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A review by nazarin
Rumours of Spring: A Girlhood in Kashmir by Farah Bashir
4.25
Windows, wails, gunshots, tear gas, crackdown, curfew, hostages, panic, death...
Your life agonized by the petrifying noises of gunshots, the heartbreaking wails of your people. The windows of your house that had welcomed the warm sun and chilly winds once are now shut, frightened of the hail of bullets. You miss walking, you miss laughing, you don't know what's peace anymore... Everything around you whispers terror, death! Everything smells like blood, the redness creeping under your bed, the dread filling your eyes...can you imagine this? You and your loved ones in such a situation, for years?!
"To expect change in the season in a month's time felt less like a realiry but more like rumours of spring."
With a simple, distinctive and penetrating narrative, Bashir takes us back to the 1990' Kashmir, giving a honest and terrifying account of the everyday life of Kashmiris. The nostalgic memories of celebration, happiness and love of Pre-Tehreek era as well as the traumatic events of post-Tehreek era and the dreadful life under military occupation is tragic and truly heartbreaking! The intense relation between Bashir and her grandmother is warming and soul stirring and the way her family stick to their faith amidst all these adversities is incredible. They believed in each other, cared for each other, loved each other, it gave them hope. Hope is a good thing.
"Every window in our house seemed to have been assigned a specific role, each one had numerous tales to tell."
The deaf-mute who didn't had an id-card, the relative who lost his son, the friend's sister who died in an attack, the classmate whose father became a victim of the political assassinations, the burned first love, sleepless nights - all these people and their stories bring a shining light upon the unspeakable horrors of the dirty war that has been waged in Kashmir for decades. Our life now, amidst the pandemic - curfew, lockdown, deaths - it's all feels like a reminder, a reminder that there are places where people is living like this, under a lethal military occupation for decades! This stunning debut by Farah Bashir, its eye opening insights into the land's culture with rich descriptions and details and experiences of living in an occupied land, makes it a must read for everyone.
Your life agonized by the petrifying noises of gunshots, the heartbreaking wails of your people. The windows of your house that had welcomed the warm sun and chilly winds once are now shut, frightened of the hail of bullets. You miss walking, you miss laughing, you don't know what's peace anymore... Everything around you whispers terror, death! Everything smells like blood, the redness creeping under your bed, the dread filling your eyes...can you imagine this? You and your loved ones in such a situation, for years?!
"To expect change in the season in a month's time felt less like a realiry but more like rumours of spring."
With a simple, distinctive and penetrating narrative, Bashir takes us back to the 1990' Kashmir, giving a honest and terrifying account of the everyday life of Kashmiris. The nostalgic memories of celebration, happiness and love of Pre-Tehreek era as well as the traumatic events of post-Tehreek era and the dreadful life under military occupation is tragic and truly heartbreaking! The intense relation between Bashir and her grandmother is warming and soul stirring and the way her family stick to their faith amidst all these adversities is incredible. They believed in each other, cared for each other, loved each other, it gave them hope. Hope is a good thing.
"Every window in our house seemed to have been assigned a specific role, each one had numerous tales to tell."
The deaf-mute who didn't had an id-card, the relative who lost his son, the friend's sister who died in an attack, the classmate whose father became a victim of the political assassinations, the burned first love, sleepless nights - all these people and their stories bring a shining light upon the unspeakable horrors of the dirty war that has been waged in Kashmir for decades. Our life now, amidst the pandemic - curfew, lockdown, deaths - it's all feels like a reminder, a reminder that there are places where people is living like this, under a lethal military occupation for decades! This stunning debut by Farah Bashir, its eye opening insights into the land's culture with rich descriptions and details and experiences of living in an occupied land, makes it a must read for everyone.