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Dapaan: Tales from Kashmir’s Conflict

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In Kashmir, folktales often begin with the word dapaan—‘it is said’. So too do local narratives told and retold about the past, among people who have lived through nearly eight decades of a bitter contest between India and Pakistan.

This is a story about stories. In the hyper-nationalist din over a territorial dispute, Kashmiri voices are often drowned out. Yet the region is home to long habits of storytelling, its communities intensely engaged with history-keeping. For centuries, folk traditions of theatre, song and fable have flowed into a reservoir of common talk. Mythology, hearsay and historical memory coexist here without any apparent hierarchies.

By the time armed rebellion spread through Kashmir in 1989, many of these traditions had died out, or been forced underground. But they have left traces in the way ordinary people speak about the conflict—in their songs of loss, and jokes about dark times; in fantastical geographies, and rumours turning the Valley’s militarisation into a ghostly haunting. From Partition to the 2019 Indian crackdown, Ipsita Chakravarty discovers a vivid, distinctly Kashmiri vision of events that have often been narrated from the top-down. Her interviewees conjure a kaleidoscope of towns and villages shaping their own memories.

338 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 24, 2025

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Ipsita Chakravarty

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Profile Image for Rahul Vishnoi.
813 reviews26 followers
October 17, 2025
-Stories Shrouded in Tragedy-
Review of 'Dapaan: Tales from Kashmir's Conflict'

Quote Alert
"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭? 𝐈𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐊𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐢𝐫, 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐨, 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞? 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐤𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞? 𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬. 𝐀𝐧 𝐔𝐫𝐝𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐤𝐛𝐚𝐫-𝐞-𝐍𝐨𝐮𝐣𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐧, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐀 𝐏𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐀 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞? 𝐀 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞? 𝐉𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐬, 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬."

A collection of stories of love, longing and loss from a region that has witnessed decades of conflict, Dapaan seeks to answer the question: what happens when no line can't be drawn between your stories and your tragedies? What happens when one so seamlessly merge into another that nobody can tell when one stops and another begins.

Dapaan brings a gore-flecked reality of a tragedy wrapped in a packaging of storytelling. The intent is same, akin to that of art: to give comfort to the uncomfortable and discomfort to those cocooned in soft cushions of privilege. Kashmir and its inhabitants are struggling and Dapaan doesn’t let you forget that.

In Kashmir, folktales often begin with the word dapaan—‘it is said’. So too do local narratives told and retold about the past, among people who have lived through nearly eight decades of a bitter contest between India and Pakistan.
This is a story about stories. In the hyper-nationalist din over a territorial dispute, Kashmiri voices are often drowned out. Yet the region is home to long habits of storytelling, its communities intensely engaged with history-keeping. For centuries, folk traditions of theatre, song and fable have flowed into a reservoir of common talk. Mythology, hearsay and historical memory coexist here without any apparent hierarchies.

By the time armed rebellion spread through Kashmir in 1989, many of these traditions had died out, or been forced underground. But they have left traces in the way ordinary people speak about the conflict—in their songs of loss, and jokes about dark times; in fantastical geographies, and rumours turning the Valley’s militarisation into a ghostly haunting. From Partition to the 2019 Indian crackdown, Ipsita Chakravarty discovers a vivid, distinctly Kashmiri vision of events that have often been narrated from the top-down. Her interviewees conjure a kaleidoscope of towns and villages shaping their own memories.

The book is teeming with words and phrases indigenous to Kashmiri. The author patiently explains us the meaning of each word, without making his book look like a dictionary. Not even once did I feel I was reading a word I didn’t know about.
I loved the story about informants (called cats.) Have a look:
"There were two kinds of cats in Kashmir. There were personal cats, regular informers on the payrolls of agencies. They carriedNon with their daily lives or joined militant groups but secretly passed on intelligence to the forces. The second kind of cat was a cat under duress, people who had been captured and tortured until they gave up names. Trouble was, anyone could be turned into this sort of a cat anytime."

The prose is honeyed and yet it brings a discomfort that’s the demand of the story and its nature. The author writes:
"For the night is crowded with terrors in Kashmir. There is the raantas, also called the daen, with her feet turned backwards and her dangerous sexual appetites, There is the van moenu, or forest man, cousin to the yeti, who lives in the woods. The wolf-like bram bram chok, a spectre with a lamp on its head. The cat-like yachch, who calls two and a half times, wuf-wai, wuf-wai, wuf. It wears a fez. If you can steal the fez, untold wealth will be yours. But if you try and you fail, a dire fate awaits you. Some say the yachch is only a cat sneezing. Still, if you hear it call at night, stay indoors."

Steeped in Kashmiri folklore, these are stories that sings.
Profile Image for aheliwanders .
1 review1 follower
June 26, 2025
Dapaan isn’t just a book—it’s a story telling experience. Ipsita Chakravarty has created something truly rare: a work that brings the voices of everyday Kashmiris to the forefront, in all their humor, sorrow, memory, and myth.

Told through interviews, folklore, dark jokes, and ghost stories, this book shows how deeply storytelling runs through Kashmiri life—even in the face of decades of conflict and silence. I loved how it blurred the lines between oral history and legend, fact and feeling, making space for the kinds of truths that don't always show up in official accounts.

What struck me most was how Dapaan captures memory as something communal and alive. It doesn't try to offer one version of history, but instead holds space for many—conflicting, poetic, even fantastical.

This is one of those rare reads that lingers in your mind long after you've finished. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Kashmir, in the politics of memory, or simply in the quiet, powerful ways people keep their stories alive.
1 review1 follower
August 8, 2025
Dapaan tells us the histories and stories of Kashmir that are hidden from view, unless you are from the Valley, and it does so with beautiful, evocative writing. It's a book that will haunt me, and force me to come back to it again and again.

A stunning book. An astounding achievement.
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