Writers'Meet

Athwaas recognizes the value of literary expressions to initiate processes of dialogue among people who have experienced the conflict in different ways. Writings-plays, short stories, poetry—especially those penned by the younger generation during the conflict as well as the older genre of Kashmiri literature infused with notions of coexistence that formed part of the legacy of Kashmiriyat, can be used to break down walls, dispel myths, and to recreate spaces of understanding and trust. These creative expressions can also provide a reflection of how women have negotiated patriarchy, religious extremism, and political violence in the past and offer new pathways for the present.

The writers’ workshops, held alternately in Srinagar and Jammu seek to provide a safe space for creative expression particularly for women writers across ethnic, political and generational faultlines. The workshops were initially conceptualized by Athwaas member Ather Zia and were designed to garner an intellectual response to the political violence that had stifled democratic spaces and broken the ties of trust that had once cemented the communities together.

Resurrecting Pluralistic Jammu & Kashmir: New Wave Writing 2011

WISCOMP Writers’ Workshop was held in New Delhi on January 7th, 2011. Fifth in the series, the Workshop was an attempt to explore answers to questions collectively facing the two prominent communities of the state of Jammu & Kashmir – Kashmiri Pandits & Muslims. The common loss being the traditional Shavaite-Sufi culture, wherein both communities transcended religious differences and shared a common history of co-existence, pluralistic ethos and interdependence. The Workshop endeavored to seek answers from contemporary Kashmiri, Hindi, Urdu, Dogri, Gojri and English intellectuals and creative writers as to whether the people of the region are fast forgetting the syncretic tradition which celebrated diversity? And if the new literary expression has eroded and departed from the diverse, yet inclusive past to a rather exclusive discourse which has aided in constructing and concretizing new religio-political identities? While the participants took cognizance of the fact, that all communities had been negatively impacted by the conflict, they noted that communities had experienced displacement and loss in a variety of ways. Although from the outside it appeared that points of reference are becoming divergent and the divide is further widening by attempts to project an identity that negates whatever has been common to Kashmiris to date, there is still a ray of hope as this polarization seems to be centered in urban areas and there continue to be pockets of peaceful coexistence.

Creating Stories for Children, 2007

A two day workshop Creating Stories for Children in Jammu and Kashmir was organized on October 27 - 28, 2007 at Srinagar. The intent was to create a safe space for self expression and recover through children’s stories, the language of co-existence and diversity of Jammu & Kashmir and to reintroduce this form in formal and informal spaces. The Workshop on Creating Stories for Children in Jammu and Kashmir was visualized as a democratic space to build on the repository of shared experiences of conflict, and elicit a spectrum of characters, events, stories that could encapsulate in its fold, the history, the dreams, individual as well as collective, of the people of the state. It further aimed to generate and deploy these stories as a form of healing, working through to image the subjective reality of the individuals as well as the social context that circumscribes them. The purpose of this exercise was to explore how writers from the different regions of J&K and from different literary backgrounds could create/write stories for children of the state. It sought an engagement from the participants to systematically ascertain the suitability of various literary techniques, themes, plot development, modes of characterization that could be employed to effect the production of good literature for children, in different languages like Dogri, Punjabi, Ladakhi, Kashmiri, Hindi and English.

Story Telling for Children, 2006

The fourth meet was workshop held in Jammu in December 2006. At this Meet, there was complete consensus among writers that story telling was extremely important for a child’s development and that the importance of inducing moral values and helping children to cultivate good habits and noble thoughts through stories could not be disputed. The writers however felt that despite the availability of some story books in Kashmiri, Dogri or Bhoti, by and large there was a dearth of children’s literature in the state. The most serious concern was the gradual fading of the rich tradition of story telling. It was felt that there was a pressing need for an exercise to explore ways & means to address this lacuna.

Resonances of Understanding, 2005

The third writers’ meet was organized in Srinagar from May 6 - 8, 2005. At this Meet, the focus was on Resonances of Understanding. The writers sought to collectively explore the terrain of peace and reconciliation, and make efforts to understand each other through literature. The format was designed to be interactive, inclusive and non hierarchical. The Meet began with presentations by young Kashmiri women writers, followed by senior and mid-career authors and poets. On the second day, noted contemporary writers interpreted the works of the legends of Kashmir who have written on issues of co-existence, nationalism, identity and transcending of borders. On the final day of the Meet, contemporary writers shared their own writings on these themes.

Literatures in Exile 2004

The second writer’s meet was held on May 28 - 29, 2004 in Jammu. Titled Literatures in Exile, this Meet focused on the ways in which Kashmiri women had deciphered and interpreted ‘exile’ in their writings. For the migrant Kashmiri women, the canvas of exile stretched from territorial to ideological and to spiritual exile, and for women from the valley, exile encompassed isolation from the ongoing processes of violence and religious extremism around her. The narrations reflected the women’s inner conflict in negotiating territorial, emotional, psychological and spiritual spaces. There were some moments when participants were constrained by their community identities, but the overwhelming endeavor was to appreciate and understand the journey of the other.

Women Writers’ Meet 2003

The Women’s Writers workshop sought to provide a platform for women writers based in Jammu, Kashmir and New Delhi to present their writings and discuss their sensitivities. At one level, it brought together writers from different faiths, and at another, it brought together the different languages - Kashmiri, Hindi, Urdu and English - spoken by the Kashmiris. Held on the October 2 - 3, 2003 at a venue overlooking the picturesque Dal Lake, the workshop also endeavored to be a meeting point for different generations of writers to nurture mutual respect and understanding between them.

The poetry and prose presented during the workshop were weaved in and around the conflict in Kashmir. Themes included human rights abuses by security forces, tragic lives of half-widows, the inhumane face of militancy as well as the cracks in the syncretic tradition of the Kashmiris and the anguish of Kashmiri Pandits who were forced to leave the Valley.