Paro Anand – författare

I'm not butter chicken, you can't order me!'. Not a very wise thing to shout at your dad. But then, that's teenagers for you: so un-wise, yet breathtakingly brilliant, all at the same time. Growing up in a changing world, coping in a fallible world. The stormy years, the funny, wise, heart-wrenching years.The precious years, the bandar years, the wonder years. Teen stories, heart-breakingly wise, because they are so true.

A compelling story of a child born into unrest'.Aftab, a young Kashmiri boy, leads a double life. By day, he is a normal, bubbly teenager whose prime concerns are cricket, family and friends. The night holds the secrets of the life of a child, one who sneaks away to confabulate with Akram and his fledgling group of tearaway terrorists. Akram, so handsome, so exciting. But what Aftab doesn't realize, so dangerous. Aftab is in complete awe of Akram and is willing to follow him to the ends of the earth. And Akram is more than willing to send him there. Though set against the militancy in Kashmir, this novel could belong anywhere in today's world where violence is just a breath away. A brave story, never told in so raw a form, this is 'reality fiction'at its most real. A book for teenagers - and for adults of all ages - who live in a world where 'cops and robbers'is not fun any more, but a deadly game.

Pure Sequence is not a beginning, middle and end kind of novel, but rather a story of women in their twilight years; aglow with their past, learning to cherish their present and not worrying too much about the future. It is about the realities that confront us all, sooner or later. Those who leave their parents to lead their own lives; those whose own children are flying out of the nest; those who are forced into believing that their life is done behind them; to those who admire the strength and fortitude of their grandmothers. Pure Sequence is about the quiet confidence of women growing old gracefully or otherwise, realizing that they are in yet another prime of their lives.

After Umer's father leaves to join the jihadis, the family is pushed to the brink of poverty and desperation, but his mother will have nothing to do with her husband. The government and charities working in Kashmir, in their better wisdom, believe it is best not to offer sustenance to the children and windows of militants. Isolated by society and trapped in adversity, will the mother's determination to turn her back on violence crumble? Will Umer go his father's way? What choices will this family make? Weed, a follow-up of the award winning No Guns at My Son's Funeral, is a hard-hitting exploration of uneasy questions that keep raising their insistent heads in the 'war against terror'. Complex issues are examined through the innocence of a child caught in a web he never spun.