BOOKS & PUBLICATIONS
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Faith & Frenzy (Short Stories from Kashmir) K L Chowdhury Book review by Prof. R N Kaul |
Author K L Chowdhury
Publisher Vitasta Publishing Pvt Ltd Number of Pages 260 ISBN 9380828794 ISBN-13 9789380828794 Binding Paperback Title Faith & Frenzy Edition English |
About the Book |
Faith and Frenzy is a collection of short stories that bring to the reader the intimate details of forgotten Kashmiris of all hues caught in the quagmire of terror and murky politics, and weighed down by the historical burden of a long confrontation between India and Pakistan. Their stories have remained untold, submerged under layers of shady rhetoric and politics of deceit.
Most, but not all, stories take place against a background of escalating militancy that brought terror, insecurity and mayhem into the lives of people and dealt a deathblow to the tradition of amity, tolerance and peaceful living that had defined Kashmiri life over significant periods of history. In the collection, there are stories of militancy transforming the lives of people and changing the social dynamics and human relationships; of reconciliation and reaffirmation of religious diversity on the one hand and intolerance and exclusivity on the other; of how thousands of Kashmiris, mostly Pandits, were forced into exodus from the valley to the plains of India — their lives before and after the exodus, their identity crisis and existential problems in exile, and their yearning to return to their homeland. A unique feature of many of these stories is that they are discovered and revealed through the lens of a doctor who is also a keen observer of a society in flux. The author himself is the narrator of the stories. More importantly, he is also involved as one of the key participants in most of them. His initial contact with the main characters often begins in his role as a physician. He receives them as patients and, while providing his professional services, he finds himself entwined into the intricacies, uncertainties and struggles of their lives. The stories delve deep into their lives, and probe inside their souls. Above all, these are stories of the universal human circumstances. |
Book Review by Prof. R N Kaul |
So absorbingly fascinating is the book under review that in spite of the passing away of my elder brother the same day I received a copy, I got glued to its contents and finished its reading almost at one go. Many books have been written on the so-called Kashmir problem and on the mayhem perpetrated by jihadi fanatics guided and armed by Pakistan; and many on the traumatic sufferings of Kashmiri Pandits hounded out of their hearths & homes and on the self-inflicted deaths and miseries of Kashmiri Muslims. But "Faith and Frenzy" is a unique experiment in the same direction.
Dr. Chowdhury's book strikes a conspicuous contrast to earlier books on the holocaust and tragedy of Kashmiri Pandits. There have been lots of writings, lots of vividly drawn pictures of the ruthless murders, rapes and arsons perpetrated by the Muslim fanatics gone completely mad, on the Kashmiri Pandits driven out en masse beyond the Peer Panjal range of mountains. But when one goes through "Faith and Frenzy" all the previous attempts look like 'sound and fury' only. What marks this book as extraordinary is its sensitivity, its deep-felt pain translated into art. It is a sort of wedlock between Sensitivity and Aesthetics. Dr. Chowdhury has brought into a close embrace the Muse of History and the Muse of Imagination. Real events, real people have been so aptly fictionalized that one merges imperceptibly with the other. It is not only a coalescing of Reality and Illusion, of fact and fiction. There are other colourful threads woven into a fine fabric that is "Faith and Frenzy". The author harnesses his knowledge of psychology and medicine, of anatomy and of physiology in creating a thing of beauty and in making it a joy for ever from the artistic point of view alone. He has selected, refined and embellished the raw material available to him through his personal experience. And there pervades above all the ingredients that make the book - a vague halo,may be as thin as gossamer - a vision of better times to come, of Kashmiriyat reasserting itself in all its pristine glory - after the catharsis of suffering. Kashmir- in fact Kashmiris - Muslims and Hindus - have passed through Dante's Inferno, done penance in the Purgatorio and are on the threshold of Paradise. The cover picture a Kashmiri Muslim oaring forward a boat containing Spring and Summer flowers - is symbolic enough of the fragrance of peace and amity that will follow. K L Chowdhury is a conscious artist capable of hiding his art in what looks a simple and spontaneous utterance. In his search for artistic excellence he does not lose any moment to describe the sufferings of his community. The stories ‘Faith and Frenzy’ and 'A place to die’ most faithfully and sensitively describe the miseries of Kashmiri Pandits catapulted from a lugubrious climate and comfortable homes into extreme weathers of inhospitable terrains. The story of Shyam Lal and his wife is most poignantly tragic. Shyam Lal is condemned to be hanged because the militants are convinced of his sons being informants and, hence, enemies of the tehrik for azaadi or in un-euphemistic terminology Islamic governance. He providentially escapes the noose, but is slashed repeatedly by a knife and finally dragged into the river whose waves mercifully raft him to his home. Next morning he bids eternal farewell to his home. Similar is the story of 'A place to die'. Brij Nath Daftari - a cancer patient - finds each place in Jammu out of bounds for patients with a terminal disease. He is tossed from pillar to post, from Sarwal to the interior city, and to Nanak Nagar where a humanitarian Sikh offers him space to die in. When one follows the plots of the stories, one feels impressed how a medico by profession finds the technique to arouse curiosity and keep the reader in suspense till the end. And here and there the author introduces super touches to suggest how Nature follows her chores with complete indifference to man's losses. While Shyam Lal is prostrate on the ground and as good as dead, Chowdhury describes Nature thus: "The clouds were moving languidly, the setting sun - large and red - threw long shadows of the leafless trees, crisscrossing the field like dancing skeletons in a surreal play of light and shade. Dusk was descending fast and the birds were flitting across the sky to their nests ". One recollects how Rustum covered his tearful eyes over Sohrab's dead body killed by his own sire in ignorance. And the river Oxus flowed nonchalantly onwards to the sea. Since Chowdhury is portraying real human beings he has met, superficially it seems to be no remarkable skill to present them as live human beings. But remarkable it is because he has observed them very closely and unraveled not only their physical appearances but also their eccentricities, giving each character a distinct individuality. He is like a portrait painter in words as Rembrandt was in colours. We not only meet and see Saligram or Gulla in flesh and blood; we seem to feel them and touch them. Saligram reminds one of Hugo's Causimodo of Notre Dame with his tetrahedonal nose, his horse-shoe mouth, one eye under his bushy eyebrow and the other hidden by a wart. Gulla of Prang endears himself to us by his shy but frank demeanor. All these additions show Chowdhury as an artist of humour which he introduces as a foil. When Saligram was informed of his prospective marriage to a Kishtwari woman with three children, Chowdhury describes his reaction thus: "The prospect of a large brood with a cackling mother hen disturbing the quiet of his home gave Saligram the creeps". K L Chowdhury has converted real experiences into the literary genre called the short story. He has succeeded to a large extent in utilizing all the artistic paraphernalia to make each story grip the reader's attention. There is a dramatic start, a quick movement of the plot; there is suspense and an expected climax or an anti-climax. There may not be an O'Henry touch at the end. Chowdhury prefers to leave the surprise end to the imagination of the reader. But the best quality of the book is revealed in the author's complete grasp of English language - its nuances, its rhythms, its rich vocabulary, its Bible-like simplicity. And here is Chowdhry with a vocabulary which is rich in its crispness, in its appropriateness and in its rhythmical variety. K L Chowdhry has acquired a style at once mature and elegant. The book is a must for lovers of facts and for lovers of fiction.
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