It Happened One Night and Other Stories is a stirring collection of 15 short stories from PAHAADI-V, a literary contest celebrating voices rooted in Uttarakhand. From mist-draped hills to bustling towns, these tales with Uttarakhand flavour weave tradition with the contemporary, and nostalgia with the present.
A dog named Tequila charms in Sunayana Roychaudhury’s light-hearted tale, while Sarojini Rajput in The Whisper of Hills and Monisha Bahuguna in Bindi leave a tender ache of longing. Leopards prowl through Anita Noronha’s narration; shamans stir spirits in Alok Saklani’s An Unforgettable Meeting. Dehradun sighs and whispers in Roychaudhury’s second piece, while Neena Baga’s journeys, Beyond the Blur and The Final Melody, echo with quiet introspection.
From the emotional pull of Ija by Manju Patil, to the psychological unravelling in Hidden Lie by Sanskriti Bhatt, Pagli by Jagdish Bisht, The Burglar by Veena Kedila, Barh by Sunil Kapoor and Madhuban by Ratna Pande, every story surprises. And finally, It Happened One Night by Sumita Chakravarty starts with a smirk and then leaves you staring into the night, unsettled.
A tribute to the mountains and minds of Uttarakhand—raw, rich, and almost surreal.