Remembering ” Baraf Ashna Parinday ” author Dr. Taranum Riyaz
Showkat shafi writes,
Last week saturday afternoon. 26th july, a gathering of poets, writers, and lovers of literature leaned back into the luminous world of Dr. Taranum Riyaz. It was not just another literary session. It was something warmer, more intimate a soft rekindling of a voice that once wove stories with snowflakes and verses with breath.
Dr. Taranum Riyaz passed away during the dark days of the pandemic in 2021 just a month after her beloved husband prof Riyaz Punjabi acadamic, resercher and former Vice chancellor of kashmir univetsity passed away after a prolonged illnes.
“Taranums words, however, have never really left us. Some writers write to impress Taranum
wrote to endure. She is not remembered merely because she was a woman of letters, but because her letters still whisper. Her voice still walks among us in rooms of fiction, across shelves of poetry, through the corridors of memory” said participants while playing tribute to the eventful life of Taranum Riyaz
At the heart of her brilliance lies Barf Aashna Parindey (Birds of the Snows)—a novel that does not shout its importance, but quietly stays with you like the last snow on a mountain slope. It follows Sheba, a young Kashmiri woman, who chooses purpose over convention, carving a life beyond the binaries of obedience and rebellion. Through her, we feel the pulse of a changing Kashmir , villages giving way to towns, silences breaking into conversations, and the weight of inherited roles being lifted , slowly, word by word.
“This novel is not just a story. it’s a mirror, held gently before a valley in transition.” Said one of the participants.
This is why she must be remembered. Not out of obligation, but out of gratitude.
And so, when the Fiction Writers Guild gathered to remember her, not with ceremony, but with stories, they weren’t simply paying tribute. They were placing a bookmark in a chapter that must not close. They were reminding us that the literary map of the subcontinent is incomplete without the constellation of Taranum Riyaz.
Mr. Suhail Salim a young writer and critic presented a paper titled “Dr. Tarannum Riyaz: Some Memories, Some Conversations, much to the applaud of the audience.
I had my first encounter with Taranum jee way back 2009 when she joined her husband Prof riyaz punjabi for the inauguration event of a newly constructed girls hostel in ku campus. I was then holding an additional assignment as media Advisor to honourable vice chancellor besides my own dities . I found her extremely humble and warm in her attitude towards university’s fraternity. She would greet every one with smile . No one meeting her at the campus from a peopn , a gardener or an officer would get thecslightest feeling that they werexmeeting first lady of the campus. And interestinglycshecwas available to the students and keen scholars who were eagercto learn from her.
Dr Taranum has left the room. But her pen is still warm. Her pages still breathe.
Guild general Secretary, nasir zameer ,our advisor salim salik president shafi ahmad and of course our patron wehshi syeed need all kudos and applause to having been able to concieve the to pay tribute to thatc great soul the daughter of this soil who left the fragrances of her words all around before meeting her maker.
