Gurmehar Kaur’s everyday existence changed last year when she was trolled on social media for her participation in a peace campaign, following violent agitation in Delhi University. She became the unwilling and unwitting subject of a vitriolic debate on nationalism, when she posted a picture saying “Pakistan did not kill my dad, war killed him”. The anger would have rattled anyone, let alone a 19-year-old. Kaur, however had the last word, when she said: “Real bullets killed my father. Your hate bullets are deepening my resolve.’’
The resolve has resulted in a book, a year later. Small Acts of Freedom tells of the ordinary grit of three generations of her family—she, her mother and her grandmother. The prose is simple, the chapters small. The narrative jumps from one character to another, following no linear chronology. It is an interesting style. There are the expected tear-wiping bits, which deal with the death of her father, and, then, the void he leaves behind. It is written without melodrama, stripped of flourish. Yet, its starkness hits you: He comes back sleeping in a wooden box, with a bandage on his chest—on the same spot where I used to lean my tiny head against and sleep, listening to the rhythm of his heartbeat.
Kaur writes about growing up fatherless. The first day in school when everyone was accompanied by their parents, she only had her mother. But, she moves on to other aspects of living. Like the chocolates her grandmother produced from behind the wall hanging. She writes of the life of both mother and grandmother, widowed early, and having to raise daughters single handedly. But, not alone. For she writes about the warmth of the extended family that cocooned her from the harshness of the real world.
There are some bits where it becomes a little pretentious. Like when she writes about the moment of epiphany she had at age six. That day I learnt one of the most important lessons of my life: my father’s weapons may have been guns and ammunition, but my weapon had to be peace. Always.
But, what the heck. Kaur is a young author, and her debut book is straight from the heart.
Small Acts of Freedom
By Gurmehar Kaur
Published by Penguin India
Price Rs 299; pages 188