Kashmir Pending
by Naseer Ahmed and Saurabh Singh
Phantomville, 2007
There is a new 'phenomenon' currently doing the rounds with book lovers in India. It is apparently called the Graphic Novel. The first volume with that particular nomenclature was created by Sarnath Bannerjee in 2004, titled Corridor. It was a sketch of some of the various lives that inhabit the nooks and corners of a habitat called Delhi, each in their own miniature worlds, each with their own idiosyncrasies. The following three years saw the publication of three more graphic novels, all by Phantomville, an imprint set up by Bannerjee himself. As such, the arrival of the graphic novel in India seems official. Any celebration of this new era of illustrated narrative, however, cannot discount the fact that some of these new books have been disappointments, in both content and technique.
Take, for example, Kashmir Pending, by Naseer Ahmed and Saurabh Singh, the fourth in Phantomville's line. This is a story of a former'militant', Mushtaq Miyan. The narrative starts with Mushtaq's flashbacks from jail about his hatred for the Indian Army, then goes on to tell of how he became a militant and how he surrendered when he realised the futility of violence in a bout of unpredictable epiphany. In between are bits and bobs about demonstrations, political talks and the ideological ranting of a few rabid mullahs. In a nutshell, the book quickly runs through the conflict in Kashmir, using Mushtaq as a case study, before ending with a note upholding the noble principle of non-violence.
Kashmir Pending is actually a boring book in its content and technique, as well as in the larger understanding that it displays of the issues covered. If a graphic novel uses the interplay of words and images as its grammar, this book has hit far off the mark. Ahmed and Singh indulge in sweeping, unspecific lines such as "Srinagar, a small city in the 18th century, gradually became a hub of politics, economics and social development". Its graphic rendition offers even less. The artwork lacks detail, draughtsmanship and emotion (though it does provide an overall sense of grimness and gloom, which is important). Indeed, it often looks like a compilation of digitally rendered photographs, which could have been used more creatively for a better read.