The Saga of Satisar

Chandrakanta’s Katha Satisar (The Saga of Satisar) is a panoramic story that details the history of her community, the Kashmiri Pandits, and describes a way of life that is rapidly disappearing.

Combining myth, legend, geography, history and politics, the novel cuts a long swathe from the early twentieth century to the beginning of the twenty-first, showing how lives have changed, how the syncretism that so strongly typified Kashmiri life has disappeared in the face of militancy, mismanagement, state apathy and the dirty play of politics.

Kashmir finds itself in much of Chandrakanta’s writing. This may be, she writes, “because my hopes of returning to this land... where the colourful memories of my youth mingle with the fragrance of the cool breeze,... are gradually fading away, forcing me to live in the world of memories.”