It is, perhaps, only fitting that a paranormal investigator dedicates their book to all the spirits who took time out to talk to them. That's Sarbajeet Mohanty for you, and the book in question is the recently-released title The Spirits Talk to Me: True Accounts of Paranormal Investigations (Hachette India) that has been co-authored with top horror writer Neil D'Silva. The book is an account of 10 key, real-life cases that Mohanty, founder of the city-based Parapsychology and Investigations Research Society (PAIRS) has dealt with along with co-founder Pooja Vijay and other aides, across India — from a haunted courthouse near Kolkata to a film studio in Mumbai.

The duo started working on the book in 2018. Mohanty would share audio files to D'Silva where, he says, every minute detail was important to convey like the colour of a car, for instance. D'Silva would then write the chapters. "We wanted to focus on not just the paranormal aspect but the human aspect, too — what were we going through as investigators. The aim is not to scare people but give an insight into the paranormal world," Mohanty asserts.