Thereโs a strange dynamic to the architecture of hotels in Kashmir that have existed during these times of siege since the last few decades. Today, as I walked through the barbed wires boldly glistening in the faint sunlight of an unbecoming winter, I noticed that most of them, or least of all the ones I…
At a time when George Orwell was struggling to make sense of the Spanish Civil War in Barcelona in the 1930s, the Himalayan region of Kashmir had made a transition from economic awakening to political awakening. Prior to this,ย the philosopher-poet Dr Iqbal had written a Persian poem titledย Saqi Namaย in the Nishat gardens in Srinagar. The…
I donโt dream aboutthe divine spirits of revolutionabout ghosts in the shapesof struggles, protestsand fightsblood and bombs. I donโt dream abouta place whererain is born to weave the rainbowswhere from there is no exileno head is bowedno sinsno sorrow. where every griefeach sufferingin silencemake up slogans. Azadi. Azadi. Azadi I donโt dream aboutan isolated, lonely…
Salik In creating a world of shared love, a veil of ignorance and distance have often created imaginative realities that have separated us by creating fears and misinformation about one another. A kid in some corner of the world grows up believing that, whites are white because they ran away before God finished making them,…
I miss home. Every part of it. I wish I could go back. Why am I not going? Am I exiled? Or have I created exile in my mind? I really don’t know. The thought of going home makes me sick and the longing makes me hopeful. Do you know how it feels to be…
Until something doesnโt affect us directly it hardly exists. We, human beings, place ourselves first and foremost in every transaction of life. I came to know about the revocation of Article 35A through Google. Home was thousands of kilometres away. I read the headline and went back to my existential mode of life. There were…
โPassive harassment for people of Kashmir, the unintentional remarks like quoting the infamous statement to justify the ill-bred occupation, is a concerning issue. It goes unnoticed and normally even the listener wouldnโt care to think about it in most cases.โ Kashmir had become stifling. It burdened me to realize that the world wonโt stop for…
A season of death, a season of loss; our buds rest into coffins, our blossoms have the scent of scars. With a call for Namaz, there’s a greater call to visit graveyards. Decades of violence; an abode of learners, a valley blooming with the hues of knowledgeโ now cradles in the darkness of ignorance. From…
When the war is over And you can come over To our side I will let you poke Your finger Into the holesโ left By bullets and pellets And you will feel how much they hurtโ Still. When the war is over I will let you smell Primroses growing timidly out of ruins And you…