The author Mushtaque B Barq is a well known and established author and poet, his new offering.
Shades and Shadows is a magnificent novel about contemporary social and political ethos, highly metaphoric and profound in its content. It is conceived and delivered in the bildungsroman genre where the protagonist, under the shadow of his friend, mentor and guide, Dr Najeeb, grows up to the reality of his state and of his being. The friends are inseparable and their connect with nature is so intense that studying for hours the ripples on the Gillsar river teaches the boy more than his books in school.
The language is lyrical and touches you spiritually, "The gushing brook only knows how to run like a divine message" while you are astounded with exquisite imagery, as in the line, "The dusk stunned everyone for its dandy ostentation.
As you read on you realize that your soul is in the grip of the writer's words, "Teach me O! mind to unfetter my neck from the burden of slavery."
After the death of Dr Najeeb, and the allegory of the burial(s), and as though guided by Najeeb's spirit, the grown young man squares his shoulders to fight his war, even as his best friend Basharat parts ways to fight differently. The young man is now compelling as he says, "The trees of my vale are shedding the withered frill. Changing my hankyard into a graveyard where headstones and nameplates are superseded ritual".
This novel is a gripping read, and as you turn the last page, you want to read it all over again.
Mushtaque B Barq is a poet, a short story writer and ace columnist. He has to his credit translation works like Mystic Voices of Kashmir and Verses of Wahab Khar, a renowned Sufi poet of Kashmir besides his writings on Sufism like The Wings of Love. It is the efforts of the author that has helped the revival of the study of Sufism not only in Kashmir or India but at International level. He is also actively associated with numerous literary clubs and forums. The author has earned accolades and it was in recognition of his talent that American Poetry Association awarded him Editor's Choice Award in 2007. It is his technical virtuosity coupled with his understanding of the subject that his writings have found place in International Journal of English. The author was awarded Alamdar-i- Kashmir by Kashmir Markaz Adab wa Saqafat Kashmir. His short story collection: Feeble Prisoner, Aditiya Publications has been appreciated by readers. The author was awarded Late Ab. Rashid Farash Memorial Award and Late Gh. Mohmmad Memorial Dar Award by HF Foundation for his contribution in translating Sufi poets of Kashmir.
The author is a regular columnist of Kashmir Pen besides being a member of Jammu and Kashmir Fiction Writers Guild.
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