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Reactions of a radical mind Endless Rain. Meera Arora Nayak. Penguin Books. Pages 324. Rs.295. To enter the war without the will
to win is fatal, and one can get that will only by believing unconditionally in
the cause. The root of the cause can be just, but on its way to being a cause
worth fighting for, it assimilates the greed and self-interests of a select
few. Soldiers in any war are primed to stop questioning the righteousness of
the cause. They must go on, even if a part of the whole is relevant to them.
Depending on which side they crusade for, they are labelled soldiers or
terrorists. Set against
the explosive background of the war for self-governance in Kashmir, Endless
Rain successfully evokes a plethora of emotions. Nayak gives an inside peek
into the ways of a Muslim family, their tribulations, aspirations and
shortcomings. It weaves into the storyline the legends and rituals of Kashmir.
The tales are intriguing, especially the story of Jaldeo, that the protagonist,
Ali, hears as a child and which leaves a profound impact on his psyche. The
author creates with ease such complex relationships between the characters that
they don’t hinder the flow of the plot. The tension between Ayesha, Ali’s
eldest sister, and Ali is overt. It just goes on to affirm what a deep mark
sexual abuse can leave on the impressionable mind of a child. Ali goes through
a series of seemingly harmless, but unfortunate events that turn the tide of
his life. His mother names him Aslam, the peaceful one, but his search for an
identity lands himself in a group of radicals and he is soon an active part of
the movement. No one is born a terrorist; it is a compounding of many factors
that turn an individual towards violence. It shows us a side of terrorism that
we do not see. It shows us its softer side, the one in which their families
suffer their life choices. It illustrates the trauma of the parents who wish
nothing but the best for their children, but are helpless against the wishes of
their own blood. For them, the endless wait for their return home is
punctuated with doubts of their being alive and well. Once they are in it, they
are so driven by the fanaticism that there is no looking back and no one
matters. The fight for freedom brings into its fold personal issues like the
one that Ali settles by killing Deepak, whom he holds responsible for his
sister’s death. Endless Rain touches the heart and straightens the
facts for us. All characters have shades that span a vast range, making them as
human as possible. Be it the hesitation Ali feels in putting down the name of a
Hindu neighbour on the list for evacuation or the affair between Ayesha and a
Hindu boy, all seem inspired from real life, which makes this novel a
must-read.
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Meera Arora Nayak aptly dedicates the book to the children of
Kashmir. They are the real victims of the insurgency. Their childhood takes the
biggest blow. For writing this novel, she interacted with the people of the
Valley over a few years. She tries to voice the feelings of the people she met;
the events are accurately reconstructed, while fictionalising the people to
protect their identity. She is the author of In the Aftermath and About
Daddy and also a children’s book, The Puffin Book of Legendary Lives.
She teaches English and mythology at a college in Virginia, USA. 