Nayeema Mahjoor says, “If I had been able to do nothing to ease the pain of my motherland, would I at least be able to show it to the world through my eyes, heart & soul?” Lost in terror is written from a woman’s perspective through the protagonist of the story who weaves the different pieces of her personal life with the link of every struggle she endures.
This book is not confined to women. Rather it’s an account of liberation. Kashmiris fought with patience and loss, at the cost of their lives. While women had to rage an additional war against the taboos and opinions targeted at them by the society they grew in, men had to face betrayals at the people who exploited “azaadi “ for their personal motives.
The massacre of life within a woman, the devastation of a home she weaves with all the light in her eyes is her resistance. When we come across the word, “Azadi”, we may fail to read about it from the perspective of women who throughout history yearned to un-live their lives while living it every day with the last bit of endurance.
While flipping through the pages of this book, I did get perspectives on the woman’s side of the story through aunty ji and Sadia. I did feel it when people couldn’t mourn for each other’s loss of fear, even though the pain is felt by all. We are all learning to hide it beneath our skin.
The atmosphere described in this book is something people here can relate to for what this fictional piece says, is our life!
Description
NayeemaMahjoor, an Indian writer, pens a terrific and gripping tale of one woman and an Indian state. She depicted the fight against the injustice of the government and the so-called society's norms that oppressed the freedom of both, in her new book, Lost in Terror.
Here the author weaves a sad and heartbreaking story of a daughter of the valley disrupted by war and this woman gets caught up between the crossfires from both ends, one fighting for freedom and the other oppressing the rebellions. Career is turned upside down and her life comes to a standstill due to the turmoil around her, fate offers her a leap of faith—but will she take it?
The author herself here decodes her life story during her childhood, adulthood, and womanhood days in an unrest Kashmir, when the fight for freedom by the mujahideen has just begun. It was followed by the deployment of the Indian army from the central government of India. She meticulously pens her unharmed and free childhood days filled with reading storybooks, playing with her sisters and her father, strolling freely in the streets of Srinagar, and so on.
She narrates how her father against the wishes of the so-called society and her relatives, sent her and her sisters to school citing equal rights to education for Kashmiri girls. And also how her father never scared away from allowing her daughters to go outside the perimeter of their homes to get a job and earn money, despite the resistance from society.
Although her education and job became a challenge for her after marriage where though it was welcomed that a daughter-in-law can go outside and earn money like a male member of a family. In her in-laws’ house, her marriage gradually began to turn nightmarish for her with the changing times in Kashmir. So along with Kashmir’s injustice, the author too has to face the injustices imposes on her not only by society but also by her in-laws as well as her husband.
In fact, stepping foot outside the home can become a big gamble as the roads and the normal means of life were dominated by the army and one slight error in the movement can make her a culprit in the eyes of the army. She tried hard enough to stop her marriage from shattering into millions of pieces but as the conditions of Kashmir deteriorated, and so her marriage too became a constant struggle for her to keep up with her marital life.
Perception
Previously, I’ve read four novels on Kashmir and by Kashmiri authors. Among them, there was one female author, who penned a fictional story about life in Kashmir. But after reading this book by this female author, I’m surprised to find out that Mahjoor has strikingly brought out the real-life hardcore pain that she underwent during the resistance period in Kashmir.
Although the books penned by the men were all equally arresting and realistic enough to strike a chord in the hearts of the readers, this particular book is the one where the author has specifically carved a sorrow-filled yet horrifyingly honest biography about women’s life in Kashmir. Hats off to the author for not shying away to pen the most embarrassing and struggling periods of her life. This grasps the readers and also makes them think beyond the beauty and charm of this valley of paradise.
The author, in this book, has vividly portrayed through her simple and articulate writing style that will help the readers get a visually bright and clear image of Kashmir during the 90s. While reading, I was once again, teleported as well as transported to Kashmir that embraced me with open arms.
This biographical tale does not majorly focus on the struggle or the negative aspects of the freedom struggle movement in Kashmir during the 90s. It mostly captures the pain of a Kashmiri woman and the oppressed lifestyle they lead behind the black veil and under the dominance of the male figure in their household.
The one thing that irked me a bit is the fact that the author failed to capture the sorrow inflicted upon the people of Kashmir by the jihadis strikingly, whereas the author did not once fail to capture the pain inflicted by the army and the government of India, so this is where the book, as well as the author, let me down on being mildly partial towards the lost cause.
Read more about the plight of Kashmiri women if you want to know more about this.
Loophole
I’d like to add that there is a sense of vagueness on the protagonist’s side as to whose side she was even though she supported “azadii” wholeheartedly. But while experiencing different sides of the emotional movement, one is too drained to form a clear opinion.
Verdict
Authority without wisdom is like a heavy ax without an edge, fitter to bruise than polish.
Conclusion
The character sketch of herself and her family member, from her thoughtful father to her rogue husband to her grief-stricken sisters to the daring and loving sister-in-law to the neighbors to the careless as well as careful folks of Kashmir, are well crafted out with realism and truth in their voices and demeanor. The characters will maintain a firm grip on the minds of the readers all throughout the story. Not even for once will they let the readers turn away their heads from this enthralling yet evocative story.
Overall, this is a thought-provoking yet sorrowful story of one woman fighting and trying to stand against society’s dominating rules against women, set against the quaint backdrop of Kashmir.
If you’re looking for more books to read, check out this review of The Secret by Rhondy Byrne
Written By - Ifrah Amin
Edited By - Neha Kundu
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