Bollywood actor Anupam Kher on Tuesday attended the launch of author Anushka Dhar’s debut book, NH44: Take Me Home, which focuses on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandit through the lens of a 16-year-old girl. The veteran actor who has always been vocal about issues he believes in said he doesn’t want the incident to be forgotten, and added that ‘some wounds should be kept alive’.
Answering a question about the silence on this matter and how not many people from the industry are vocal about the issue, Kher said, “Even if some people do not raise their voice and defend the situation, people like us will always speak up. We will try. We will not let this wound heal. We will revisit it no matter how much it hurts us because some wounds should always be kept alive.”
Dhar’s book narrates the journey of a 16-year-old as she discovers her Kashmiri roots, her people and navigates through the impacts of the exodus. Not having experienced the incident first hand, it was not an easy task for Dhar to bring out the essence in her book.
Talking of the process, and the challenges she faced, the author who is a Kashmiri herself, said, “I interviewed Kashmiri Pandits, I watched documentaries, I started reading on it as I wanted to know everything. When I was in the research process, I was speaking to the victims and survivors, I was in a state of shock. I was starting to understand the entire thing and I wanted to step back for a moment because I wanted to write the book from a very objective point of view and a calm manner. But I was very emotional.”
Lauding the attempt of exploring this idea, the veteran actor said that the “truth needs to reach people” and it is not only the author’s story, but it is also his story. “It is important to bring this truth to people and you are not just telling your story, I am telling your story, you are telling mine,” the actor expressed.
Referring to the title of the book, Anupam Kher added, “You have to be in the situation of a Kashmiri pandit to know what it is to be able to go back.”
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