Neha Bahuguna says mentoring sessions with theatre veteran Makarand Deshpande helped shape her debut novel Upar Ke Gavn Ka Rahasya; The author’s protagonist is a precocious nine-year-old Gopu whose life revolves around the Ramleela season, which both she and her police daroga father relish. Bahuguna has dedicated the book to her father, who also worked in the police force. She says that the police in the mountains “have a difficult life because of the harsh, cold weather. They have to deal with daily calamities on a tricky terrain”; Bahuguna, who was raised in Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi and Chamoli districts of Garhwal, seen with her uncle, sister and a neighbour. Pic/Sameer Markande