From the pages of
The light bulb in the room is of low voltage. A pale, sad light-they cannot afford high-voltage lamps for each of the eighteen rooms- is, has been for more than a year, his sole companion as he paints deer, lions, cypresses, tall rose bushes, chinar leaves, Mughal princes on hunting trips with their high elephants, on the pencil boxes that Mustafa Peer, the handicrafts middleman, wants finished and delivered in a month.
Five hundred boxes in thirty days.
Eight rupees per piece.
The slender boxes will go to a buyer in Delhi who will then ship them to an art & crafts dealer in Calgary in Canada, 9.99 dollars a piece at Christmas.
Faiz, smoking his Four Square tens in halves, melts his fingers into each figure. He could simply buy his own lamps but he has come to love this peculiar paster glow.
Also, he does not want his to be the only room with bright light.
About the author:
Mirza Waheed, a Kashmiri author born in 1971, gained recognition for his novel “The Collaborator.” Educated in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India, he later pursued an English Literature degree at the University of Delhi. Waheed worked as a journalist, focusing on Kashmir, an experience that heavily influenced his literary endeavors.
His writing style is evocative and poignant, offering unique insights into the complex dynamics of identity, politics, and human relationships, especially within Kashmir. His works provide valuable perspectives on the social and psychological effects of the conflict.
His books:
The Collaborator (2011) -winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize for First Novels.
The Book of Gold Leaves” (2014)
Tell Her Everything” (2018)