The Chenab Connection

Ravi is a man in love and he is willing to do anything to be with his beloved, Shaheen. In his case, the roadblock is not just they are from two different communities; Shaheen stays in Pakistan, whereas Ravi is from Delhi. They had met as children when their families lived in Bahrain as neighbours. He fell in love with Shaheen, his sister Simran s best friend, when he was in his teens, and his love was reciprocated. But life is often a difficult road and they get separated, as circumstances force Shaheen to return to her homeland, and Ravi settles down in Delhi. This is the story of The Chenab Connection, the latest work of Brigadier (retd) Baqir Shameem, who served in the Indian Army for three decades and witnessed the growing Indo-Pak conflict from close quarters, In this love story, with several twists and turns, he explores the possibilities of an Indian boy and a Pakistani girl falling in love and managing to settle down, having a family, under the looming shadow of hatred that has grown stronger over the last seven decades. The story penned by Brigadier Shameem is a work of fiction; it looks at the crisis and its nuances through the eyes of people who are in love, for the beloved, for parents, for siblings, and for the country of one s birth, because sometimes all it takes is love to conquer all. In the case of Ravi, love makes him cross one of the most hostile borders in the world to be one with Shaheen. Then there is Simran, and Omar, who fall in love under different circumstances and survive difficult situations to find happiness. The Chenab Connection is as much a love story as much as it is a look at the divisive politics that has plagued the subcontinent for decades, where terror and subversion have become second nature for hawks, who find more comfort in conflict than in peace and harmony.