In this week’s ‘The Author Interview’, Indus Dispatch brings to you Sunaina Malik’s story, a teacher by profession and the first English female writer from the Pir Panchal region, for whom belonging to a not-so-known hometown proved no hurdle in making her impact felt in the whole country through his writing.
When it came to decide for this week’s ‘The Author Interview’, choosing Sunaina over a couple of others writers was not an easy choice. She does not have the longest list of books published, neither is she a writer with that ‘mystic aura’ around her, yet this was one of the most satisfying decisions to pick her over others. No, she is not the one like they show in movies and the modern world, not even close.
What she is instead, is the voice, harsh yet true, angry but strong, of and for the women, not only of those belonging to Jammu and Kashmir, where the whole women community has been the worst sufferer of the times we have seen, but also of those in other parts of the country also. How pleasantly ironical it is that a woman, coming from a place where female voices have remained shut for majority of times, is now a voice that is heard all over the country as well as many parts of the world.
Sunaina Malik considers herself lucky to have born to parents who not only were supportive of education for girl children, but also braved all the odds to make sure that. “My parents never hesitated when it came to my education. Though I was born in a small village in Poonch, I was moved to Rajouri for better education. I am grateful and will remain so of my parents who stood by myself in my journey right from the beginning and my in-laws who have not only bettered that support but always motivated me for a greater zenith,” she smiles.
Sunaina was always interested in writing and the warm appreciation she received in one of the event in her school time, ignited a fire in her which burnt brighter with each passing day. While there was never a dearth of talent in Sunaina, it was sadly the unfortunate condition of women in particular in the erstwhile state as well as the disturbances of the past in Kashmir which became her main writing themes.
“While I have been writing since a very early age, one of the first proper articles I wrote was in 9th standard, about the famous Peer Ki Gali in Kashmir which was published in many portals and newspapers. Good response from readers later on inspired me to continue writing but even bigger factor was what was happening around us all. The valley had been burning from the terrorism and its effects since many years and the devil had not contained itself to the guns-totting militants only. The sufferer in this whole episode was the common man, the women in particular. And the women in India have been suffering since very long, in each nook and corner of the country. So these evils in our society made my resolve to be a writer even stronger, as I started writing on these subjects regularly,” shares Sunaina.
Ever since then, Sunaina and her pen are writing tirelessly together to attempt for a better tomorrow for those in dark. Sunaina writes regularly on various issues that plague our society, highlighting every wrong around us. She is also a vocal supporter of human rights and has also written a fair number of articles of their violation in the country, particularly in Kashmir.
She has around 70 articles to her credit which have been appreciated widely by readers all over the country. The subjects of her writing touch almost every problem that exists in our society. Her vocal writing led the march of public movement that erupted following the Nirbhaya Rape case in Delhi. Her words have been long flaming the struggle against evils like female feticide, dowry killings, poverty, domestic violence, honour killings and many others.
Sunaina’s articles have been publishing in over a dozen major regional newspapers of Jammu and Kashmir as well as local portals, on a regular basis. That her articles have found place in newspapers beyond beyond, in Pakistan’s Pakistan Observer, speaks for the reach and impact her words hold. She has also been nominated as one among the top ten authors of Kashmir Watch, a Europe based news portal of Kashmir International Research Centre (KIRC), an independent non-profit research organisation. Besides this, Sunaina’s work has also been acknowledged and honoured by various organizations.
Sunaina came out with ‘Women’s Empowerment’, a book which she calls her first attempt aimed at helping women in their fight against the indifference they have been facing since forever.
“My book on Women Empowerment is about the exploitation of women in our society and rising crimes again at women in India. My aim is to bring forth the atrocities they go through day in and day out and sensitize them as well as the general public about it. I have discussed all the living examples of crimes with woman in India and have also given a vivid detail of legal rights of women and different methods about how to fight the crimes against them,” she informs. It is worthwhile to mention that Sunaina is arguably the first female writer from the entire Peer-Panjal region.
While writing is her first love, Sunaina has a life beyond books too. She is working as a teacher with Department of Education of J&K. A philanthropist by nature, she is regularly making efforts for the uplifting of the weaker sections of the society, in every way she can. For her, the greatest stress is to see someone in pain, physical or otherwise and she would put in all she can to eliminate the helplessness caused by various factors like Poverty, Illiteracy and other menaces that surround us. Her hobbies though remain confined to writing only.
“For me, my first love was writing and I hope that it remains so forever. I might not come across as the most interesting person, rather I feel I am quite dull, in this respect but then I am happy with this. My writing, if it is able to make any difference, however little it may be, my life would be successful,” she says, while smiling.
Sunaina is of the opinion that a good writer is always a good reader first, “Of course to be a good writer, one needs to be an avid reader. Reading teaches us many things, making us aware of different perspectives, the deeper understanding of which will help immensely in making your own. Without reading, your words may fall just short of the impact they can make or you intend to make.” Sunaina is ferocious reader and is reading all the time when is not writing. That said, she doesn’t have a favourite author or book as she ‘feels connected to what is written, and not who has written it.’
Sunaina is not ready to stop just yet as she feels her journey has just begun with her first book. “This is just one of the issues that I have extensively researched and written on. My fellow human beings are suffering a lot more than this and I will sincerely attempt to bring them in light in near future,” she says.
While there must be tens of hundreds of books on an issue so common like ‘women empowerment’, rendering Sunaina’s book and work merely ordinary, but what is certainly not ordinary is Sunaina’s story and her courage to actually live what other like her do not even dream of. We all could learn a little from Sunaina’s story.
