Nikhil Sachan

Nikhil Sachan, an IIT-IIM graduate, and a banker-turned-author is undoubtedly the country’s highest-selling author of Hindi books. All four of his books broke records & claimed the top spot on the AC Nielsen Bestseller list. Namely – Namak Swadanusar, Zindagi Aais Pais, UP 65 and PapaMan. (Namak Swadanusar) was awarded the ‘Best Hindi Book of 2013’ by BBC. For UP 65, Nikhil was awarded ‘Emerging Author of the Year’ by FICCI and ‘Highest selling Hindi Book of 2017’ by Amazon. The film rights for UP 65 were later sold to Jio Studios. The rights to his 4th book, PapaMan, were sold to Fresh Lime Films.

Released Films / Shows –

• Home Shanti
• Panchayat
• UP 65
• Yeh Meri Family
• Bajao

To be Released –

• Sumo Didi (Film)
• Salam Noni Appa (Film)

How to write your first film and sell it too! In these two days we will cover:

• Finding a logline
• Validating if it works
• Expanding it into a story
• Validating if it works
• Putting it into a structure
• Writing a screenplay outline
• Writing scenes and dialogues
• Rewriting
• Rewriting
• Rewriting
• Preparing your pitch deck
• Finding potential producers/backers
• Selling it and enjoying your single malt

The Exercises we do will include: Writing loglines. Validating. Writing a sample scene. Re-writing a scene. Re-writing a scene. Selling pitch.

The Himalayan Writing Retreat is built for writing and learning. We are rated 5-star on google and facebook.

Once here, you will be sharing a room with two fellow participants. All essentials like food, hot water, towels etc. are provided. No hidden costs.

It can snow in winter. Weather can vary and the weather chart of Mukteshwar (12 km from the retreat) is here. A pair of sturdy walking shoes, some rain protection and an extra layer or two are always a good idea.

Our rooms are built to let nature in and inspire you. To see pictures of the rooms click here . To see pictures of the writing spaces click here

Depending upon where you travel in from, you can reach us by road, train or air. Even if flying or taking a train, the final stretch is a drive, and the last 150 metres is a walk.

By Road

The retreat is a 370 km/9 hours drive from Delhi. If driving, we recommend you leave early. Note that parking at the retreat is on the road – we do not have any private parking. We have limited driver accommodation, so please check in advance.

Overnight Volvo buses ply between Haldwani and Delhi, the more reliable of which are government operated. You con book those here. Private Volvos and Sleeper buses also ply between Delhi and Haldwani, which you can book on redbus. Make sure you pick a bus with a high (4+) rating.

By Train

There are three trains a day from Delhi to Kathgodam, the nearest train station. Some others also come in from Kolkata, Lucknow and Dehradun. From Delhi, Ranikhet Express is a convenient overnight train both ways, but finding tickets can be difficult. 

Most people prefer to take the Kathgodam Shatabdi (Delhi dep: 6.20 AM, Kathgodam Arr: 11.40 AM). A cab from Kathgodam to Satkhol takes about 2.5 hrs / Rs. 2200 (more for a big car). Cabs are often shared by participants. 

By Air

There are daily flights from Delhi to Pantnagar. A cab from Pantnagar to Satkhol takes about 3.5 hr / Approx INR 4K.

There are direct flights from Mumbai and Bangalore to Bareilly 3-4 days a week. Satkhol is a 5hr / INR 5.5k cab ride from Bareilly. (More for a big car). Cabs are often shared by participants.

1. Why should I choose HWR Workshops?   

• Personal Attention: We don’t take more than 10 students in a class. You get a lot of personal attention and feedback. No classrooms of 20-30 people or one-way pre-recorded videos here.
• Class Quality: For most courses, we filter our participants. You can’t just pay and sign up. We need to see a writing sample (in our application form) to ensure the class is of a uniform standard.
• Cost per hour: Our courses are long and intense. As an example, the Creative Writing course is 18000 for 24 contact hours (3 days, 8 hours each day). The cost per hour = 750 / hour. That is comparable to many of the “cheaper” courses.
• Quality of faculty: No lightweights here. Many of our faculty are award-winners. All are experts and great teachers. We don’t settle for average.
• Feedback scores: Across courses, we are rated 4.5/5, or higher. You can read our reviews HERE.

2. Do I get a certificate of participation?

Yes, certificates are available on request.

3. Any discounts for students / other categories?

At the Himalayan Writing Retreat, we follow a strict No-Discount policy.

4. Is the workshop fee refundable?

Our cancellation policy is as follows:

• Online Writing Workshop: 100% refund if cancellation 2 weeks before the event start date, 50% if cancellation one week before the start date, 0% if less than one week before the start date.
• Creative Writing Workshop at the Himalayas: 100% refund if cancellation 4 weeks before the event start date, 50% if cancellation two weeks before the start date, 0% if less than two weeks before the start date.

5. Is the Himalayan Writing Retreat a business or an NGO?

The Himalayan Writing Retreat is a social enterprise. It works closely and actively with two local NGOs in its community work initiatives: Chirag and Alaap. In 2020, HWR raised INR 6.1 Lakhs to support the Chirag School.

Have more questions? Feel free to write to us at info@himalayanwritingretreat.com or connect with us at +91 73035 16665 (Call/ WA/Signal).