Photos: Conversations about Kashmir over cups of nun chai

Alana Hunt's "Cups of Nun Chai" is a book that records the sharing of one hundred and eighteen cups of nun chai, and just as many conversations. Each cup was a part of a growing memorial for the deaths of 118 civilians in the Kashmir valley during the summer of 2010. In these exchanges the political unfolds through a profoundly personal experience, and events, places and sentiments that are often obscured from view are given breathing space. People, homes, memory—and flavour—combine to make tangible what so many outside Kashmir do not know. ...read more

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“Cups of Nun Chai” reflects on Kashmir, but also on nation-making and colonisation, and on power and violence. According to publisher Yaarbal Books, the histories, political forces and grief behind this work emerge gradually, but with great sensitivity. And eventually with an unexpected degree of ferocity. (Alana Hunt)

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“Jacqueline was interested in phull’s ability to change things. It changed the colour of tea, it made some things fizz and bubble, it made others rise, and it also cleaned. The substance provides a metaphor that resonates well with the situation in Kashmir today.” From the 9th cup of nun chai. (Alana Hunt)

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According to Alana Hunt, “Cups of nun chai is a search for meaning in the face of something so brutal it appears absurd. It is an absurd gesture when meaning itself becomes too much to bear.” Published by Yaarbal Books and designed by Itu Chaudhuri Design, Hunt’s book is a memorial to the deaths of 118 civilians in Kashmir in 2010. (Alana Hunt)

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“So when did Australia become free from the British? Ashraf asked me. I tried to explain, sadly, that we never really did. Today, the shape of Australia is a continuation of that foreign settlement —of stolen land, of the desecration of one civilisation by another.” From the 104th to 108th cups of nun chai. (Alana Hunt)

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“As we left, Ahmad and I stepped over a roll of barbed concertina wire that enclosed the park we sat in. He smiled at me and said, “I don’t see this as a bad thing. The barbed wire that alters the direction of our paths, the army convoys that leave us waiting endlessly in the traffic—these things polish our memories.” From the 113th cup of nun chai. (Alana Hunt)

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“And here, in Kashmir, it is our memories that are our strength, said Ahmad. It was this ability to turn what was dark into something light that enabled Ahmad’s laugh to bloom with such persistent and light-hearted defiance in the midst of occupation.” From the 113th cup of nun chai. (Alana Hunt)

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“The book says: In dreams begins responsibility. It is a phrase that somehow wakes you. Rosie continued, “These cups of nun chai seem insignificant. They are like small dreams. But it’s small dreams like this that demand a certain responsibility.” From the 52nd cup of nun chai. (Alana Hunt)

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“The war in Kashmir is loud; while it is undoubtedly complex it is also undeniable. Here the ongoing war of Australia’s colonisation moves quietly. Here the heavy arms of colonisation are extensive and present, ensuring high levels of suicide and imprisonment, and low life-expectancy for Aboriginal people.” From the 64th to 65th cups of nun chai. (Alana Hunt)