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The Ugly Kashmiri (Cameos in exile), New Delhi: Allied Publishers, Pages 186 Price Rs.250/- Reviewed by Dr Kalpna Rajput.
The Ugly Kashmiri (Cameos in exile) written by Arvind Gigoo is a unique book because on hundred and eighty cameos (short literary sketches) describe in condensed brevity the history, politics, sociology and psychology of the Kashmiri Muslims and Kashmiri Pandits. It is for the first time in Indian writing in English that one literary piece printed on a full page presents and depicts its subject and speaks volumes about it. What is remarkable about the book is that the author unravels the mind of Muslims, Pandits, politicians, security forces, intellectuals and common people with cold detachment.
During the political happenings of the nineties the convictions of all Kashmiris crumbled to dust. That is why the book is dedicated to ‘Ahmed the Blacksmith’ who stuck to his goodness even under disturbing conditions. We learn that the youth of Kashmiri Pandits are in ferment, that the elderly Pandits suffer the pain of uprooted ness in exile and that the Kashmiri Muslims cry for a glorious and peaceful Kashmiri. The author wants all Kashmiri to change from ugliness to beauty.
The cameos have layers of meanings. They abound in ambiguity, pun, and allusions to historical and political happenings, satire, irony, wit and black humour. The author hasn’t spared even Gandhi, Nehru, Sheikh Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. He is critical of Nehru’s policy on Kashmiri and Gandhi’s ‘ray of hope’ that he saw in Kashmiri in 1947. The author talks about Jinnah and Zia-ul-Haq. He exposes the leaders and politicians who played with the sentiments of the Kashmiris. He makes fun of the vacillating political attitude of the Kashmiri Muslims. He has revealed the psyche of the militans. Arvind Gigoo, who is himself a Kashmiri Pandit, is critical even of Kashmiri Pandits. They too are a victim of his sarcasm and laughter. He
The Ugly Kashmiri (Cameos in exile) written by Arvind Gigoo is a unique book because on hundred and eighty cameos (short literary sketches) describe in condensed brevity the history, politics, sociology and psychology of the Kashmiri Muslims and Kashmiri Pandits. It is for the first time in Indian writing in English that one literary piece printed on a full page presents and depicts its subject and speaks volumes about it. What is remarkable about the book is that the author unravels the mind of Muslims, Pandits, politicians, security forces, intellectuals and common people with cold detachment.
During the political happenings of the nineties the convictions of all Kashmiris crumbled to dust. That is why the book is dedicated to ‘Ahmed the Blacksmith’ who stuck to his goodness even under disturbing conditions. We learn that the youth of Kashmiri Pandits are in ferment, that the elderly Pandits suffer the pain of uprooted ness in exile and that the Kashmiri Muslims cry for a glorious and peaceful Kashmiri. The author wants all Kashmiri to change from ugliness to beauty.
The cameos have layers of meanings. They abound in ambiguity, pun, and allusions to historical and political happenings, satire, irony, wit and black humour. The author hasn’t spared even Gandhi, Nehru, Sheikh Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. He is critical of Nehru’s policy on Kashmiri and Gandhi’s ‘ray of hope’ that he saw in Kashmiri in 1947. The author talks about Jinnah and Zia-ul-Haq. He exposes the leaders and politicians who played with the sentiments of the Kashmiris. He makes fun of the vacillating political attitude of the Kashmiri Muslims. He has revealed the psyche of the militans. Arvind Gigoo, who is himself a Kashmiri Pandit, is critical even of Kashmiri Pandits. They too are a victim of his sarcasm and laughter. He