Living with Ghosts

1

It is said that it takes nothing to imagine. But it is not so easy to imagine. People’s imagination varies. It is also changeable. I am a writer and write fantasy stories. But it seems difficult to imagine all the time. An author writing fantasy fiction declares that his story is imaginary. Still, he has to connect the ends of the story in a way that seems logical. Readers consider even a fictional story as full of possibilities while reading it. Excessive imagination has its dangers.

Whatever happened to us in the last year was also similar. Sometimes I write imaginary ghost stories. A few years ago I wrote Ghosts of the Mansion. Last year I wrote a fantasy novel, Ghostly Wife. Recently wrote some entertaining ghost stories. There are many people, who like such stories. One story was incomplete.

I wanted to give a new color to its ghost characters. I kept thinking and couldn’t think of anything.

Meanwhile, I left the government accommodation in Kochi and came to live in a rented flat. It was on the seventh floor of Oxoniya Apartment. This apartment was in a suburb, a little away from the main city. Perhaps I should give a brief introduction of My name is Ravi. Apart from being a writer, I am a retired Indian Revenue Service officer. My family consists of me, my wife, and our one daughter. The daughter is now married and lives with her husband in a different city.My wife Kiran and I are the only people living in the flat.

Previously, our dwellings consisted of bungalows, one-story or two-story houses, as well as houses located in mohallas or colonies. Initially, residing in the apartment brought about a sense of solitude. I began questioning whether the decision to move to this place was a mistake. At times, it truly felt that way. There were no families nearby, and the residents seemed unresponsive. It was as if they were unable to communicate. I made an effort to establish connections with a few individuals, but the response I received was not very encouraging. Despite the building’s size, I couldn’t comprehend why many of its flats remained unoccupied.