A small interaction I had with a 20 year old “R” in IMHANS SMHS in which he revealed shocking facts of how he procured drugs and how he got hooked onto them. It is enough to shake every fragment of our conscience. (Had shared it previously on “WandeMagazine”) — R is a 20 year old student from Srinagar. As a kid he attended a local school and was one of the bright students in his class. When his mother wanted R study engineering, his father, who owns a shop, wanted their son to take responsibility of the store. …

When we were in school we were taught not to sit or befriend those who were weaker students than us. One of our famous professors would tell us that if we didn’t “study” we would end up being “dukandaars”. There were backbenchers and front seaters. When we could hardly differentiate…

The mosque served as a prominent platform for the freedom struggle during the Dogra rule in the early part of the 20th Century Aali Masjid: Constructed in 1395 by Sultan Ali Shah (Zainul Abideen’s elder brother), the seventh Sultan of Kashmir. …

When the document of ‘Naya Kashmir’ was drafted it recognised Urdu, with Persian (Nastaliq) script, as the official language of Kashmir. The document in its section 48 dealt with the state languages and section 37 clearly mentioned that Urdu shall be the language of courts. …

A brief history of “Kanger” Kanger is a fire pot that Kashmiris use to keep warm in chilling winters. In Kashmiri literature Kanger is considered as one’s beloved. Moti Lal Saqi writes in praise of Kanger, “Kashmir and Kanger are each others identification. Present the brazier anywhere and at anytime…

“The use of the word can be traced back to twenty three centuries but the name seems far older.” According to Auriel Stein, in his translation of Rajtaranghani, name ‘Kashmir’ is ancient and linguistic science can furnish no clue to its origin nor to analyse its formation. The ‘mystical’ legend that has been popular for years is that the region was a mythological lake called ‘Satisar’ which was drained…

Interview of Faiz Ahmad Faiz with Kashmiri journalist Shameem Ahmad Shameem, I was looking for an English translation but couldn’t find it, so I translated it myself. A beautiful interaction of Shameem Sahab with the humble Faiz. This is the about 18th February, what a beautiful night it was. I…

This is list of the couplets falsely ascribed to Allama Iqbal. Unfortunately some of them have become synonymous to him. I have written them in Roman script as well because they are usually forwarded on WhatsApp, Facebook etc in this alphabet. Iqbal has possibly the largest number of mis-ascribed or…

It is said that military of Maharaja installed a cannon on the roof of Pathar Masjid to blown up Shahi Hamdan shrine, which is situated across the Jhelum. However, an influential Pandit, Birbal Dhar, intervened into the matter and saved the shrine. Pathar Masjid (Mosque made of stone) had been…