www.thecreativelaucher.com
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THE CREATIVE LAUNCHER:
Vol. I & Issue VI (February 2017) ISSN-2455-6580
An International, Open Access, Peer Reviewed, Refereed, E- Journal in English
Covered by Thomson Reuters Researcher Id- R- 1678-2016
Editor in Chief- Ram Avadh Prajapati
I & Issue VII (February-2016)
Title of the Book: Scattered Souls
Author: Shahnaz Bashir
Publisher: Fourth Estate Harper Collins
Publication Year: 2016
Pages: 183
Price: 399
ISBN 978-93-5264-124-6
Reviewed By:
Suraya Jan
Research Scholar
Central University of Kashmir, Srinagar
Scattered Souls: Portrayal of Despair, Despondence and
Disheartenment of Kashmiris
Kashmiri fiction in English has started very recently and has produced many commendable
writers like Basharat Peer, Mirza Waheed, Sidhartha Gigoo, Nitasha Koul and many others.
These writers have endeavored to raise voices and write narratives of mourning and
sufferings of Kashmiri people and are questioning the Indian occupation in Kashmir. Their
narratives offer authoritative accounts of the Kashmiri victims who have faced brutal
mutilation at the hands of Indian security forces in a tumultuous and blistering atmosphere.
The narratives also demonstrate chronicles of an unending and offensive abuse of human
rights in Kashmir. They have put the Kashmiri literature in global focus and have shown the
world that Kashmir is synonymous with bloodshed, oppression, violence and depravation.
Shahnaz Bashir has emerged as another rising star in the literary canon of Kashmiri fiction in
English. He won the Muse India Young Writer Award 2015 for his debut novel The Half
Mother. Scattered Souls, his second book is a collection of thirteen short stories mostly set in
1990’s. Both Kashmiri men and women have suffered endlessly from the massive and
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Impact factor- 2.3
THE CREATIVE LAUNCHER:
Vol. I & Issue VI (February 2017) ISSN-2455-6580
An International, Open Access, Peer Reviewed, Refereed, E- Journal in English
Covered by Thomson Reuters Researcher Id- R- 1678-2016
Editor in Chief- Ram Avadh Prajapati
I & Issue VII (February-2016)
devastating conflict and Bashir in his collection has successfully and aptly turned these men
and women into life-sized characters.
Shahnaz Bashir has made use of a simple narrative and has let a very literal streak of
truth pervade throughout the book and literally painted the mournful condition of Kashmiris
through his characters in the collection of heart-rendering stories. The book portrays how the
unending convoys of Indian army entered Kashmir in 1990’s and suffocated people with the
smog of day and night curfews. Things like powerlessness, moral crisis, depravity and doubt
are recurring motifs almost in every story. The book describes how the bitter conflict,
draconian laws and huge militarization have wreaked havoc in the lives of ordinary Kashmiri
people.
The first story “The Transistor” delineates how ignorant people in Daddgaam village
paid heed to the rumors which claimed the death at the hands of militants, of innocent
Mohammad Yousuf Dar, a supporter of insurgency where his transistor was mistaken as a
walkie-talkie “to spy on the freedom movement in the village” (11). In “The Gravestone”, the
author skillfully describes how an individual relinquishes his self respect to the enormous
pressures of economic and psychological needs. Mohammad Sultan, a talented carpenter and
persistent adherent of freedom struggle had to finally murder his self respect and apply for a
monetary compensation for his martyred son, Mushtaq Ahmad Najar to bring the medicines
for his ailing pneumonia affected granddaughter. The third story “The Ex-militant” lays bare
the problems of injustice, torture and viciousness to which the surrendered militants were
pushed even after leaving the path of violence and militancy. The author vividly depicts the
physical, social and psychological predicament of Ghulam Mohiuddeen, an ex-militant and
the effect of his past on his present life. “Psychosis” demonstrates author’s admirable attempt
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THE CREATIVE LAUNCHER:
Vol. I & Issue VI (February 2017) ISSN-2455-6580
An International, Open Access, Peer Reviewed, Refereed, E- Journal in English
Covered by Thomson Reuters Researcher Id- R- 1678-2016
Editor in Chief- Ram Avadh Prajapati
I & Issue VII (February-2016)
to address the psychological and traumatic condition of Sakeena, who after the mysterious
disappearance of her husband, is told to offer an amount of one lac rupees and even herself
in bed by the police forces if she
needs to know about her disappeared husband’s
whereabouts. Later she is gang raped by the Indian troops which results in the deterioration of
her mental health, ending up in her getting admitted to the government Psychiatric Diseases’
Hospital, where she is nicely treated by Dr, Imtiyaz. The story “Theft” outlines Insha’s
(Ghulam Mohiudin’s and Sakeena’s daughter) struggle to find herself a place in the society
where she faces humiliation and is exposed to certain dirty jobs and accused of stealing in a
cosmetics shop where she was working as a salesgirl, thus demonstrating the degrading effect
of turmoil on the children of those ever involved in militancy. The story “A Photo with
Barack Obama” relevantly focuses on the silence of influential countries especially America
on the Kashmir issue. This is exemplified by Obama’s visit to India during which he
discusses everything (Indian leadership, economy, heritage in his speech in the Indian
parliament) but desists from mentioning Kashmir. The story also depicts Sakeena’s agony
and anguish towards her son, Bilal born of rape by the Indian army and how he is kicked and
thrashed by the policemen and often called ‘‘haraamuk’’ by people and Shoaib Akhter for
being a famous stone pelter in Batamaloo by other stone pelters. “Oil and Roses”
demonstrates how Gul Bhagwaan, the gardener was yearning for personal contentment after
the death of his adopted son who was killed spontaneously by the army men when a tyre
suddenly blasted. It shows the touching reply of Gul to the American lady that in Kashmir
people have roses but not oil and all they want is only a bit of attention. “Country Capital” is
a satirical story which proves the ignorance and credulity of rural school children who even
do not know the name of the capital of the place they live in and only know the names of
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Impact factor- 2.3
THE CREATIVE LAUNCHER:
Vol. I & Issue VI (February 2017) ISSN-2455-6580
An International, Open Access, Peer Reviewed, Refereed, E- Journal in English
Covered by Thomson Reuters Researcher Id- R- 1678-2016
Editor in Chief- Ram Avadh Prajapati
I & Issue VII (February-2016)
India, Pakistan and America due to the conflict and also describes the involvement of the
sarpanchs and other collaborators joining hands with army for their petty personal gains. The
story “Shabaan Kaak’s Death” portrays the bitter reality of how even the burial of the dead
becomes problematic in curfew stricken valley and the innumerable problems which the
family, relatives and neighbors have to face in such a situation. Shabaan Kaak, an eminent
person in Hawal had dreamt of a grand burial for himself and expected some ten thousand
mourners in his funeral procession but actually only twenty two men could attend his funeral
that too in the absence of a professional gravedigger. “The House” presents an
unchallengeable reality substantiating how conflicts in conflict zone areas are responsible for
fracturing firmly constructed homes and unbreakable relations and bonds. It exhibits what
havoc befell Farooq Ahmad Mir after his wife Zareena was killed in the indiscriminate firing
by the security forces and he himself got injured when the two militants escaped through their
compound to disappear in the dense neighborhood after attacking an Army patrol. In “Some
Small Things I Couldn’t Tell You”, an ailing father writes a letter to his son advising which
things he should take recourse to and which ones to despise and confesses to him that he
broke all his toys gifted to him by his maternal DSP uncle out of evil love. “The Silent
Bullet” is a penetrating story of Mohammad Ameen, a philosopher and teacher who dreams
of Heaven where his conscious mind makes him question many things. Army in Natiopra
after kidnapping two young boys fired aerial shots to disperse the huge crowd which got
assembled there and shockingly a silent bullet pierced and sank into the back of the teacher
touching his spine. The last story “The Woman Who Became Her Own Husband” is a heart
touching story of a loving ideal couple Ayesha and Tariq Zargar in which their ecstasy is
shattered when Tariq gets ruthlessly killed in the Army firing. The author portrays the
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Impact factor- 2.3
THE CREATIVE LAUNCHER:
Vol. I & Issue VI (February 2017) ISSN-2455-6580
An International, Open Access, Peer Reviewed, Refereed, E- Journal in English
Covered by Thomson Reuters Researcher Id- R- 1678-2016
Editor in Chief- Ram Avadh Prajapati
I & Issue VII (February-2016)
psychological condition of Ayesha who loses her mental balance and ends up copying her
husband’s activities and routine after his death, thus becoming her own husband.
One of the defining features of the book is that all the thirteen stories are interrelated.
Most of the characters recur in the book and only their significance changes as they are
related to each other one way or the other. The reader gets curious regarding the stories till
the very end. The book possesses such coherence that one feels as if one is reading a novel of
interconnected stories which reveal Bashir a very skilled storyteller.
The book can be compared to Alice Walker’s book In Love and Trouble: Stories of
Black Women, though both the books belong to two different traditions, one taking recourse
to the resistance literature and the other to black feminism in America. But there are striking
similarities between the two. Walker’s book is also a collection of thirteen short stories
written consummately and skillfully. Like Walker, Bashir has aptly painted the valiant
struggle of Kashmiris in the face of conflict. The stories of both the writers are realistic,
poignant and readable and reveal the extremes of cruelty and violence to which different
characters are subjected and both have attempted to give voice to voiceless people.
One more impressive feature of the book is that epigram to each and every story fits it
very aptly. Bashir has literally attempted to sketch the picture of excessive struggles and
sufferings of Kashmiris during the three decades. The author has made use of attractive and
graphic language. The book is a must read.
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