A new collection of essays brings contemporary Kashmiri women’s voices to light
Pics Courtesy/YodaPress
Title: Shadows of Azadi
Editor: Manisha Sobhrajani
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: Yoda Press
Cost: Rs 699
In Shadows of Azadi (Yoda Press), 18 women from Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh explore what Azadi means to them. For Shugufta Zahid, a poet and presenter at Radio Kashmir, Azadi (freedom) is getting rid of terrifying memories of crossfires and security checks — the swift rip of the grocery bags in the market by military forces. For author Neerja Mattoo, Azadi is no less than returning to Kashmiriyat, a peaceful way of life. This, she notes, once meant living in harmony in a multi-cultural state and opening up possibilities of aspirations for women. While the dreams of the writers differ, their longing for such a life and their desire to be able to unfix their gaze from the ground are echoed in all the stories.
Manisha Sobhrajani
The book emerges from the editor Manisha Sobhrajani’s recognition of the absence of Kashmiri women’s voices, despite their presence in public life. The essays are personal histories of the women writers featured in the book. However, in featuring women from different generations, Sobhrajani also maps for her readers a history of a changing state, as experienced by women from the 1940s to the present. We understand from accounts of Shefan Jahan Gazi, Rekha Chowdhary, and Nayeema Ahmad Mahjoor the transition into the period when the military forces took over. Others like Niyati Bhat posit a more recent history, which includes experiencing the pandemic and being a caregiver for her parents.
Bold, sincere, and poignant, the stories deserve our attention. They speak about limitations and liberation, pain and resilience. They dwell on the collective effort that peace-building activities require, from men and women, to lift each other up and hold on to the hope that freedom may reveal more than its shadow someday.
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