The wonderful sights and sounds of enchanting Kumaon, its rich traditions and its colourful social fabric, all come alive in the myriad literary works of Shivani whose name immediately brings to mind the picturesque hill region which she knew so well and loved dearly.

As Thomas Hardy lovingly described his beloved Wessex in his novels and Ruskin Bond writes again and again about Mussoorie, landaur and  Dehradun, Gaura Pant (who took on the pen name Shivani in 1951) has written extensively about Kumaon which is the backdrop of her works and which was her home for

many years.

Thousands of readers across the world know about the Kumaon Himalayan region through its vivid and intimate descriptions found in the works of this renowned Hindi writer whose 91st birth anniversary falls on October 17.

There is perhaps no reader of Hindi literature who is not familiar with Shivani's Krishna Kali, Surangama, Atithi and Chaudah Phere. These novels were all serialised in popular magazines like Dharmyug and Saptahik Hindustan and their installments were awaited eagerly by her fans every week, especially in the 1960s and 70s. She became a cult figure over these years and the status continues till today, six years after she passed away.

Shivani was born in Rajkot in Gujarat. The family later moved to Rampur and Orchha where her father, a Kumaoni Brahmin, held prominent position as a tutor in these princely States. Along with her older siblings, Gaura was sent to Santiniketan and studied there for almost a decade until she graduated in 1943. She was strongly influenced by Rabindranath Tagore and the Bengali culture which can be seen in some of her works like Krishnakali.

She was a pioneer in giving voice to the Indian women through her women-centred novels. Her story, lal Haveli, established her reputation in the early sixties, and in the next ten years, she produced several major works which were serialised in Dharmyug. Her most famous works

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include Chaudah Phere, Krishnakali, lal Haveli and Vishkanya. She was caught in a time when domesticity was the only way of life for women. Before gender and feminism became important and self-conscious territories, Shivani was already instinctively writing about it without a self-conscious agenda.

Eminent writer and journalist Mrinal Pandey, Shivani's daughter, once wrote that her mother used to buy ordinary full-scape paper from the local book depot and "Occasional rough drafts were written in our old school notebooks. When she had two to four installments of manuscript, our servant used to take them to the post-office for sending them by registered post."

Shivani's younger daughter, Ira Pande, a writer and editor, wrote a loving account of her mother's life in her book "Diddi: My Mother's Voice" which was published in 2005. Shivani was addressed as "Diddi" by her children. In the Prologue to the book, Ira says "Diddi created her fictional universe from the part of her life she loved best: her childhood and early years. Time and again, she used Kumaon and Bengal as the setting of her romantic novels and she clung to these territories as a child to a mother's hand

"As a tribute to her days at Santiniketan, she wrote a small book called "Amader Santiniketan" (Our Santiniketan).

Shivani's love for Kumaon comes through in her reminiscences recounted in "Mountain Echoes" brought out by Namita Gokhale, herself a Kumaoni by birth, in 1998. "Kumaon's past is replete with a rich and colourful history. Though the Mughals were eyeing the wealth of Uttarakhand, yet the king of Kumaon had the temerity to shelter Dara Shikoh and Shuja in defiance of the Mughal court. This independence of thought has always characterised Kumaoni culture. Prosperity never interfered with integrity," she says.

Recalling the long winter evenings when the entire family sat around the fire, she says, "I feel nostalgic for those days, for the long winters when we sat huddled indoors by the 'Saggar' (iron grate) fire. We were warned not to go out after sunset, when fairies and wood satyrs were supposed to take possession of the bodies and spirits of nubile young girls."

The entire family would sit around the fire, drinking warm milk sweetened with jaggery and listening to the scary tales told by the elders, she adds.

life in Kumaon was simple when Shivani was a young girl and it was about her life that we constantly read in her works. The majestic oaks, the breathtaking beauty of the Himalayan peaks, the sound of the flute floating on the moving clouds. These were the images that were engraved in her mind and heart.