Hato
The street looked deserted. Not a sound. As if nobody lives here anymore. A man carrying a burden of trash on his back was the only one walking down this lane. My mother grew up in a house on this lane.
Man at Kralkhod
Man, Hawks at Habba Kadal
Photograph of a Security man posted on Habba Kadal.
Count the number of street lamps and the number of security men, if the security men out number the lamp posts, you know you have set foot on a troubled street.
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On way to Gulmarg, I saw a security man standing, on duty, alone, in the middle of a vegetable field, shooting. He was taking pictures using a digital camera.
Kashyap Kashef Kashuf Causality
On the United Nations Assembly Floor:
A representative from India began: ‘Before beginning my talk I want to tell you something about Rishi Kashyap of Kashmir, after whom Kashmir is named.
When he struck a rock and it brought forth water, he thought, ‘What a good opportunity to have a bath.’
He removed his clothes, put them aside on the rock and entered the water.
When he got out and wanted to dress, his clothes had vanished. A Pakistani had stolen them.’
The Pakistani representative jumped up furiously and shouted, ‘What are you talking about? The Pakistanis weren’t there then.’
The Indian representative smiled and said, ‘And now that we have made that clear, I will begin my speech.’
– a ‘forward’ Email that was in circulation a couple of years ago.
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Pages from History.
‘Travels in Kashmir, Ladak, Iskardo, the Countries Adjoining the Mountain-Course of the Indus, and the Himalaya, north of the Panjab with Map’ By G.T. Vigne (Published 1844).
Godfrey Thomas Vigne(1801-1863), an English travelers visited Kashmir in 1835.
You know you are a Kashmiri if…
Got this ‘forward’ in my mailbox today. I have read a similar ‘forward’ from Bengalis about Bengalis. Nice to see wicked Kashmiri humor at work here. Hats off to the anonymous who came up with the Kashmiri list.
Each of the point listed here rings true…chaeyn kasam 🙂 but I am making some additions
1) You have the Kashur Nass.. we have a face on a nose!! Its like a nose broken into pieces and then reassembled by a 2 yr old..2) You luuuuuv food!! No offense to fellow food lovers but we take our love for food one step ahead. (Even celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain had to concur during his visit to Jaipur where he ate out at the house of chef Vimal Dhar)
3) You take pride in being a Kashmiri .. So much so, that you think that the human race should be divided into two groups; People who are Kashmiris and people who wish they were Kashmiris:)
4) You have atleast 10 Avtarkishan, Hridainath. and we pronounce it has hadeynath.. we just don’t pronounce the r , santosh, pamposh, usha, bhusha, shanta, kanta ..in your family.. And people with nicknames like pyntu ji, paapu ji, byttuji….
5)You like alhach, wangan hach, hogaad.. I think kashmiris are the only people who dry perfectly good vegetables and then eat them even if they are living in tropical region.
6) All through your childhood you thought your father’s name was ” HEY YAPARHASA“.
7)You learnt all the kashmiri” WOH WOH” before you even learnt how to spell your name..
8)You look at non kashmiri people and say ” Uhn shikass“
9)Get excited when you see a kashmiri on television even if he’s standing in the corner and all you can see is his finger…” Oh look Kashmiri..” [Example in point 2]
10) Your sense of fun is having batta and sleeping..
11) You are obsessed with giss and mandloo..
12) You go to a Kashmiri gathering and turns out the next person is your relative that you havn’t ever met.. some mamtur poftur boy…and you don’t even know what the relation is called.
13) Your father addresses every person as ” this is my another brother” turns out that person is the next door neighbour’s sweeper’s son..
14)You have a typical Kashmiri name like Sheen, Sondri Gondri, Sukta..
15) If you translate Kashmiri into hindi in an attempt to speak hindi..”hum ghar main teen aurtey hain“-” uss chi gharass manjh trey zanaan“
“airport pay takleef nahin aaya” – “airport peth maa ove takleef.“
16) Your mom gets scared at every tiny thing and says “kossay trath hey payam“.. and then reads the yindrakhi paath . She screams ‘hai kya gom‘ on hearing about ill health of next door neighbour’s sweeper’s son.
17) You are a Doctor or an Engineer..
18) You eat every single organ of the goat like the chagul( goat testicles) , charvan( liver), hooves, the kidneys we don’t spare any part..
19) You have the funniest surname…
zalpuri ( zall which means pee) whyyyyy..
mattooo, kher ( donkey) or what kashmiris call ” Dunkey”
wattal( garbage man).. pure genius..20) Have a thick accent and pronounce scotch as ssakaych.. or smoke as ssamokh
21) Have the weirdest style of dancing as if you are screwing two bulbs..
22) When your mother yells into the phone because its a long distance call!!
23) Your real birthday is called “cake vohorvod” or ‘angree’z vohorvod‘.
24) You go into a kashmiri store just to show off how much you know about Kashmiri artifacts but buy nothing..
25) Stuff people with food even if they are bursting up to their throats. Meyean dree…ahk piece byakh piece. And the curry is poured onto your palm and the piece is in your lap.
26) You are a Kashmiri if you pick that piece up, put it in your thaal and quitely eat while praying they don’t come back with more.
27) You prefer kandarwaan over the baguette..
28) While going for an exam your mother asks the kachravol or the dodhwol to walk to your right…and usually asks you to avoid Zanaan’e zang.
29) Your mother sees some women on television with skimpy clothes and calls her shikass mach, nang mach!!
30) Your father teaches you how to drive and all he can tell you is breyk breyk breyk and when you finally stop he says gggassuuu pppakooo..
31) “hello hello bi chass b” is your theme song..
32) Have at least 5 wokhuls and kajwatt in your house.
33) If someone reminds you every other day – Today is a aetham, don’t eat this.
34) If your scream ‘Tra’th‘ or ‘Ta’payeel’ thrice every hour, to no one in particular, without any rhyme or reason.
35) If you think smartest person in the world will one day be proved a Kashmiri. And also believe there is a good chance he or she will also turn out to be the most handsome or the most beautiful.
36) If you think every other Kashmiri is an idiot.
House for Pandit Premnath Shastri
Photograph: A house just across mother’s ancestral house at Kralkhod. I was told Pandit Premnath Shastri used to live as tenant in this house owned by a Muslim.
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Post migration, Pandit Premnath Shastri developed his Vijyeshwar Panchang not just like it was an almanac but like a document recording ancient religious practices and rites of Kashmiri Pandits. Today Vijyeshwar Panchang is one of the threads that hold the Pandits together.
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I read that in his old age Pandit Premnath Shastri became an ardent admirer of Osho Rajneesh.
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Ever year, Vijyeshwar Panchang would carry not only a year’s predictions for people born under various Zodic signs but also for the World, India and Kashmir. Skip the first few lines, no chance of getting the meaning, the last line reads:”Rest is up to God”. India was apparently born under a bad sign. Rest followed.
Sample this: This year the World will talk about ‘Nuclear’ a lot.
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I love this cover.
Nirjala ekadashi/ Neerzala kah
“Today is Neerzala kah,” my father shouted into the mobile handset.
At the other end, my grandfather replied, “I just had a watermelon! Ha!”
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Ekadashi, every eleventh of lunar month, is meant for fasting but on Nirjala Ekadashi or the ‘waterless’ eleventh lunar day, falling in the month of Jyestha(may-June), a day associated with Vishnu, even water is not consumed. And water is offered in charity.
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There is a rock on the top of a hillock called Haldar, over-looking the Manasbal lake towards its north-east. From underneat this rock a little water is ozing out. Every year on the Nirjala Ekadashi day a fair is held here. The pilgrims sing in chorus:
‘Balabhadra haldaro palah talah poni trav‘
(O Balabhadra Haldara (Krishna’s elder brother) allow water to flow out from this rock!)
then suddenly water flows out in a large volume from underneath of this rock which suffices for the bathing of the pilgrims assembled.
At this spot there was a stone image of cow from whose four Udders water used to come out in drops. It is said that about one hundred years ago this image was removed by Zamidars of the neighboring villages and buried somewhere under the rocky earth nearby.
– Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh by Desh Bandhu
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Cartoon is by my friend Sandeep Bhat.
Stats on Year of Old photograph Video
I had uploaded this video to Youtube on June 02, 2008. It has been a year since then and and here I am share the stats of this video.
Basic stat
Year of daily views looks like this
The actual views as of 2 June 2009 was 28XX something. The star rating (even that half star wan’t missing till a month ago) and the count for ‘Favorited’ tells me that the video is fairly well appreciated by the users.
A year ago, I hadn’t stated this blog, so most of the views come from my other blog [At The Edge]. At no. 2 spot is a post from Kashland (a sort of ‘Kashmiri’ Facebook with lot of features but not too fancy a name).
Comments Stat
No nasty comments were made, not a single comment had to be moderated (and I hope it remains like that!). Almost all the comments are by Kashmiri Muslim men. Interestingly, the first few readers of this blog, much to my surprise, were Kashmiri Musilms.
Where do these commenter come from?
A couple of comments are from West and these include a nice comment by the author of a ‘Jesus in Kashmir’ book [my take on the subject of the book ].
No comment by Kashmiri pundit (although the video did make it way to atleast one Kashmiri pandit blog directed at young but typically too heavy on religion and ‘culture is dying’).
Stat of
They stats are normal and ‘as expected’, stats that fit in with the general viewership of Youtube i.e. lot of males in the age group of 25-34.
Insterstingly, the video was posted on Kashland by a young Kashmiri Muslim girl.
Where do these viewers come from?
And here’s how they reach the video:
And that the reason why Kashmiris hate the Danish rock band ‘Kashmir’: we search for Kashmiri song and we get some rock song on top of the search result page and not the authentic Kashmiri music. And that’s why Kashmiris hate Led Zeppelin too…did they have to name it Kashmir if they even hadn’t been to Kashmir. And now we Kashmiris have to click some more just to get the real stuff on Kashmir. (Just kidding! I love Led Zeppelin and love even the Danish “Kashmir’ – Rocket Brothers is great [video] and they sound good )
What do they see and how do they see?
Hits its first peak on old photographs of Jelhum
Starts to declines on a series of photographs of Nautch girls [click to read more about them]
Gets low
Starts to rise again on ruins
Reaches for peak as the images move to pandit temples
Hits the highest peak on the iconic photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Stays at peak for the photograph of Jehlum.
Starts to decline again.
Continues to decline and crosses over into negative as photographs start to depict the common, the ugly and the harsh. And the credits.
A stir at the mention of music.
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If any one faculty of our nature may be called more wonderful than the rest, I do think it is memory. There seems something more speakingly incomprehensible in the powers, the failures, the inequalities of memory, than in any other of our intelligences. The memory is sometimes so retentive, so serviceable, so obedient; at others, so bewildered and so weak; and at others again, so tyrannic, so beyond control! We are, to be sure, a miracle every way; but our powers of recollecting and of forgetting do seem peculiarly past finding out.
– Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
Gangbal – Harmukh pilgrimage, 100 years later
Gangabal yatra to commence after 100 yrs
After a gap of nearly a century, the pilgrimage to the Harmukh-Gangbal shrine situated at an altitude of 12000 feet is all set to begin from Srinagar on Monday. A batch of over 40 Kashmiri pandits on Sunday left for the yatra to the sacred lake in Kangan belt.
– PTI (found via a ‘feel good’ news snippet in today’s Hindustan Times )
Gangabal lake, located at the feet of majestic Harmukh mountain (16832 feet, making it second highest in the valley) is about 3.5 Kms long, half a Km. wide and more than 80 meters deep at the center. Some people believe it to be the source of Sy’endh river (not to be confused with Sindhu (Indus) River )
According to a Zee News report:
Gangbal is situated in the hills of Harmukh range in north east of Kashmir valley, at a height of 12000 feet on the Ganderbal-Sonamarg road. Gangbal is also called Harmukut Ganga and is believed that this place is pious as Haridwar where pilgrims perform prayers and immerse ashes of the dead. The last village Wusan is about 20 kms from Srinagar.
Ramradhan is the first pilgrimage centre about 5 kms from Wusan. Then the journey begins to Yamhear which is about 6-kms away. It is a steep ladder-like path and perhaps that is why it is called Yamhear (Lord Yama’s ladder).
The route is dotted with several other lakes and temples. There is the black water lake known as Bramsaar, Sukhnag, a hot water lake, and Dukhnag where pilgrims take holy dip.
The return journey is from a different route via Narannag on the banks of a rivulet called Krenk nadi where beautiful temples are located.
Larakota* king Laltaditya Muktapida had expanded and beautified the Jyestha and Bhutesha temples at Narannag.
An annual festival will also take place at Gangbal on the occasion of Ganga ashtami, a spokesman said.
* That should be Karkota dynasty (8th century AD).
Here’s something about ‘Gangbal-Harmukh’ pilgrimage I dug up from history:
“About forty miles from Srinagar, and lying at the foot of the great peak Haramokh, is the remarkable Gangabal Lake. It is reached by a steep pull of 4000 feet from the Sind valley. By the side of the path rushes a clear, ice – cold stream. From the top of the rise are superb views precipitously down to the Wangat valley leading up from the Sind and beyond it to a jagged range of spires and pinnacles. The path then leads over rolling downs, covered in summer with ranunculus and primulas, to a chain of torquoise and ice-green lakes, above which grimly towers the massive Haramokh six thousand feet above the water, and giving birth to voluminous glistening glaciers which roll down to the water’s edge.
It is a silent, solitary, and impressive spot, and is held in some reverence by the Hindus.”
– from ‘Kashmir’ by Sir Francis Younghusband (1911)
A lot more about the belief of Kashmiri Pandits with regard to Gangbal Lake can be found in the marvelous book called “The Valley of Kashmir” (1895) written by Walter Rooper Lawrence.
“Gang Ashtmi, the eighth day of the waxing moon of Bhadron. is the day when Hindus take the bones [astarak) of their dead to the lake beneath Haramukh and perform the sharadli service for the departed.
Bhadron/Bhadon usually means somewhere between August-September.
A few pages later, Walter Lawrence adds:
“To Ganga-Bal the Hindus resort after the death of a parent, and fling the knuckle-bones which the funeral pyre has spared into the deep waters. The road is difficult, as early snow sometimes overtakes the pilgrims, and delicate women and children often perish from exposure.”
And earlier in his chapter about ‘Reptiles’ of the valley, he writes about a curious Kashmiri belief :
“It is universally said that no poisonous snakes exist in parts of the valley from which the peak of Haramak can be seen.”
It was believed so – universally – in Kashmir.
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Zaan’e w’ale kar zaanee yaar, Harmukh Vi’chu Deedar
Pard’e Zaal Aaz dard-e-naar, Harmukh Vi’chu Deedar
“Seeker of Truth Know the Truth, Turn to Harmukh and See
Burn the veil, today, on pain of fire, Turn to Harmukh and See”
– a line from a song by Shamas-Faqir (1843 – 1906), a Kashmiri Sufi poet whose actual name was Mohammad Siddiq Bhatt.
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To know some more about Gangbal-Harmukh read this article by Prof. C. L. Sadhu
Why do stories connected with various Shiva pilgrimage sites in Kashmir (even Jammu) almost always have gujjars in them?
Gangbal – Harmukh has a tale known as Hurmukh’uuk Gosoni or ‘Saint of Harmukh‘.
According to the tale:
A Sadhu, for twelve long years, and in vain, to have the darshan of Lord Shiva, tried to reach the summit of the Harmukh. Then one day he saw a gujjar coming down the summit and as the gujjar got near him, the Sadhu asked him what all did he saw up there. The gujjar told him that up-there somewhere his goat strayed , got lost (they always do) and while searching for it, up there, he saw, a man and a woman, a couple milking a cow and drinking that milk in a human skull. The kindly couple offered some milk to him too, which he of course refused to drink, but then when as couple were leaving, while departing, they rubbed some of that milk on his forehead. While the gujjar was concluding his account of the strange meeting, as his last gesture, with his forefinger, he pointed out the spot on his forehead where the couple had applied milk. Just then, the Sadhu, in a flash, eagerly and in mad joy, started to lick the gujjar’s forehead and with each lick Sadhu’s body, starting toe first, began to disappear – like someone running an eraser over it. According to the tale of Hurmukh’uuk Gosoni or ‘Saint of Harmukh‘, the Sadhu, that hermit, got instant Nirvana and disappeared from the face of this earth and the gujjar was left rubbing his forehead in utter surprise and in some warm pain.
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Eagle
I was taught: Do not look at the eagle flying overhead, it will pluck your eyes out clean.
I was taught: A Batta is one who can steal an eagle’s egg clean from underneath the bird of prey sitting high in its nest.
Happenings of 1951 as recalled by a Kashmiri Goat
Here’s an interesting image from LIFE magazine photo archive.
According to the caption:
Taken in Kashmir on December 1951 by photographer Howard Sochurek.
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Somewhere in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, on a pleasantly warm and sunny December morning, while standing on a single wooden peg dug deep into the dusty soft ground, in total control of his four limbs and a head and a tail too, listening to the soul-stirring music emanating from the distant bagpipes of mighty military men, the Goat was deep in thought, contemplating the happenings of the year that was about to end. The happenings delighted him to no end.
“1951 turned out to be interesting…quite interesting, not too bad! ,” he thought and then in no particular sequence – in a very stream of consciousness manner – recalled some of the interesting News concerning the State that had reached his pair of attentive ears that year.
Tribal of Waziristan pledged to defend Pakistan. Good for them. Afridis pledged not to take part in any Jehad…if even there is need for one in Kashmir. What is Jehad? Is it good for the goats? They make it sound like some old form of warfare? Do they play bagpipes while fighting? Do I get to listen to music all day? May be I will take part in it. Everyone is already taking sides. Sheikh Abdullah pledged support to Pakhtoons in their common struggle against Pakistan. Very smart Sheikh Sahib, very smart. I like Sheikh Sahib, I really do. Too bad for me, my misfortune that he is likely to jump his gun if he even as much overhears the word “Bakra‘. I am too ashamed of the fact that supporters of Sheikh Sahib call his enemies, those Jamaatis – Bakras. What can I say, these nasty people do go around carrying a beard like me. If you see one, and find yourself in doubt, try this sure short way to tell if he is a real bakra or not: Request him to bleat. And a real bakra will bleat better than a goat. And you will know that you are not supposed to eat him – Can’t Halaal or Jatka this bakra. But the lion is really keeping them busy these days, pardon my expression, but he is really milking those goats. I like Sheikh Sahib, he really is a lion, and I am not even supposed to like a lion, me being a goat and he being a lion, one can say it’s against nature. But in this State anything is possible, I have heard that an ancestor of the erstwhile Maharaja of the state, the one who was caught in a Paris hotel in bed with a gori mem ….BBBLLEEEAAAATTTTTT… once saw a goat and a lion drinking water from the same place together. What can I say? Jammu is a dry, dry place…can happen in majboori of summers. The current Yuvraj Prince is surprisingly a humble fellow! Almost too happy to loose the Crown. Siyapa Mukla for him ji. Yet somehow The Praja Parishad people there are always bleating (but no one dare call them bakras). I don’t think they are too glad about the end of Dogra rule. Now they don’t even want to be part of State election (no way can they win the entire State anyway. They don’t have my vote!). They also want India to come to Kashmir completely, full-time, nothing doing. Does that mean more Army and more music for me? I support that. And then there is this guy, a balding Bengali, who keeps telling Panditji to get back his one third of Kashmir from Pakistan. Panditji, a smart fellow (some say mistakenly think it’s in his genes…I suspect its the High company he keep), tells him basically something like this, “Hey Man! You have no idea how we are holding on to the rest of this land. What will you do with the rest?” I think this Bengali chap is not very happy with the situation, I think he is taking it all very personally. He needs to relax, slowdown and may be come down here and see the situation for himself. Enjoy some Kashmiri hospitality. If nothing else, this place will at least do his health some good. He may even find Swarag here. But it must be that the news from Jammu worried him. There were some tribal raids in some part of Jammu and some part of Kashmir. India lodged protest in Security Council. Hindu and Sikh refugees from Muzaffarabad are being settled in the State. Panditji is worried about Kazak influx into Kashmir. What the hell do Kazaks want with Kashmir? Panditji took certain steps to take care of it. Even opened a school for them. Good. Shiekh Sabib also helped. East Pakistanis pledged support to Kashmiris. Syrians and Malaysian also want resolution of Kashmir (read: better if it’s with Pakistan). Kashmiri Pandits – quite a tribe I tell you – pledged support to National Conference of Sheikh Sahib. Panditji, also one among that esteemed tribe, was very happy and congratulated them. Pakistan called Kashmir elections a fraud. They also believe India wants to stop the great rivers of the State. Reminds me…these military men always make me take dump near the river. I think it’s deliberate. I need to protest. It’s a clear provocation. Liaquat Ali, their PM, told Kashmiris, ‘Wait, we will free you!’ Sheikh Sahib told him that Kashmir was Baap ki jagir of forty Lakh Kashmiri Muslims. Poor Mr. Liaquat died the same year of an unknown assassin’s bullet. What a waste! Earlier this year he had also offered a five-point peace plan and asked Pandit Nehru to come down to Karachi for discussion. Fatima Jinnah told Kashmiris to fulfill her great brother’s last wish and join Pakistan. Achha ji, you get your ‘K’ and what do we get! “A moth-ridden Pakistan” – isn’t that what her Craven A smoking illustrious genius brother called Pakistan. I am a goat. I need grass. Moths can’t be good for me. Do they really have that much moth? Why don’t they do something about it? There was also a strange report that Pakistanis want to kidnap Sheikh Abdullah and take him to the other side of the LOC. Of course, they denied these reports later as mere fabrications. I think the Pakistanis too are taking it all too personally. India offered non-aggression pact to Pakistan. No sound. Kashmir is now not a place, but an issue. The white goralog of UK and the USA, quite decent looking folks, but I am told they don’t bath often, and are often cunning, are really working hard on the issue. They are sending people, Generals, high officials and the good journalists. They keep coming up with solutions, plans and, India keeps rejecting the plans, finding faults and Pakistan rejects the plans, finding faults. Kashmir Kisan Mazdoor Conference, Jammu Kisan Confrence, Socialist Party and Democratic Union, all Communist sounding parties (according to whom – all goats own all grass unfailingly, I gather. Good. Too good to be true. I sometimes suspect I too am a communist.), want foreign troops out of the State, they predict a bleak future otherwise. Don’t they remember that Gen. Cariappa (what a melodious name! CariappaCariappaCariappaCariappa) promised that Indian Army would move out of the State the day Kashmiris want them to. In other news, General secretary of Communist Party of UK thinks Kashmir should be with India. Someone named Jayaprakash doesn’t want Sheikh Abdullah to campaign for Congress in India. Sheikh and his man-friday Bakshi, nevertheless, campaigned for Congress in Punjab. Congress believes J&K is setting the best example of Secularism. The Papers. Wah the Papers! London Times wasn’t happy about the Kashmir Constituent Assembly elections. Observer’s New Delhi correspondent thought Kashmir dispute had reached a dangerous point. New Statesman and Nation are sure that a full-scale war will end up destroying Pakistan, they want Briton to take care more of the situation. Manchester Guardian believes The solution lies just around The corner. A case of molestation of Kashmiri women came to light. Shocking! Dawn claims Congress is conspiring to eat up Kashmir. Syrian Al Shaah supports Pakistan. London’s Truth thinks Kashmir is awaiting justice. Students in Lahore want solution to Kashmir problem, they demonstrate. Jammu Praja declared that the assembly does not represent them. Washington Post thinks Sheikh Abdullah will win the plebiscite hands down. Pakistan banned a book ‘Kashmir and Conspiracy Against Peace’ written by one Mr. Vijay Kumar. Looting in Azad Kashmir, people shot dead. Lot of changes in government there, I hear. People there also want land reforms.
What can I say! I eat akhbaar as a digestive after breakfast, lunch and dinner of plain grass. I am tired now! The vibes here do sometimes turn morose. Yes I can pick up ‘vibes’. I can do so all the time. I can feel things. Sometimes I feel it’s all touch and go. Big war and then the end. Jatka and then Halaal too. At moments like these Foreign journalist start hovering in the valley. But I don’t think much about these things. I can’t. It’s just too much. I am just a goat what am I supposed to do. I was told to stand on this peg and I did so dutifully. You ask me to climb Apharwat mountain just on my hind legs and I will go twice, twice up and twice down and not once complain. I am a simple goat ( okay a beautiful Kashmiri goat one no less, and you should see my eyes, so round, perfect marbles I say. So innocent.). I try to live in the present. And yes, I almost forgot, a Swedish firm agreed to set up a wood mill in our state. Mill should be good. Not for the trees though! Haha! Bleat! Bleat! But we have too much trees here in any case. Should last us a thousand years. Ah yes…where was I…Yes…I try to live in the moment – the present. Like this moment right now. Here I am at peace standing on this bloody peg…the band is now almost here. I can hear the wonderful pipes clearly now, here they come. I would love to give them a salute. Let me try. Steady. Okay see this funny looking gora with his camera. On his knees, he is. You want me to hold still. No movement. Okay. You don’t want me to look into the camera. You want me to look straight ahead. Why? Don’t like my eyes! Ok! Here you go. Is this fine? What you want is a Yogi pose! I will give you a Yogi. How’s this? Oi! my tail is standing out, rigid, upright, too instinctive, it’s trying to help me hold the posture. It must not be looking good. Have to bring it down. Damn tail. get down. I must be looking like a wild animal. Me a well trained cultured goat. Caaan’t brrring it down…think Yogi…Stand still…BBBLLEEEAAAATTTTTT…be a Yogi…this moment….right here…hold….
Click.
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“Kashmir has been wrongly looked upon a prize for India or Pakistan. People seem to forget that Kashmir is not a commodity for sale or to be bartered. It has an individual existence and its people must be the final arbiters of their future. It is here today that a struggle is being fought, not in the battlefield but in the minds of men.”
– Jawaharlal Nehru in New Delhi on June 11, 1951.
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The events, bizarre as they sound, are all true and are taken from a chronology presented at the end of the book ‘Bonfire of Kashmiriyat’ written by Sandeep Bamzai.