In a powerful new title for children on belongingness, author Paro Anand reveals how we perpetuate hate and offers even adults, a glimmer of hope through the friendship of two girls
In the book, Shanna and Pema become friends after meeting at a boarding school. Representational pic
At one point in author Paro Anand's latest title, Nomad's Land (Talking Cub), one of the two protagonists, Shanna, a shy teenage Kashmiri Pandit who re-starts her life at a Delhi boarding school after her father is killed by terrorists in the Valley, has a meltdown when a group of her classmates from a North-Eastern tribe tell her about "traditional enmity" with another gang of girls from a different tribe. "Why are we taking on the fight of our ancestors? Why perpetuate enemy lines? Why can't we redraw them?" she yells uncharacteristically, her mind flooded with guilt for also shoving away her Muslim bestfriend in Kashmir as an "enemy". In a year that began with the anti-CAA-NRC protests, and is ending with reports of youngsters being arrested while eating pizza, all in the name of religious conversion, the question of who belongs, who doesn't and who gets to decide this has been looming large.
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These are the questions that Shanna and her friend, Pema, a feisty teen from the fictional tribe of Qhushavans, challenge through their friendship and struggles in the book. In the three-part sensitively-written story, Anand has explored the effects of terrorism, displacement, politics and silent hate-mongering, especially on children, by addressing the Kashmiri Pandit exodus of 1980-90s — which is located in a more contemporary setting — and through the Qhushavans, who represent several nomadic tribes that are punished for belonging nowhere and yet everywhere.
Paro Anand
In doing so, she has managed to remind us yet again that despite our age-old differences, we can set down new roots of love and camaraderie, and that sometimes, the kids know better. In a chat with mid-day, the author reveals how she wove multiple threads into this heartwarming story, that's also a timely call to action for peace.
What prompted you to write Nomad's Land?
I did a project with a nomadic tribe called Pardhis. Their wonderful children were bright, eager and loving, but so much in need of stability and a sense of permanence; they really didn't belong anywhere. That's when the idea first started cooking. Then, the images of babies of refugees being washed up on the beach found their way into the narrative. It became much more urgent as stories of the fleeing migrants — when we city folk turned our backs during the pandemic — broke into our consciousness. Moreover, many years ago, when a Kashmiri Pandit girl read No Guns At My Son's Funeral and Weed, she asked me why I had left out half the story. I knew I had to do it. But it took me a while to find the right way to approach it.
What led you to create the Qhushavan tribe?
The more I read [about stories of displacement], the more I realised how universal this story — [like the Rohingyas'] is. This is why I wanted a more universal story and therefore, made up the Qhushavans, as I wanted a story that anyone could find resonance with. The adventure of making up a people, their culture, their ways, their history and language was a first for me; it felt a little bit like playing god, almost.
Were you mindful of the CAA and NRC, and the effect it has on children's minds while penning the story?
Very much so. For me, the way we so easily 'otherize' people is deeply hurtful. I have come across so much 'heard hatred' and 'herd hatred' among children who shouldn't even know the meaning of hate. Where are they getting it? Are we so-called caretakers feeding them hate even as we give them moral lessons and stories on love and forgiveness? I don't want to be waving flags all the time, but I think a good story is, and should be, a powerful call to action.
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