Harare Review of Books

208 pp. Published March 4, 2024 by Archipelago. Fiction anthology/Kashmir.

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Nothing opens one’s mind up to other experiences like reading literature in translation. Even travelling widely may not be as effective, particularly if you stay in the bubble of airports and resorts when you do. If, then, you’re a fan of reading around the world—as serious readers must be—here’s your candidate for Kashmir.

I very much enjoyed this collection that, per the publisher, resurrects the work of a doyen of Kashmiri Pandit literature, never before translated into English. It’s 18 short stories about everyday lives, exploring the things that make up our lives: moments funny and serious; marriage; war; death and grief; complicated relationships with in-laws; politics; religious differences; children leaving home; and wealth and poverty. There are beautifully evocative snatches of Kashmiri landscapes and the weather there (particularly the bitter winters). Some of these stories are surrealistic and amusing (like the wonderful tales, Tomorrow, A Never-Ending Story, and The Tongue and the Egg); others not so much in portraying chilling realities (like the experience of curfew in Curfew).

For Now It Is Night is a quick and fairly uncomplicated read, which is part of its charm. This doesn’t mean it isn’t edifying or well-thought-out; Hari Krishna Kaul had a gift for capturing life, for making everyday lives important, and for keeping these portrayals accessible. This collection is the collaborative effort of Kaul’s nephew, Kalpana Raina, and others who gathered and translated stories from across Kaul’s lifetime. These had to be recovered from various sources, some out of print, and in script not everyone on the collaborative team could read. It’s a great work of restoration, and it’s wonderful that it’s now accessible in English.

Hari Krishna Kaul died in 2009, after being forced into exile from Srinagar, where he had been born in 1934. He initially wrote in Urdu and Hindi, but began writing in Kashmiri in the 1960s. He also wrote for television, and was a playwright.

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