Letter to Arundhati, an Azaad soul

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Dear Arundhati Roy
The words you wrote over twenty years of your life summed in the book ‘The ministry of utmost happiness’ gave me an understanding of Kashmir that was clearer than my experience of living in this state all my life. I was 13 when I started reading and in six years of me burying my head in fiction, I hadn’t yet found a voice that resonated with me more soundly than yours. Once while randomly browsing youtube I had come across an interview of yours and was more amazed by your hair than anything else. It took me just 30 seconds into the video to realize whatever you were saying matched exactly what was in my head. Only you could put it more blatantly and gloriously than my 19-year self could. I got your book as a gift on my birthday. It was the first and only book of yours that I read. How funny is it, that you might be reading my words for the first time on your birthday as well?
The letter was supposed to be a short birthday greeting. I am sure you got many from people all around the world. But I must tell you, to cure myself of this urge to express before returning back to my shell, that I ADORE you for your thoughts and your words. That I admire your activism and look up to you as a brave unwavering soul. Your thoughts and actions give me hope. Hope for a nation where freedom of mind is appreciated. Hope that as long as individuals like you are alive and struggling, there will always be someone to give voice to the unspoken.
Your books are more to me than mere stories.
From
The one who read 1000 books in four years and never found a voice quite like yours.


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