A Long Season of Ashes

Book excerpt: In March 1990, sixteen-year-old Siddhartha Gigoo is forced to flee his home in Safa Kadal, Srinagar, Kashmir. The preceding days have been full of fear and horror for the Gigoos, who have seen friends and neighbours killed outside their homes. They could be next if they don’t leave. But they want to stay on, even when faced with a looming threat to their lives. Siddhartha thinks his leaving is temporary and that he will be back home soon. Little does he know that his fate is sealed. What follows is a long, dark time—a ‘camp’ existence and a struggle for survival. Thirty-four years on, Siddhartha chronicles the story of his flight from Kashmir and an entire youth spent in exile. A meditation on the nature of memory, A Long Season of Ashes is a book about a boy’s journey of self-discovery.