Srinagar, Sep 8: A novel ‘The Half Widow’ by writer Shafi Ahmad was released Saturday.  The book portrays struggle of a widow, Salma, of frontier Kupwara whose husband, Aslam, gets disappeared once upon a time in Kashmir. She goes from pillar to post in search of him but finds no light at the end of the tunnel and finally lives by compromise.
 Reviewers said the novel was reflection of Kashmir valley and has touched a significant issue of contemporary times.
 Justice (Retd) Bashir Ahmad Kirmani said the novel touches every element of the Kashmiri society. “The novel is the reflection of real events like Kunanposhpora. The author has tried a different genre in which the plot has less importance than characters. The end note is that Kashmir is not glittering. By saying so, we mock at ourselves,” Justice Kirmani said.
 Columnist Aijaz-ul-Haque in his review said: “The novel tells the story of those women who live in between hopelessness and hope. The imagination of the writer is paradoxically real. Everything seems real in the novel. The author has written about a situation, people and  locale.”
 He said details of the book are the matter of the fact and the narrative is about agonized women and that of conflict.
 Columnist Dr Javid Iqbal said “while reading The Half Widow a reader can hear wails from the valley of wails.”
 “The novel is about the historical and socio-political happenings of Kashmir but leaves some important things unsaid. Somewhere in the middle of the book, the central character Salma gets lost,” he said, adding that there are errors in book regarding punctuation.
 ZG Muhammad, a columnist, said the novel has the power to “deconstruct the dominant discourse and raises some important questions like accession of J&K.”
 “Salma is a luckless woman. Her husband is bundled into a car never to return. The book is a satire on different institutions of the state,” he said.
 Historian and former principal Amar Singh College, GN Dar, also spoke on the occasion, saying “The Half Widow describes reality.”
 Author Shafi Ahmad read experts from his book.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 8 Sep 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 8 Sep 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 9 Sep 2012 00:00:00 IST