‘The World With Its Mouth Open’: Ordinary experiences reflect the absurdity of Kashmir’s reality

As long as there has been war, there have been poets and writers, translating the debris and loss of the battlefield into a romantic inspiration. From novels like Stephen Crane’s Red Badge of Courage, Ernst Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, or the surreal depiction of on-field trauma and suffering in Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, war has been a cardinal theme that has inspired one of the best in the world of literature.

Those who survive the struggle are left with exhausting feelings and a survivor’s guilt, brought about by the destruction of familiar worlds – cities, cultures and families. A collective trauma, engendered by shared suffering and social fragmentation, creates unique human experiences, sometimes fostering strong bonds of empathy while at times eroding emotional cohesion. The literature that describes these human experiences doesn’t just recount the battles but canvases invisible wounds etched into the minds, relationships and entire societies.

Life in Kashmir

The World With Its Mouth Open is a collection of eleven stories by Kashmiri writer Zahid Rafiq that ponder on the lives of the people of Kashmir as they walk the uncertain terrains of their days, fractured from years of war.

Rafiq creates explicit detail to fine imaginative imagery with his vivid descriptions, transporting the reader beyond the...

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