Farah BashirHarperCollins India Rumours of Spring: A Girlhood in Kashmir

I read the book with an open mind and open heart. However, it seems book is more of a political tool than an actual memoir.The author remembers all conversations where there are alleged infractions by troops. Even those where the author is not present, she hears third party account and is sure about what happened.However, in the book, author recounts atleast on two occasions how her kashmiri pandit friends have disappeared but fails to overhear any details about it.Even when a Maulana is killed by militants, surreally, author overhears a whif of conspiracy that he was killed by troops.I would have really liked to read about authors real issues but unfortunately, this book is full of amnesia and looks like tailored to achieve a political goal.

In a simple language,the narrator shares with the readers the life in Kashmir; how misery and suffering became so intertwined in the lives of the common people of such a beautiful place.How a visit to an aunt's house or a visit to a salon turned out to be life changing experiences makes for an interesting read but also a sad reminder how the story is not solely her experiences but of the several in the region.Having read the novel one feels slightly more empathetic towards our fellow countrymen who are still continuing to go through the same agony even now.

Farah Bashir creates a riveting atmosphere in her narrative, aptly balancing the political evocations with her personal ones. She balks at the presumed normal life in Kashmir. The author has a lot of first hand experience of the conflict, in the 1990s, when bunkers, frisking, colluding with statist forces, and search and cordon operations became a new norm. Her conflict experience also includes losing her relatives, and sympathising with tragedies. The memoir also has a certain aesthetic value, besides the transparency, with many beautiful passages that stir the heart. At times, she also narrates Kashmiri chores and the cultural element of the society, which all in all, makes this book an impressive debut. A reader feels empathy for her characters and motifs of political calamities run through and through. I am not surprised that it has got many rave reviews from acclaimed authors around the globe.

Farah Bashir’s book “Rumours of Spring” is an extremely poignant account of life as an adolescent in Kashmir of the 1990s, the Kashmir that was full of conflict and uncertainty. Nothing has changed for Kashmiris as of today, but we shall not go there.I was gutted. As I was reading the book and when I finished reading it as well. I am still reeling from Bashir’s experiences as young girl in the valley – what her family and friends had to go through, and the trauma that will never go away. Some wounds never heal. Maybe that’s how it is meant to be.The book starts with the death of Farah’s grandmother, Bobeh. The chapters follow the day of her funeral, compartmentalized into Evening, Night, Early Hours, Dawn, Morning, and Afterlife. Each chapter reveals more about Farah’s life and that of her family, amidst the turmoil – life that has changed completely, leaving only memories of the days gone by.A young girl grows up under constant curfew, sudden raids, gunfire, and talk of death all around. A young girl grows up waiting to go to school, checking when the phone works – whether the school is open, and the buses are plying – checking whether she can go to school – dependent on whether where she stays is a sensitive area or not. A young girl has to constantly hear of deaths of loved ones, of cousins, of how you have to be careful – cannot go here and must go there with someone, and then to imagine what life must be like in places that are not Kashmir.Bashir’s writing is devoid of sentiment but full of emotional heft. It doesn’t want to make you cry, as much as it wants you as a reader to empathize and understand the way things were. At the same time, she is trying very hard not to judge – the government, the Indian army, and even the militants for that matter. She is only stating her truth – the one that she experienced, the one that her family faced, the truth where everything we take for granted is full of terror and crackdown.Time plays such an important role throughout the book and yet not. Bobeh’s body has to be kept at home for a day, because of curfew. Time passes then – slowly for Farah and her family, as somehow relatives and friends come to console, memories rise. When you could freely listen to music, when freshly baked bread could be bought without fear, and when you could go to one room from another in your house without the fear of wood creaking, leading to the army asking questions and perhaps even shooting a stray bullet.Farah interweaves the history of a state and a country – including its politics with her personal spaces. From her friends who are Kashmiri Pandits and have to leave without a word in 1990 to the siege of the Hazratbal shrine in 1993, when she loses all will to study and do better. Everything is acknowledged, everything is remembered with the intention of it being forgotten.Rumours of Spring speaks of what is lost, what remains, and hopefully what will not be lost. It is a chronicle of a girlhood, but also negotiating spaces of beauty, grace, hope, and identity in the midst of chaos, terror, and death.

A memoir of a girl growing up during the most volatile times in the Kashmir valley. The author narrates how post 1989, everything in Kashmir changed. There was a growing anger among the youth of Kashmir, which resulted in insurgency, which in turn resulted in militancy and ultimately the increased presence of Indian Army in the valley, making Kashmir one of the most militarized zones of the world. This book, however, captures how these factors affected the day to day lives of the people of Kashmir.The writing style is simple yet very impactful, and you can read it one sitting. The author is a photojournalist, and usually a photojournalist tells a story with their photographs, in this novel she created a moving picture with her words. You are transported to the location, and you can feel the suffocation, the trauma, and the tension of living under the constant watch of the army. You can feel the frustration of being stripped of most of your rights, you feel as if someone is chocking you.A short, crisp and very well written book that everyone should read to understand the everyday lives of people of Kashmir under Army control.