Manas Garg Speaks

For a change, let me write about my favourite book – The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

I have in general disliked books with stories of immigrants written by authors from the Indian subcontinent. They tend to portray India and the neighbouring countries as primitive lands, which people want to flee.

However, The Kite Runner changed my view. It is about friendship between two little boys, of different stature in the society, during happier times in Afghanistan. The author describes this beautiful land so vividly that you can actually form the pictures in your mind. Every incident is narrated in a manner such that it comes alive in front of you.

The pain that people of this nation have experienced had been portrayed in such a touching manner that for the first time in my life I actually sat down and tried putting myself in place of a person living in constant fear. The misery of the people of war-ridden countries is nothing more than tea-table gossip for most of us. It is easy to give out suggestions about what policy should USA adopt and that terrorism is haunting people who fed it before. I think only someone who has experienced pain that so many Afghans, Kashmiris and Iraqis have experienced can understand the depth of the whole problem. The author brings us as close as I’ve ever been to understand their struggle.

The latter part of the book is about how the main character of the story, Amir, tries to overcome his guilt for past mistakes. It presents before us the way immigrants from war ridden lands suffer and still find joy in small things in foreign lands. Such a touching account of human nature, will and courage.

“For you – a thousand times over” encapsulates the whole spirit of love, dedication and the joy we get from doing things for someone else – the spirit of this beautiful book. To understand this, you need to read the book.

If you decide to read just one book, let it be this one. I promise you – you will thank me for it.