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Weed
Set in Kashmir, Weed paints an apt picture of the ugly face of the beautiful valley. It is a poignant narrative of all those families who undergo endless sufferings at the hands of their own kin who choose to be jihadis and even leave their home for the ‘mission’. The subject is hard-hitting and treatment is realistic. The mental agony and economic distress of such families is well depicted through the characters of Umer, a young boy, and his mother. Umer’s father leaves home to join jihadis because his mother does not approve of his ways. And with one stroke, their entire world changes. Umer’s childhood takes a flight and from a boy, he turns into the man of the family looking after his brother and lending a helping hand and psychological support to his mother. Their friends disappear as if they never existed. Isolation and desperation become their all-time companions. But the life moves on, no doubt it is tougher than before. One after the other, all their hopes come crashing on the ground as the government as well as charities working in Kashmir also turn their back on them. To make the matters worse, the younger son of the family, too, leaves home to join his father. The family’s financial condition goes from bad to worse. Umer drops out of school and takes up a job at a cloth shop. The fear of losing her elder son too grips the mother and her watchful eyes keep chasing him at all times. The constant vigil and protection starts choking Umer and a point comes when he decides to break free. Does Umer’s mother understand the need to give him freedom or does he run away from his mother? Does he fall prey to jihadis? What fate does he meet? All these questions keep the reader glued to the book. Written in simple and lucid manner, the story is capable of stirring emotions besides impelling the reader to ponder over issues related to terrorism.
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TERRORISING
the world, do the militants, who call themselves jihadis, ever spare a
thought for their own families? What kind of hell their children and
wives go through at the personal and social levels? How agonising it is
when people look at them with suspicion? How do the kin survive when the
crucial cogs of their families leave their small and ‘insignificant’
homes in the lurch for a bigger and more ‘significant’ mission? All
this and much more form the fabric of the story.