Siddhartha Gigoo's Debut English Language Novel About Kashmir to be Released by Rupa and Co.

Rupa and Co, a major Indian publisher, is bringing out 'The Garden of Solitude', a novel by Siddhartha Gigoo. The novel is possibly the first ever English language novel about Kashmir. The novel is about the political turmoil in Kashmir, migration of Pandits and their life and plight in exile. It is a coming-of-age saga on Kashmir, the strife-ridden province, the Muslim majority of which is demanding ‘azadi’ for six decades. The story is about a boy whose odyssey takes him from the migrant camps back to his homeland in search of stories that are on the verge of being forgotten by a generation.


The themes in the novel are political turmoil, militancy, migration (of the Pandit community), and exile.

Several memoirs and travel related books have been written about Kashmir, but 'The Garden of Solitude' is the first power-packed fiction to be coming out from the region.

The author says, 'the novel will particularly interest those who long for their homeland...and also those who have lost loved ones in the struggle for freedom.' The novel dwells a lot upon the socio-political aspects of the erosion of identity and memory (of an exiled people).

The novel will be released all over India within a few weeks time.



Siddhartha Gigoo was born in Srinagar, Kashmir in 1974. He studied English Literature at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is also the author of two anthologies of poetry, 'Fall and Other Poems' and 'Reflections'. These days, he works for Tata Consultancy Services and lives in New Delhi. 'The Garden of Solitude' is his debut novel.