One of the beautiful
things about the devastating September 2014 Kashmir flood was, ironically, that
it disillusioned many people.
Mother said a great
flood was imminent but I refused to believe her. I had no reason other than six
days of non-stop rain to believe or not. But in all the panic, when people were
desperately shifting belongings to upper storeys or running for their lives, I
only tried to assert my reluctance, only tried to refuse to accept that in a
matter of hours, the gre
was
born and brought up in Kashmir. His debut novel The Half Mother, was published by
Hachette India in 2014. His short story “The Gravestone”,
published in the July 2014 issue of Caravan magazine, has been
chosen by Aleph Book Company for its forthcoming anthology of
stories, A Clutch of Indian Masterpieces: Extraordinary Short Stories
from the 19th Century to the Present. Shahnaz teaches narrative
nonfiction, conflict journalism and literary reportage at the Central
University of Kashmir in Srinagar.
