Book Review: Our Moon Has Blood Clots: The Exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits by Rahul Pandita

4 / 5 Stars

“Sometimes it is best to leave things ambiguous, suspended, so that some hope remains.” ~Rahul Pandita

And that has been the state the Kashmiri Pandits for the last 30 years. Kashmir ‘Heaven on Earth’ of today is bereft of it’s once multicultural ambiance, bereft of it’s Sanskrit chants, of it’s temple bells, of its Brahmins. This was a heartbreaking tale, it reminded me of “Thousand splendid suns“, and that in itself is melancholic like nothing else.

Rahul Pandita is a brilliant writer and an accomplished reporter, he’s also an eyewitness to this story , it’s very main character. The Exodus of 1990 is like one of those tragedies which happen without creating widespread ripples, a stone silently sunk in the lake, no-one came out outraged , no-one took a stand saying THIS MUST STOP, WE CAN’T ALLOW THIS, WE HAVE TO REVERSE THIS WHOLE THING, but the mileage by totting this event has been enjoyed by all the political classes of our nation.

Goodreads Blurb :- Rahul Pandita was fourteen years old in 1990 when he was forced to leave his home in Srinagar along with his family, who were Kashmiri Pandits: the Hindu minority within a Muslim majority Kashmir that was becoming increasingly agitated with the cries of ‘Azadi’ from India. The heartbreaking story of Kashmir has so far been told through the prism of the brutality of the Indian state, and the pro-independence demands of separatists. But there is another part of the story that has remained unrecorded and buried. Our Moon Has Blood Clots is the unspoken chapter in the story of Kashmir, in which it was purged of the Kashmiri Pandit community in a violent ethnic cleansing backed by Islamist militants. Hundreds of people were tortured and killed, and about 3,50,000 Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave their homes and spend the rest of their lives in exile in their own country. Rahul Pandita has written a deeply personal, powerful and unforgettable story of history, home and loss.

At the heart of it really, this is a story of ‘home‘ with all that we attach to it familiarity, safety, haven, family, belonging, community, identity and ‘homelessness‘ being adrift, identity erased, possessions plundered, families broken asunder, of loss like no other since the partition, a paradise denied. More than to the reasons of the event, it focusses on it’s effect on the people at which the cries of ‘Raliv, Galiv Ya Chaliv‘ were directed. Of their journey from paradise to purgatory. The story is well written, for a paradise constantly in siege Kashmir and Kashmiris have seen a lot, the attack by Pakistani tribals in 47 relived here by Rahul’s elder uncle to 90’s exodus lived by him himself.

It evokes sadness and frustration, not just at the exodus but also at it’s aftermath and the attempts that were made to sort it out, at the gum-less Band-Aid of refugee colonies, insufficient aid, laughable guaranteed govt. jobs and a complete lack of indictments in the matter, no action towards justice taken whatsoever. Rahul Pandita goes again and again to bring out stories of families and individuals targeted during that period. He keeps the count of the lives lost and futures ruined, keeps it all for what? Just so that we won’t forget, that people remember what happened, the injustice that has been left standing and is ignored to this day is kept in the light lest it blur out and is lost to darkness of history. He’s trying in vain I think, people as he rightly noted have forgotten, some never even bothered knowing.

I urge anyone and everyone to pick this up, the least the very least we can do is to subject ourselves to their stories. We owe the Kashmiri’s atleast that.

Book Review: Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King : “Here’s Brady! He’s no Johnny!”

2.85 / 5 …..2.7 Okay bordering on 2.75…..I like king , honest.

“Every religion lies. Every moral precept is a delusion. Even the stars are a mirage. The truth is darkness, and the only thing that matters is making a statement before one enters it. Cutting the skin of the world and leaving a scar. That’s all history is, after all: scar tissue.” ~Stephen King

And there ladies and gentlemen, is the most brilliantly fucked up mind that we all so adore, no matter how many people he decapitates, axes, torture’s to madness or just attacks with a disgusting melting lady ghost, This my fellow readers is Stephen ‘all hail the’ King.

Now, as that’s out of the way, the book was ….. adequate, no, it was ….enough, no, how can I say it was ‘OK’ without sounding like it was ‘Just Ok’, quite a conundrum. Mr.King posses a marvelously devious imagination, from him I expect nightmares, haunting scenes oozing dread or hope, ‘The Shinning’ to this day is the only book that has ever given me nightmares, with that much expectation this felt ‘just adequate’. In his defense, or mine, this was the first ever detective novel from King that I’ve read, and not to take anything away from a story with a Serial Killer and a Detective with severe issues, this was an occupying read but then again, when you expect the devil and get a messed up man child with mommy issues you do feel cheated.

Bill Hodges, is as interesting a detective as any retired cop with a ‘he got away’ syndrome promises to be, contemplating suicide with his father’s gun, he gets a new lease on life when an old ‘smiling toothy be-speckled’ friend writes to him to come out and play. And the cat and mouse race commences, where severe mistakes are made on both sides and you just sit there thinking ‘oh come on! why would you do that?’ or ‘don’t be that obvious!’ till the end.Was I expecting some King kinky flare peekaboo, yes I was, did I get it, no I didn’t, will I read the rest of the series, hell yess I will.

As I said it was an interesting albeit a tad underwhelming detective/Serial Killer story as it doesn’t differ from the other books in this genre, my first from King and I’m curious as to what he’ll get our dear old fat graying Bill into next and I sincerely hope that I’m not disappointed. Pick this one up if you’re curious how King would read as a Detective Novelist, might be worth your while.

Book Review: Origin by Dan Brown : “From Where to Where…….Whatever”

2 / 5 Stars, all hat and no cattle

“na thā kuchh to ḳhudā thā kuchh na hotā to ḳhudā hotā, Duboyā mujh ko hone ne, na hotā maiñ to kyā hotā” ~MIRZA GHALIB

“In Nothingness God Was There, If Naught He Would Persist, Existence Has Sunk Me, What Loss, If I Didn’t Exist” ~Mirza Ghalib

And that was the only interesting thought that this book prompted in me, an old verse by a famous Indian poet. Dan Brown was the person who piqued my interest in historical places and architecture. His ‘Robert Langdon Series‘ has made me look up, research and learn many things, but alas every good thing must come to an end. So it is with this book, law of diminishing marginal returns at work. This book made me look up museums, churches and monasteries too, true, but the zeal with which I used to do that, the giddy interest and excitement in reading the history and connecting the dots with Professor Langdon, that unfortunately was absent. I just soldiered on to finish the book, which left me rather disappointed.

The Villain was predictable, it is a surprise that Mr. Brown thought he’ll be able to surprise us with that, The Story a bit haywire but nothing special and the theme oh GODs the theme was in your face on every page, repetitive and infuriating, to the point that I didn’t really care for the answers which would have been disappointing if I was already not so indifferent to it near the end. It could have been a lot shorter in my opinion, would have saved everybody’s time. The style was as ever there but the story line tch tch , This really misses the mark.

So, it is with some annoyance that I award this book 2 out of 5 stars, If you’re curious what the good professor is up-to, pick this up, if you think you’ll race with him to a satisfying end then no don’t waste your time on this one. I expect better Mr. Brown , as humbly as I can.