‘A triumph. Chakravarty’s “river of stories” presents a prosaic and haunting history of the tragedy that is Kashmir.’ — John Zubrzycki, author of Dethroned: The Downfall of India’s Princely States and The Shortest History of India

‘A beautifully written elegy to Kashmir, capturing the pain of its recent decades of conflict and older history of oppression. Chakravarty brings to life the voices of ordinary Kashmiris with their rich mix of humour, inventiveness, superstition, melancholy and hurt.’ — Myra MacDonald, journalist and author of White as the Shroud: India, Pakistan and War on the Frontiers of Kashmir

‘What is it like to live in a battleground? To be part of a conflict that has dragged on for two generations? Amid informers and insurgents, protests and crackdowns? Ipsita Chakravarty—a brilliant observer and magical writer—records the stories, and forms of story, by which Kashmiris keep a reckoning. A wonderful, compassionate yet deeply tragic book.’ — Andrew Whitehead, former BBC India Correspondent, and author of A Mission in Kashmir

‘Chakravarty, who is not Kashmiri, has achieved an extraordinary feat. This remarkable book is a rendering of Kashmir and its conflict over the past thirty-five years as the ordinary people of the Kashmir Valley have experienced, recounted and interpreted it, in their own cultural and political idiom. The definitive allegory of a surreal tragedy.’ — Sumantra Bose, author of Kashmir at the Crossroads: Inside a 21st-Century Conflict

‘The tales in Dapaan take you straight to the melancholy heart of Kashmir, and I was utterly captivated. Ipsita has a terrific ear for capturing the smallest nuances of a people’s history. The writing is wonderfully evocative, as magical as the oral tradition it mirrors—this could be the most important book of reportage from Kashmir in the last two decades.’ — MIRZA WAHEED, author of The Collaborator, The Book of Gold Leaves and Tell Her Everything

Ipsita Chakravarty is an award-winning journalist who has reported on politics and armed conflict in Kashmir and North-East India for a decade. She has worked as a reporter, editor and opinion writer for national dailies including The Times of India, The Telegraph, The Indian Express and Scroll.