KhepiAri

A month or two back I stumbled upon a word called Hiraeth- homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past. I always believe there are perfect words, which have a complete meaning and tragic beauty. Hiraeth is one of those perfect words. Once you hear them, you fall in love with them. Hiraeth is a word you feel after reading a Kundera novel. It is a expression you pin when you walk the valleys of Kashmir. That world built on words has no existence in reality, that land you walked on was never yours to step on. It’s a spell you are bound to, but the spell has no source. Few days back I finally finished Anjum Hasan’s debut novel, Lunatic in my Head. Here are characters who will always remain outsider to their home because of their language, race and religion. The Shillong; Anjum Hasan presents is the land which could never be the characters'. They are in constant