My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“God know that a mother need fortitude and courage and tolerance and flexibility and patience and firmness and nearly every other brave aspect of the human soul.”
----Phyllis McGinley
Shahnaz Bashir, an India author, has penned a tragic story about a mother's love in his book, The Half Mother: A Novel where the author weaves the story of a Kashmiri mother looking for her son who has been arrested by the army in a raid following an attack by the militants in their locality. Thus begins the journey of a desperate mother looking for her son from one army camp to another to one minster's home to another police station to finally approaching the media, but with time, her health deteriorates and it seems no one is aware that a boy is missing.
Synopsis:
The night is tired now, the old moon, hanging in the dark sky, is tired too. It is the 1990s and Kashmir's long war has begun to claim its first victims. Among them are Ghulam Rasool Joo, Haleema's father and her teenage son Imran, who is picked up by the authorities only to disappear into the void of Kashmir's missing people. The Half Mother is the story of Haleema-a mother and a daughter yesterday, a 'half mother' and an orphan today, tormented by not knowing whether Imran is dead or alive, torn apart by her own lonely existence. While she battles for answers and seeks out torture camps, jails and morgues for any signs of Imran, Kashmir burns in a war that will haunt it for years to come. Heart-wrenching, deeply troubling and lyrical, The Half Mother marks the debut of a bold new voice from Kashmir.
Haleema is born into poverty, and soon after her loving mother's death, she had to quit her school and studies and had to marry a medical assistant. But it seems Haleema is also born with bad luck as her marriage comes to an end within a few months and she had to return back to her father's home in Natipora locality. The only good thing that came out of her short-lived marriage is the birth of her son, Imran, who soon becomes her darling boy, and her father's new guiding stick. But the time period of the late 1980s is ripe with obligatory arrests by the army due to the violence and attacks by the militants in Kashmir, following due every Kashmiri family lives with the fear that they either don't get abducted by the militants or get arrested by the army, as either of them guarantees no safe return to home. Unlucky Haleema too faces the wrath of such violence, when her father is killed in a violent raid performed by the Indian army due to a militants attack. And on the very same evening while mourning for the death of her dear father, Haleema loses her loving son, Imran when the army arrests him in a very similar raid and takes him away. Haleema has no time to mourn for her father, hence she puts the grief at the back of her mind and begs in the feet of the army to let his son free as he has done nothing. And from there, Haleema's painful and long journey begins to find her son and bring him back to home, hence she knocks every government official's door, every army camp's door, and even contact those people who too have faced a similar fate like Haleema's and try to form a united body of people to meet the chief minister and also approaches a local journalist from BBC, who at least pays some heed to her story and prints it. But Imran never comes back and no one seems to have any idea about Imran's whereabouts. And with time, Haleema ages and her health fails her, but she never once loses her hope. So in the midst of failing health and the lies that every army-related personnel is giving her, can Haleema find her son, Imran, before it is too late?
This is another such book after Mirza Waheed's The Book of Gold Leaves, that compelled me with its authentic synopsis about a mother's fight and mostly because of the fact that the story is written by a first time Kashmiri author. Kashmir has forever suffered either in the hands of the strong Jihad-believer militants sponsored by Pakistan or in the hands of the fearless Indian Army who came to fame under the pretext of their inhuman torture done by them on the innocent Kashmiris. Kashmir's history is easily forgotten by the people of India but the Kashmiri folks know about it as it is written wither in their family history or in their bloods and they have to live with it every passing day. Trust me, I've been there and I've seen it with my very own eyes, how they have suffered and are still suffering with the war that is still going on discreetly in the background of their daily lives.
Now the author here pens this story like some experienced author, as his fresh voice coincides with maturity, depth and feels like the author knows how to move his readers through the emotional turmoil highlighted in the book. The author's writing style is extremely well-polished, emphatic and is laced with emotions, that are deep and will move the readers with its power. The narrative is realistic and honest and every other human soul can easily comprehend with the dialogues of the central character, and not to mention, Kashmiri mothers, especially whose painful stories are forgotten under the progress of Kashmir's wealth, politics, education and constantly growing tourism industry, will definitely find this story close to their heart and will cherish it forever. The pacing is swift and smooth as the readers sway with the free flow of the story.
The author has cleverly portrayed the plight of a desperate half mother's journey to find her son, who at first knocks the door of the local police station, then goes to the army camp who bluntly denies that her son has never been picked up for questioning, then forms a body of people consisting of half mothers and half widows in the valley of Kashmir and approaches the chief minister and then approaches a BBC journalist, who too is dominated by the state. This painful and heart breaking story will echo the stories of all the mothers and wives from this vast country, India, whose sons or husbands have been arrested by the government authority like police or army for questioning and following which, never returns back to home. Haleema has been projected like an epitome to all the grieving mothers and wives and the readers will easily feel related to her problems thus connecting with her from heart and mind.
The backdrop that the author arrested into the pages of this book is not only striking but also extremely lively which will only act as a time machine for the readers that will transport them not only back in a forgotten and deadly era in Kashmir's history but also to this very paradise. The author has painted the picturesque backdrop of Kashmir with its green valleys and meadows and clear blue stream flowing amidst the snow-white-capped mountains into the heart of the city, Srinagar. The timeline aptly syncs with the projection of the then Kashmir when the war between the army and the insurgents not only changed the lives of the common and innocent Kashmiri folks but also changed the whole ecology of this paradise.
The characters in this book are depicted with realism and their honest demeanor will make the readers fall and root for them till the very end. Haleema is a wonderful protagonist as her pain as well as her voice is believable and her fearless and hopeful demeanor will keep the readers too, hoping for her fight. The rest of the supporting characters, especially Haleema's father who enlightens his grandson with education and so much wisdom, that will make the readers arrested to his presence. Overall, all the characters uphold that old Kashmiri flair and warmth and are perfectly in sync with the story line.
In a nutshell, this is a must read realistic story of a mother coming from the pen of a debut writer as he successfully gives justice to the sorrows of so many lost stories like Haleema's across the paradise. The story is extremely riveting, enthralling yet poignant in every aspect and I recommend each and every one to pick a copy of this book now.
Verdict: A sorrowful journey of a Kashmiri mother looking for her lost son through the valleys.
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Author Info:
SHAHNAZ BASHIR's widely reviewed and critically lauded debut novel The Half Mother won the Muse India Young Writer Award 2015. His short fiction, memoir essays, poetry and reportage have been anthologised or published in A Clutch of Indian Masterpieces: Extraordinary Short Stories from the 19th Century to the Present (Aleph Book Company, 2014); Of Occupation and Resistance–Writings from Kashmir (Tranquebar, Westland, 2013); Growing Up Kashmiri (HarperCollins, India [forthcoming]), Caravan, Himal Southasian, Fountain Ink, Kindle, the Byword, Kashmir Lit besides many others. He teaches narrative journalism and conflict reporting at the Central University of Kashmir, Srinagar. He is a gold medalist in journalism from the University of Kashmir. Shahnaz was also awarded the Shamim Ahmad Shamim Kashmir Times 2007 Award for excelling in media studies. His next book Scattered Souls, a collection of interlinked stories, is out in early 2016 by Fourth Estate (HarperCollins).
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