Ayesha Sheikh
Written with rare confidence and surety of a seasoned writer the book ‘Burning Sapphires’ by Suresh K Goswami is a master fully fleshed out multi – layered tale about a woman Shahzadi Ghulab Sahib, who braved the very real danger of death to lead her people out of misery. Living high up on the Mountains in a little village, Shahzadi Ghulab Sahib grows up amid the strife that descends upon her world. From an innocent girl to a complex personality that can both be ruthless and wise, yet still in touch with her inner humanity, Ghulab’s life as the eventual “emancipator” of her people-political refugees all-are utterly jaws-dropping. The hardships that befell upon her may seem too fantastically numerous, yet the storytelling skills and the author’s strong sense of verisimilitude and prosody make the story as believable as the person sitting next to you and why not because her story is the real story of many Kashmiris who have fallen to a miserable destiny as the plague of terrorism has infested deeply in the Valley of Kashmir, burning its way through their homes, lives, and even hopes, spreading throughout the valley of Kashmir,As a result, ‘Burning Sapphires’ is as entertaining and compelling as any modern saga, yet it still bears that authentic, evocative atmosphere that transports you to the idyll of Ghulab’s childhood, long before violence and political conflict ravaged it.There is a cold sense of antagonism that permeates the valley once called the paradise on earth. It is a quarrel between substance and form you may say – does a country owe most to its past or present? In both senses Kashmir is curiously treated and the wails of history often ignored as passing winds.
‘Burning Sapphires’ gives its reader goose bumps-the positive, unforgettable kind-it has the emotional gravitas of, say, Spielberg’s ‘Schindler’s List’ or Zhang Yimou’s ‘Not One Less’. It is a story that is majestic and sweeping in its scope and utterly unforgettable in its bold tackling of the plight of the oppressed Muslims and Kashmiri Pandits in what is otherwise an idyllic, “Paradise” on Earth.
The story of Ghulab is miraculous, generous in association, tragic and inspiring. Reflecting real tragedy through fiction; Burning Sapphires has given a voice to the people and their stories that have unknowingly gotten lost through the years, buried under the snow.
The variously talented screenwriter, producer, director from Kishtwar, Jammu & Kashmir and now author Suresh K Goswami has penned down a passionate book on tragedy, hope and inspiration. Burning Sapphires, though a fiction, recounts real life snippets from lives of the many Kashmiri Pandits, who lived through the nightmare of their exodus from their once peaceful homeland along with the Kashmiri Muslims entrapped in the Valley, being ripped apart by terrorism and corruption that are being allowed thriving for political and commercial advantages, the scope of which often runs beyond the border of a single nation.
Burning Sapphires is available on all the major internet sites such as Amazon, Barnes &Noble, Flip cart, Google etc.
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