• Dr. Roy Xavier

“In the spring of 2003, I went to Kabul, and I recall seeing these burqa-clad women sitting at street corners, with four, five, six children, begging for change”. “……I thought, who is that person inside?....what makes her happy? What gives her sorrow? A Thousand Splendid Suns is in some ways my attempt at imagining answers to those questions”. (Postscript by Khaled Hosseini). Khaled Hosseini was born in 1965 in Kabul-the capital of Afghanistan. His father was a diplomat and mother was a teacher. The family received political asylum in the United States of America in 1980 following the Russian invasion in Afghanistan in 1978.He is a doctor and lives in North California. The Kite Runner is his first novel (2003), which tells the story of a young boy named Amir and his relationship with Hassan, the son of a servant and who also was Amir’s half-brother. The story tells about the jealousy Aamir had towards Hassan and the true love and friendship they had been into, at the end of the story. Similarly Mariam and Laila had misunderstanding in the beginning. Mariam was jealous towards Laila, as she did not want to lose a little attention she got from her husband Rasheed, by the coming of Laila as the second wife of Rasheed. But both stories have a similar background of restless Afghanistan due to the invasion of Russia and other political confusion during Taliban rule. Those problems became the common hurdle which had to be overcome by the characters of the both novels. Mariam became very kind towards Laila and she identified the thousand splendid suns which were glowing in the depth of their minds despite the poor social and political situation of their country. The title A Thousand Splendid Suns comes from a 17th century poem, an ode to the city of Kabul written by Saib-e-Tabrizi . “One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs, or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls”. Despite the walls of restrictions which hinder the peaceful lives in Kabul, the good minds of Mariam and Laila are like the splendid suns which give hope and love to the fellow beings!

Russian Invasion, Political confusion, splendid Suns, Taliban.

"A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS- A story of Hope and Love ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.11, Issue 3, page no.a39-a43, March-2024, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2403008.pdf

"A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS- A story of Hope and Love ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.11, Issue 3, page no. ppa39-a43, March-2024, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2403008.pdf