Is It the Same for You?

“The day they found my brother with a blood stain, I found one on my kurta too, but no one noticed my blood stain.” Thus begins the story of a young girl in Kashmir as she goes through the turbulence of adolescence in her conflict-ridden world. While larger issues of terrorism, violence, and death engulf the hearts and minds of all those around her, she struggles to come to terms with her changing body and all that it entails. Left alone to deal with her constant questions, she experiences despair and loneliness but also shows resilience and hope in the faint knowledge that maybe it is not very different for all young girls around the world: “Is it the same for you?” she asks.  With powerful yet sensitive illustrations by Priya Sebastian, which infuse the story with a universality, this beautiful volume is a tender attempt in imagining the different strands of a young life in Kashmir—a place where the inner conflicts of voiceless, adolescent girls are often overshadowed by the political, religious, and military conflicts that are now a constant in everyday life.