Description
Book SynopsisCombining personal reflection, political analysis, and literary criticism with memoir and journalistic observation, Suvir Kaul examines the textures of everyday life in Kashmir in the years following the region's pervasive militarization in 1990.
Of Gardens and Graves also includes contemporary Kashmiri poetry and a photo-essay by Javed Dar.
Trade Review“Suvir Kaul’s impressive volume, bringing poems and photographs along with interpretative essays on the politics and history of Kashmir, tells us what has gone wrong (and is still going wrong) in Kashmir and how the security concerns of the state take precedence over the daily suffering and trauma of ordinary people. . . . Kaul’s text is dramatically highlighted as we witness firsthand this human tragedy through the poems and photographs of this magnificent book.” -- Reeta C. Tremblay * Pacific Affairs *
"An eloquent appeal to the reader to understand the everyday experience of those who live in militarised Kashmir. . . . An important book that neither sentimentalises the suffering of Kashmir’s people, nor offers an abstracted analysis of their political predicament. The interweaving of essay, poetry and photography makes for a richer understanding of the ways in which global events impact on both region and on the individual within it." -- Cathy Turner * Postcolonial Studies *
"This book on Kashmir offers something significant as somebody has for the first time collected Kashmiri writings written under the siege." * Kashmir Times *
Table of ContentsIllustrations ix
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xxv
Introduction 1
Poems
Arjan Dev "Majboor" 14
Ghulam Hassan "Taskeen" 20
Brij Nath "Betaab" 24
Ghulam Nabi Tak "Naazir" 28
Shabir "Azar" 33
Essay 1. Visiting Kashmir, Re-learning Kashmir 39
Poems
"Shahzadah" Rafiq 64
Bashir "Dada" 66
Naji Munawar 70
Rukhsana Jabeen 72
Arshad Mushtaq 74
Ayesha "Mastoor" 78
Maqbool "Sajid" 82
Essay 3. "My Paradise in Burnin' . . . " 87
Poems
Moti Lal "Saqi" 108
Mohiuddin "Massarat" 112
Mir Ghulam Nabi "Shaheen" 116
Jawahir Lal "Saroor" 120
Pyare "Hatash" 122
Ghulam Nabi "Khayal" 124
"Shahzada" Rafiq 126
Essay 3. The Witness of Poetry 129
Poems
Rashid "Kanispuri" 158
Pyare "Hatash" 160
Jawahir Lal "Saroor" 162
Fayaz Talgami 164
Bashir "Zair" 166
Ghulam Hassan "Ghamgeen" 168
Kashi Nath "Baghwan" 172
Essay 4. Indian Empire (and the Case of Kashmir) 177
Poems
Zahid Mukhtar 204
Som Nath Bhat "Veer" 208
Coda. A Time without Soldiers 213
Bibliography 217
Index 225
