Two men from a village in Kashmir leave their homes to fight in World War II, only to find themselves on the opposite sides of a freshly drawn border upon their return. "Unki bhasha, gaaliyan aur duayein sab ek hain, bas desh badal gaye," says Urdu scholar-writer Aslam Parvez, referring to Manto's Aakhiri Salute, one of his many moving stories on Partition. The plot dates back to 1947, but the emotions involved in having to come to terms with a sudden development of such magnitude played out once again in Kashmir recently when it became a Union Territory. Wadi-e-Farda, or the valley of eternity, is an evening of such timeless writing on Kashmir that Parvez has curated for Studio Tamaasha's Urdu readings programme.

"The idea was not to take sides on this development, because when you take sides, you leave aside a million other facets. Literature helps one see the larger picture," says Parvez, adding that another objective was to ensure listeners are aware that Kashmir is far from its portrayal in Yash Chopra movies. "Khusrau called Kashmir a paradise on earth. Whatever else it may be, but it is not jannat anymore."