Kashmiri exodus A must read
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
  • Circulation
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
Organiser
  • ‌
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Defence
  • Sports
  • Business
  • More
    • RSS in News
    • Special Report
    • Culture
    • Sci & Tech
    • Entertainment
    • Education
    • Books
    • Interviews
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Obituary
SUBSCRIBE
No Result
View All Result
Organiser
  • ‌
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Defence
  • Sports
  • Business
  • More
    • RSS in News
    • Special Report
    • Culture
    • Sci & Tech
    • Entertainment
    • Education
    • Books
    • Interviews
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Obituary
No Result
View All Result
Organiser
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Culture
  • Defence
  • RSS in News
  • Subscribe
Home General

Kashmiri exodus A must read

Archive Manager by Archive Manager
May 15, 2011, 12:00 am IST
in General
Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement chairman Sohail Abro

Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement chairman Sohail Abro

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterTelegramEmail

THE exile of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 has stimulated a variety of writings. Siddartha Gigoo’s debut novel The Garden of Solitude is yet another addition to their growing number. It recreates the conditions that led to the exile of Pandits from Kashmir and its painful effect on their life in the inhospitable plains of Jammu. It also focuses on its protagonist Sridar’s personal struggle to cope with his changed situation.

In the early part of the novel, we see Sridar live happily with his parents and grandparents and his Muslim neighbours and their children. The close bonding of the two communities is established at various levels. We also learn about Sridar’s fears, stirrings of first love, and his desire to become a writer. Soon after, things change dramatically. Pandits perceive threat and menace in the looks of Muslims, and Muslims begin to distrust Pandits, for being “informers, agents, and kafirs.” Muslim boys cross the country’s border to return with military training and weapons and become militants; they exchange fire with soldiers and police, which results in civilian casualties. Pandits are threatened, kidnapped, and killed, which forces them to flee.

Gigoo’s portrayal of the miserable life of Pandits in Jammu, in cramped, unhygienic tents and hovels, come off very well. They are totally disoriented. Almost all of them curse their fate and “resign to the inevitable.” Sridar’s grandfather Mahanandju, his father Lasa, and several of his friends and acquaintances feel that life has lost its meaning.

Though Sridar, too, feels like that, he does not lose sight of a possible new world. In Baderkote, he keeps himself busy with reading and writing. He also goes places to further his career, and works with a film maker in Delhi. He stays on with his dreams and remembers his father’s advice: to search for shreds of his identity, of “your essence and your own history.” He makes a trip to Ladakh, where he meets Ameira. He becomes intimate with her, wanders around a good deal, and tries to know himself, but the memory of his past makes him feel “a deep void within him.” He goes to America, too, where he meets other Pandits, listens to their stories and opinions, and takes time out to start writing about his ancestors.

Back in India, he revisits the migrant camps, to meet people and listen to the stories of their past. He makes a trip to the Valley, goes to his old home, meets all his old neighbours, and tries to collect information about his great grandfather who was said to have written a book. Soon after his return, his book about his ancestors is launched.

Gigoo has a firm grip on his material, and he writes well. He makes us see and feel the pain and suffering of the Pandits. One feels a little uneasy only when he makes them accept their situation as part of their fate. Nevertheless, his novel deserves to be read and should be of interest to all kinds of readers.

(Rupa Publications, Ansari Road, Darya Ganj, New Delhi-110 002)

ShareTweetSendShareSend
Previous News

US power play: Manage India, checkmate China

Next News

BookMark A guide to Hindu Succession Act

Related News

Organiser-Panchjanya Awards 2022: Amul, Gail win awards for creative marketing

Organiser-Panchjanya Awards 2022: Amul, Gail win awards for creative marketing

PM Modi Takes Women Empowerment Route to Build Aatma Nirbhar Bharat

PM Modi Takes Women Empowerment Route to Build Aatma Nirbhar Bharat

BJP blasts Rahul for meeting ‘anti-Kashmir’ Labour leader Corbyn

BJP blasts Rahul for meeting ‘anti-Kashmir’ Labour leader Corbyn

Africa Day: Relevance of Swamiji’s Concept of Universal Brotherhood in Concurrent Times

Africa Day: Relevance of Swamiji’s Concept of Universal Brotherhood in Concurrent Times

Reinterpreting the Glorious Past: Sense and Non-sense

Reinterpreting the Glorious Past: Sense and Non-sense

Organiser-Panchjanya Awards: Palki Sharma wins KR Malkani Award, Rohit Sardana posthumously gets AB Vajpayee Puraskar

Organiser-Panchjanya Awards: Palki Sharma wins KR Malkani Award, Rohit Sardana posthumously gets AB Vajpayee Puraskar

Comments

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Organiser. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.

Latest News

Organiser-Panchjanya Awards 2022: Amul, Gail win awards for creative marketing

Organiser-Panchjanya Awards 2022: Amul, Gail win awards for creative marketing

PM Modi Takes Women Empowerment Route to Build Aatma Nirbhar Bharat

PM Modi Takes Women Empowerment Route to Build Aatma Nirbhar Bharat

BJP blasts Rahul for meeting ‘anti-Kashmir’ Labour leader Corbyn

BJP blasts Rahul for meeting ‘anti-Kashmir’ Labour leader Corbyn

Africa Day: Relevance of Swamiji’s Concept of Universal Brotherhood in Concurrent Times

Africa Day: Relevance of Swamiji’s Concept of Universal Brotherhood in Concurrent Times

Reinterpreting the Glorious Past: Sense and Non-sense

Reinterpreting the Glorious Past: Sense and Non-sense

Organiser-Panchjanya Awards: Palki Sharma wins KR Malkani Award, Rohit Sardana posthumously gets AB Vajpayee Puraskar

Organiser-Panchjanya Awards: Palki Sharma wins KR Malkani Award, Rohit Sardana posthumously gets AB Vajpayee Puraskar

Texas school shooting: Death toll rises to 21, UN Secretary-General extends condolences to victims’ families

Texas school shooting: Death toll rises to 21, UN Secretary-General extends condolences to victims’ families

Biden blames Texas school shooting on gun lobby, Vice President Harris calls the attack, ‘heartbreaking tragedy’

Biden blames Texas school shooting on gun lobby, Vice President Harris calls the attack, ‘heartbreaking tragedy’

US: Fourteen children, one teacher killed in Texas school shooting

US: Fourteen children, one teacher killed in Texas school shooting

Rajasthan: IPS officer insults Hindu deities, hurts religious sentiments after Shivling was found inside Gyanvapi

Rajasthan: IPS officer insults Hindu deities, hurts religious sentiments after Shivling was found inside Gyanvapi

  • Circulation
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

© Bharat Prakashan (Delhi) Limited.
Tech-enabled by Ananthapuri Technologies

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Defence
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Business
  • RSS in News
  • Special Report
  • Sci & Tech
  • Entertainment
  • Education
  • Books
  • Interviews
  • Travel
  • Health
  • Obituary
  • Subscribe
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Circulation
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

© Bharat Prakashan (Delhi) Limited.
Tech-enabled by Ananthapuri Technologies