Covid and cardiac caseloads have redefined the routine practice of conflict-hardened community medicos in Kashmir. In his old-world charm clinic in Srinagarโs Rainawari area, Dr. Majeed Ahangar stands immaculately dressed in a black woollen cap, black feather jacket and brown baggy pants. The poorly-lit infirmary reeks with medicine whiff, while the plywood walls pasted with…
Four JK lawmakers in Rajya Sabha are retiring in coming weeks. In absence of J&K Legislative Assembly that is the electoral institution via which the new members would be elected, the speculation and the debate within the political circles remain about the empty benches in the Indian parliament. Before Kashmirโs โabrogatedโ political landscape would create…
The time started when a regime manโs rogues were crushing a popular movement in Kashmir. It continues when the dummyโs fiddling heralded the time feared most during the red squareโs regular rendezvous. Ghulam Nabi Gadisaaz had sensed the fast-changing pulse of the time when he began his journey as a watchmaker in Srinagarโs historic Lal…
Despite its selective take on Abdullah, the book makes a good, informative read and creates a good base for someone who wants to delve into the history of the place and unearth the truth. Nyla Ali Khanโs Islam, Women and Violence in Kashmir: Between India and Pakistan is primarily a non-fictional recollection of memories and…
In the lines that follow, I will delve down the nostalgia lane to renew my acquaintance with these fellow creatures who coloured my childhood. Who doesnโt hate homework as a child? My brother and I were no exception. When we were adamant on โall play and no workโ policy, we were scared away by the…
In the social media driven literary stardom, Mushtaq ul Haq Ahmad Sikandar remains a mild man-of-letters from mountains. His unassuming pile of paperwork might be speaking for his decadal toil as another prodigious penman from the valley, but his activism equally makes him the face of seminars and conferences. In a candid chat with Mountain…
Last year saw a surge in LoC fireworks amid LAC standoff, keeping life on the cutting edge on tenterhooks. Before snow transiently silenced guns at the Line of Control (LoC), the belligerent nuke-loaded neighbours were at it again โ shelling over the bodies of Kashmiris. Last summer, the frontier fireworks were full of spark and…
Thirty one winters later, Ghulam Mohammad Dar still carries the first carnage of militancy-era in his head like a nightmarish strife. Besides changing Kashmir, the bridge butchery altered this erstwhile newsagent forever. Itโs been a sad transformation, he says looking at a dead pigeon floating on frosty waters under the bridge. That day, he recounts,…
{1} WHISPERS OF A BROKEN SPRING nothing is moving, even solitude seems immobile and infallible. my room has stayed on with the nonchalance of the last winter. ใ คใ คใ คit smells of roasted potatoes and damp laundry. silence walks around barefoot, with a candle perched on its head. ใ คใ คใ คeverything has become more imminent. the air outside is…