Loal Kashmir

A rare collection of stories of love, longing and loss from a region that has witnessed decades of conflict, Loal Kashmir seeks to answer the question: what happens when you cannot communicate your longing to your beloved?

Loal, the Kashmiri word for love and affection, is the common thread running through all sixteen of these true-life narratives: Javed, on his way to show off his love letter to a friend, gets caught in a crackdown; newlywed Zara waits to be reunited with her husband in America, her visa application flagged indefinitely; Sagar and Aalmeen plan moments of stolen time during the uncertainty of militancy; Nadiya looks for Shahid from her window, coughing as caustic fumes of tear gas seep in; Khawar and Iqra struggle to reach each other when the abrogation of Article 370 leads to a shutdown across Kashmir.

While the waves of discord in the Valley have been cemented in history, what has been rendered invisible are the lived experiences of its inhabitants. Loal Kashmir, by gathering the tenderest of Kashmir’s tales–its accounts of love–attempts correcting this lapse.