My ghosts are motherly, gentle: Ruskin Bond

Popular Indian author Ruskin Bond Saturday said though he has not personally seen a single

ghost in real life, he can hear and feel their presence.

Bond, who has written the hugely popular 'Ghost Stories from the Raj', 'Dust on the Mountains' and 'A Season of Ghosts' said, "My ghosts are pretty gentle and harmless. I was once told by a 9-year-old girl that she read my ghost stories, but she was not scared enough. She asked me can't I make them more frightening?

"I said I could not," he said at the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet here.

Speaking of his 'ghostly' experience, the 84-year-old author said, "I live in a very old cottage (in Mussoorie) and my bedroom is joined by a small sitting room, where none sleeps at night. But in the middle of the night, I hear people talking - though I can't make out what they say.

"I get up, switch on the light and see nobody there. Then I switch off the lights and go back to sleep. Then I see someone tucking up my blanket - a very motherly and ...