possibly the most prominent and multi-layered of all the symbols in The Kite Runner, is the flying of kites. kite fighting and kites throughout the novel represent the dichotomy of beauty & violence. they represent the novel’s key theme of betrayal & redemption. but they also represent hope. they candidly portray an amalgamation of love & loss and show the differences in people amidst war & peace. they show a friendship between two boys coming of age in a doomed city of Afghanistan. a friendship that goes a long way, a friendship unspoken of. a friendship that suffers but in time makes its amends.

آمدی جانم به قربانت ولی حالا چرا

بی وفا حالا که من افتاده ام از پا چرا

نوشداروئی و بعد از مرگ سهراب آمدی

سنگدل این زودتر می خواستی حالا چرا

عمر ما را مهلت امروز و فردای تو نیست

من که یک امروز مهمان توام فردا چرا

نازنینا ما به ناز تو جوانی داده ایم

دیگر اکنون با جوانان نازکن با ما چرا

وه که با این عمرهای کوته بی اعتبار

این همه غافل شدن از چون منی شیدا چرا

شور فرهادم به پرسش سر به زیر افکنده بود

ای لب شیرین جواب تلخ سربالا چرا

ای شب هجران که یک دم در تو چشم من نخفت

اینقدر با بخت خواب آلود من لالا چرا

آسمان چون جمع مشتاقان پریشان می کند

در شگفتم من نمی پاشد ز هم دنیا چرا

در خزان هجر گل ای بلبل طبع حزین

خامشی شرط وفاداری بود غوغا چرا

شهریارا بی حبیب خود نمی کردی سفر

این سفر راه قیامت میروی تنها چرا

شهریار - غزلیات

You came, you who I would die for, but why now?

you who is disloyal, why now that I’ve fallen to my feet (1)

you are the medicine that has arrived after Sohrab’s (2) death

you who is stone hearted, you could have wanted this sooner, why now?

my life isn’t long enough for your todays and tomorrows

why leave things till tomorrow when I’m your guest today

my darling, I gave my youth to your coquetry

now go be coquettish with the youth, why me?

alas for these short and uncertain lives

why ignore the me who has gone insane because of your love so much

I asked with my head low with the eagerness of Farhaad (3)

oh sweet (4) lips, why give a bitter, vague answer

oh night of separation, where my eyes didn’t sleep for a moment

why do you keep singing lullabies to my sleepy fate

the sky is in chaos like the gathering of lovers

I’m amazed that the world doesn’t fall apart

in the autumn where you are away from the flower, oh sorrowful nightingale

silence is the way of loyalty, why are you creating chaos

oh Shahriyar, you shouldn’t have gone on a journey without your beloved

this journey is to the afterlife, why go alone

Shahriyar - Ghazaliyat

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1) it means when hardships finally manage to break you and you can’t get up again

2) a historical figure from the shahname who got killed by his dad. His dad finds out that the person he injured is his son so he sends people to get medicine but the king, being wary of them, makes sure that the medicine arrives late so that his son dies.

3) Farhaad is another historic figure from the story of Shirin and Khosrow who loved Shirin so much, he carved a stone mountain (mount bisotun) by himself and even dug a tunnel through it for her and later he gets tricked into thinking that she has died and kills himself.

4) Shirin is the name of the woman who Farhaad loved and the name means sweet.

Crystal’s 2020 Favorites

This has been an odd reading year. Sometimes I'm voraciously reading in escape mode. Sometimes the focus is just not there. Here are six books that held every bit of my attention and linger on in my mind.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas Swoon Reads [Audrey's review]

A trans boy determined to prove his gender to his traditional Latinx family summons a ghost who refuses to leave in Aiden Thomas’s paranormal YA debut Cemetery Boys, described by Entertainment Weekly as groundbreaking.

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him. When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

Darius the Great Deserves Better (Darius The Great #2) by Adib Khorram Dial Books for Young Readers

In this companion to the award-winning Darius the Great Is Not Okay, Darius suddenly has it all: a boyfriend, an internship, a spot on the soccer team. It’s everything he’s ever wanted–but what if he deserves better?

Darius Kellner is having a bit of a year. Since his trip to Iran this past spring, a lot has changed. He’s getting along with his dad, and his best friend Sohrab is only a Skype call away. Between his first boyfriend, Landon, his varsity soccer practices, and his internship at his favorite tea shop, Darius is feeling pretty okay. Like he finally knows what it means to be Darius Kellner.

Then, of course, everything changes. Darius’s grandmothers are in town for a long visit while his dad is gone on business, and Darius isn’t sure whether they even like him. The internship isn’t what Darius thought it would be, and now he doesn’t know about turning tea into his career. He was sure he liked Landon, but when he starts hanging out with Chip–soccer teammate and best friend of Trent Bolger, epic bully–well, he’s just not so sure about Landon anymore, either.

Darius thought he knew exactly who he was and what he wanted, but maybe he was wrong. Maybe he deserves better.

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger illustrations by Rovina Cai Levine Querido [Interview with author]

Imagine an America very similar to our own. It’s got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream.

There are some differences. This America been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day.

Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered, in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family.

Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez Algonquin Young Readers [My review]

In Rosario, Argentina, Camila Hassan lives a double life.

At home, she is a careful daughter, living within her mother’s narrow expectations, in her rising-soccer-star brother’s shadow, and under the abusive rule of her short-tempered father.

On the field, she is La Furia, a powerhouse of skill and talent. When her team qualifies for the South American tournament, Camila gets the chance to see just how far those talents can take her. In her wildest dreams, she’d get an athletic scholarship to a North American university.

But the path ahead isn’t easy. Her parents don’t know about her passion. They wouldn’t allow a girl to play fútbol–and she needs their permission to go any farther. And the boy she once loved is back in town. Since he left, Diego has become an international star, playing in Italy for the renowned team Juventus. Camila doesn’t have time to be distracted by her feelings for him. Things aren’t the same as when he left: she has her own passions and ambitions now, and La Furia cannot be denied. As her life becomes more complicated, Camila is forced to face her secrets and make her way in a world with no place for the dreams and ambition of a girl like her.

Filled with authentic details and the textures of day-to-day life in Argentina, heart-soaring romance, and breathless action on the pitch, Furia is the story of a girl’s journey to make her life her own.

Parachutes by Kelly Yang Katherine Tegen Books

Speak enters the world of Gossip Girl in this modern immigrant story from New York Times bestselling author Kelly Yang about two girls navigating wealth, power, friendship, and trauma.

They’re called parachutes: teenagers dropped off to live in private homes and study in the US while their wealthy parents remain in Asia. Claire Wang never thought she’d be one of them, until her parents pluck her from her privileged life in Shanghai and enroll her at a high school in California. Suddenly she finds herself living in a stranger’s house, with no one to tell her what to do for the first time in her life. She soon embraces her newfound freedom, especially when the hottest and most eligible parachute, Jay, asks her out.

Dani De La Cruz, Claire’s new host sister, couldn’t be less thrilled that her mom rented out a room to Claire. An academic and debate-team star, Dani is determined to earn her way into Yale, even if it means competing with privileged kids who are buying their way to the top. When her debate coach starts working with her privately, Dani’s game plan veers unexpectedly off course.

Desperately trying to avoid each other under the same roof, Dani and Claire find themselves on a collision course, intertwining in deeper and more complicated ways, as they grapple with life-altering experiences. Award-winning author Kelly Yang weaves together an unforgettable modern immigrant story about love, trauma, family, corruption, and the power of speaking out.

Say Her Name by Zetta Elliott Disney/Jump at the Sun [My review]

Say her name and solemnly vow

Never to forget, or allow

Our sisters’ lives to be erased;

Their presence cannot be replaced.

This senseless slaughter must stop now.

Award-winning author Zetta Elliott engages poets from the past two centuries to create a chorus of voices celebrating the creativity, resilience, and courage of Black women and girls. Inspired by the #SayHerName campaign launched by the African American Policy Forum, these poems pay tribute to victims of police brutality as well as the activists championing the Black Lives Matter cause. This compelling collection reveals the beauty, danger, and magic found at the intersection of race and gender.

Remembering #JahanaraKajjan on her birth anniversary. Hailed as the reigning queen of the stage, the glamorous movie actor, the trained singer, the fashionable modern girl, and the trendsetter, Jahanara Kajjan or Kajjan Bai, better known as Miss Kajjan was many a splendored personality. No wonder, in her heyday she was saluted as the ‘Lark of Hindi cinema’ and the ‘Beautiful Nightingale of Bengal Screen’. As a young lad in Lahore, I dimly remember, seeing her in Madan Theatres’ “Laila Majnu (1931). I recall its roaring publicity through splash of posters and eye-catching hoardings all over the city with dazzling pictures of Miss Kajjan. The novelty of Talkies was still fresh and cinema houses attracted big crowds, more so when films were packed with songs. “Laila Majnu” featuring Miss Kajjan and Master Nissar, the most popular singing pair of the stage was a spectacular success. I vaguely remember, a scene from the film, where Majnu (Nissar) looking for Laila (Kajjan) in the wilderness sings Laila Laila Pukarun Mai Ban Mein, Laila Pyari Basi More Man Main. “I am crying for Laila in the jungle when the beloved Laila is residing in my heart”. Those days, there were hardly any film magazines and the practice of publishing spicy interviews of stars was still a couple of decades away. There is a mention of Kajjan by Kathryn Hanson, a leading scholar of South Asian theatre history in her book “Stages of Life” (2011). Jahanara Kajjan (1915-1945) is pronounced there as ‘Popular singing actress, daughter of the courtesan Suggan and the Nawab of Bhagalpur’. There is a question mark on her date of birth since no authentic information is available. This applies practically to all female artistes from the professional class, who turned famous as theatre and cinema actors. However, the circumstantial evidence culled from Kajjan’s stage and cinema career in the late 1920s and early ’30s and also some reference to her love affairs during that period leads us to conjecture that she was born sometime around 1910. Kajjan belonged to a family of professional artistes, who carried the tag of tawaifs or courtesans. They were also invited by the princely courts and aristocracy to perform at their private mehfils. With their refined manners they provided stimulating company to the male elite. An established code of conduct ruled out marriage in their profession but they were allowed to have a liaison with a chosen patron. Kajjan’s mother Suggan apparently had one such relationship with her father. The anti-nautch campaign at the beginning of the 20th Century denigrated the singing and dancing profession. Some, among them, became gramophone singers or theatre stage actors. Kajjan received education at home and even learnt English. Well versed in Urdu literature, she wrote poetry under pen name “Ada” and some of her poems were published in Urdu magazines. She received intensive training in Hindustani classical music from Ustad Hussain Khan of Patna. Noting her mastery of ragas, her mellifluous voice and also her charming looks, she was hired by a theatre company at Patna. She is said to have performed on stage for three days at a fee of Rs.250 per show. She enchanted the audience with her golden voice. This paved the way to her joining Alfred Company owned by Madan Theatres of Calcutta. According to Fida Hussain, a Parsi theatre legend, “He worked with actress Jahanara Kajjan becoming her director and leading man”. Kajjan attained name and fame as a very popular singer and actor of the stage. The advent of talkies in 1931 brought a revolution in the entertainment scene. The phenomenal success of the first talkie “Alam Ara” in March 1931 inspired a number of producers to make their “all talking, singing, dancing films”. Madan Theatres of Calcutta, were already in the field and were only a few weeks behind when they hit the screen with “Shirin Farhaad” based on the stage play scripted by the renowned playwright Agha Hashar Kashmiri. “Shirin Farhad” beat “Alam Ara” as it was more refined technically and featured 42 songs by Kajjan and Nissar, already popular singing pair of the stage. The film was a tremendous success across India with Kajjan emerging as the first superstar of Hindi cinema. It is said that a tongawala in Lahore pawned his horse to see “Shirin Farhad” 22 times. It was followed by another super hit “Laila Majnu”, featuring the same duo Kajjan and Nissar. Another film that created history was “Indrasabha” based on the play written by Agha Hassan Amanat, the court poet of Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Awadh. Loaded with 71 songs, the film still holds the world record as “film with most number of songs”. The film with duration of three and half hours (211 minutes) was entirely in verse and Kajjan sang several songs, ensuring its roaring success all over the country. Some of the most popular numbers sung by Kajjan were — “Toone to mora man har leeno more banke saanwaria ” (Oh my dearest you have captivated my heart); “Chaman ko yun mere saqi ne maikhana bana diya ” (My wine server has turned the garden into a tavern); “Kab se khadi hun terey dwar, bula le mohe balam re ” (My love please call me as I have been waiting at your door for so long). Some of her other memorable movies were “Bilwamangal”, “Shakuntala”, “Alibaba aur Chalis Chor”, “Aankh ka Nasha”, “Zehari Saanp”, etc. By mid 1930s, the early enthusiasm for song-dramas, mythological stories and Persian love tales was wearing off and many film producers were forced to close shop, Madan Theatres among them. The classical numbers sung by the likes of Kajjan were losing their appeal and so was her theatrical acting style. She failed to receive any offers from the new producers. A wealthy woman, she stayed on in Calcutta, but after a couple of years with depleting resources, she was compelled to move to Bombay. Her Parsi connection, especially with Sohrab Modi, the doyen of Parsi theatre, helped her to get some acting assignments there. Kajjan’s career in Bombay was short-lived from 1941 to 1944, during which she appeared in six marginal films, with the exception of Sohrab Modi’s “Prithvi Vallabh”. Further, she was given only minor roles and got little chance to display her singing calibre. She lived a lavish life at Calcutta. Fond of pets, she even had two tiger cubs for some time. Kajjan was cited as a fashionable modern girl. A studio portrait of late 1920s shows her wearing makeup, ear rings, nose pin with finger waived hair, dressed in a sari with laced blouse. This very photograph was carried in an advertisement for face powder and hair products by “The Crisis (New York) 1928”. Kajjan had learnt western dancing and was a regular visitor to Calcutta Club, mixing freely with the elite gentry. On a personal front, she had a colourful life, with roaring love affairs with many of her co-stars. Fida Hussain, her theatre director and co-star openly speaks about the ups and downs of his romantic relationship with her. She was also intimately involved with Najmul Hassan, a very handsome actor of his time, who landed at New Theatres, Calcutta after being sacked by Bombay Talkies for his notorious affair with the leading star Devika Rani. There is little information about her personal life in Bombay, where she passed away unsung in 1945. Courtesy- The Hindu