Eric Chopra's ‘Ghosted: Delhi’s Haunted Monuments’: Delhi’s ghosts who walk

ERIC CHOPRA has woven his delightful and informative book — ‘Ghosted: Delhi’s Haunted Monuments’ — around the trope of the ‘ghost’, and craftily employs it to explore the history of the city itself. Chopra’s ghost is as supernatural as it is historical, a metaphor for the multiple pasts that coexist in the ruins, forests, lanes, streets, and monuments that make up contemporary Delhi.

The book takes you on a heritage walk through some of Delhi’s most haunted monuments.

Eric, as our friendly Djinn, narrates his intimate travels and the fascinating past of these places. The first stop is the tomb of the alleged lovers, Jamali and Kamali, in Mehrauli, where they still roam the site, urging visitors, through their presence, to dig deep into their story.

From there, readers find themselves standing humbled before the Lath Wale Baba (Ashokan Pillar) at Firoz Shah Kotla, where locals gather to seek intercession from the divine figure. Next up is the dreaded Khooni Darwaza, marred by riveting tales of gruesome executions of real and imagined historical figures.

Eric does not relent in his quest to scare us and makes us meet a Sar Kata Angrez (Headless Englishman), who likes to smoke around the Mutiny Memorial and Delhi Ridge area and stops passersby for a light — a remnant apparition of the violence and mass execution during the Uprising of 1857.

By the end, we are transported to the dilapidated living room of the last ‘princess’ of Awadh at Malcha Mahal.

This book is a melange of rich historical accounts, popular history, media coverage and the author’s own experience of traversing these spaces. For Eric, the ghost, good or evil, is a product of our historical memory and contemporary anxieties.

The book also narrates the remoteness one has to navigate to reach these places, which further makes them spooky and haunted. It is peppered with immersive historical maps, beautiful images of the monuments and has an aesthetically pleasing cover.

The author’s love of history leads him to veer in-depth into historical accounts, which is fascinating but sometimes takes readers away from the book’s through-line. In the process of creating a historical montage from diverse sources, the book at times takes temporal leaps rather than smooth transitions. However, temporal leaps are a common feature of historical writing and are aptly referred to by French cultural theorist Roland Barthes as “paper time”.

The writing style blends descriptive and conversational elements, making it easy for readers who are wary of history books. It is a treat for those who love to challenge their rational worldview by seeking adventure into the paranormal.

Does Eric encounter ghosts within the walls and courtyards of these monuments? I will avoid the spoiler; you will have to delve deep into the world of the Djinn he constructed.

— The reviewer is pursuing his PhD at Stanford University, US