Reviews & Musings

  ISBN: 978-9395481205  Genre: Non-fiction Publisher: Vishwakarma Publications  Bringing together his experiences as a journalist and a keen observer, David Lepeska writes a raw and gut-wrenching book on Kashmir. Part memoir, part travelogue, and part reportage, Desiccated Land is a page-turner.  The book starts by tracing the history of the region along with his own history, as a student who was dimly aware of the history of Kashmir and the turmoil it has been causing for centuries between India and Pakistan. Lepenska takes us to Nilamata Purana ( likely written in the 7th century ) which tells us the story leading to the birth of this region. He also shares an alternate possibility of the word being derived from a lake ‘Mira’ named after Vedic Sage Kashyapa.  His first visit to Kashmir closely followed by his second (and much longer) visit as a journalist working for the Kashmir Observer after the 9/11 attacks, make for an interesting read. Lepeska had ques...

Image Source: Amazon.in Synopsis of the novel  Yakub is a seasoned militant who will do anything to free Kashmir. His handler, Major Khaleel, from Pakistan’s intelligence service, who became friends with Osama bin Laden, during his stay in Abbottabad, wants vengeance for bin Laden’s killing. So, he devises a major terrorist attack codenamed Mission M, with the twin objective of vengeance on the West and India. Hassan, Yakub’s nephew and the orphan of a militant, is entrusted with the responsibility of fulfilling Mission M to avenge his father. Shehed, Hassan’s lover, is a strong-willed woman who tries to stop him. And Rafi is a habitual crook who is always in the wrong place at the wrong time. A tense and fascinating novel of conflict, both political and personal, and the extraordinary lengths people will go to protect those they love. 

Source: Goodreads.com Kashmir, a place that has been called heaven on earth, has been bleeding since decades now and sadly there is not much respite to its plight. While my heart goes out to all the Kashmiris who have faced the brutalities time and again, my mind is throbbing with questions as I try to delve deeper and understand the what, how and why. Written by Ashok Dhar, who was born and brought up in Kashmir, this book promises to be give you a first hand insight into the Kashmir issue.   *-*-* Stories of the trauma and betrayal faced by Kashmiris have been told, the events retraced and analysis offered. And yet, one of the most long-standing disputes in India’s post-Independence history remains unsettled. If it were up to Lal Ded, a Sufi poet, she would offer the most difficult solution so far—to look within. Kashmir As I See It, a personal journey interspersed with geopolitical analysis, is not only about the state but also about the voice that yearns to be...

Introduction ISBN: 978-812-914-5710 Genre: Non-Fiction/Politics Publishers: Rupa Publications Price:  Rs.195/-  ( I got the book for review from the publisher ) Set in the once-fabled land of Kashmir, Behold, I Shine moves beyond male voices and focuses, instead, on what the struggle means for the Valley’s women and children—those whose husbands remain untraceable; whose mothers are half-widows; those who have confronted the wrath of ‘Ikhwanis’, or the scrutiny of men in uniform, and what it means to stand up to it all. This book also brings to focus the resilience of the Valley’s women and children—of activists like Parveena Ahangar and Anjum Zamrud Habib, who, after debilitating losses, start human rights organizations; of ordinary homemakers like Munawara who have taken on the judiciary; and of a young generation of thinkers like Uzma Falak and Essar Batool who foreground the interaction of gender, politics and religion, and won’t let Kashmir forget. Stitchi...

Introduction ISBN:  978-81291453211 Genre: Non-Fiction /Politics Publishers: Rupa Price:  Rs.295/-  ( I got the book for review from the publisher ) In 1989, an adolescent schoolboy from downtown Srinagar watched as his elders extricated themselves from university campuses, high-school grounds, hand-loom machines and farms to bear arms and fight a war of attrition against the Indian state. Twenty-two years on, Jaffna Street was born from his explorations of the human dimension of the conflict appositely termed the Kashmir tragedy. Combining anecdotes, personal memories and extended interviews, the author takes us behind the scenes and headlines into Srinagar city’s ‘notorious’ perpetually politically charged downtown as well as its upper city-side belt to create a panoramic portrait of recent Kashmir history. He profiles ordinary people—hit-men, insurgents, artisans, failed Marxist intellectuals, mystics, exiles, gangsters and ordinary individuals—who would...

Today we are in conversation with Manan Kapoor the author of   The Lamentations of a Sombre Sky .  Read on to know more about him as an author and as a person. Source:  linguistics-research-digest.blogspot.com

Introduction ISIN: 9789352015849 Genre: Fiction Publishers: Leadstart Price: Rs. 250/- ( I got this book from the publisher for a review ) Kashmir — 1991 In between the insurgency and the exodus, Inayat finds solace in the company of Gul, a Kashmiri pundit, and Aaqib. She blooms under the eyes of her father, Maqbool — an alcoholic poet, and her mother — Wahida, who is fraught with sanguinity. They spend their days listening to The Doors in Gul’s backyard and attending Shakes-Peer’s English lessons at the school. However, as they leave behind their childhood, they realize that the future holds things for them that they have never even imagined. Inayat comes face to face with loss as bereavement engulfs Kashmir. The echoing of the machine guns, the wails of her loved ones and the silence that she is bequeathed with is all that is left. The Lamentations of a Sombre Sky is the story of a skirmish with life and the perseverance in the dark times Behind the book Sour...