Pallavi arora

Never judge a book by it's cover.But I judged it and brought it and here it goes - A book that will take you to the rollercoaster of all the human emotions, happiness,fear,sadness ,shame,grief,anger,Joy, excitement ,a child's innocence and a grown up responsibilities. It also decribed the people's experiences and poor conditions who sustained after the war and living in a state of extreme poverty ,and crisis,destruction,beggary,dying, oppression,to uplifting and helping and supporting. It is a story of Aamir and Hassan who grew up together and are described as good friends as brothers. while Aamir belongs to upper caste influential background, Hassan belongs to a hazzara (lower caste) who is loyal,very inncoent and good hearted, someone who couldn't read and write,loved to hear stories, yet brilliant in every possible way. Aamir, on the other hand, though loved Hassan's friendship,grew up together, they played together, and in a way shared same fate of losing their mother, love to fly kites. Sadly, Aamir couldn't called themselves as 'friends' before everyone as people would have named him to his friendship with a hazzara boy. and felt deprived of his father's attention and love, as his birth caused his mother's demise who was a brilliant educator. Aamir's baba who is described as a political, strongly opininated, very respectable,munificent and disciplined man who loves his country,people and whom everyone knows and adores the most. While Aamir's baba treated Hassan and his family like his own, he never forget's his b'day, got his lip surgery done , take him to the places along with Aamir and appreciate Hassan's intelligence and honesty, Aamir felt jealous and indulged in an act which left him grief stricken, sad and guilt for the rest of his life. Russians attacked Kabul, Baba managed to escape with Aamir to America where they managed quality life, Aamir got graduated, became writer and got fame,married and leading a happy life but memories of hassan and their childhood keep flashes by and he is in regret and blames himself for the sinful act that he has committed. After Baba's death, he learned about the bad health of Rahim (Baba's closest friend and someone who loved Aamir like his own son and gave all the attention when baba couldn't) and then the series of thrilling life events with a lot of twists and turns that life had taken him through and that one must learn after reading this masterpiece. Two things I am going to take away from this book - There is no act more wretched then stealing and every other sin is a variation of theft. When you kill a man,you steal a life.You steal his wife's right to a husband,rob his children to a father .When you tell a lie,you steal someone's right to the truth. when you cheat, you cheat the right to fairness. The best message for everyone to take sway is Everyone can become a better person no matter what past was lived, the first step is to forgive yourself. The way Aamir said to Hassan's son Sorabh -" For you the thousand times over " ... made the story unforgettable and most memorable tale of friendship and redemption. ! RECOMMENDED !