FJ Kashmir

  Book: Echoes of experience   Author     : Dr Arshad Hussain Khuroo   Publisher: BlueRose One   Pages: 186  inam ul rehman   “Our kids,” writes Dr Arshad Hussain Khuroo in his self-help book “learn more from the internet than from us.” On the same page he trenchantly writes, “ More likes on a Lie , is considered as a Truth in social media.”    Once a while one must read a self-help book to reinvigorate oneself. It is not that we don’t know or haven’t experienced what is written in these self-help books, but it is to refocus our energies on important things rather than on clutter. Dr Arshad, born in Sopore , has been working as a leading scientist in India’s largest pharmaceutical industry, Sun pharmaceutical industries limited , for the past 25 years.  Here he leads “a team of 275 scientists scattered across different functions and the globe”.    “When one person in the team makes his or her individual goals more imp...

inam ul rehman     On teachers’ day (it is not a universal teacher’s day, different countries celebrate it on different dates) it is normal to see write-ups about teachers, without naming them, or if someone names them s/he makes sure that the teacher has retired. What is the fun of writing such banal stuff. By not naming our teachers (who are still teaching) who inspired us, or taught us in a diligent way we are giving free rein to bad teachers or those who slam down students making them fearful to question or argue anything.     Our writing should remind those bad teachers that you would not get away with your awful teaching. You will be called out.   Our writing should also help good teachers to improve upon and pat them even if their contemporaries try to put them down.        But, how do you say a particular teacher impressed, or inspired you? Myriad reasons, but no particular answers.  In our educational career, only a f...

  Book: Undaunted: Lt Ummer Fayaz of Kashmir Author: bhaavna aroar   Publisher: Westland books Pages: 232     inam ul rehman   “I am writing a book on Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz,” says bhaavna arora to a bookstore owner at the Srinagar airport to see his reaction. “Yes, I have heard of him,” says the owner. “But you know,” continues he, “there was an innocent shepherd boy who was killed by the forces yesterday. He was mistaken for a terrorist. I am pretty sure no one will write a book on him.”    It is these honest conversations that the author peppers on her eponymous book. Written in an interesting, absorbing way with parallel tracks the book crafts the story of a young Ummer, who was sure he is safe among his people even after being commissioned lieutenant of the 2 Rajputana Rifles .    From an early age, Ummer was groomed by his father to think and be different from his peers.  The protagonist lives up to this grooming. Not just be...

    Documentary: TransKashmir Director Duo: SA Hanan and Surbhi Dewan Cinematography: Faisal Bhat Duration: 60 minutes     inam ul rehman    What is your first reaction on seeing a transgender walking on the road? You look at the other side? Spit? Intense gaze? Tease? Sneer? Or you just take him/her as any other human being?    “TransKashmir”, a 60-minute exploratory documentary shows us a mirror which we don’t want to see.   It is a story of aspirations denied, ambitions cut short, and dreams snatched. Narrated through 6 transgender persons, “Trans Kashmir” takes you to the underbelly of Kashmiri society, which we don’t want to discuss.   When as children these transgenders go to school, they are subject to bullying and derogatory words. Sneered at, and humiliated. Without any family and social support these persons drop out from schools. After that their families try to hide them, or send them to work, or fetch for themselves....

Book: Rupture: stories on the sorrow of Kashmir  Translator: Dr Javaid Iqbal Bhat Author: Rattan Lal Shant   Publisher: Oxford University Press Pages: 144   inam ul rehman    For years I have been longing to read a book that makes me experience the Kashmiri Pandits condition in exile. Rahul Pandit ’s much-acclaimed book " Our moon has blood clots ” mostly dealt with Kashmir Pandits conditions in Kashmir peppered with exile ordeals in refugee camps. Siddharth Gigoo ’s “ Garden of solitude ”, which came earlier than Rahul’s book, partly mentioned the ordeals of living in a single tent under the scorching heat. However, nothing comes to mind which tells different stories of the same exiled communities.  In a way it's surprising that the Kashmiri Pandits haven’t written a lot on living in exile. Even only Ashok Pandit and Vidhu Vinod Chopra crafted two films— Sheen and Shikara . While the former is not much to be talked about the latter is a b...