|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The novel goes beyond ordinary story telling to become a poignant and deeply disturbing chronicle of a conflict that has afflicted that region of Pakistan that was part of the Gilgit and Baltistan region of the pre-1947 Jammu and Kashmir State. It is a conflict where the identities of the people visiting the Silk Route for thousands of years have intermingled and merged, and yet where the individual identities have got their space to assert and grow. But that was before the drones began to dominate the skylines and before the Chinese thought it worthwhile to push towards the warm waters of the Arabian Sea, cutting through the Pakistani territory towards Gwadar port. Narrated through the characters of America-based Nadir Sheikh, his love Farhana, daughter of an America-based Pakistani and European mother, Wes her friend and colleague and Irfan, the Karachi-based childhood friend of Nadir, it begins as a love story but soon gets embroiled in history, anthropology, sociology and politics of our times. It is immaterial if Farhana was drawn to Pakistan to trace her roots or to actually study the glaciers with her colleague Wes but the truth is that she lands in that region of the subcontinent that has not belonged to anyone but has nevertheless been hospitable to all those who wish pass through it. Thus, the Tajiks, Uzbegs, Uyghur Muslims, the Han Chinese have converged to trade the jade and silk for leather and food. Amidst all have been the nomadic tribes of Gujjars who have continued to measure life in the number of Moons’ and have been quietly celebrating Lohri and Baisakhi and occasionally, Diwali as well, and be charmed by the ‘Loi Tara,’ the morning star. It is among them, under the inscrutable gaze of the Nanga Parbat that Nadir and Farhana come across Maryam and Kiran, the mother and her young daughter, only to transgress the ancient code governing the guests. While no demand of a guest can be refused, an unreasonable demand can trigger events of tragic dimension. The death of Kiran by drowning is a metaphor for the consequences of that violation and the suppressed and unforgiving fury of Maryam unleashes forces that cause upheaval in the lives of the outsiders. In a world where the Rahmans and the Yusufs have frequently changed their identities to Rahamanovs and Yuspovs, when the Chechens, the Arabs and Uyghur Muslims from Xinjiang arrive with the spirit of Jihadis, the ultimate victims are those caught in their crossfire with the Pakistani army and police. The full force of brutality of this conflict is felt not only by the nomadic tribes trapped between the hunters and the hunted but also by the like of Nadir for simply being an outsider. Once a reader gets into the prose of the author, the reader will find the novel compelling though the Indian publisher should have warned the readers that the word Kashmir does not define the geographical region with which we or the rest of the world is familiar with. This confusion can be irritating. Once it is accepted as the region of the majestic mountains and the unfathomable lakes, the benign gifts of nature and the ruthless punishments, the reader will enjoy the experience of listening to the sounds of the unstoppable horses of Ghengis Khan's army. These merge with those of the galloping cavalry of Babur before transforming into the Soviet tanks and American drones.
|
||
|
|
||
Uzma