A Kashmiri Century: Khem Lata Wakhlu

Non-Fiction

Verdict: Read it!

I've read quite a few novels and non-fiction works on Kashmir. It's a topic that continues to fascinate me. This book was a little different than the previous reads as it was more academic and stretched out into more angles than just the injustices done in Kashmire, which I found refreshing. 

It is very easy to see that the author is a Kashmiri and cares deeply about the people, not just the geopolitics of the region. It does get a little dry at the core, which I think is to be expected, but it's well worth wading through. 

Read it!

~Becky~

The Greatest Kashmiri Stories ever Told- Neerja Mattoo

Fiction

Read it!

You guys probably already have understood that I love short stories, especially cuturally oriented ones. THis book is a part of a series of books with stories from different corners of India. They are fantastic to read. I forsee reading more of them in the future.

I won't get into each of the stories individually - unwrap them and savor as you'd like. The great thing about this series is that they stories capture the flavor of the place they are from. History sinks into a place and understanding that background makes you appreciate them even more. 

If you like short stories and culture of location, this is a good book for you.

Read it!

~Becky~

Quite Flows the River Jhelum - Jajabot

NonFiction

Verdict: Read it if Partition and Kashmir interest you

I picked this up because it appeared on one of my must read list. Now that I've finished it, I'm not sure I agree it should have been on there, but it's not my list, so. 

This book is non fiction and mostly revolves around Partition and the results on Kashmir. I've talked before about the bloody and difficult histoy Kashmir has had and of course this book is the same. 

I didn't care for the pro-army bent that was boldly in front through this book. I've discussed the issues with the Indian army in Kashmir before as well, but I've never seen such a pro-army discussion outright. There's a lot of history and event sequencing discussed in this book, perhaps too much, it reads like a documentary. Perhaps that was the point. It's not a long book - you can probably finish it within an hour or so. 

As with most books on Kashmir, this left me with a sad, disquieted feeling. If you're literate about the events in Kashmir, this book won't tell you anything different. If you're not, it's definitely slanted to make the army the hero, which is definitely isn't. 

~Becky~

The Book of Gold Leaves - Mirza Waheed

Fiction

Verdict: Read it

This isn't the first book or even the 5th that I've read on some of the travesties that have occured and are still occuring in Kashmir. It never gets easier to read or digest.

The novel itself is an easy read. It's an easily identifiable version of Romeo and Juliet or Laila Majnu. As with most other content about Kashmiris, I found myself almost holding my breath for the inevitable tragedy that occurs just after the author makes you feel you know the character or right before the story ends. This book held true to that pattern. I still think that these types of books are worth reading. Not for the Romeo and Juliet vibe, but because the entire of Kashmir is littered with tragedies and one can't just avoid it because it's uncomfortable. Novels like this also give some of the social and personal context that affects individuals, not just military/country/general population. I also feel individual stories give a great deal of perspective that's not offered by media or official channels; it's often seen dramatically different from an individual perspective.  Experiences also can be vastly different depending on one's family, religious community, job, and social or economic status. To put it simply, it's a very complicated problem that is best understood from as many angles as possible. 

I've been living in India now for 12 years. I too have been caught up in the romantic idea of Kashmir and its beautiful scenery, as well as trying to untangle the complicated web of how it evolved into what is the scenario today. Obviously it's deeply interesting to me in a way that it might not be to others. 

Read it!

~Becky~

The Far Field - Madhuri Vijay

Fiction

Read it!

I initially picked up this book because the art work on the cover is beautiful, and I am very glad I did.  Madhuri Vijay has created something very special with this novel. This is my first exposure to her as an author, and I can't wait to see what else she has written/will write.

This novel is about Shalini. She is from Bangalore who has a very ordinary, yet troubled childhood. Her mother's mental issues are never spelled out, but it's clear she has something wrong. The mother is amused by a wandering Kashmiri clothing seller who comes many times to visit her in her home.  As a child, Shalini can feel that something is wrong, but can't quite put her finger on it. After her mother commits suicide, Shalini decides to find the carpet seller and get her questions answered. Only she doesn't really have a solid location for him, just an old story that he told that helps her in a starting direction. She stays with his extended family for a while and then his son when they agree to help her find him. She exists in a vacuum and passes her time there, wondering if she should stay permanently. Stumbling into a falsely peaceful looking area, she affects the lives of everyone she stays with trying to get her questions answered. Ultimately, her family finds her and a colonel brings her back, then sleeps with her. Her report on the events that she saw in Kashmir are misconstrued to assist the army and the Kashmiri's son is arrested. Shalini is left to live with the fact that inspite of her neutral intentions, her decisions have left a permanent, horrifying mark on people she grew to care about. 

The author unwinds and untangles one thread at a time for us as she goes on an epic trip to uncover some unresolved questions from Shalini's childhood. I know it sounds like a huge trope, but it's very well done. Vijay addresses mental health, infidelity, Kashmir, and how sometimes our actions have unintended, irreversible consequences. It's not a difficult read (though like most of the novels I read, it's quite long), but it does leave you feeling desperately like you wish there was a different outcome. It disturbed me for a few days after I read it.

This isn't my first exposure to the atrocities that continue to happen in Kashmir, but I was very much hoping that the ending would have been at least neutral. It definitely wasn't. I also very much enjoyed (in the literary sense, not seeing a character suffer) how the author focused not only on mental illness and how it can be difficult for an individual, but the long, ongoing consequences that the rest of the family may face. I felt a distinct concern for Shalini the entire novel as it is so obvious that she is wandering lost and trying to make sense of things that were never even spoke of, not to mention explained.

Take your time and wander through this. Its a hell of a book.

~Becky~

Do you Remember Kunan Poshpora - Essar et.al

Non-Fiction
Verdict: Read it

I couldn't remember why I chose this book when I picked it up recently from my to-read pile. I know, I know, you must be thinking this silly woman doesn't remember why she picks ANY book. You are partly right. The problem is that it's been a very very long time since I went to buy books at my favorite store and my to-read pile is epic. I promise you, I am very selective in what I read, and I do not chose books at random.

I thought perhaps Kunan Poshpora was a person, hence the book was a biography, when I picked up this book to read it. Unfortunately that was incorrect. Kunan and Poshpora are small villages in Kashmir that went through an atrocity when the army came in and beat the men and gang raped quite a few women. This tragedy occurred in 1991. The authors of this book are a group of women who have come together to lodge a public complaint against the army and the judiciary for non action on their behalf over what happened.

As with other books on atrocities that have happened, this is a difficult read. The words are simple to understand, but the cruelty of the act and inaction afterwards really stick with you. I personally feel it is important to read about terrible things that have happened, if for no other reason than validating that they did happen and should not happen again.

Rape is a horrendous crime no matter what the circumstances are. The authors' assertion that the Indian army uses rape as a tool to subjugate and demoralize Kashmir is truly disturbing, especially when you consider that Kashmir is a very unstable, unhappy place due to many other factors.

I also was very unsettled reading about how the army has the ASPA act protecting them from ever being held accountable for acts such as these. This is unacceptable; there is never a case where rape is sanctioned as a tool of the armed forces for any reason. As with other countries, the army in India enjoys a massive amount of support, and very little accountability. The army's snide answers to the accusations and efforts to delay the case and stonewall justice were disheartening when holding the culprits accountable could have prevented this from happening again. People, even army men, learn quickly what they can get away with.

I was also horrified by the uninterested response of the police and government. I live in India and I understand how things work here, but a judge being on vacation when many court hearings were supposed to take place just made me angry. The sheer lack of interest in anyone but the victims made me lean toward justice squads, rather than this farce of a court system.

Overall it's a tough read, especially because the reader knows that this won't be resolved any time soon and could very easily happen again. Changing India is like changing the direction of a continent rolling down a hill. It very often feels impossible.

~Becky~