Celebrating Kashmiriyat to tales from the battlefield

An ode to the resilience of Kashmiri women, to inspiring stories from the battlefield, to a journey of healing is what IANS has for its readers this weekend. Take a look.

1. Book: The Land I Dream Of; Author: Manisha Sobhrajani; Publisher: Hachette; Pages: 191; Price: Rs.399

From the story of an 80-year-old trained to fight tribal invaders in 1947 as part of Kashmir's first women-only militia to the tale of a Kashmiri Pandit forced into exile as a child - this book gives a peek into the lives of women from divergent backgrounds from across Kashmir.

Written in "honour of the women, and in celebration of Kashmiriyat", this personal account of loss and despair and hope and optimism is a testament to the "resilience of the women in one of the world's most fractious regions".

Lucidly written, the book, according to the author, is not a political account of the history of the land and its many rulers, but is meant to bring out women's voices in contrast to those of men "who have so far dictated the narrative of Kashmir conflict".

2. Book: The Brave: Param Vir Chakra Stories; Author: Rachna Bisht Rawat; Publisher: Penguin; Pages: 283; Price: Rs.250

The book paints a vivid portrait of 21 courageous soldiers and awardees of the Param Vir Chakra (PVC), the nation's highest award for gallantry.

Apart from narrating valiant tales from the battlefield, the book also traces the lives of these extraordinary men, some of whom include India's first PVC recipient, Major Somnath Sharma who died while fighting the 1948 India-Pakistan war, Major Dhan Singh Thapa who lost his life in the Sino-Indian war of 1962 and Captain Vikram Batra (1999 Kargil operations).

Divided into sections like the Indo-Pak war (1947-48), Congo (1961), the Sino-Indian war (1962), the second and third Indo-Pak wars (1965, 1971), Siachen (1987), Operation Pawan (1987-90) and the Kargil war (1999), the book is an inspiring read, replete with anecdotes.

3. Book: Becoming a Mountain; Author: Stephen Alter; Publisher: Aleph; Pages: 262; Price: Rs. Rs.495

The blissful existence of Stepher Alter and his wife Ameeta was shattered when four armed intruders invaded their home and attacked them - leaving for dead. This assault left the author feeling alienated in the land of his birth.

It was then that he set himself a goal to prove that he had overcome the attack, both mentally and physically and also to re-knit his bond to his homeland -- that he undertook a series of treks in the high Himalayas following his recovery. The treks, undertaken out of sorrow, soon became a personal quest for the cousin of Bollywood actor Tom Alter.

The author of 15 works of fiction and non-fiction, Alter in this book weaves together Himalayan history, folklore and also his encounters with other pilgrims, presenting a soothing narrative on the hidden meanings and enduring mystery of the mountains.

4. Book: Four Aleys; Author: Renu Kurien Balakrishnan; Publisher: Vitasta; Pages: 378; Price: Rs.399

Revolving around the lives of four women - all named Aleys - the novel is a story of obsessive love and familial loyalties set against a background of social upheaval.

While the women in the feudal, patriarchal family of the Big House deal with their share of complications, the youngest of the four, Little Aley tries to make sense of the lives of her namesakes. She also promises to never fall a prey to the same fate as her mother, grandmother and grandaunt.

But will Little Aley be successful in setting a balance in the social system, that after a upheaval, now fumbles to reinvent itself in a constructive manner?