01
No Guns At My Son’s Funeral
Paro Anand
Adults might survive on the daily terror and violence they experience around them, but for the continuously moulding minds of children, these encounters can have a lasting effect. In Paro Anand’s novel, Aftab leads a double life. During the day, he is the cheerful and friendly kid in the neighbourhood, but at night, he sneaks away to mentor under Akram, who is training him in militancy. Awed by his mentor, Aftab is willing to do anything it takes to get in Akram’s good graces, but does he truly understand the consequences of his decision? Children everywhere are malleable, but the children in Kashmir are going through trials they shouldn’t have to, and this book portrays it in a heartfelt manner.
Buy it here.
02
The Far Field
Madhuri Vijay
Women around the world have always had to deal with their share of struggles and discrimination, but Kashmiri women have been dealing with unending problems for decades. In The Far Field, Shalini travels from Bangalore to Kashmir in search of her deceased mother’s friend Basheer Ahmed. During her search, she encounters Kashmiri women whose lives have been continuously shaped by the circumstances around them. There’s Zoya, a stern woman who is searching for her long-lost son without the help of the Indian Army, and there is Amina, who welcomes a complete stranger like Shalini into her poor household, and doesn’t let the tensions and violence around her diminish her light. These women show us their resilience in the face of tragedies, and how they are constantly battling them.
Buy it here.
03
The Half Mother
Shahnaz Bashir
Kashmir has seen the forceful disappearance of over 8,000-10,000 Kashmiri men over the past few decades. In The Half Mother, we learn about Imran, who has become a victim of the same fate. His mother, Haleema, is dealing with the loss of her father and now, her son to this fate. She visits government offices, torture camps and army bases in an attempt to find out exactly what had happened to her son. Half-mad with agony, she reaches out to the relatives of other young men who have disappeared just like her Imran, in the hope that she will, one day, reunite with her son. The saddest part about this book is that it is heavily rooted in reality since hundreds of Kashmiri men continue to remain unaccounted for even today.
Buy it here.
04
The Garden Of Solitude
Siddhartha Gigoo
The exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits due the increasing militant actions in the valley is one of the saddest parts of Kashmir’s history. In Siddhartha Gigoo’s The Garden Of Solitude, we meet one such Kashmiri Pandit boy, Sridhar. Forced to flee his beautiful valley, Sridhar has now settled in Jammu, but the call of his beautiful home often leaves him restless. The book beautifully portrays the sentiments of people torn away from their homes, and how they manage to survive their new reality.
Buy it here.
05
The Book Of Gold Leaves
Mirza Waheed
Faiz and Roohi are Kashmiris who fall in love. However, they belong to different communities – Shia and Sunni – thereby turning their love story into a star-crossed romance. At the same time, Faiz starts questioning the actions of the Indian government and its army, and subsequently goes to Pakistan to receive militancy training. With so many obstacles in their paths, will the lovers reunite, or will the Kashmir crisis tear them apart forever? A beautiful love story set against the backdrop of a Kashmir caught in the midst of a turbulent fate, this book shows us how love can blossom even amidst conflict. It’s saddening to see how the lives of people from this slice of heaven on earth have not remained untouched by the growing violence around them, and how love is, sometimes, sacrificed at the altar of conflict.
Buy it here.
06
The Tree With A Thousand Apples
Sanchit Gupta
The fate of three childhood friends in Kashmir changes forever on the fateful night of January 20, 1990. The exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits divides the three friends, as one is forced to leave everything behind and settle elsewhere. 20 years later, following the harsh realities that life has dealt them, and with Kashmir continuing to be a victim of terror, the three friends reunite once again. Will the three friends manage to come together even though they’re each carrying old wounds and the grief of communal divisions, or will they forever remain separated by the exodus that ruined thousands of lives? Sanchit Gupta’s poignant book is a story of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits that portrays how a single incident proved to be disastrous across different communities.
Buy it here.
07
Gul Gulshan Gulfam
Pran Kishore, Shafi Shauq (Tr.)
The beauty of Kashmir has always been a boon for the tourism industry, but there are times when the ongoing discord puts a damper on the business. This is the story of Malla Khaliq, owner of three houseboats, who believes that his business will pick up one day. His three sons don’t share the same positive attitude, sending two of them down a path that might lead to their downfall. Will Malla’s belief come true, or will the ongoing threats disturb their peace? A novelisation of the eponymous television show, Gul Gulshan Gulfam is the poignant story of a rapidly changing Kashmir that manages to touch our hearts with its depiction of relationships and ambitions.
Buy it here.
08
Munnu: A Boy From Kashmir
Malik Sajad
Munnu: A Boy From Kashmir offers us a different outlook on Indian-administered Kashmir. Munnu is a young boy from Kashmir who loves to draw, but his childhood is being sullied by the ongoing Kashmir conflict. In Munnu’s world, militarisation is a way of life, where young men are crossing over to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to be trained, his family members are often taken to identification parades, and schools are closed. Malik Sajad depicts Kashmiris as the endangered Hangul deer (the Kashmir stag), which is a telling metaphor for the situation in Kashmir. Sajad’s graphic novel is an amazing portrayal of the life of Kashmiris against the everyday political conflicts that seem ingrained in their lives.
Buy it here.
09
The Night Of Broken Glass
Feroz Rather
Even though Kashmir has dealt with decades of insurgency, the story of the common man caught in the crossfire is rarely told. In this series of interconnected stories, Feroz Rather attempts to give a voice to the people who have largely remain unheard. There’s Showkat, who is made to wipe the graffiti from his shop with his tongue; the ‘lower-caste’ Jamshid; Jamshid’s father, who never finds his son’s body; and Major S., a bully who has to live with his actions. These characters come together in The Night Of Broken Glass to introduce us to stories of oppression and discrimination, and the remarkable courage of people in the face of it.
Buy it here.
Prasanna is a human (probably) who makes stuff up for a living. When she’s not sleeping or eating, you’ll find her in the quietest corner of the library, devouring yet another hardbound book. She vastly prefers the imaginary world to the real one, but grudgingly emerges from her writing cave on occasion. If you do see her, it’s best not to approach her before she’s had her coffee.
She writes at The Curious Reader. You can read her articles here.
You missed Basharat Peer’s Curfewed Night
Also, Our Moon has Blood Clots by Rahul Pandita is a notable mention.