An addict of yesteryears has now become an inspiration for doctors, engineers, professors, businessmen and lawyers in Kashmir. Inside Kashmirโs known clinic crowded with confused caseloads, Faizan looked stoned. Sharing a wooden bench with a young woman wearing a flabbergasted face and an elder looking jittery, he tapped his feet while restlessly waiting for his…
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…
โI was also among the local โtoppersโ whose mothers would go on boasting about their childโs grades and medals, unstoppably. But it was never worth it.โ She remembers walking with her brother to the tuition centre when a group of men, shouting on the roadside carried the pale body of her neighbour with a nylon…
In times of orphan sale, the story of parentless children of Kashmir remains untold. One such story of Raziya raises some hard questions. A decade-long nocturnal mourning has made Raziyaโs body language wobble. Her watchful gestures at the misty ghats of Hazratbal make her some withdrawn person. But the 21-year-old girl from Srinagar is neither…
Thirty two years ago, she lost her usual sightseeing after witnessing the deadly world unfolding from her window. Hours after the bridge butchery when dusk finally settled over Gaw Kadal, Sarahโs world became black forever. Standing on Zoon Dub or a cantilevered balcony designed in Kashmirโs traditional homes for the moon viewing, she would gaze…
โKids today go out in the snow for a couple of hours, take a couple of selfies and that is winter for them.โ One cold winter morning in 1962, 14-year-old Arshad woke up to his small, single-storied house in Maharaj Gunj Downtown, covered in snow.ย As he tip-toed, trying to sneak out, his mother caught…
Children of Kashmir are staring at yet another hostage period after the inferred third Covid wave made offline classrooms a primary casualty of the official Covid response. Shamshad Akhtarโs fears have returned to unsettle her daily chores and mental calm.ย Last night, hours after Kashmir administration announced yet another educational curtailment calendar to keep the…
The neighbour who brought the news was a mute person. Through his gestures, he explained how he witnessed the chilling episode. Like every other morning, Afzal woke up late again. His father, Majeed, disliked this habit and always advised him to wake up early. His mother came into his room and told him that his…
People in many areas believe that faith-healing and chiropractic therapies are more reliable than the traditional medical ways. Darood and cries of emancipation rented the air as faithful swarm the sanctum streets for Friday congregation at Dargah, Hazratbal. Reverberation of prayers played out like a meditative melody as musing men and women along with their…