Articles Archives | Page 6 of 51

Understanding Teenage

March 16, 2022 Editor

We may not able to prepare the future for our children, but we can at least prepare our children for the future. (President Franklin D. Roosevelt) Sahil Sharifdin Bhat Teenage — It is short-lived but it leaves long-lasting marks on one’s personality. It is the happiest phase of one’s life. It is the worst phase of one’s being. It is experimenting on one’s own self in the biggest lab called ‘ the world; It is comparing and contrasting one’s physique and abilities with others and then feeling elated or dejected.…

Guf Kral -The endangered legacy of Kashmiri potters as they struggle to keep the art alive

January 15, 2022 Editor

Gufkral is a site inhabited by potters who utilise the caves. Among the oldest caves in Kashmir, some estimates trace their origin to around 3000 BCE By : Mudasir Rawloo Guf Kral is a Neolithic site located at Banmir village in Hurdumir area of Tral which is 40 kilometers from the summer capital of Srinagar. Gufkral is a combination of two Kashmiri words ‘Guf’ (means cave ) and ‘Kral’ (means potter). Gufkral is one of the oldest caves in Kashmir and its origin has been traced to 2000-3000 BCE. These…

Why has fruit from Iran become ‘Apple of Discord’ in Kashmir?

January 11, 2022 Editor

By: Auqib Javeed Decrying the fact how a bad apple spoils the whole barrel, the Kashmiri growers have upped their ante against what they call the free flow of the “tax-free” Iranian apples “eating” their market share. Kashmir valley’s apple traders and growers have expressed their resentment over this “illegal trade” via Afghanistan—resulting in huge losses. Asia’s second-largest fruit Mandi in North Kashmir’s Sopore has already witnessed some protests over the “permitted passage of Iranian apples”. The disgruntled apple-growers argue that the Iranian apples in large quantity have flooded Indian…

Kashmir the epicenter of Depression

January 5, 2022 Editor

By: Azhar U Din Among every five people in Kashmir, one shows symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (IMHANS). Kashmir has been entitled as “the saddest place in the world” by psychiatrist Dr. Arshad Hussain. It is not easy to live in Kashmir, for in Kashmir everyone is vulnerable to disasters at every time. Ages-long political turmoil, sky-high unemployment rate, earthquakes, floods, avalanches make this beautiful place a living hell for the local residents. “When elephants fight, it is the grass…

How the Article 370 Move, India-China Tensions and Erasure Politics altered Kashmir Forever

December 27, 2021 Editor

Sumantra Bose’s ‘Kashmir at the Crossroads’ is an insightful and fascinating narrative that has succeeded in keeping the focus on the people of Jammu and Kashmir, notably those in the Valley. Kapil Kak In his preface to the 1997 book, The Challenge in Kashmir: Democracy, Self Determination, and a Just Peace, Sumantra Bose, the well-known academic and expert on the Kashmir conflict, raises the question: “Why another book on the conflict in and over Kashmir? Hasn’t the vexed topic been flogged to death already?” And then, unsurprisingly, given his deep…

J&K HC Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal makes controversial remarks at RSS-Linked body’s event

December 9, 2021 Editor

Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal said that the inclusion of the terms “secular” and “socialist” in the Preamble of the constitution had “narrowed” India’s “spiritual image”. Jehangir Ali The presence of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh high court Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal at a seminar organised by an outfit linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), where he said that the inclusion of the terms “secular” and “socialist” in the Preamble of the constitution had “narrowed” India’s “spiritual image” has triggered controversy. The controversy erupted after Chief Justice Mithal delivered…

Kashmir: Then, and Now

December 6, 2021 Editor

Seven decades of transformations in Kashmir Valley through the eyes of a frequent visitor By: Dr. Upendra Kaul I have been traveling to Srinagar, Kashmir from Delhi very often since my childhood with a lot of sensitiveness and love for the place. My homeland, the beautiful and fragrant valley, whose inhabitants used to be always smiling, hospitable, cordial, sympathetic, and religiously tolerant are not the same today. I have spent a large part of my life in Delhi because my parents moved to Delhi in 1948 for economic reasons and…

Kangri & Pheran during winters in Kashmir

December 4, 2021December 4, 2021 Editor

Kangri is proving to be the most effective for combating cold. Kashmiri people have been using Kangri for centuries, Kangri literally means earthen hearth or fireplace By: Feroz Ahmad Climate change is a natural process and the whole world is aware of this process. Seasons change all over the world. Each season has its own importance and usefulness. The importance of spring, summer, autumn, winter, any season can not be denied. Although winter brings the gift of winter everywhere, winter has a special significance and uniqueness in Kashmir. Kashmir gets…

Lolab: Home to ancient springs

December 3, 2021 Editor

By: Jahangir Sofi One of the greatest poets, Allam Iqbal describes the beauty of the Lolab Valley, in one of his dedicated poems to the valley. He wrote: Pani Tere Chashmon Ka Tarapta Huwa Simaab, Murghan-E-Sahar Teri Fazaon Mein Hain Betaab, Ae Wadi-e-Lolab! Your springs and lakes with water pulsating and quivering like quicksilver, the morning birds fluttering about the sky, agitated and in turmoil, O Valley of Lolab! The government may have identified the ‘Lolab’ among the 75 lesser-known destinations for bringing it to the tourism map but, the…

Ghosts of graveyard: Where does Kashmir’s dead go?

November 26, 2021 Editor

Fahad Shah Kashmir is plunging into an uneasy silence, the blood is flowing on the streets, but the dead are missing. The graves dug near homes by fathers still lie empty, covered in dirt. “My son is 3-year-old; am I raising him to be killed in a gunfight?” asks a distraught mother. A sister sits by the window in Sopore, waiting for her brother who never returned home. Not even in death. Amid cries, a testament of mourning is missing. Where does Kashmir’s dead go? Among other areas, we found…