Neelum Saran Gour
'Gour writes with unusual insight and depth... . Whatever form Gour decides to take... the colours are vivid, the message delivered in no uncertain terms. Gour's power lies in her ability to shape her ideas into statements without sounding didactic... . Quintessentially Indian, each story is wrapped in a certain magic that communicates a culture.In it Gour laughs, grieves and rejoices. Just the kind of book you should carry on a long journey.
'Vinita Rajan in The Week,
(Nov 1997, on "Winter Companions")
'My interest in Gour arose as I heard her unselfconscious narrative voice and saw her ability to hold a story together without recourse to stylish pyrotechnics... . Virtually anyone who has read the new fiction in English that is emerging out of India has commented on its sameness. Set in the metropolitan towns of a brave new India, they have a cast of characters that is now shop - soiled from over - handling. In their personal agendas - gender justice, Partition, dalithood - written in the politically correct rhetoric of the present, there is little place for stories. In playing clever games with the English language they often forget to write with passion or emotional engagement. This is why I find Gour's oeuvre so refreshing. Her stories evoke towns with strong personalities of their own.'
Ira Pande in The Pioneer,
(Oct 1997 about "Winter Companions")
'Neelum Saran Gour... is an excellent writer with a wonderfully perceptive mind... .Most of her stories give a rare insight into human relationships. Winter Companions is a collection of 18 extremely readable, touching short stories that have the exceptional quality ofgiving the reader a glimpse of a myriad India....Each of the kstories is a surprise and a pleasure to read.
'The Statesman,
(Jan 1998 about "Winter Companions")'
'A writer who has rendered the delicate sparring and reciprocal courtesies of Lucknavi poets so gracefully in English deserves at least a couple of couplets in her praise. Here instead is my poor, prosaic applause.'
Latha Anantharaman in The Indian Review of Books,
(Jan 1998 about "Winter Companions")