Book Review
Reviewer: Irfan Tramboo
Book Name: The Garden of Solitude
Author: Siddhartha Giggo
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 978-81-291-1718-2
Price: 200/-
Pages: 246
What made Pandits of Kashmir to migrate? What made them to live as migrants in the land which was alien to them? Where, the conditions were totally different to what they had in Kashmir. What made them to die of ‘Sunstrokes’ and ‘Snakebites’ in the alien land? What made them to think that they are not the part of this community anymore? What made them think that they do not belong to this ‘Reshi’Vaer’ anymore?
Siddhartha Gigoo, who was born in Kashmir and left the valley in 1990, In his debut novel ‘The Garden Of Solitude’ has tried to explain and answer these questions which were bound to arise especially in the minds of youth who perhaps don’t anything about the migration of Pandits who were the inseparable part of Kashmiri society. Youth don’t know anything about this because they never tried to dig up their past.
Author in the narrative form has tried to answer these questions and he has succeeded in doing that to a greater extent.
Author in the beginning while presenting a clear image of how Pandits and Muslims lived in peace and tranquility, how they celebrated the festivals and how they were for each other to share their grief, sorrow and happiness and most importantly their love for each other.
The author while keeping all the ideological and political differences (if any) aside has tried to present the humanitarian side of situation which led to the mass migration of the Pandits during 90’s.
Author in the beginning while presenting a clear image of how Pandits and Muslims lived in peace and tranquility, how they celebrated the festivals and how they were for each other to share their grief, sorrow and happiness and most importantly their love for each other.
The author has succeeded in picturing how Pandits were the inseparable part of the Kashmiri community. He has visualized how they were the part and parcel of this community, how they were contributing in the different fields of life here in Kashmir, especially in education. According to the author the Pandit families were always on the forefront to contribute their bit in education at a place where he narrates an incident where a Pandit who was running tuition classes for Pandits as well as for the Muslims. One day the he left without informing anyone and the reason was unknown.
The author has beautifully depicted how the elders form both the community who were living together from past many decades and whose ancestors had also lived there from hundreds of years, used to discuss religion, politics, philosophy, Rumi’s poetry and many other things on a short get together. Discussing and smoking from ‘Jajeer’. Adding to this communal harmony the author keeps on narrating how the daily interactions of ladies from both the communities used to be full of love and care.
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| Sidhharth Gigoo, Author of The Garden of Solitude |
The author visualizes the horrific situation when all these interactions, relations and the bondages broke apart. When they felt that our past was a dream and this is the reality which we will have to face, the brute reality that compelled them to break all the emotional and the spiritual relations forever. The reality when Pandits found themselves stuck in the situation where they were unable to judge anything .However they were not ready to do so but the conditions were totally different and totally against.
The author describes the heartfelt feeling when the Muslim neighbors who used to share their pain and agony changed their behavior towards their Pandit neighbors.
Author narrates when he heard of a neighboring lady cursing them. He quotes her saying “May God destroy the seed of Pandits”
This sudden change in the behavior especially from those who were very close to you and you were having a strong emotional bondage with them is really painful and that is natural and humanitarian and hence should be seen through the prism of humanity without giving it any color. This is purely a humanitarian issue and we should fathom it in that way only.
I found the book full of emotions and heart rendering incidents which one has to face especially when one has to live the life as a migrant. The author by his deepest emotions and due to the fact that he belongs to the same Pandit community who migrated during 1990 from Kashmir has succeeded in presenting the real image (taking about the emotions and sufferings which a common man had to undergo) of that situation which resulted in the mass migration of Pandits.
However one thing which I analyzed while reading this book is the depiction of miseries which Muslim community had to face was missing a bit. Pandits faced it in one way while Muslims too faced such thing in different form.
As it has been said that the conflicts, miseries and hard times do give birth to some new things, that very thing can be seen in this book also, where a boy namely Sridhar who grew up by seeing, analyzing those turbulent times. The hard times during the migration from his own land then the miseries while living as a migrant in the land which was alien to him, the land where people (migrants) were seen dying of alien ‘Sunstrokes’ and ‘Snakebites’, the land where the population spoke totally a different (alien) language. The things like migration and mental trauma associated with it had deep impact on him and finally when grew up he wrote a book on the apathy of Pandits thus recording the event of migration forever in the history.
From the beginning to the end I found the book full of emotions analyzing the situation and presenting its emotional part in front of the audience. The author has done that thing very beautifully. He has presented all the genuine emotions from both the communities.
However one thing which I analyzed while reading this book is the depiction of miseries which Muslim community had to face was missing a bit. Pandits faced it in one way while Muslims too faced such thing in different form. He could have presented another side also, i.e. how the Muslims struggled through the miseries inflicted unto them, thus making the book more impressive and full of instant impact.
All in all, the book is worth to read and for me it was a thoughtful read, full of nostalgia.
About the Reviewer
Irfan Tramboo studies Media at Media Education Research Centre (MERC). With an interest in Literature and International Relations (IR). Author is also a poet.
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