The Book That Is Gold!
The Book of Gold Leaves by Mirza Waheed is a quintessential Kashmiri love story and the romance between Faiz and Roohi is poignant as well as uplifting. In the backdrop of their love affair, the centuries old archetypal culture of Kashmir gleams on every page of the book and the unpleasant, cruel blemishes of the conflict appear as never-ending eclipse, line after line. The abundance of culture brings a smile on the reader's face and the stains of cruelty fill his heart with endless ache. Culture, so rich that even the conflict of almost two decades could not rob it of its sheen. Conflict, so painful that it will remain engraved in the crevices of our bruised culture, forever. The book is however, a pure delight for a non-Kashmiri reader, because the beauty of reading fiction lies in imagination. The reader, while reading about an unfamiliar place, culture and the experiences he has never h...