Before you stay
The house where the next chapter began
At nine, Haridutt Bhatt left his village and sold tea in Calcutta. He worked his way through school, taught while still learning, completed a doctorate, spent a life as an educator, and entered retirement ready to begin again as a writer. Shail Shikhar is the home of that next chapter.
You do not need to know his work before you arrive. The story belongs to anyone, at any age or from any beginning, who is still in the process of becoming something.
The Name
A family, a house, and the name a town gave a writer
Shail is Shail Bhatt, the grandmother at the heart of the family. Shikhar is the house itself, standing above Mussoorie in the Himalayan foothills.
Shailesh is Hari Dutt Bhatt: the name the people of Mussoorie gave him, a name that joined the man, the writer and the house in the town's memory.
Shail Bhatt and Dr. Haridutt Bhatt 'Shailesh' · Family archive The Long Making
A life is made, not inherited
It begins far from literary life. At nine, Haridutt Bhatt left his village for Calcutta and sold tea. He saved what he earned to enter school, then taught children his own age while continuing to study himself.
Education was not a single turning point. It was a process repeated over years: school, college, then a doctorate. He went on to teach Hindi at The Doon School, where the seriousness with which he treated language shaped generations of students.
Retirement became another beginning. At Shail Shikhar, Dr. Bhatt devoted himself to writing under the name 'Shailesh', drawing on Himalayan life and culture. The house was not a retreat from useful work. It was where a new body of work could begin at a different age.
You do not need to arrive knowing his books. His story is simpler and larger than literary reputation: a person can begin without advantage, learn by doing, teach while still learning, and remain capable of another chapter.
Dr. Bhatt at Shail Shikhar · Family archive 1950s
The Doon years
A Prime Minister's boyhood, spent here
Long before he was Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi was a boy at The Doon School, in Kashmir House, where Dr. Haridutt Bhatt was his Hindi teacher and housemaster. Published accounts also name Dr. Bhatt as his local guardian: the adult in Mussoorie responsible for him whenever school let him out.
That is what this house was to him: the young Rajiv came here on school weekends and exeats, part of the household rather than a guest in it. Dr. Bhatt treated him as he treated every boy in his care, and the family remembers an affection and respect on both sides that outlasted school by decades.
The letter proves the second half. On 27 September 1988, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi wrote to thank Dr. Bhatt for his comments on that year's Independence Day speech and for his guidance on correct Hindi. It shows something personal: even from the Prime Minister's office, he sent his words back to the teacher who had first corrected them.
When friends suggested that he seek recognition through his former pupil, Dr. Bhatt smiled and asked, "So, you want me to ask for my Guru Dakshina?" For him, the success of his students was reward enough.
Dr. Bhatt with Rajiv Gandhi · Family archive A House for Making Things
Where the muse kept coming back
Some places make work easier. The hills above Mussoorie have been that for writers for a long time, and this house was that for the people who passed through it. Dr. Bhatt did his writing here in the years after The Doon School, and the books he published as Shailesh were about the Himalayan life around him.
Ruskin Bond, whose stories are set in these same hills, came for the conversation and kept coming back. He once hoped to stay here, and Dr. Bhatt would not hear of taking rent from a friend. Bond found another home in Mussoorie and remained a regular at this one.
It is not a museum. The desk is gone; the conversation is not. There is a verandah to write on, window seats to read in, and an oak to sit under with nothing to do. That, the family would say, is the point of the place.
Dr. Bhatt with Ruskin Bond · Family archive 2011
Dr. Haridutt Bhatt 'Shailesh' died in September 2011, aged 85. His obituary is where much of the published record on this page comes from.
Today
The next generation
The muse stayed in the family
A muse does not only visit. In this house it stayed, and it worked on the children as much as on the guests.
Himani Shivpuri, born Himani Bhatt, grew up here in rooms full of books, students and talk. This is where the artist in her began: school dramatics first, then the National School of Drama, then four decades of theatre, film and television, from Hum Aapke Hain Koun and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge onward.
She and her brother Himanshu keep the house now, with Suresh bhaiya, who came in Dr. Bhatt's time and has spent his whole life here. Ask him anything about the place; he was there.
For seventy years this house has looked after people who make things. Now it looks after you.
Himanshu and Himani, tea on the terrace · Family photograph
Words returned to their teacher
A Prime Minister still sent his words back to his teacher
The family archive places the relationship beside the evidence: Dr. Bhatt with Rajiv Gandhi, then Rajiv’s signed thanks for comments on his Independence Day speech and guidance on correct Hindi usage. The letter proves continued exchange, not that the speech itself was written inside this house.
A relationship that outlived school
Dr. Haridutt Bhatt 'Shailesh' with his former pupil Rajiv Gandhi. Their exchange about language continued after Rajiv became Prime Minister.
Family archive · Select to view the document
The pupil still listening to his teacher
A signed letter from Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, dated 27 September 1988, thanking Dr. Bhatt for his comments on the Independence Day speech and his guidance on correct Hindi usage.
Family archive · Select to view the document
Memories that endured
Sonia Gandhi wrote to Dr. Bhatt in 2003 after reading his recollections of Rajiv's Doon School years, saying that they brought back memories cherished by the family.
Family archive · Select to view the document
A photograph from the family archive
Dr. Haridutt Bhatt 'Shailesh' with Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.
Family archive · Select to view the document
Doscos
This house has been part of Doon School life since the 1950s. Your 10 percent discount is standing. Mention your batch when you write to us.
The receipts
Where every claim on this site comes from
Published means a third party you can go and read. Family record means the hosts’ own account of their own house. Nothing goes on this site without a line here.
The writer and the house
Dr. Haridutt Bhatt 'Shailesh' was Hindi master at The Doon School
He was a renowned Hindi writer and poet who wrote under the pen name Shailesh
Published
Rajiv Gandhi was his student at The Doon School
Published
He was Rajiv Gandhi's local guardian, photographed outside his Mussoorie residence
Published
Dr. Bhatt was a housemaster of Kashmir House, where Rajiv Gandhi lived at The Doon School
Published
The young Rajiv Gandhi spent school weekends and exeats at this house as part of the household
Family record
Rajiv Gandhi was educated at The Doon School
Rajiv Gandhi remained affectionate toward and in contact with Dr. Bhatt after school
Published account / Family record
Friends suggested that Dr. Bhatt seek an award through Rajiv Gandhi; he replied by asking whether they wanted him to seek his Guru Dakshina
Published account
Rajiv Gandhi thanked Dr. Bhatt for comments on his 1988 Independence Day speech and guidance on correct Hindi usage
Primary family archive
Sonia Gandhi wrote to Dr. Bhatt in 2003 after reading his recollections of Rajiv's Doon School years
Primary family archive
Dr. Bhatt was photographed with Rajiv Gandhi and with Ruskin Bond; a separate family photograph shows him with Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru
Family archive
Dr. Bhatt made the house a place for writing, teaching, conversation and literary friendship
Family record / Synthesis
At nine, Haridutt Bhatt left his village for Calcutta, sold tea, saved for school, taught children his own age while studying, continued through college and a doctorate, and turned seriously to writing in retirement at Shail Shikhar
Family record
Ruskin Bond and Dr. Bhatt were friends; Bond hoped to stay at the house, Dr. Bhatt would not accept rent, and Bond remained a regular visitor. That Bond's stories are set in these hills is general published knowledge
Family record / Published
The house is where Himani Shivpuri found her muse: her creative beginnings, from school dramatics onward, are placed here by the family
Family record
The high Himalaya stands on the northern horizon from the house; the rooms look at it
Family record
A room balcony, the garden and the house look over the valley, Mussoorie and distant Himalayan ridges
Primary family archive
Shail Bhatt, grandmother of the house, is the first half of its name
Family record
Shikhar refers to the house itself, and Shailesh was the name the people of Mussoorie gave Hari Dutt Bhatt
Family record
Himani Shivpuri, born Himani Bhatt, is the daughter of the house
Published (relationship) / Family record (the house)
Shail Shikhar was Himani Shivpuri's childhood home, where books, students and conversation formed part of family life
Family record
Himanshu Bhatt and Himani Shivpuri are Dr. Bhatt's children, and the house carries their family legacy
Published (relationship) / Family record (legacy)
National School of Drama, then Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Hum Aapke Hain Koun, and four decades of Hindi cinema and television
Published
Dr. Bhatt died in 2011 (timeline marker on /story)
Published
"For seventy years this house has looked after people"; still the family's home, kept by the next generation; part of Doon School life since the 1950s (Dosco note)
Family record
The name
शैल (shail): mountain, rock
Published
शिखर (shikhar): summit, peak, pinnacle
Published
शैलेश (shailesh): lord of mountains, an epithet of the Himalaya
Published (compound)
The property and its reviews
Mussoorie, Dehradun District, Uttarakhand 248179
Published
"Next to ITBP Gate, Mall Road" (street locator in site.address.street and the footer display line)
Published
Garden; terrace; balcony; free Wi-Fi
Published
"Pet friendly"
Family record (supersedes the listing)
Parking for up to four cars at the house
Family record
Every room has a private outdoor sitting area of its own
Family record
A professional chef; the food is very good; the dining room is for meals and for games
Family record
A bonfire on cold nights
Family record
An on-call concierge service that plans and books guests' itineraries (rafting, walks, restaurants)
Family record
Suresh bhaiya, the caretaker, came to the house in Dr. Bhatt's time and has spent his whole life here
Family record
Guests rate the house 9.2 out of 10 across its listing reviews
Published
Reviewers praise the ambience, the hospitality, the cosiness of the house and its welcome to animals
Published (themes)
"a very neat and cosy place" (quoted, attributed to a TripAdvisor reviewer, paraphrase: false)
Published (reviewer's own words)
"the staff is extremely courteous and the owner makes your stay very special" (quoted, paraphrase: false)
Published (reviewer's own words)
A guest disheartened with their previous accommodation extended their stay here; the house accommodated a guest's pets
Published (paraphrased)
Mall Road 1.1 km, Camel's Back Road 1.5 km, Dehradun airport 54 km, Kempty Falls 14 km
Published
Not affiliated with same-name hotels in Pauri or Rishikesh
Published
Google Maps link points at this property and no other (site.googleCid = 14991691324221853997, site.googleMapsUrl = https://maps.google.com/?cid=14991691324221853997)
Published