A genesis of communication between oppressed and the free people of the world
We sat in the lobby of the hotel in Lebanon watching the heart wrenching imagery of protest broadcast on the TV.  One hundred thirty people were injured and a young boy was killed on the 30th of March which marks the Palestinian Land day.  I couldn't help ask myself, If I, (as a member of the convoy that went to show solidarity with Palestinian cause) was successful or just a reason for escalation of violence in...

Freedom of speech is perhaps one of the most abused freedoms that people have. Often taken as a right by many people to express without responsible self control or caring about social implications, freedom of expression is more often than not misused. Freedom of speech is guaranteed by the Constitution of India at 19 (1) (a) as “to freedom of speech and expression” extended with a rider at 19 (2) “Nothing in sub-clause (a) of clause (1) shall affect…….. public order, decency or...

“Hellos, howdies, how-do-you-dos, gossip of the girls and chatter of the boys”. Over a month ago on the 15th day of the last month of the year 2011 which brought with itself innumerable changes around the globe, this hullabaloo of many curious students is calmed down with the mere appearance of a well-dressed man in a good capacity classroom. The friend-circle chats were certainly to stop for the person we, some more than 300 in number, heavily and differently dressed students, were...

In the reclusive freezing cold and the inflicted dark of Kashmir winters, when every service fails to the whims of the state, it is this age old “kaang’er” that continues to warm commoners; portable, independent and cost effective. Autonomously ‘azad’ and ‘as of yet’ free from iron ambit or ‘service denial ring’ of the state, the individuality of this firepot stays close to winter commoners of these lands; their only amber warm hope.

The skill for carrying this ‘mini...

A Pheran is a Pheran you had say, a long robe that has been passed on for generations and over centuries in Kashmir, a garment worn to warm. But every Pheran has some story behind it. As a rule the Pheran goes right over the knees and is loose enough to create your own warm space, Pheran’s having survived all winters of vogue & trend; but look closely and there is more to than just a garment in this Pheran.

Women’s Pride : The one preferred by Kashmir Muslim ladies would have their...

Ever since Omar Abdullah assumed the office of chief minister, he has started his every New Year with a ‘novel’ gift to his people. Two days after he was sworn in as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir in 2009, a deaf and dumb person was shot dead by government forces near his Gupkar residence on January 7.

That followed an unending series of killings including a tailor in Lolab, two young boys in Bomai and hapless rape and murder of two Shopian girls. The killings culminated in a...

‘Shish! Do not talk about it, we warn you. It is just another death. We have seen so many of these. You have seen so. Who was killed? How many? Who remembers?’

Remembrance is a sense of victory, which is to say that we remember whatever is not able to defeat us. One of the strongest weapons against the inflictions of defeat is forgetfulness—the desire to forget whatever has the capability to haunt us, to implore, to pique. When the desire to remember appears endearing, memories become...

My dear niece, 
As I stood silently in the hospital corridor watching you arguing with the matron I knew you were wrong. The fault was with you. You had shoed away the gatekeeper. Telling that innocent boy that you were the doctor and he a mere gatekeeper who earns paltry sum and doesn’t know if he would be kept in or thrown out by the hospital authority. You were unapologetic and demanded his apology! Why? Just because he has no qualification! Just because he belongs to majority of the...