Even though I was sitting on the balcony, I felt suffocated. I put the book aside, A strange fear gripped me. I closed my eyes and I found myself standing in front of Ksheer Bhavani Temple. “The water has turned black”, someone said. Suddenly the cacophony of the loudspeakers became a dull roar in my ears so many of them at once, as it went down, I looked around and there's something unusual about that place, the calm before the storm.
A herd of people wearing skullcaps rushed out of the mosque, and started raising slogans. Kids, women, everybody was there. Suddenly a piercing sound came from the mosque’s loudspeakers ““Assi gacchi panu’nuy Pakistan, batav rostuy, batenein saaan””. I felt terrified and I snapped out, back on the balcony soaked in sweat.
…..
Kasheer by Sahana Vijaykumar (originally written in Kannada) and translated by Hemanth Shanthigrama. Hemanth ji has done an excellent job in transiting the book, the essence of the book isn’t lost in translations. Kasheer means Kashmir in Koshur language. If this book doesn't make you read it in one stretch, probably you couldn't empathize well enough with the characters. I did, and I felt the fear, the frustration, the anger, the aggression ,the love and all the emotions that surrounded the characters.
There have always been portions of our history that our supposed democratic government loves to censor and hide, largely anything that does not explicitly deal with great deeds of Nehru-Gandhi and their sons and daughters.
This book is a perfect blend of History, religion and fiction. It will give you a basic understanding of Hinduism as well as Islam. Giving details of Kasheer is in its early days, Mughal - Arab invasion periods, Pre Independence, Post Independence and Accession to India, Article 370, Article 35A, Kashmiri Pandit exodus. All the statements,facts are backed by citations and proofs.The story is packed with strong characters, Narendra (Protagonist), Sanjeev, Salim, Mushtaq, Bashir, Kailash etc. and the book is Multi-Narrative, events occurring in the book are described in different person perspectives which makes it more interesting to read and understand each character, their mindset and state of being.
The story revolves around the journey of our Protagonist to Kashmir. After he was questioned in a TV Debate for not being there he decided to visit Kashmir. Also gave glimpses of the mindset and motives of the pseudo-seculars activists. The protagonist quashes all these
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