The structure perched on the flagged hill has become a syncretic symbol in the valley of saints known for mystical love. On an unclouded winter day in Kashmir, Shaheen Bhat entered Old Cityโs Kathi Darwaza whispering darood. Walking towards the Makhdhoom Sahab shrine in a meditative trance, he saw a swarm of faithful following his…
For upholding kindness in the state of penury, Ahsan ended up reaping gold in life. Ahsan lived in an age-old kaput house with an unkempt courtyard. The ambience gave away the destitute vibes. But the headman always tried to tackle poverty and pathos with his day and night slog. The onus lied on him to…
Some Kashmiris who lost their loved ones to the strife situation have picked up an uncanny routine with time to bring some solace in their battered lives.ย The four visitors that defied the graveyard silence with their spoken sorrows made a summer day even more restive for the cemetery regulars. They came and whispered prayers…
In this city of grief, I keep telling him that we should empathise with each other. But no, this old fox always points out faults in others. Streets arenโt the same anymore, so he thoughtโwatching footfall from his cobbler corner. That old bustle, as he remembers it, has long disappeared in the bludgeoning hush. Pretence,…
An epitaph may be the last tribute from a family to their loved ones but for some it also means a source of livelihood and craft which is now changing. Since the early eighties, Mehrajuddin of Malkah locality of Srinagar has been sitting in the graveyard silence to write last tributes to the dead. Operating…
When pills donโt help, people seek platonic ways to deal with their health problems. Haggard and pale, Uzair Khan, 24, is bedridden at a drab corner of his room. At his right side, a stack of tablet strips and syrups are making his morbidity blatant. As he sighs in agony, his woeful parents watch his…