The Other Side Of The Divide
BOOK REVIEW
by Sameer Arshad Khatlani
by Swapna Peri
I t was during the year 1996 Pepsi
Sharjah Cup, India vs Pakistan match which ignited the 13-year-old teenager in me woke with a feminine feeling when Saqlian Mushtaq, Pakistani bowler was bowling. Since that moment I have created a huge crush on him. But, there was a Catch-22 situation that whenever there was a cricket match between Indian and Pakistan, there was a different mood in the house and inside me and never ever got a chance to express my attraction towards Saqqi. It was later during my young adulthood I could sense and understand why is this ill-feeling towards the country and the team is
68
|
STORIZEN MAGAZINE
developed. It was then I got to read a book on partition in 1947. Since that day, I always had in my mind what must be in the minds of the people who follow religions other than Islam in Pakistan. Again, I had no good soul in my fraternity who would explain to me. It was in 2013, a Telugu movie named Sahasam, based on the Hinjala Devi Temple, in Pakistan took over my mind again. The temple is one of the 108 Shakti Peetas in Hindusim. When I have come to know that the temple is in Pakistan, it blew my mind off. I cursed myself for being so dumb and thus my reading about temples, Hinduism and lives of people who chose Pakistan after the partition has begun. I have followed many videos, white papers and, books based on this topic but never came across a perfectly articulated book. Every once in a while, it is not so surprising that we come across certain books that have the power to surprise or shock us. But this book that started on a different node has APRIL 2020