Journalism of Courage
They are best known for their food trails across the country and their tongue-in-cheek humour. But television anchors Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma,of the Highway On My Plate (HOMP) fame,have chalked out alternate screen personas as well for themselves – that of ghost-busters,or rather as investigators of paranormal activity,on the reality show India’s Most Haunted (IMH). Their spooky travel trail recently led them to Pune,where they camped at the Napier Hotel located on the MG Road,believed to be the haunt of a ‘lady in white’.
“We received a lot of mails about the place and hence,we decided to check it out for the show, says Singh. The Napiers episode,however,which was aired this Friday,did not score high on ‘fear factor’,with the two giving it a 3/10 rating on the ‘spookmeter’. They tagged the area as a picnic spot rather than a haunted home. We camped out the entire night,used infrared and thermal imaging cameras and even used electromagnetic sensors along the path on which “she” travels,but couldn’t find anything,” says Singh.
Sharma,however,admits he faced one panic moment when he apparently saw a shadow moving about in the desolated building. Singh says,”That particular moment was scary because I was at the other end of the building when Mayur suddenly started calling out frantically on the radio. We did a thorough search when I reached there,but found no recorded evidence of anything. The shadow,as we found out,was of a mentally ill person who stays on the desolated premises. In fact,he was scared by Mayur,just as much as Mayur was scared by him. He ran and crossed over the wall,and that was when he was spotted.
The duo admit that ghost hunting does take a toll on them. “The idea behind the show is not to spread panic or create spookiness when there is none. It is just to investigate the claims made by people living around the premises. There have been times when our crew wouldn’t shoot at a spot owing to its extreme eeriness. For instance,in the upcoming episode this week,we actually managed to capture some spectral activity,and that was terrifying. We gave it a 9/10 rating,” Singh says.
