meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Classic Ghost Stories

Episode 54: The Bridal Party by S Mukerji

Classic Ghost Stories

Tony Walker

Fiction, Drama, Science Fiction

4.9 • 686 Ratings

🗓️ 20 June 2020

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Bridal Party by S MukerjeeS Mukerji, whose name appears in various transliterations, including S Mukherjee, published his book of Indian Ghost Stories in 1917. I can find no biographical information on him, or even what his first name was. I wondered if he were related to the Mukherjee family who pioneered Indian cinema in the early 20th Century. I have no evidence that he is!At the time of writing the first edition he lived in Calcutta (Kolkata) and his stories show his familiarity and residence in Bengal, but he later lived in Allahbad (Prayagraj) in Uttar Pradesh. The name Mukerji is a Kulin Brahmin name and common in West Bengal.He moved in high circles and his friends were judges and lawyers during the later British Raj. He alludes that his father had a coachman and he had a nurse growing up.I picked an Indian story because there are a lot of Indian listeners to the podcast. The ghost story form was very prevalent in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods and then metamophosized into the uncanny tale and later into a branch of speculative fiction. Running in parallel with the fictional ghost story, we have "true accounts" which are the reportedly true accounts of visitors to actual places. Years ago, I ran the Haunted Britain and Ireland website which specialised in sending visitors to locations with supposedly true ghost hauntings. There is still great mileage in the true account genre and there are a good number of podcasts, TV shows and Youtube channels still seeking people's personal accounts of ghosts. With The Classic Ghost Stories Podcast I had deliberately kept to fictional stories up until now.I excuse myself because S Mukerjee writes his story in dramatic form rather than just as a witness report and he gives characters who have lines within the story.Support Us!Ways to support Tony to keep doing the show:https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/classic-ghost-stories-923395 (Share and rate it!)http://bit.ly/2QKgHkY (Buy Tony a coffee) to help with the long nights editing!Become a  http://bit.ly/barcudpatreon (Patreon) to get additional stuff and allow the show to go on in the long term. Facebook GroupWhy not join Classic Ghost Stories Podcast on https://www.facebook.com/classicghoststories/ (Facebook) for the lastest news?MusicBeginning music ‘Some Come Back’ is by the marvellous  https://theheartwoodinstitute.bandcamp.com/album/witch-phase-four (Heartwood Institute)Because I had a little more time, I included the full track of The Heartwood Institute's Powers of Darkness just to chill your bones.Support the showVisit us here: www.ghostpod.orgBuy me a coffee if you're glad I do this: https://ko-fi.com/tonywalkerIf you really want to help me, become a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/barcudMusic by The Heartwood Institute: https://bit.ly/somecomeback Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Indian Ghost Stories by assentive.

0:10.5

Isn't that same?

0:14.4

You tried to get into the locked drawer today, didn't you?

0:17.1

How do the dead come back, mother?

0:20.1

What's the secret?

0:21.4

Indian ghost stories by S. Mukherjee, the bridal party.

0:27.7

In Benares, the sacred city of the Hindus, situated in the United Provinces of Agra and Ood,

0:34.0

there is a house which is famed pretty far and wide.

0:37.1

It is said that the house is haunted,

0:39.3

and that no human being can pass a night in that house. Once there was a large bridal party.

0:46.3

In India the custom is that the bridegroom goes to the house of the bride with great pomp and show

0:50.8

with a number of friends and followers and the ceremony of Kanyardan, giving away

0:55.4

the girl takes place at the bride's house. The number of people who go with the bridegroom

1:00.2

depends largely upon the means of the bride's party, because the guests who come with

1:04.4

the groom are to be fed and entertained in right regal style. It is this feeding and entertaining

1:09.8

the guests that makes her daughter's marriage

1:11.6

so costly in India to a certain extent. If the bride and bridegroom live in the same town

1:17.7

or village, then the bridegroom's party goes to the bride's house in the evening. The marriage

1:22.7

is performed at night and they all come away the same night or early the next morning. If, however, the places

1:28.9

of residence of the bride and the bridegroom are, say, 500 miles apart, as is generally the case,

1:35.2

the bridegroom with his party goes a day or two earlier and stays a day or two after the marriage.

1:41.1

The bride's people have to find accommodation, food and entertainment for the whole period,

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Tony Walker, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Tony Walker and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright Š Tapesearch 2025.