By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 10 Nov: ‘Pahaadi -The Storyteller’, an anthology curated by Sanjeev Kotnala of Intradia World, was launched in an online event on 9 November – Uttarakhand Day. The book is a culmination of a Short Story writing competition for writers with roots in Uttarakhand. It aims at finding and encouraging talent in the state.
Anthology curation is not new to Sanjeev Kotnala; earlier, he has two anthologies on life impact stories – ‘Life reloaded’; life impact stories by professionals across different fields; and ‘Reflections’; again, life impact stories by the 1987 batch of IIIM Ahmedabad. Earlier, Sanjeev has also published ‘Chimera of Lansdowne’, a novel with a hint of the paranormal. He is currently working on his next book- a romantic story, ‘Enchanting Neeli’ to be released in 2022.
‘Pahaadi -The Storyteller’ showcases 17 short stories (fiction) by 15 writers. The stories revolve around happenings, culture and life in and around Uttarakhand. The contest and the book are in memory and tribute to Sanjeev Kotnala’s father, the late Ram Ballabh Kotnala, and his love for Uttarakhand.
In the first year of the contest, Pahaadi received more than 58 stories from 35 writers. The youngest writer is 6 years old, and the oldest is 92 years of age. The entries came from Dehradun, Haldwani, Delhi, Mumbai, Kota, Bageshwar, Nainital, New Jersey and Singapore.
At least three jury panel members evaluated and scored every story. The panel comprises people with roots or high interest in Uttarakhand. These were Aditya Amar, President of One Conscious Society, working on Women Empowerment in the Kumaon region; Prof Alok Saklani of Swami Ram Himalaya University; Apurva Kala, author of many books; Bienu Verma Vaghela, poet and blogger; Prof Dwarika Prasad Uniyal, Pro-VC; Rahul Kotiyal, winner of Ram Nath Goenka Award and Red Ink award; Tanya Kotnala, well-known designer and promoter of Bhuli Design; and Sanjeev Kotnala.
The selected writers featured in the book get a Goody bag from Bhuli Studio and one copy. The top three stories by Sagar Patwal, Manoj Phondani and Vartika Baral win a 3N4D stay for two at Cottage Nirvana, Mukteshwar, a wellness spa and resort.
The winning stories feature in ‘Pahaadi -The Storytellers’ published with Penman publishing. The book is available on Amazon and Flipkart.
Sanjeev Kotnala, an IIM A Alumnus, is a Brand and Marketing consultant` with over 34 years of corporate experience. He invested his first 17 years of professional life in advertising with reputed leading agencyies Mudra, HTA (JWT) and Lintas. His last corporate assignment was Vice President National Marketing with Dainik Bhaskar Group.
In 2014, he became an independent Brand and Marketing Advisor and has worked with Dinshaws, Godfrey Phillips, Lakshya Media, LG and a host of entrepreneurs in the area of Brand, Marketing, Innovation and Creative solutions. He believes in a strategic Brand-I development instead of getting branded by default.
He writes a weekly column KOTMARTIAL in mxmindia.com, focussing on Branding and marketing. His blog ‘Perceptions Adulterated with Reality’ features a broader area of subjects and has been published uninterrupted for more than 412 weeks.
He is also in ‘International Advisory board- Education for Women now’ and Director in India Board of Aid-Et-Action, an international NGO headquartered in Geneva. He is visiting faculty at Mica, Symbiosis and Member Governing Council, Indira Institute of Management studies -Pune.
He is a compulsive doodler and calls it Business meditation. So, in his spare time, he likes to doodle, read a book or work on his next book.