Reiseskildringer

On 5 August 2019, Suhas Munshi was returning to Srinagar from a visit to legendary poet Habba Khatoon’s relic in Gurez, when an unprecedented curfew was imposed upon Jammu and Kashmir, and Article 370 was abrogated. Through his travels and conversations with people across the Valley, Munshi tries to give a sense of what that moment has meant to the common Kashmiri.

This insightful travelogue breaks away from the clichéd view of Kashmir, one that sees it either as an earthly paradise or a living hell. It takes you to unexpected places, into the homes of poets, playwrights and street performers; to a heartwarming Christmas service with the minuscule Christian community in Baramulla; and inside the barricaded city of Srinagar’s football stadium, which is a lively refuge for the elderly and their memories of a glorious past. Over three weeks, for fear of being abandoned in a harsh terrain, Munshi struggles to keep up with a group of Bakarwal nomadic shepherds as they make their way from Srinagar to Jammu over the mighty Pir Panjal mountains. And he finds a lone Pandit family living in a decrepit ghost colony in Shopian, the hub of militancy in Kashmir.

This World below Zero Fahrenheit presents a portrait of a people who’ve been overshadowed by the place they live in, even as it ruminates on the idea of home and exile.

• Forfatter: Suhas Munshi
• Publisert: Februar 2021
• Innbinding: Innbundet
• Språk: Engelsk
• ISBN: 9780670091959

Iain campbell has been fascinated by mountains for as long as he can remember. In his new book, he tells the story of a journey following the course of the indus river from its mouth in the mudflats of karachi through the karakorum, kashmir and the himalayas to its source in ladakh on the indian side of the tibetan plateau, where it springs from the 'lion's mouth' on mount kailash. His narrative paints an insightful, honest and heartfelt portrait of pakistan, a country that through all his wanderings of the deserts and mountains of asia kept drawing him back, and a place which combines a rich religious heritage with some of the most spectacular mountains in the world.

'i came to see how closely the indus river is involved with pakistani religious life and how this has been true for thousands of years' he says. 'i took four months to make this trip and was able to travel slowly... It became apparent to me as I travelled and developed personal friendships that the image of pakistan that we are often fed by the media is distorted.

i found the pakistanis to be the most hospitable people I have ever met, to the point where I would have to allow time on my walks in the mountains for the delay caused by sitting down to tea and chapatti in every settlement.'over the course of his journey, he is exposed to all sides of local life, from a sufi shrine attended by crocodiles to a holy man competing with saudi-sponsored wahhabi clerics in the swat valley, a near meeting with the fairies of nanga parbat and the temple of a three-year-old buddhist lama on the edge of the tibetan plateau. Engrossing and eye-opening, iain campbell's account of his travels through this mesmerising land will appeal to travellers, mountaineers, trekkers, wilderness enthusiasts, anyone interested in the culture and history of the subcontinent, and fans of quality travel writing.

Publisert måned: Aug
Publisert år: 2019
Sider nr: 213