It’s a heart wrenching fictional debut by Kashmiri author Feroz Rather. This book contains 13 stories on Kashmir that are interconnected to each other. Kashmir’s beauty has been marred by violence and these stories etch brutality, revenge, remorse, rebellion, death, war, passion, sexuality, religion, agony, courage, caste issues, fear, anger, love, betrayal and emotional turbulence. Rosy, belonging to an upper class society is in love with Jamshid, a lower class boy. Maryam loves pherans and embroidery but gets stuck in the rut of being a journalist. Every night a father reminisces about his dead son by exposing himself to the blood stained pheran he had worn at the time of death. A boorish inspector has his own demons which he has to face off and on. The various stories tug at your heart.

Suffering and military oppression have been highlighted in a big way. Bullets and gunshots are common in almost all the stories. Shards of glass color the history of the blood-ridden valley. The book reflects on the extreme torture faced by civilians. Violation of human rights triggers very strong emotions and Feroz Rather has penned it beautifully.