Bereft of a healthcare centre, fire service, bridge, drainage, drinking water, roads, bank, and other basic facilities, a village in north Kashmir is living a medieval life in modern times.ย Disquieting dispatch came at dawn when darkness was literally departing.ย But the arrival of a fresh-faced courier only created another blackout for the countryside caught…
Before eviction drives would uproot nomads from the jungle last year, a trip to Shopian slopes amid Covid curbs recreated the old world trek. But now, when nomads are about to return, will their summer home be the same? Home captives were yet to go for a retreat in mountainsโwhere forest guards would play jungle…
Soaring street strays might seem part of life now, but the canine terror they create makes many believe that life has gone to dogs in the Valley.ย Back to Kashmirโs โDog Centerโ after nine months, Hajira is cooling her heels in a crowded corridor. She sheepishly watches mauled men, women and children being taken for…
The controversial Faxgate mightโve thwarted his chief ministership bid in the fall of 2018, but the son of Abdul Gani Lone is only following his fatherโs footsteps in order to recreate the northern front in Kashmir politics. A whisper first came amid the communication blockade of 2019 when a certain scribe detailed Centaurโs captive life…
There was a time when many households served as vibrant workstations of the skilled women of Kashmir. After the tradition faded over the years due to the turmoil-hit market and lack of craft intervention, young and educated girls of Sonawari have now revived the old women workspaces with their collective efforts. In the shade of…
While recurring dreams may reflect an unresolved conflict in an individualโs life, a Kashmiri woman is grappling with conflict nightmaresโin the land of encounters, cordons and lockdownsโtaking a toll on her mental health. In the dead of the night, the traumatic scene unfolds like thisโฆ Silence shatters with a sudden scream, followed by sweat drips,…
The pristine glory of Srinagarโs iconic Bund has faded behind concrete structures hoisting commercial setups, barracks and political headquarter. With his hawkish bloodshot eyes, a sentry is seemingly playing the bygone British on Bund. The pledge to patrol pathway makes the two guards at the ghat as some strange bedfellows. But unlike the imperial nature-trail…
โMany people made it, some fell and died while battling. The Covid-19 is the biggest nightmare of any survivor. There are injuries that the past year has inflicted upon humankind and the battle is not over yet.โ Such were the times, recounts Aqib as he arrives to offer prayers for the departed soul of his…
On the day when Kashmiri Pandits are celebrating Herath, Mountain Ink presents the living legend of Mohini Raina โ the beloved nurse who sought salvation in her sisterhood and spiritual roots to overcome an overwhelming situation in her homeland when her tribe members migrated from the valley. When Indian Home Minister Mufti Sayeed played his…
Kashmirโs Persian connection mightโve elapsed from public memory amid the blitz of the distorted narrative over the years, but a sanctum sanctorum in old Srinagar is still making these ties as obvious as it was back in the reformerโs time. A turret rising from a rusty pyramid-shaped rooftop in downtownโs defiant pocket populated by polemic…