Refugees From Fullai

A young newly-married couple is allotted a small kitchen as their bedroom where they have to share space with tins of oil and spices, and bags of rice and flour while the rest of the family is crowded into one room. This brings the reader face to face with the stark reality of hardships faced by the Pandits who had to flee the valley of Fullai and seek refuge in Bargat and Dramun. Leaving their houses and orchards to be looted and destroyed, they suffered the heat and humidity of their new homes while yearning for the cool climate and the tall chinars of Fullai. Through the life of the protagonist, as the events unfold, we see the Pandits betrayed by Maen Fullai, the organisation formed to fight for their rights. They face government apathy as they do not have a vote bank. Their literature in exile flourishes. However, everyone tries to become an author or a poet equating themselves with Ghalib, Iqbal and Shakespeare. Earlier, in Fullai, the three friends of the protagonist, who belong to another community, come to Haranteng to donate blood for his mothers operation. In a dramatic twist at the end, the protagonist and his friend shoot the betrayers of both communities and land up in prison. The author has penned an interesting tale of the refugees of Fullai.