by Jaibeer Ahmad

Think Kashmir and you are filled with a plethora of emotions – love, pride, loss, sadness, nostalgia, warmth, anger and occasionally hope also. It is this stream of emotions that pulls you, binds you and holds you in a tight embrace. This repertoire of emotions defines the relationship with the beautiful valley for most of us.

Many of us look at Kashmir through the prism of these emotions. Emotions that have the power to shape new thinking bring a fresh perspective to the table and catalyse change.

For most of us, the foremost emotion is one of undiluted, unconditional and sometimes obsessive love. Can this overflowing love be made to create positive social movements? We have many examples – a young journalist taking upon himself to clean the polluted rivers, a businessman planting more than 1.5 lakh trees with his own money, a young lady running a school for the poor in a far-flung area and many such individual initiatives. There are also many groups and organisations who have also been doing excellent social service quietly. But given our context and circumstances, there is a need for many more such collaborative initiatives in every neighbourhood, every village, and every district. The civil society needs to take over. Go beyond individual altruism to collective action. Show some love to the place. Act.

Sorrow is next. With an incessant flow of tragedies for the last three decades, it can be overwhelming to the extent of being depressive. Today there is a need to turn this grief into something meaningful. Thousands of families have been destroyed with the loss of their loved ones. Many of them were the only bread earners. What happens to those families, to their children and to their old parents? Most, I presume to fall back on their relatives or at times their neighbours for survival. Many of them suffer from mental disorders. A simple Google search will reveal how mammoth the problem is. Can some of us who are cushioned by privilege and luck do something? Can we start by adopting one such family in the neighbourhood? I am sure many of us already are doing so. Yet there is a need for a collective ownership of these unfortunate families. There is a need to give them some solace. Only we can do that.

Pride is something we feel about the natural beauty of the place, about our culture and about our heritage. About the child prodigy who plays santoor like his legendary grandfather, about the IPL cricketer, about the girl at the top of Tennis rankings, about the boy who cracked the civil services exam, about the singer and the filmmaker who won a national award and hundreds such. Let us celebrate them. Let us inspire a million such stories. And be proud.

Anger is a natural reaction to the challenges that an average Kashmiri faces. And there is a lot to be angry about. The injustice and the unfairness that gets meted out to a common Kashmiri is beyond measure. Every day the anger finds a vent on the streets of Kashmir and social media pages. And there is more to be angry about for instance the corruption in our society which unfortunately seems to have been institutionalised. We no longer feel angry about it. On the contrary, many a time that corrupt official or businessman gets more respect for the enormous amount of wealth he has amassed. Why? When will we show our collective anger towards this malaise? There are many other ills in our society that we need to be angry about. Corruption is just one of the most widespread ones. Pick yours and show some anger.

One of the most painful wounds of the conflict has been the exodus of Pandits from the valley.  There is a sense of loss among both the communities. What was once a warm, loving and respectful relationship has sadly turned into one of bitterness and anger at a community level. Yet as individuals, we continue to carry the same love and respect for each other. It was this realisation that made me and some of my friends start Raabta, an initiative to fill the void created by the separation of friends, neighbours, schoolmates, teachers and colleagues.

What was admittedly a small experiment today has become a strong platform to reconnect the two Kashmiris driven entirely by the love that two old have for each other. Of the 10 reunions so far, there is not even one where the two have cried with happiness. Some bridges have to be rebuilt. And they have to be built by people themselves.

The small little kid who walks out of his house with his school bag is the biggest source of optimism for his parents. It is the hope for a better future not just for the parents but the society as well. A hope that needs to be nourished nurtured and protected. The onus is on us. How can we help expand the worldview of these young kids, how do we ensure they get the opportunities that boys and girls of their age get anywhere else in the world? It is us who must show them the way.

Jaibeer Ahmad

Despite the humungous amount of grief, injustice and misfortunes Kashmiris haven’t lost their warmth and large-heartedness. Kashmir is undeniably the ‘Warmest Place on Earth’, a belief I held and was lucky enough to share it with the world. We are as hospitable and welcoming as ever. Salute to that spirit. We must continue to inculcate the same values to our future generations.

These are just a few of the multitude of emotions that we feel for our valley. These emotions are our metaphorical emotional umbilical cord.  Perhaps each one of us feels more strongly about one than the other. Let us choose ours and try to make a difference where we can. Let us bring out the activist in each one of us – for the sake of Kashmir and for the emotion called Kashmir.

(Jaibeer Ahmad is an advertising professional based in Gurgaon. He is emotionally involved with Kashmir and stays connected through his social media initiatives Re-imagine Kashmir and Raabta. He was also responsible for the Jammu & Kashmir Tourism film ‘Warmest Place on Earth’)

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1 COMMENT

  1. Mass Literacy/Total Education is the only solution left to the Kashmiris as they have burnt all bridges.kashmir valley is destroyed.It is Allah’s costly property destroyed by hooligans and illeterates/ignorants.It is quite possible Allah may not forgive such himalayan blunders,as Allah is also the lord of Retribution and Revenge.Further Pakistan Partition is also a reminder of some 10 lakhs killed during partition,and look at pakistan today,it is a failed state.Same case is going to happen with kashmir also.Be not in doubt.State craft requires mass literacy and high degree of intilligence which kashmiris lack.The Kashmiri women/children are begging in streets and the Kashmirians have no shame .Come to Hyderabad and see other states also ,many kashmiris are living in camps,begging for their survival.No body rewards stupidity.Even Allah does not reward stupidity.Go back to Mass literacy you kashmiris and remember it is Knowledge that brings power,and not stone throwing like thugs/useless fellows.

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