I don’t believe in finding your voice.
I don’t believe that voice is something you find.
Voice is not some precious secret hidden somewhere inside you that you need to dig for. Your voice is always with you, always growing and becoming. Your voice is simply how you sound when you are authentically yourself: it is present in what you notice, in the things that make you laugh, in what makes you angry and what makes you vulnerable, in the people you are in relationship with, in the stories you carry but may not always tell.
Nor is your voice a singular thing. You have an angry voice and a tired voice, a brave voice and a tender voice. You have a voice in which you speak to a stranger, a voice in which you speak to a child you love, a voice in which you speak to a parent or a boss. An “inside voice” and an “outside voice.” None of those are necessarily truer than the other— they are simply different parts of yourself, different registers in which you speak.
I designed this 4 day Writing Retreat around the question of voice, drawing from my experiences as a writer and facilitator as well as my experiences with Narrative Therapy. This is both, a workshop in literary craft and an exploration of who you are and what makes you you— because that is voice.
All the Things You Can Become:
A Writing Retreat about Voice and Growth
Set in an eco-friendly retreat centre within an apple orchard, this workshop brings brings many different lenses, some playful and some vulnerable, to the idea of writerly voice. Over our time together, we will listen to the voices inside and around us. We will listen, also, to our silences (one of the most powerful parts of any voice). We will grow our sense of our own unique voices, changing and developing as we do. And above all, we will risk authenticity; we will practise the art of not editing ourselves, of letting ourselves be heard.
You will leave this workshop more attuned to your own voice, more able to craft your writing consciously around it. And just as much, you will leave more able to hear and witness one another — to be in chorus with many other voices.
“I signed up for Aditi’s workshop because I wanted to grow as a writer in a beautiful setting. What I never imagined was that it would transform me as a person too. The varied writing tasks and prompts were each incredibly meaningful and drew out raw, deep, emotive work from each os us. I learned to be brave and vulnerable in the safest, most magical and supportive environment on earth. The experience will live in my heart for a lifetime.”
— Nicole Jarvis, Teacher
Nomad Eco-Retreat, Gallu
is located on Baba Bhalku Road, about 15 km from Shimla. The retreat is in the middle of an apple orchard, and surrounded by Deodar forests, with views of the snow peaks in the distance. It is the perfect balance between wilderness and comfort, boasting of mud cottages, luxury tents, hot running water, wildflowers, forest sounds, and stunning night skies.
Dates
20 May - 24 May, 2026
Number of Participants: 8-12
Registrations close 10th May, but seats often fill up much earlier. If you’d like to reserve a spot, please email us at the earliest
Costs
Accommodation for the workshop is in Swiss Tents with British Campaign Style furniture or Mud Cottages with Queen beds, desks, and window seats. Both types of accommodation have ensuite washrooms, running hot water, and all modern amenities.
COSTS for swiss Tents (including GST)
Twin sharing:: Rs. 38,000/- Per Person.
Single occupancy (based on availability): Rs. 48,000/- Per person
COSTS for MUD-HUT (including GST)
TWIN SHARING: RS. 44,000/- Per Person.
SINGLE OCCUPANCY (based on availability): RS. 58,000/- Per person
This cost includes:
7 Workshop sessions spread out over 4 nights, 5 days
Accommodation for 4 nights, 5 days.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and 2 rounds of chai and snacks from 4 PM on Day 1 to 1 PM on Day 5
Field trip with picnic
Optional Guided Nature Meditation Walks each morning
Special local Himachali dinner one night
Live Music and Bonfire on one night
Basic first aid and stationery
This cost excludes:
Travel from participants’ respective cities
Additional food, alcohol etc.
Medical expenses beyond first aid, if needed
Insurance
Other Personal Expenses
I signed up for Aditi Rao’s workshop to build skill and strength. It took me that entire week to realize one couldn’t survive without the other. It’s remarkable how fresh mountain air, delicious food, and delightful company can transform you. In short, it was life-changing.
No amount of words can do justice to how fantastic this writing retreat has been for my sense of self. I’d recommend it to everyone who feels a bit lost, lucked out, or low. I’d recommend it even if you don’t feel any of those things. This isn’t a coming-of-age tale (I’m too old) or a coming-out story (I’m too late). It’s simply an anecdote about finally finding my voice and not being quite so afraid of writing anymore. And sometimes, that’s all that counts.- Aniruddha Mahale, Author of Get Out: The Gay Man’s Guide to Coming Out and Going Out
Schedule
Day 1
2:00 PM - 4 PM: Arrivals: Amit from Nomad Eco-Retreat will coordinate with you to in case you need help figuring out transportation from Shimla or Chandigarh. If you drive from Delhi or take the morning Kalka Shatabdi, you can comfortably make it before 4 PM. If you were already in Shimla the previous night, you can head to Nomad after lunch and just use the extra time to settle into camp or go for a walk nearby.
4:00 - 5:00 - Chai and Snacks
5:00 – 7:30: Opening Circle. Once everyone has settled in, we gather as a group to introduce ourselves, walk through the space, and go over the schedule for the days ahead. We will generate a list of first agreements — a set of principles that will guide our time together and help create a space that is simultaneously safe, challenging, and honest for everyone. We then move into our first writing session together, which uses metaphor to guide us into the central question we will be living with for the next four days: what is your voice, right now? Not as a question to answer correctly, but as one to play with and return to.
8:00: We end the day with dinner and a bonfire, leaving you to have an early night or to stay up late watching the stars.
Day 2
7:00 – 8:00: Enjoy your morning tea with spectacular valley views. There will also always be an optional journaling prompt to accompany your morning chai — a more private invitation into the day's themes.
8:00 – 9:00: Join us for an optional nature meditation walk through the nearby orchards and villages. We take a different route each day and walk part of the way in silence with a meditation prompt. The walks are never strenuous — just an opportunity to start your day with fresh air and grounding in nature.
9:00 – 10:30: Return from your walk to a hot breakfast and time to catch your breath.
10:30 - 1:00 We gather in the Baithak for our first morning of craft work. This session is about voice as a sonic and rhythmic phenomenon — about what your writing sounds like when it is at rest, and what it sounds like when it is unguarded. We will write in two very different registers and discover, through the contrast, what stays constant.
1:00 - 4:30: Enjoy a leisurely lunch, followed by an open afternoon to write, read, explore the area, or get some rest. There will always be a bowl of writing prompts for you to use in your off-time if you would like.
4:30 - 5:00: Chai Break
5:00 - 7:30: Our evening sessions ask something different of us than the mornings do. Tonight we borrow from Narrative Therapy’s practice of re-membering, and we look for our voice in the relationships we value. This is a session about inviting in the voices that have shaped ours, and about listening closely to the wisdom they can share with us..
8:00: We close our first full day together with a bonfire with live music. As always, you are free to retire early for the night or stay up late stargazing.
Day 3
7:00 - 8:00: Enjoy your morning tea with spectacular valley views— if you’re feeling particularly ambitious, wake up a bit earlier and watch sunrise from the peak. There will also always be an optional journaling prompt, usually based on narrative therapy exercises, to accompany your morning chai.
8:00 - 9:00: If you’d like to stretch your limbs a little, join us for a guided walk through the nearby orchards and villages. We will take a different route each day, and the walks will never be particularly strenuous, just opportunities to start your day with fresh air and a little exercise. We will conduct part of each walk in silence.
9:00-10:00: Return from your walk to a hot breakfast and a little time to catch your breath and prepare for your day.
10:00 – 10:30: Today we leave camp together for the nearby Deodar forests.
11:00 - 1:30: This session draws on where we are — the forest, the light, the particular quality of attention that comes from being outside. We will write from what we notice, and then ask: what does the pattern of our attention tell us about how we see? The detail you instinctively move toward is a fingerprint. Learning to recognise it is one of the most useful craft tools a writer can have.
1:30 - 4:00: Picnic lunch in the forest, followed by open time to write, walk, or rest in the sun.
4: 30 - 5:00 - Chai
5:00 - 7:30 - Tonight we go into the territory of silence. We treat silence as a kind of speaking, and we work with the assumption that we have always been speaking, always been responding. We allow ourselves to ask what voices our silence has carried.
8:00 PM - After an intense day of writing and sharing, we have dinner and leave room to retire early — but there are always bonfires, board games, and books to read if you want to stay late!
Day 4
7:00 – 8:00: Morning tea and optional journaling prompt.
8:00 – 9:00: Optional guided walk.
9:00 – 10:30: Hot breakfast and time to settle.
10:30 – 1:00: Third Craft Session. This morning we continue to play with silences, and also with gossip. We pay attention to what can be true and authentic even in the stories we tell sideways, even in the voice that operates just outside the official story. We play also with what Emily Dickinson famously called “Telling it Slant".
1:00 – 4:30: Leisurely lunch and open afternoon.
4:30 – 5:00: Chai.
5:00 – 7:30: On our last evening together, we become witnesses for each other. We listen carefully, ask questions, and then offer back Here is what I noticed. Here is what feels most essentially you. Here is what I want you to carry when you leave. This session is a celebration of the individual voices in the room, and it is, in my experience, one of the most quietly transformative things a group of writers can do for each other.
8:00 PM - We close out our last evening together with a Chambiyali Dham — a traditional feast cooked by our chefs from the Chamba district of Himachal. We leave you to stay up late talking to each other, or to the starlit skies above.
Day 5
7:00 - 8:00: Enjoy our last morning together with tea and spectacular valley views— and if you haven’t yet woken up for the sunrise, today would be a good day to do so!
8:00 - 9:00: Join us for one more walk through the nearby orchards and villages, taking in the fresh air and friendly people, and saying your “see you later”s to the mountains.
9:00 - 10:00: Come back from your walk to a hot breakfast and time to catch your breath.
10:00 - 11:00: We meet at 10:00 for a closing circle, during which we throw a ball of twine around the room, thank each other, and close our time together with hugs and photographs.
11:00 - 12:30: We pack our things, share one last cup of tea, hug each other again, and begin our journeys back to Shimla or Kalka in time to catch the Shatabdi, the toy train, or the overnight Volvos. In case you would like to stay another night before heading home, do speak to Amit beforehand: he may be able to host you for another night if you book in advance.
To Register
Please email me through the “Contact Me” page to register for the event.
Your seat will only be confirmed once you make the payment in full, via online transfer or by depositing cash or a cheque in a local bank branch. Because we have to pay various vendors for Camp, we do require the full amount upfront in order to confirm your seat.
Registrations close 10th May, but seats often fill up much earlier. If you’d like to reserve a spot, please email us at the earliest.
Cancellation Policy
In case you need to cancel for some reason after you have paid, the Cancellation policy will be:
More than 4 weeks before Day 1 of Camp: 90% refund
3 - 4 weeks before Day 1 of Camp: 50 % refund
2 - 3 weeks before Day 1 of Camp: 25% refund
Less than 2 weeks before Day 1 of Camp: No refund. The only exception to this rule is cancellations due to a medical emergency; in this case, please provide us a copy of your doctor’s letter, and we will offer you a coupon for room and board for a future stay at Nomad Eco-Retreat, to be used within 6 months.
Trip Disclaimer
We will have a basic first aid kit at camp, as well as a nursing assistant on standby for medical emergencies. However, if you have any known medical conditions or allergies, please carry your medication with you as there are no chemists in the immediate vicinity of Camp Nomad. Further, in case any participant requires medical attention beyond what can be provided at Camp, we will help organise transport to the nearest hospital. All extra medical and transportation expenses will be borne by the participant.
In keeping with travelling sustainably, please minimise plastic use and ensure you do not litter in the natural areas.
If for any reason you have to leave the trip early, you will not be entitled to a refund. We will not be liable for any expenses incurred to you as a result. However we will do our best to help make all arrangements for you to return to Shimla or your final destination at the earliest.
If the behaviour of any participant is likely to cause distress or harm to themselves, our staff or other team members, we reserve the right to terminate their trip at any time and they will have to make their own arrangements; we will not be liable for any expenses incurred as a result.
“Aditi’s writing workshop was cathartic and transformative. It helped me face my fears and write with candour. Aditi was a kind facilitator who went beyond her role as a mentor, ensuring each voice had its space, She nudged you when required and made sure you stood up to your fears with effortless warmth. Amit, our gracious host, ensured a comfortable stay, taking care of every major and minor need, ensuring we never ran out of chai, and making every minute at Camp memorable. I found a great community to fall back on, a place where I belong, and people to call my own.”
— Monisha Raman, Freelance Writer
Registrations close 10th May, but seats often fill up much earlier. If you’d like to reserve a spot, please email us at the earliest.
