Title: Orphans of
the StormAuthor: Ravi Dhar
Publisher: Blackbuck Publication
Page Count: 227
My Rating: 3/5
Blurb: Countless griefs ago, When the ‘veth’ went red…
The air is thick with
rumors. Reports speak of the molesting Pundit girls and the killing Pundit men.
There is talk of Nizam- -Mustapha. Kashmiri Pundit families are fleeing the
valley in wave after wave. But, one man stands unmoved, refusing to give in to
this mass frenzy.
Towards the middle of
one night, Nund Pundit’s house resonates with a deafening crescendo. He must
pay for his faith. The fury of the mob must be quenched. He must suffer the
ignominy of his daughter’s barbaric slaughter. He must suffer the dishonor of
his wife and young daughter. He must suffer the mysterious disappearance of his
elder son.
The December sky looks
too ominous as the School Bus, carrying Siddhartha and his friends, noses down
the valley. The queer sequence of events that follow inspire no confidence.
Siddhartha must
outgrow his youthful sportiveness to realize the gravity of the calamity that
had struck his family.
He must find answers
to the barbarity of man as he struggles to build a new world of hope and
comfort for his bereaved and shell-shocked parents. He must come face to face
with deceit and danger in the hinterland of Nagaland. He must see the barbarity
of the civilized and the civility of the so-called barbaric in the petty
squabbles of the teachers at Medziphema and the murder of the Dean. In the
midst of this maelstrom of events blossoms love not once but twice.
Verdict: ‘Orphans
of the storm’ is the debut novel by Dr. Ravi Dhar. This story talks about the
struggle of a Pundit family in Kashmir and the unhospitable atmosphere of Jammu
and Kashmir.
Like almost all Blackbuck
publication books this book also has similar size and nice paper quality.
Starting from the cover, I felt the cover could have been designed in a better
way. The blue effect is looking good but the man on the cover was making the
whole look amateurish. The blurb is pretty big. One who has the time to read the whole
blurb after picking it, might buy the book because it’s interesting and gives a
good outline of the plot.
The story starts with Nund Lal
pundit of Kashmir. One fateful day they are forced to leave Kashmir and have to
live like migrants in their own land. Soon the story changes its way and the focus
shifted towards Siddhartha, the youngest son and carefree son of Nund Pundit.
Siddhartha was burdened with the responsibility of his family and yet he
manages to complete his masters and finds a job of a lecturer in the
Nagaland University. The atmosphere of Kashmir was described by the author
wonderfully. The story doesn’t end there. After creating the perfect satire,
the author introduces
love in Siddhartha’s story. After getting almost back stabbed by the university
politics and the abrupt end of his love story had hit him hard. The end was
good but
it could have been better. One thing I can say is that the readers will
close the book on a good note.
The author hasn't described his
characters well. Only the dialogs were the rescue for the readers to help them
visualize the characters. There are a few characters who I think have lacked the
lime light. After focusing on Siddhartha’s life, the condition of Nund Lal
Pundit took a back seat, even the disappearance of the elder brother of
Siddhartha wasn’t cleared to the audience till the end. The narrating style was
good and goes with the flow. Short chapters always helps the readers to enjoy
the book more.
Talking about flaws,
the editing could have been better. There are grammatical errors which disturbs
the flow of the story. The story line was good and but could have been framed
in a better way. I didn't
quite like the way the book has ended. Being a full time reader, I don’t
think
readers will like loose ends or unanswered questions at the end. Being from
Kashmir himself the author has done total justice to the description of
Kashmir. Overall a nice attempt of a debut author.
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