Preface

My name is Aredath. Aredath Khan. My mother is Hindu, daughter of the late Prakash Aredath Chaudhary, a well known Kashmiri pundit and a staunch patriot, from whom I inherited my name. He was the sarpanch of Akesar, a tiny village tucked in the foothills, north of Jammu. He life was devoted to his country, his God and his people. A man of action, he was a natural leader. The villagers respected him for his principles, loved him for his generosity and trusted him for his faith. A visionary, Aredath Chaudhary was the man who, in 1980 gave Akesar its first road. In 1984 Chaudhary successfully lobbied the bureaucrats in Delhi and Akesar became the first electrified village in the whole of Jammu. A heart attack in 1985 took his life and with it, brought a shadow of gloom over Akesar which mourned the loss its most beloved son. A few years later, my mother fell in love with Zafar Khan, a freelance reporter from Srinagar. My mother's family was shocked when they heard of her love for a muslim. My grandmother decided to bring the affair to a close, before it could tarnish the family "image" and ordered that my mother be kept locked indoors. However, a few weeks later my mother managed to escape to Zafar who insisted they get married at the earliest. My mother, though reluctant at first, finally submitted and the couple got married at a local Jammu court, early in February 1987. They then settled down in Srinagar at the Amarnath Chowk housing colony. Zafar made steady progress in his profession and was employed by the Kashmir Telegraph, one of Kashmir's largest dailies. In 1988, they were blessed with a baby boy whom they named Aredath Khan.

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