Kalimpong

This is the book launch event for a novel by Debalina Haldar, a Sahitya Akademi-shortlisted novelist. This is her fourth novel, “Kalimpong”. About the book 1949, Tibet. Five-year-old Pema and her inseparable friend Dama spend their days chasing dreams through mountain villages, studying at the local school, and praying at the monastery. But when conflict sweeps through Tibet, their peaceful childhood is shattered. As the political turmoil peaks, a single act of betrayal changes the course of their lives forever. Years later, in the mist-laden mountain town of Kalimpong, a woman begins searching for the story behind a bracelet engraved with names she does not recognize. Drawn by an inexplicable connection, she uncovers a forgotten story that stretches from the snowbound valleys of Tibet to the refugee settlements of India—a story of enduring friendship, sibling love, impossible choices, exile and belonging, and of mothers and daughters whose lives were shaped by history's upheavals. Rich with the landscapes of the Eastern Himalayas and infused with the enduring presence of clouds, rivers, and memory, Kalimpong: The Ridge of Lost Names is a novel about the names history forgets and the love that remembers them. About the Author Debalina Haldar is an alumna of IIM Lucknow, class of 2015. She started writing when she was seven years old. She writes in the literary fiction genre. Her novel, The Female Ward, was published in October 2012, by Thames River Press (UK). Her second book, Wrinkles in Memory, is a collection of 22 short stories. It was published in August 2016 by Lifi Publications. Wrinkles in Memory was shortlisted for the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar for books in English in 2020. Her novel, The Daughters of Shantiniketan, was published in August 2025 by Readomania Publishing. She is based in Bengaluru, where she lives with her husband and her two children.