Being blessed to wander in some of the most fascinating hills and valleys of nature, I have been endeavoring for long to put these stories together. I offer here the elements that appeal most to me during my wanderings in the jungles, meadows, villages and towns, especially in the abode of gods and goddesses the Himalaya.

I pick up one of the tales as a title of the book 'Nanda's Neelkanth'. Neelkanth is one of the several names of the Lord Shiva, the Hindu god. Many snow-clad peaks of the Himalaya are named after the gods and goddesses and Neelkanth is one of the most magnificent peaks....