Priyanka Pradhan: From ‘Tales from the Himalayas’ to ‘Wrong Turns Only’

(Sep 29, 2026) Dubai-based author Priyanka Pradhan is out with her second book, Wrong Turns Only, a young-adult novel exploring identity, belonging, forgiveness and self-discovery. Her literary debut, Tales from the Himalayas, won the Ruskin Bond Promising Writer Award and Montegrappa Prize for Short Stories at the Emirates Festival of Literature in Dubai.

Years ago when Priyanka Pradhan met an Australian traveller in the Andaman Islands, she thought she had been hanging out with a seemingly well-educated, homeless man at a beach shack commune.

Eventually, she discovered that he was, in fact, an heir to a multi-billion-dollar wine conglomerate. He had chosen to live simply because he wanted to experience a world far removed from the one his privilege could provide. “For the adventure,” as he put it.

That encounter stayed with Priyanka because it reminded her how easily people construct stories about others based on appearances, and how often they get those stories completely wrong. Now, years later, the story of the Australian traveller forms a chapter in her recently released book, Wrong Turns Only.

“Are the wrong turns in our lives always wrong, or can they sometimes take us somewhere we needed to go?” wonders Priyanka, in a chat with The Global Indian.

Based in Dubai, UAE, Priyanka made her literary debut in 2020 with Tales from the Himalayas, a collection of children’s short stories that went on to win the Ruskin Bond Promising Writer Award at the Dehradun Literature Festival and the Montegrappa Prize for Short Stories 2021 at the Emirates Festival of Literature in Dubai.

Wrong Turns Only

Her latest work, Wrong Turns Only published by Rupa Publications marks her debut in young adult fiction. Blending adventure, humour and emotional honesty, it explores the complicated bond between a mother and daughter while capturing the uncertainty, vulnerability and self-discovery that come with growing up.

At the centre of this contemporary young-adult coming-of-age novel is 15-year-old Tashi, who has grown up in Nainital carrying a deep sense of abandonment after her mother left when she was very young. When her estranged mother unexpectedly returns and takes her on a three-week road trip along India’s coastline, Tashi is forced to confront questions of family, identity, belonging and forgiveness.

“What begins as an attempt to understand the mother she has never really known becomes something much larger, a journey through anger, identity, friendship, forgiveness and the uncomfortable realisation that the people we love are often far more complicated than the versions of them we carry in our heads.”

As the landscape changes, Tashi’s worldview changes too. “Travel disrupts the certainties she has grown up with and forces her to see both her mother and herself differently.”

Running alongside Tashi’s story is that of her closest friend, Dhruv, who is dealing with difficulties of his own back home. “Their stories explore different forms of growing up and the moment when teenagers begin to understand that adults don’t necessarily have all the answers.”

The novel travels from the hills of Nainital through Mumbai, Goa, Kochi, Pondicherry, Mahabalipuram and Chennai before crossing the sea to the Andaman Islands. “I wanted the geography to do more than provide a backdrop.”

At heart, says the author, the book asks questions that extend well beyond adolescence. What does forgiveness really mean? Can you love somebody without excusing the hurt they have caused you?

Priyanka started writing the novel around 2021, but it took her four years to complete it.

“It wasn’t a creative block as much as an emotional one. I realised that before I could write honestly about forgiveness and closure, I had to come to terms with those things in my own life,” says Priyanka, who, in some ways, had to understand what they meant for her before she could understand what they meant for Tashi.

Through her work, Priyanka continues to create stories that connect young readers with questions of identity, relationships and the many unexpected turns life can take.

Stories rooted in the Himalayas

Tales from the Himalayas, published in 2020, draws on stories, places and traditions from the Himalayan region and allowed Priyanka to bring together two things she loves deeply: travel and storytelling.

The Himalayas have always held a special fascination for her. “I grew up listening to my grandmother’s stories about her hometown high up in the mountains in Uttarakhand,” says Priyanka of her debut book, which was endorsed by Ruskin Bond and Freida Pinto.

For a child growing up in metropolitan cities, this distant world seemed almost magical, and Priyanka was completely immersed in it. “I did eventually travel to Uttarakhand many times and realised that there is something about the mountains, in their beauty, remoteness, folklore and the sense that stories are embedded in the landscape, that continually draws me back.”

The collection became a bestseller in its category and continues to find an audience among young readers, schools and literary circles for its evocative storytelling and rich cultural setting.

For a writer whose imagination has been shaped by the hills and by books, receiving an award bearing Ruskin Bond’s name was particularly special.

From journalism to storytelling

Born in Mumbai and growing up between Mumbai and Bengaluru, Priyanka studied at Baldwin Girls’ High School in Bengaluru before moving to St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, for higher studies. She completed her postgraduate studies in journalism from The Asian College of Journalism, Chennai.

An avid reader from a young age, books were her first introduction to worlds beyond her own.

“Stories, writing and performing arts interested me far more than anything else, although at that age, I certainly didn’t imagine that writing would eventually become such an important part of my professional life.”

A curious child and a fairly conscientious student, some of her strongest memories of growing up have less to do with academics and more with fiction, friendships and the beginnings of an interest in people and their stories.

“Looking back, I think that curiosity eventually found its natural home in journalism,” says Priyanka, who has been based in Dubai since 2011, where she lives with her family and Labrador, Tango.

I have spent a significant part of my adult life outside India, but India remains very much home in an emotional and creative sense. It continues to find its way into almost everything I write.

Priyanka Pradhan

The writer has spent several years in television news in India, working with organisations including CNBC, CNN-IBN and ET Now, before moving to Dubai, where she shifted her focus to a career in writing.

When travel became a calling

Travel and writing have always been closely connected for Priyanka because she has been fascinated by places, people, histories, food, memories and the stories that give a place its character. “My early years of solo travel taught me how quickly our assumptions about people can fall apart,” she says.

“Travel writing didn’t so much kick in as evolve naturally from my years of solo travel. I’ve loved travelling alone since my early 20s and turned those experiences into stories,” says Priyanka, who has worked across news, business journalism, features, luxury, fashion, lifestyle and travel for organisations including Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East and The New York Times Style Magazine, where she worked as an assistant editor.

She has also contributed to publications including Khaleej Times, Harper’s Bazaar Middle East, Condé Nast Traveller Middle East, Gulf News, Sorbet and DestinAsian. Over time, travel writing simply became an extension of the way she travelled, curious about places but even more interested in the people and stories she encountered along the way.

Travel writing taught me to pay attention to atmosphere, geography and the small details that make a place distinctive. Those instincts inevitably feed into my fiction as well.

Priyanka Pradhan

Exploring new stories

Priyanka is already working on her third book. “It is another young-adult novel and is still at a very early stage, so I am being deliberately protective of it for now,” says Priyanka, who, until recently, worked at a UAE publishing house and lifestyle titles including Madame Arabia and Villa 88 Travel Magazine.

She wants to continue exploring young people at moments of transition, identity, belonging, the things they inherit from adults and the things people eventually have to discover for themselves.

“With every book, I want to push myself further as a writer. Tales from the Himalayas was one kind of journey, Wrong Turns Only is another, and I hope the next book takes me somewhere creatively different again,” says Priyanka, who is looking forward to author interactions, literary festivals and opportunities to conduct writing workshops with teenagers as she takes Wrong Turns Only to the world.

Beyond writing

“My reading tastes are quite eclectic, but I am particularly drawn to character-driven fiction that is emotionally honest and beautifully written without losing sight of story.”

Some books that have stayed with her include Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah, Shubhangi Swarup’s Latitudes of Longing, Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief and Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day.

“I also love writing by Arundhati Roy, Salman Rushdie and Chitra Divakaruni.” Reading and travel are probably the two constants in her life outside writing, although the three overlap so much that it is difficult to separate them.

Priyanka loves discovering places on foot, observing everyday life and finding the stories that don’t necessarily appear in guidebooks. She also enjoys sketching, painting and experimenting with a different art medium every few months. “When I hit a creative block in my writing, I find this especially helpful because it allows me to work with my hands and create something entirely different. It gives me a break from the monotony while allowing me to remain in a creative space.”

Dubai, India and the meaning of home

Priyanka loves the extraordinary mix of cultures in Dubai.

Living somewhere where people have arrived from all over the world also gives you an interesting perspective on ideas of home and belonging, which are themes that inevitably find their way into my writing.

Priyanka Pradhan

She visits India frequently, both personally and professionally. “Although Dubai has been home for the past 15 years, my family, friendships and much of my creative life remain connected to India.”

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