Gulla and the Hungul

I read the book "Gulla and the Hungul" by Mariam Karim-Ahlawat to Lakshmi tonight. The book is about a Kashmiri boy called Gulla. He lives in a little Kashmiri village in the Tangdhar valley in the Shamshabari mountain ranges. The illustration in pastel colours is beautiful. There is a huge pine tree in the foreground. A river rushes down the mountain ranges and the pastures are green. There are large boulders on the sides of the river.

"Why have they put them there" asks my little four-year-old.
"They are rocks washed by the river" I reply.

After she sleeps I google. The Kishenganga River (the river in the picture) becomes the Neelum river in Pakistan. I look for pictures in the Net. It is stunningly beautiful. The illustrations in the book just hint at the beauty. The river which runs close to the Line of Control is going to be harnessed for hydro electric power. The environmentalists warn that this will destroy the lives of the Dard Shin, an ancient tribe of people who live in the Gurez valley. The valley is also part of the ancient Silk Route and is yet to be excavated.

Gulla in the book is a sheperd boy. He lives in a village which is densely populated and has two storey houses. The cattle live in the groundfloor while people live in the first floor. There are no pictures of their homes on the Net. The valley which is a green meadow in the picture book gets covered by white snow in winter. A few years ago (in 2005) there was a terrible earthquake in Gulla's village. There is a crack shown in the book.

"What is an earthquake?" Lakshmi asks.

"Earth is a round ball like the mud ladoos you make at the sandpit. Sometimes it cracks" I say.

"Like a volcano?" she questions.

Gulla grazes his sheep in the meadows high on the mountain. "Don't go into the forest" Gulla's mother warns. "There are men there with guns".

"Why do they have guns?" questions Lakshmi.

"Because they are gussa people. If you get gussa you end up hurting people you love" I answer.

The story continues...

At the end of the day Gulla sends his sheep and goat back home with his dog Rooda. He notices two stray dogs chasing a Hangul, the endangered Kashmiri red deer. He rescues the deer but it gets dark and he stays out in the forest at night. The next day the Hangul turns into a spirit and grants Gulla a wish as a reward for endangering his own life to save another. The little boy wishes that his village should never again be struck by an earthquake. He then heads home and is met by his anxious parents. The books ends with a picture of woolly sheep grazing in the meadow.

"This is wool" says a rather drowsy Lakshmi clutching her Cherry Blanket to her cheeks. "How does that become wool?" she adds pointing to the sheep.

"They give it a haircut and make woollen thread out of the hair and then weave it into a blanket" I finish. She puts her head on the pillow and goes to sleep.

I head to my computer. I google for Hangul. Where can we go to see it? The Dachigam National park is home to some of these, I read. The park also turns into a riot of colours in August. In spring it has green grass all over and is sprinkled with wild flowers. Perhaps that is where we will head to for our next holiday. The park is only 22 kilometers from Srinagar.

I'm really excited by Indian publishing for children. It is forcing me to learn and read about India that we did not read as children.