Vitasta Publishing to publish Once We Had Everything (Literature In Exile) edited by Arvind Gigoo, Siddhartha Gigoo and Adarsh Ajit
Once We Had Everything (Literature In Exile) features essays, memoirs and short stories written by some prominent Kashmiri Pandit writers living in exile. The writings illustrate their dissent, despair and hope.
Consider this:
Imagine being evicted from your home and being forced to live in a cramped tent with no electricity, no water, no possessions, no safety, and no security.
Imagine being forced to live there not for a day or a month or a year, but an entire decade!
The writers of the stories in this book have lived with the horror of having been banished from their homes in Kashmir with no place to call their own. They are still living with the horror of not being able to go back to Kashmir even after spending 28 years in exile. They are living with the pain of seeing their homes and places of worship ravaged.
The questions they ask: Who are we? Where have we come from? What is going to happen to us? This book has the answers.
Picture Credit: Vitasta Publishing and Siddhartha Gigoo
This book will give the readers a glimpse into the condition of the exiled Kashmiri Pandits who still carry the burden of history with them wherever they go.
Some of the award-winning writers and academicians whose writings feature in the book include Chandrakanta, Agnishekhar, Harikrishna Kaul, Dr Kundan Lal Chowdhury, Dr Subhash Kak, Moti Lal Kemmu, Deepak Budki, Khema Kaul, Autar Krishan Rahbar, Tej Nath Dhar, and Maharaj Krishen Santoshi. Other contributors include Henna Koul, Khushboo Mattoo, Pushkar Nath Dhar, Kishni Pandita, Varad Sharma, Sushant Dhar, Kirti Kaul, Nipa Charagi, Monika Kaul, Parmarth Gupta, Pratush Kaul, Neeraj Santoshi, Shilpa Raina and Seema Bhat.
About the Editors
Arvind Gigoo is the author of three books, including, most recently, Gulliver In Kashmir. He translates Kashmiri poems and short stories into English.
Siddhartha Gigoo is an award-winning short story writer, short filmmaker and novelist. His books are The Garden of Solitude, A Fistful of Earth and Other Stories and Mehr (A Love Story). His films are The Last Day and Goodbye, Mayfly.
Adarsh Ajit is a poet, columnist, reviewer and translator. He is the author of a book of Urdu poems Yaad jo aatay hain voh din.
Publisher: Vitasta Publishing, India Pvt. Ltd. | Price: 399 | Pages: 223 | Genre: Anthology