there. He looked disconsolate too. If cancelled crossings are frustrating to tourists, they can be existential to those whose livelihoods depend on them. But when he discovered I was a 'party of one' he brightened and said, 'I've one spare seat tomorrow and looking at the forecast we will 100 percent be going, do you want it?' One hundred percent eh? By now I had learned that was no such thing when playing poker with the Atlantic. A quick conflab back to my Killarney HQ confirms the other half has no problem spending another day in the spa or around the town. So I book again for the next day. Episode V. Later that evening I've got mail again: 'Tomorrow's landing tour is… GOING AHEAD AS PLANNED (I added the Trumpian all caps). The following morning I am back on the road to Portmagee, casting anxious looks at the sky and the clock as I drive. Then, rounding a Ring of Kerry bend outside Caherciveen, the traffic suddenly grinds to a halt. Garda checkpoint. I run through a quick panicked checklist to remind myself I'm not wanted by the law and haven't had a drink in about 12 hours. Irish island made famous by Star Wars is under attack by drones The bored Garda stares quizzically at the windscreen. 'Your tax?' 'Yeah?' 'It's two months out of date.' Now, to anyone who knows my approach to the 'to do' list, this is akin to Noddy Holder forgetting 'It's Christmas'. But somehow he's right. No tax. I laugh ruefully thinking he is going to impound me here 10 miles from my destiny. He must see the uncomprehending look on my face. In the manner of Obi Wan Kenobi, my air seems to persuade him I am not the lawbreaker he is looking for today. I'm sent on my way with the instruction to get it sorted. A short while later I'm back on the pier in Portmagee where the atmosphere has transformed since yesterday. Boatmen are busy checking equipment and tickets. Excited tourists from all across the globe are realising their numbers have come up in this little Skellig lottery. It is the first sailing in five days. And one of few at all so far this troubled season. We set out from the harbour and within minutes are past the shelter offered by the rugged Iveragh peninsula. After around 40 minutes the jagged beauty of the Small Skellig lies before us. OPW reveal its most popular tourist attractions in Ireland The sky is dark with swooping gannets and furiously flapping puffins. It's an opera of natural sound that confirms you are now far from what Samuel Beckett called the 'fatuous clamour' of the world. A few minutes later our boat is bobbing in front of Skellig Michael itself -a shock of green vegetation on sheer cliffs after the blackness of its little sibling. Then, after several years and five attempts, just like that we are docked and ashore. We begin the pilgrims' climb up the 600 feet and 618 steps to the monastery which sits in the shelter of one of the island's two towering peaks. There is a climb of 618 steps to the monastery at the top of Skellig Michael (Image: Irish Mirror) Despite warnings, I've no difficulty with the arduousness of the climb. Mostly as it's impossible not to stop every three steps to take in the 360-degree beauty around you. There is also the distracting sense that the hills are literally alive. Inches from your face on the plunging slopes there are nesting puffins everywhere. And hidden beneath the defiant foliage that clings to the rock are their constantly cooing chicks. There are so many that the island surface literally seems to breathe and murmur. This stairway to the heavens that follows in the footsteps of the monks is not for the faint of heart. You will need your head for heights. At the dizziest spots there are some chain rails. But the steps most of the way are open on one side and the walls of the cliffs plunge away to the sea just feet away from where you step. I feel an unusual sensation, gratitude to the OPW for closing the island during yesterday's heavy rain. At the top, the first sight of the iconic beehive huts made famous by monks and movies appear as only the supporting cast to the extraordinary vista of the Atlantic, Small Skellig, the Blasket islands and Kerry beyond. Neil Leslie at Skellig Michael (Image: Irish Mirror) It's not hard to let your imagination conjure what those sixth century holy men might have felt. They surely thought here was a place close to the heavens. To their west was the edge of the known world, the horizon of God's own country. There are wild places and wonders that often disappoint some visitors. I've heard them at the Cliffs of Moher or the Giant's Causeway complaining: 'Is that it?' My own philosophy is that you sometimes need to sprinkle a little of the magic dust of your own imagination. To help the majesty of it all along with an inner sense of awe. But Skellig Michael does all the work itself. If you're not impressed by the sculpted beauty, or the epic ingenuity of its human story, or the wildlife…you may need to check yourself for a pulse. Later on the return to Portmagee I watch the rocky pyramid perfectly framed from the back of the boat like the end credit sequence in a movie. I feel no need for another episode. Once you visit somewhere like Skellig it stays visited. Like the monks who left their bones layered on top of the 385 million year old sandstone, you leave a little something of yourself behind too. And in exchange you take away a small part of that allure that brought you there. Something 'of the silence of which the universe is made' to quote that man Beckett again. The only sequel required now is a pint of Ireland's other UNESCO treasure at the Moorings Bar in Portmagee. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here
The Hindu
14-07-2025
- General
- The Hindu
How the Great Trigonometric Survey led to the mapping of India
Chennai, then Madras, 1819. Syed Mir Mohsin Husain, a jeweller from Arcot, was working in the store of his employer, George Gordon, when some British military officials stopped by with a strange instrument, asking if Mohsin could fix it. Though he had never seen such an instrument before, he managed to repair it, a skill noted by one of these officers, Lieutenant-Colonel Valentine Blacker, 'who was thoroughly impressed with Mohsin's 'uncommon intelligence and acuteness'', states a new book titled India in Triangles: The incredible story of how India was mapped and the Himalayasmeasured by Shruthi Rao and Meera Iyer, published by Puffin, an imprint of Penguin Random House India. From then on, Blacker often turned to Mohsin for help, even appointing him as an instrument maker at the Surveyor General's office when he (Blacker) became the Surveyor-General of India in 1823. Meera loves the story of Mohsin, this small-town jeweller, who went on to become an instrument maker and played a crucial role in the Great Trigonometric Survey (GTS), 'the most advanced survey of its kind in the Indian subcontinent at the time-and the largest in the world,' as India in Triangles puts it. 'I wish more people knew about Mohsin,' says the Bengaluru-based writer and researcher, the convenor of the Bengaluru Chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). There are other, equally compelling personalities in the book, which tells the story of how the Indian subcontinent was mapped. These include William Lambton, who kick-started the ambitious project; his successors, George Everest, Andrew Scott Waugh and James Walker; scores of mostly unnamed Indian flagmen or khalasis; and Radhanath Sikdar, the Indian mathematician and social reformer who would go on to calculate the height of Mount Everest in 1852. However, India in Triangles is also about mathematical principles, instruments, and the methodology used to survey this vast land with its complex topography. Additionally, it discusses its major outcomes — including improved maps, a deeper understanding of the Earth's curvature, and confirmation that Mount Everest is the world's tallest mountain — and is packed with engaging exercises, trivia, anecdotes, and facts. Shruthi reveals one of them: 'There is no evidence that Everest ever saw the mountain named after him,' she says, pointing out that it was actually named by Waugh in honour of his superior. While Everest, unlike his more easy-going predecessor Lambton, appears to have been a bit of a curmudgeon, he was also a 'pretty impressive guy. He brought in multiple innovations and made the survey faster,' says the California-based children's writer and editor. The start of a survey The pilot for this great survey was conducted in Banaswadi, Bengaluru, in 1800, merely a year after the defeat of Tipu Sultan in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. Lambton, who was part of the British regiment that fought this war, had proposed this survey for two broad reasons, explains Meera. The first was that the East India Company, which was rapidly acquiring new territories, needed maps. 'Yes, they had maps already, but these were not very accurate,' she says. Additionally, the geographer in Lambton sought to measure the Earth's true shape, fulfilling his long-held desire to contribute to the field of geodesy. 'In the 1780s, they had started trigonometrical surveys in England, and Lambton was following it very closely,' says Meera. Once Tipu Sultan was defeated, they had access to the entire territory of Mysore as well, which meant that 'practically all of South India is no longer enemy territory for the British so they could go almost anywhere they wanted,' she adds. 'This idea, Lambton had of drawing a line across the land, could be done. So that is how everything came together.' The GTS was based on the principle of triangulation, a process that divides a shape or surface into multiple triangles. 'In trigonometry, when you know the measurement of one side and two angles, you can calculate the lengths of the other two sides,' says Shruthi. Using this basic idea, 'they were able to draw imaginary triangles across the land.' According to her, only the first line of the triangle —the baseline —was physically drawn and measured on the ground. 'Then, from each end point of that line, they were able to sight the third point of the triangle, measure the angles and find the length of the other two sides of the triangle,' she explains, elaborating that one of these would then become the next baseline, which in turn would be used to map another triangle, and so on. 'It became a network of triangles across India, and using these triangles and paper and pencil, they were able to map the entire country.' A lasting legacy The actual process was arduous, involving the physical labour of lugging heavy equipment through harsh, often hostile terrain, while constantly battling the elements. 'They expected it to take around five years,' says Meera, with a laugh. In reality, however, it took nearly a hundred years, with the Great Trigonometric Survey officially kickstarting in April 1802 in Madras two years after the pilot in Bangalore. 'He chose the Madras Racecourse to set up the baseline… because it was close to St Thomas Mount, which sat on the 13th parallel, the same latitude as Bangalore,' states the book. 'Lambton was already familiar with the Bangalore region, which would be useful when he extended his triangulation from coast to coast, going from Madras to Bangalore and onwards to Mangalore along this latitude.' There was no looking back from there. The surveyors would spend the next few decades establishing baselines and drawing triangles all across the country, even as the leadership baton was passed on from Lambton to Everest, Waugh and finally to Walker. 'We know when it started, but not when it ended,' says Meera. 'Very often, it is said that it lasted 70 years, because on-ground operations were going on for that long, but you still see reports written after 70 years. Even in the early 1900s, reports were coming out about the GTS because they were still doing calculations, still correcting things.' What is clear, however, is the impressive legacy that the GTS has left behind, still lingering two centuries later. For instance, all Government-made maps of India, since the 1830s, have been based on one of the outcomes of this survey, the Everest Spheroid, which 'best represents what the surface of the Earth is actually like in the Indian subcontinent,' according to the book. It is also useful for people trying to understand the Earth's tectonic shifts. 'Because the GTS benchmarks and baselines were made and measured with such accuracy, they provide useful points to geologists who study earthquakes and plate tectonics,' it further states. Writing a book about the GTS When Shruthi went on a holiday to Mussoorie in 2014, she visited George Everest's house, located in Hathipaon. 'I did some research and heard about the Great Trigonometric Survey for the first time,' she says. She found herself wanting to write about this house, which was 'at that time, completely dilapidated', and went on to publish an article about it in a national media outlet. As part of her research, she read The Great Arc by the British historian and journalist John Keay, a book about the survey, and found herself becoming increasingly fascinated by the GTS. 'It has been running in my head since that time, and I wanted to write it for children,' she says. When she started researching for the book online, she discovered that Meera's byline recurred in many of the articles about the same survey, she says. 'First, I thought I would ask her for help with research; then, I ended up asking her to co-author the book with me, and she agreed,' explains Shruthi. Meera, who was directly involved in restoring an observatory located at the end of a baseline in Kannur, off the Hennur-Bagalur Road in Bengaluru, a structure that had been used to map the landscape, says that she first laid her eyes on 'this really strange building' back in 2010. She began reading about the GTS 'to figure out what this structure was,' she says, adding that INTACH started working on restoring it in 2018 or 2019. And while, unfortunately, the structure was later demolished in June 2024, 'that was when my interest really took off,' says Meera, who spent a lot of time in various archives researching the survey. Since the book is aimed at younger readers, the authors made sure that it was as conversational and simple as possible, says Shruthi. 'I give a lot of context, see that it relates to real-life situations and make sure that we not only describe trigonometry and the mathematical part of it, but also offer a bird's eye view,' she says. 'We also put in activities for children to help them get a feel of things.' And it isn't just children who are buying the book; adults seem to be enjoying it too. 'I think, compared to my other books for children, we are getting a lot of adult interest because very few people know about this,' says Shruthi. 'But, they're fascinated by the topic.' India in Triangles is available online and at all major bookstores
The Hindu
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Children's author Khyrunnisa A on her latest book in the ‘Butterfingers' series
Children's author Khyrunnisa A. is back with her book of (mis)adventures of Butterfingers a.k.a. Amar Kishen in The World of Butterfingers : The Halloween Adventure And Other Stories. The prolific author from Thiruvananthapuram, who delights readers with the seamless blend of fun and facts in her works, has packed three stories in the new book published by Penguin Random House (Puffin). The character Butterfingers, the clumsy yet exuberant and endearing 13-year-old boy, and the world the author has created around him have won her many fans over the years. The first story of the new book, The Heebee Jeebees And The Bees, is about the visit of The Heebee Jeebees, Amar's favourite band to town and the chaos that follows, which eventually ends on a happy note. The Halloween Adventure, as the title suggests, takes Amar and his gang to Ooty after they win a cricket tournament, during Halloween, where a haunted house and a bank robbery create all the hullabaloo. Butterfingers And The Antiquity Stall, perhaps the most delightful of the three, is based around a history exhibition, where Amar and friends set up an antiquity stall with a difference. This is her 18th book, ninth in the Butterfingers series and the second comic book. In an interview, the author, a former English professor at All Saints' College, Thiruvananthapuram, talks about the book, her creative process and what keeps her going. Excerpts: Arriving at the plots The ideas randomly come up. The thread for the third story popped up when I broke something. The piece looked like what you see in archeological sites or museums. I worked around that thought for the story. I take a lot of joy in building my plots. Some authors say writing is a mystical, mysterious process. However, I can't actually describe it. Creativity is a conscious thing, it comes out of your imagination. At the same time, sometimes when I am busy typing the story as I have thought it out in my head, a totally new idea, a shift in the plot or a new angle comes from nowhere into my mind. That is truly mysterious, and I cannot explain it. What keeps you going? I think it is like a mission for me to get children interested in books and reading. Because, we all know how important it is to read. The page/book vs screen debate is still on. Definitely, the page has won. Research has shown that those who read turn out to be well-adjusted, responsible, intelligent individuals. Getting addicted to the screen robs you of many virtues. It is true that you can run several errands through your phone. But once you are hooked to the screen, you get distracted. You keep on scrolling and nothing makes you happy. That makes you impatient. Adapting to the changing times I haven't changed my style. People associate humour with me even though I have written a few serious books for adults. I am extremely comfortable writing humorous content. Also, I stay away from topics such as religion, politics, mythology, and the like. I feel comfortable in what I have been writing all these years. And from the feedback I have been getting, I know that readers like that. I prefer to keep my works realistic. I can't write horror or fantasy since I don't want to. I often write about animals and little creatures; I make them anthropomorphic. In that way it is a kind of fantasy. At the same time, I ensure that I am factually correct about these creatures. The idea is that children should establish a connect with these little creatures and insects and understand that they are very, very important for our survival and we have to live with them. The human beings are less than a small dot in the universe. But I really do not know how much of that is comprehended by the children. Nevertheless they laugh and enjoy the stories. I hope they absorb some of the underlying themes too. Penchant for humour There are several reasons for that. One is I grew up in a large family, as the youngest of eight. I needed humour for survival. Another fact is I loved to read humour. PG Wodehouse is my all-time favourite. I started reading him while in Class VII and I still enjoy his work. I have at least 50 of his books in my collection. I would call him an indirect influence on my writing. I also love the writings of Bill Bryson, Gerald Durrell, Jerome K Jerome etc. Growing up, I enjoyed the William series by Richmal Crompton. I suppose I must have internalised humour. People say it is very difficult to write humour. For me, it is not. The new-age lingo I love the English language and enjoy playing with words. But I don't try to bring the Gen Z language into my writing because I don't want to. I know that children indulge in rough, crude talk, use bad words, slang and so on. However, I prefer to keep what is good, acceptable English, while making it sound realistic. I don't want to imitate to the letter how they speak in real life. I don't wish to take realism to that level. That's why someone said I use a kind of idealised language. Love for sports I love sports although I am not a sportsperson. In fact, I follow all of them – cricket, badminton, tennis, football, global sports events... everything. That's why I include them in my works [her latest book for Penguin, Agassi and the Great Cycle Race features cycling]. Writing has always to do with what you are interested in, what you know best, what you are comfortable writing about. One must write to their strengths. At the same time I don't make it technical. It is done in a funny, simple way so that readers who have no idea about the particular sport, get to understand it effortlessly while enjoying the book. The World of Butterfingers : The Halloween Adventure And Other Stories, with illustrations by Abhijeet Kini, is available in book stores.
Irish Independent
21-06-2025
- Science
- Irish Independent
Nature Trail: Puffins live most of their lives in the open ocean
They are far from land and as they float on the surface they are perpetually wet. The surface of the open ocean is an exposed place, so they have nowhere to shelter. Consequently, they are often cold. Then factor in rain, storms and rough seas and the result is that the North Atlantic Ocean is a tough environment to spend most of the year in, including the winter months. Over a prolonged period of time the weak succumbed to the harsh conditions and perished. The loss of any individual is, of course, unfortunate but from an evolutionary point of view their deaths meant that their genes were removed from the gene pool. The strong survived and their survival meant that the gene pool was refined and improved, and their offspring inherited characteristics that made them more likely to survive. A dense covering of feathers and an oil gland to waterproof the feathers are key factors if a Puffin is to keep dry and to survive the winter. Insulation in the form of a layer of fat and feathers that trap air are also vitally important to keep warm. Puffins feed by duck diving from the sea surface and pursuing their prey using their wings to fly underwater and using their webbed feet as rudders to steer. They can dive to depths of over 50m and stay down for about one minute. Again, from one generation to another, nature is selecting for continual survival those that have good genes for diving, swimming, and breath-holding. In the open ocean, Puffins have no source of freshwater for drinking. Their diet is extremely high in salt, so they need some way of coping with thirst and excess salt. And so, the list of factors that ensures an ability to winter at sea goes on and on. The one thing that Puffins cannot do at sea is make nests and lay eggs. They have to come to land to do that and that's when we get an opportunity between late May and mid-July to see these remarkable birds.
Scroll.in
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scroll.in
Sunday book pick: Ghost stories by Satyajit Ray in ‘Ghosts, Supernatural and Tales of the Uncanny'
In one 'ghost' story by Satyajit Ray, a well-to-do writer – an intellectual – is stranded by a farm on a deserted road. The scarecrow guarding the crops makes for an eerie company. The longer the writer looks at the scarecrow, the more human it appears to be. Especially the clothes that it has been made to wear. The shirt, torn and discoloured, looks familiar too. When the writer eventually dozes off, he dreams of the servant he had fired on charges of thievery. He used to wear a similar shirt. The servant had denied stealing his master's watch but the writer was not interested in hearing him out. In the dream, the servant tells him where he suspects the watch has disappeared to. The writer wakes up and eventually makes his way home. On searching the spot that the servant had spoken of in his dream, he finds his watch safe and secure, ticking away. A haunted past Satyajit Ray's ghost stories – written with the young reader in mind – have been recently published as Ghosts, Supernatural, and Tales of the Uncanny by Puffin. The fifteen stories in the collection (translated primarily by Gopa Majumdar, with two by Indrani Majumdar and another two by the author) are neither gory nor horrifying, but delightfully spooky. Well-suited for children (and readers of all ages, really), the stories speak to how class conflicts, colonial hangover, animal cruelty, bad childhood memories, and guilt create horror later in our lives. There are no possessed children in these stories – the young are blemish-free, but as years pile on, callousness and cruelty become second nature, turning each of us into perpetrators of horror. First published in the Bengali children's magazine Sandesh, each of the stories is accompanied by Ray's beautiful illustrations. I must have spent a minute or two admiring the ingenuity of his calligraphy and sketches. Two stories in the collection, 'Anath Babu's Terror' and 'Mr Brown's Cottage', were adapted for the screen by Sandip Ray for his 2012 movie, Jekhane Bhooter Bhoy. In 'Anath Babu's Terror', a ghost hunter goes to a haunted house in search of an elusive ghost. The ghost does appear but will Anath Babu live to tell the tale? 'Mr Brown's Cottage' is another haunted house story set in the erstwhile remote Fraser Town in Bangalore. After learning about a certain Simon from Mr Brown's cheaply purchased diary, the protagonist sets off for the cottage, wondering who this Simon might be. In both stories, the men are propelled by curiosity as they try to uncover mysteries that have lain buried for many years. My introduction to 'Mr Brown's Cottage' was as a radio play, and I remember being adequately thrilled when the big revelation came. The story about the scarecrow and the writer was adapted as 'Kagtarua' by Sandip Ray in 2014 for the movie Chaar. Play Satyajit Ray was a young man when India gained independence. He had witnessed some of the worst atrocities of colonialism and later, he also saw how difficult it was to rouse from the colonial hangover. This makes for an interesting subject in ghost stories. In 'Indigo', Ray imagines what the coloniser's guilt might look like, whereas in 'The First-Class Compartment', an Indian man who derides everything Indian is reminded of his place when the ghost of a white sahib calls him a 'nigger' and threatens to throw him off the coupé he is travelling in. The ghosts of history do not die so easily. Phantoms of the mind Dolls have proven themselves as useful mediums for ghosts. In 'Bhuto' and 'Fritz', the dolls of a child and a ventriloquist are not inanimate objects, but those capable of feeling human emotions. The dolls are subjected to neglect and indifference, and in 'Bhuto', the doll is also a medium of the protagonist's arrogance. In the end, the dolls come alive to teach a lesson that the humans were long overdue. The most remarkable stories in the collection – 'Ratan Babu and That Man' and 'Khagam' – also happen to be translated by Ray. The two stories are as different from each other as they can be. In 'Ratan Babu and That Man', a man is surprised to find another person who is so similar to him in temperament and mannerisms. But soon, it starts to bug him. In 'Khagam', the senseless killing of a snake costs a man dearly. In fact, Ray seems to suggest that animal cruelty is one of the most horrific crimes that a human being is capable of, making it one of the recurring themes in his stories. Another affecting story on animal cruelty is 'A Strange Night for Mr Shasmal'. Other animals turn up at Mr Shasmal's home to make him pay for killing a dog. No ghost story collection is complete without a delectable vampire story. 'The Vicious Vampire' is a story about just that – a vicious vampire. However, the initial tone of the story is somewhat comical. A man, deathly terrified of bats, finds the animal hanging upside down in the house where he is vacationing. But this isn't the end of his troubles, for he will soon cross paths with the local vampire. Ray's ghost stories take the readers to every corner of the country. His protagonists – all men! – encounter these vicious, scary, (and sometimes) anxious ghosts in small towns and villages. From remote sites in Rajasthan to Karnataka and Bihar to West Bengal, the ghosts appear in front of only those who seek them. Deliciously unnerving and pleasurably unsettling, Ray's ghosts are phantoms of the mind – and not so much of material.
