At 65, Mumbai resident Girish Khare has just about discovered the joys of storytelling. A grandfather to two girls, Amelie, 8, and Esme, 4, Khare’s imagination was first put to test, when the elder one asked him to spare time for “discussions”. “After dinner, which was at around 8 pm, she’d come to my room, and we’d talk about random things,” he remembers. Her favourite topic was dinosaurs. “She’d have all these questions, and sometimes, I’d have to make up stuff.” Over time, Khare had managed to string many a make-believe story set in a kingdom called Doryu, with some help from Amelie and Esme, who had introduced dragons, mermaids and fairies to the plot. “But, what would it be like to live in this kingdom?” he remembers his granddaughters asking him.

Khare with his granddaughters Amelie, 8, and Esme, 4, who inspired the fairy princesses Amelika and Esmella in The Adventures on Doryu