Sameer Gudhate Presents the Book Review of Climbing a Mountain: Short Stories Inspired by Trekking by Ranjit Kulkarni

There’s something quietly humbling about watching the first light kiss a mountain peak. That tender moment when gold spills over white, and the world holds its breath — it’s not just sunrise; it’s surrender. Reading Climbing a Mountain: Short Stories Inspired by Trekking by Ranjit Kulkarni felt like standing in that fragile dawn — awed, aware, and suddenly small in the best possible way.

I have not climbed any mountain — not in the literal sense. But yes, I have climbed many mountains. The unseen ones. The silent ones. The ones made of loss, love, faith, fear, and those long nights when giving up felt easier than holding on. Maybe that’s why this book hit me harder than I expected — because it reminded me that every one of us, in our own way, is a mountaineer of the soul.

Ranjit Kulkarni isn’t new to spinning human truths out of simple, grounded experiences. His writing has always carried the scent of dusty trails and the echo of laughter around campfires. But here, he takes it higher — literally and emotionally. Drawing from his own treks through the Himalayas, he crafts stories where the real climb isn’t just up a slope of ice and rock — it’s the inner ascent each of us attempts when life demands courage, clarity, or closure.

The book opens not with bravado but with reverence — a nod to a real-life Everest summiteer who captures the essence of this collection: “The real climb is always within.” And that becomes the pulse of every story. Whether it’s a couple realizing that love alone can’t bridge every gap, or a woman who rediscovers her strength one tentative step at a time, these are not tales of conquest — they’re confessions of endurance. Ordinary people, extraordinary resolve.

Kulkarni writes with the calm wisdom of someone who has paused on a ridge to listen to the wind. His prose has that rare combination of clarity and warmth. It doesn’t rush; it breathes. There’s an honesty to his storytelling — a refusal to dramatize the mountain, and yet a deep respect for its metaphoric might. You feel the thin air, the crunch of gravel underfoot, the silence that isn’t really silence at all.

What impressed me most was how each story works on two planes — the outer trek and the inner transformation. A young man chasing freedom ends up tasting humility instead. A middle-aged man searching for peace finds noise — only to discover that stillness was always within. An elderly woman climbing for detachment ends up embracing love. Every summit is a mirror. Every descent, a reckoning. And through it all runs a quiet thread of spiritual reflection — not in a sermonizing way, but in the way mountain air naturally makes you turn inward.

The structure of the collection feels organic, like a trek itself. You begin with anticipation, hit moments of fatigue, find your rhythm, and end with awe. The pacing is deliberate — sometimes leisurely, sometimes steep — but always purposeful. The last story, aptly titled “Climbing a Mountain,” leaves a lump in the throat. Sandip, the protagonist, carries both oxygen and grief as he attempts Everest — and somewhere between the ice and the clouds, he finds a conversation with his late mother. It’s a story that doesn’t just close the book; it opens something within you.

If I had to nitpick, I’d say a few stories dip slightly in energy midway — perhaps the way a trek sometimes flattens into a plateau before the final push. But even there, Kulkarni’s empathy and gentle humour keep you going. His characters don’t shout for attention; they whisper truths you recognize from your own climbs — the deadlines, the heartbreaks, the fears you mask with laughter.

Reading this book made me think about the mountains we all carry — invisible ones made of expectations, regrets, or dreams deferred. We’re all climbers in our own way, aren’t we? Some days we sprint; some days we crawl; some days we just sit and watch others ascend — but the journey is ours, personal and sacred.

When I closed the book, I found myself looking up — not at the sky, but at the quiet peaks of my own mind. Ranjit Kulkarni reminded me that reaching the top is never the real victory. The real triumph lies in the step you take when your legs tremble but your spirit says, just one more.

So, if you’ve ever faced a moment that felt insurmountable — in love, work, or life — pick up Climbing a Mountain. It’s more than a collection of short stories; it’s a meditation in motion, a gentle reminder that the toughest climbs often lead us right back to ourselves.

And maybe, just maybe, that’s the summit we were meant to reach all along.

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