As a kid, I was super scared of darkness, which used to unnerve me. I come from Bhubaneswar and the eastern part of the country is full of folklores and amazing beautiful stories about paranormals and I grew up listening to those stories. I had this mind that if someone told me the tip of the story, I would create an entire iceberg out of it. Growing up to these stories, the fear in me constantly increased day by day and I started imagining things inside. I was the only one in my family that couldn’t sleep at night. I used to hear things, I could see shadows in front of my door, hear utensils clanking in the middle of the night, hear voices as if someone was brooming at 2 midnight in my own house, among other weird noises.

Childhood Trauma

Because of all these things, I was thoroughly traumatised and this trauma continued with me till the age of 16. I was a teenager but still demanded my mother be outside the bathroom while I was taking a bath. There was a point when I started faking illness at night so that my mother could stay awake with me. These things continued building up inside me. I decided either to submit myself to this trauma or do something about it as I had no other option.

One day I started questioning myself what are these things I fear. Is this something that I have heard in the stories? Is it something that I have seen in Aahat of Fear Files? Is it something that has long nails, long hair or a body without head? What exactly is it? These questions would continuously pop up in my mind. But I had no answer to any of those and soon realised that I’m fearing something I don’t know.

So I started my journey of knowing the unknown to help me get rid of my fear. While internet was the only source of information, I literally began googling questions like, ‘Can ghosts kill me? Do ghosts wear white sarees?’ Later, I got the contact details of some people and started meeting them to get their views and opinions. I realised that I am not the only one who fears darkness and the unknown, there are many people like me. In the meantime, I decided that overcoming my fear is not the only thing I want to do, instead I want to do something for people going through the same trauma.

During the same time, Pooja, now our organisation’s co-founder, had started experiencing a few things. She was having premonitions, she would hear voices, knocks on her door, furniture used to move of its own etc. She realised that she is a psychic, which might be why the spiritual world is visiting her. That is when she started helping out people and the spirits that used to contact her with psychic abilities or just for help.

Starting PAIRS

We met on an online platform and just happened to click. I was helping humans while she was taking care of the spiritual world, so we decided to blend our abilities and create something professional. In 2016, we formed the organisation PAIRS and registered it under the Government of India as the only society that researches para-psychology.

We investigate the paranormal and what makes us different from ghost hunters is that we don’t go to haunted places just to experience the paranormal activity, instead with the help of our gadgets, we start investigating the area. We take the introductory readings like EMF hotspot, carbon monoxide levels, distance of the place from electricity grids etc. All these things cause the human mind to hallucinate. As people have no idea about these things, they conclude that their house or building might be haunted. We investigate these claims and figure out that there is nothing paranormal and it is only a matter of helping out in terms of EMF. Imagine if the person could have gone to some ‘Baba’ or ‘Tantrik’ who wants to loot them without any proof or evidence. Apart from gadgets, we also have psychics in our team who give us readings.

But, of course, we do not deny the existence of paranormals. Once we figure out that there is something that cannot be explained, we offer metaphysical cleansing, saltwater cleansing, etc. Often, the spirit has no idea that they are dead, so we counsel them and make them believe that this is not your world. Surprisingly, the technique does help the place and entity most of the time. We have also encountered adamant spirits, so in that case, you raise your voice, get into a confrontation and show that you are the one who is in control. We also have spiritual healers in our team that help and heal the spirits.

When we investigate a place, it is not the place or incident that makes it creepy, but the history attached to it makes it look weird.

Busting Superstition

People often criticise us, telling that we spread superstition. But actually, we are trying to bust it. The whole point is if you know more about the paranormals, you will be protecting yourself and your own money from some random ‘tantrik’. We have debunked so many superstitious things, especially in rural parts of India. We give a chance to people to figure out whether their place is haunted or needs a proper renovation. Out of every 10 cases we receive, nine are logical and have a scientific explanation.

Some people don’t believe in paranormals, but we don’t force anyone to believe anything. But my organisation has successfully turned a non-believer into a believer through the events we do. I want people to have an open mind at least and keep a possibility that anything could happen. The universe is ever-expanding, so a thing we don’t know now might reveal itself at some time. Having an open mind will make it easy to accept, otherwise you start resisting it, and when you start doing it, you start harming yourself and everyone else. 

If you too have an inspiring story to tell the world, send us your story at mystory@thelogicalindian.com