As gateways to knowledge and culture, libraries play a fundamental role in society. But barring a few token book houses devoid of reading culture, Kashmir has nothing substantial to offer to readers. When Salik Pervaiz, a Ph.D scholar from Central University, visited the SPS Library last year, he found himself in a cold and confused…
A British-era photo-studio on the iconic Bund had taken some rare shots of the pre and post-Dogra-ruled Kashmir before its ace lensman would make its classic capture a thing of beauty forever. Unlocking the main door of the studio where almost five decades of his life have passed, Ghulam Mohammad Sofi turns pensive as he…
Kashmirโs โstranger than fictionโ facts resurfaced when a cop tasked to intern insurgents in โgodforsakenโ land received his siblingโs dead body at the fag-end of the plagued year. But then, what happened at Sonamargโs sprawling conflict cemetery has been happening in the valley since the 1990s now. The news came when he was on his…
As people often wake up to the news of a new teenโs โdebut novelโ release in town, the valleyโs literary scene only becomes poorer with the addition of the hastily-written, poorly-edited and badly-treated manuscripts. Self-publishing words in the name of aspiring authorship is only creating a rat race among young boys and girls in the…
Over the years, Kashmiri firemen have emerged as reckoning crisis and disaster managers fighting the valleyโs fired up situations amid ire and irony. As the tribe of arsonists grew and gutted landmarks in some cindering instances of violence in the valley since 1990, Mohammad Akbar Dar realized that his routine firefighting job has become a…
Munnu is a deeply personal tale of the loss of innocence of a young boy, echoing the loss of peace and paradise in a valley that was once called heaven on earth. Munnu is a beautifully drawn graphic novel that illuminates the conflicted land of Kashmir, through a young boyโs childhood. Those who already relished…
The year branded for the so-called โMission 2020โ ended up unleashing another crippling phase in Kashmir. Amid paralysis, the valley stood resilient despite strife bleeding it through a thousand cuts. After surviving sixteen-month-long lockdownโthe phase she mostly fended for herself indoors amid flaring up moods and depressive phasesโZainab Nisar is finally breathing easy in her…
The Dollar Thermals advertisement is not the first, neither the most disturbing. A lot of movies have been made which make masses in India believe that Kashmiris are some wild people. The cringe unfolded like this: It was nine in the evening, everyone had gathered in the living room to watch a TV serial. But…
Before it would become wannabe driversโ training territory, Eidgah had become Kashmirโs signpost of conflict casualties. The sprawling ground for special congregational prayers would shrink once strife made it a war-turf of sorts. Hafeeza strolls every day around Srinagarโs Eidgah area for morning and evening walks from Ael Masjid to the martyrsโ graveyard, Mazaar-e-Shuhada, with…
Selling an early morning delicacy in the city centre, a sweet stall has been serving tastes since the sixties. With times, even as the kiosk has found a new owner, it has retained the old charm in Srinagar. With an icy December dawn, the misty sunrise heralds yet another first-half daily routine for Shahid Pakhtoon…