Sals of the Valley

A Memorial to Dehra Dun

Sal forests symbolize the strength and permanence of the virtues of the Dehra Dun Valley. They form the dramatic backdrop of the seven stories in this anthology. Be led through this fabled landscape and come face to face with people through their struggles and triumphs, during which nature opposes and also rescues them at every step. In these pages, you meet incorrigible ramblers of the forests; a party of farm hands launching a desperate night search; a daunting wilderness that does nothing to restrain boisterous revel late into the night; a worried landowner searching far and wide with time running out; a rustic becoming a connoisseur after a chance encounter; a moving coming of age struggle for a young person the in depths of the forest ranges.

These stories are rooted in reality and re-visit idyllic hamlets and villages along the Suswa River and recreate the atmosphere of a hundred or more years ago. Time and terrain unify these stories in a single narrative of evocative prose synonymous with Pradeep Singh. This is largely a reflection of his passion for recreating to the readers, the vanishing rural vistas of the Valley while retaining enough dramatic elements. These stories build up to a climax taking you closer to the blazing fires on winter nights in the open.