"‘The valley is left with just one faith. A beautiful garden needs many flowers" (Sanjay Suri)

Voici une très émouvante interview parue dans le journal/magazine Tehelka (numéro du 22 août 2009) de l'acteur Sanjay Suri (acteur principal du film très audacieux et absolument magnifique My Brother Nikhil).

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=hub220809the_valley.asp

Extraits:

What did you notice as the most dramatic change in the Valley? And what had remained the same?

Visually, Kashmir looked like a beautiful widow who had lost her colour, vibrancy and smile, and had an expression of irreversible loss. So much has happened there in the last 20 years that every structure has a story to tell. Twenty years is a long time. After the mass migration of Hindus in the early 1990s, the Valley was left with just one culture and faith. To me, a beautiful garden needs to have all kinds of flowers and not just one kind. That is one change which is so evident and sad. To me, nothing is the same.

[...]

I was visiting “home” after 18 long years. I wonder why I still call it “my home”. Maybe because no other place could give me that feeling of belonging, that identification after having been called a migrant somewhere, a north Indian in another place, sometimes even a refugee in my own country. But that still does not answer my question of why the Valley feels like home. Is it home or is it just memories of home, my childhood, my family, my orchids, my lakes, my rivers, my playground, my chinars, my autumn and spring?

What were some of your more positive impressions while you were there?

I hope I am right in saying that people seemed fed up with this prolonged violence and terrorism. Civilians who once supported the separatist organisations seem to have realised that it was a huge mistake and that all they have got in return is misery. While the world was progressing, Kashmir was burning. The education system, civic facilities, infrastructure, economy, human life — everything has suffered. Finally, it seems they have woken up. At least, I hope so!

Le reste sur le site de Tehelka:

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=hub220809the_valley.asp