He looked into the darkness and tried to soak in the words. His apprehension was apparent, yet he continued his smoke, seeking in it the sedative for the ache of all the questions to which he seemed to possess no answers. echo in the hill is an appealingly simple collection of bittersweet short stories which offers a mirror into the rustic and homely sphere of countryside we gradually have left behind. In ‘Inheritance,’ Hengo Bhai contemplates the realities of his roots that he knew had never existed; a kid comes home for vacation to discover his parent’s deteriorating marriage in ‘A Syrup Story’; while Siem’s infatuation for a college senior pushes him further into self introspection and soul searching. Each of the stories aptly tries to capture and explore themes of love, faith, hatred, regret, identity, misfortune, freedom, among other things - almost all set in the backdrop of the picturesque disorder of Lamka Churachandpur, Manipur.