Dilli Ki Sardi

I got a call at 10.30 a.m yesterday. Cursing the person who wanted to disturb my sleep, I reached out to the irritating phone which would not stop ringing. Sleepily I managed to say “Hello”. The rest of the conversation woke me up.

Brrr...this is the coldest winter I have ever seen in Delhi. Teeth chattering, layers of woolies, sitting in the sun curled in my easy chair, reading a book, eating aloo paranthas with dollops of butter. That’s how I thought I’d spend the weekend. Being the eccentric oddball that I am, I didn't.

I was at a Kashmiri refugee camp of people dislocated after the earthquake. I met people of different ethnic and religious groups. There were widows, orphans, young boys and families. Their living conditions were appalling. Small tents of about 3X4 feet, along a dirty nullah is the land given by the Government. Interestingly, the metro (a sign of development) ran above the camp as did a Sonia Vihar pipeline (Sonia Gandhi project to bring water to people).

I met a young man who is in his early twenties, around 21. He spoke about the conditions back home, where it was snowing and the tents provided by the Government were not enough to sustain. The compensation amount was also meagre, not enough to rebuild lives.

So they had been given this land in Delhi. They had reluctantly come to Delhi and were living in conditions where they didn’t have enough food or clothes. Sometimes they went to bed, hungry.

The young man, a Bachelor of Arts student, spoke in decent English. On asking what he did, he told me that twice a week, he went around asking people to give them food, clothes and blankets. Rest of the time, he worked in a subzi mandi in Delhi, packing crates or selling vegetables. Unwillingly, his education had been halted.

He told me, “Work is worship and in times of adversity we have to do things which we otherwise wouldn’t”. Leaving behind a carpet business, destroyed by the earthquake was the hardest thing he did.

The people at the camp hoped that the Government would send them back as soon as the harsh winter was over. As children ran about playing with each other, I was told that about 100 of them were orphans and there were around 40 widows. With pleading eyes and folded hands, an elderly lady asked me to help them in any possible way. I could see that the plea for help was genuine.

I know there is so much hatred and distrust for Kashmiris. We all have our biases based on what we hear, what the media reports say, what we are taught. Do we ever try and meet people with open minds and hearts. Shouldn't we overcome those biases?

Later that evening, in the comfort of my home, I was sitting in front of a heater, eating garam gajar ka halwa, wrapped in my blanket with a thousand thoughts running in my head. What if I was in such a situation? Would somebody leave aside his biases to help me?

Originally posted on Monday, January 09, 2006 1:36 PM

I have (a few) Questions.

After an emotinally draining past few weeks, I am back.

When the bomb blasts happened in Delhi, I was appalled and shocked. Somehow you think that terrorism can't touch you. When an obscure Kashmiri group claims responsibilty, it puts Kashmir back on the map.

When I wrote the blog about Qazi (of fame gurukul) and Kashmir, I had written the following about Kashmir and Kashmiris-

Is it a sign of changing times? Does it mean that things are improving? I also see a feeling of mutual mistrust melting away. For once, I hope I am right.

After the Delhi bomb blasts, the mistrust has creeped back in. Someone speaks to a Kashmiri friend of mine and says “Yaar, yeh tuney kya karwa diya?“. Though that someone says it jokingly, the underlying tone is not. The friend tells me in despair “Look, they start pointing fingers at anyone belonging to a certain community.“

I remember this comment on my blog by Sam:

But then it takes just a couple of bomb blasts in the mainland to weave the
mistrust right back in.

The man on the street condemns the blast. Shows the spirit and fights back. Doesn't bow down. Says this is wrong. Some even tell me “Maybe Hindus might do something on Eid.“ People see it as a fight of Hindu Vs Muslim. The educated ones probably don't. This statement makes me think that we are solving the pupose of those f*$#ing terrorists, you know, dividing the people of this country. I do not want to classify it as a fight between the communities. Its much more deeper than that if you scratch the surface.

I ask you all, why do we equate everything

Bad+Muslim+Terrorist=Kashmir(i)

How do you know they weren't from accross the border? Why don't we see that it is the vested interest of many to make sure the divide between the people remains afloat? Gullible as people usually tend to be, I wish we could all be a little more skeptic and question things around us.


A gentleman named Amit comments:

We indian need to solve the lable such as Kashmiri, Punjabi, Gujarati and
Madrasi...it is a high time that we come out of our ethnic groupings and start
realizing that we are indians...i am not saying shut your door completely on the
ethnic background..becuase it is something that makes our homeland so diverse
and one of the most exciting places in the world..but i guess we put too much
stress on our ethinicity....

Atul tells me:

I'm sick of reading about killings and bomb blasts. Let's do the right thing now
- ask people of Kashmir what they want. If we are so sure that most of the
Kashmiris want to be part of India then what are we waiting for - let's go for a
poll.....However, there are many good things about this country called India. We
Indians are more tolerant to different cultures, people and religion. Can you
imagine a Hindu, Muslim or Jew president in the US or a holiday for Eid or
Holi?

Why do we forget the above when something like Delhi blasts occur? Is it because the majority is a Hindu population? What about innocent people killed in J&K? How many would say that J&K issue has not been solved because at stake lie careers of many terrorist(pun intended)politicians and leaders.

Syed says:

....please treat it as a human issue. India has mistreated us badly, rigged our
elections(as finally accepted by Mr vajpayee as regretfull ),never allowed
access to amnesty international, human rights watch or any other internatinally
aclaimed human rights organisation.There are still eight thousand people missing
in indian custody. nearly twentfour thousand in jails even without access to a
trial, another corrupt puppet regime. We are just a prestige point for india and
humans in the place dont count...I dont hate INDIAN PEOPLE , if people of
kashmir, choose INDIA i will be an INDIAN .....we can be (called) an
offspring of bitterly divorced parents(INDIA AND PAKISTAN)

WeRUnited adds:

In India, democracy doesn't gurranty that all our issues will be solved but
there are ways to tackle issues here, there is process at least. You are
thinking of injustice to Kashmir who is more responsible, answer is "Terrorism"
which vanished all business out there. We should together fight to eliminate it
as united country..... I think, whatever may be the cause terrorism is not the
solution. If everybody start doing that, there won't be any question of "Human
issue"..... we all be end up fighting.

I want to conclude by saying that we as citizens of this country must make sure that the government is answerable to us (Right to Information act is a step in that direction). We must question things happening around us. We can't afford to be passive because if we are, then the politicians of this country will take us for a ride.

If we, together, project a united face then no force can divide us. Five fingers together make a fist The fingers may be of different sizes and shapes (as is our cultural ethenicity) but there is strength in a fist. We must be able to look at the deeper meaning of things than pass a judgement based on the superficial information/media reports/opinions. Wat say guys??

Originally posted on Thursday, November 03, 2005 1:08 PM

Kashmir+Fame Gurukul= Hope. Or Is It?

Qazi has become one half of the fame jodi (The music show on Sony called Fame Gurukul). The guy recieved many brickbats ranging from he can't sing to he is the poor man's version of Hritik Roshan. I am not going to defend him.

I like to look at the bigger picture. A young guy from Kashmir comes to Mumbai with dreams in his eyes and those dreams get fulfilled. You would say- no big deal. I think its a big deal because this generation of Kashmiris have seen nothing but strife and aggression. The people of Kasmhir picked up arms in 1989. Rebellion followed but by 1994 most surrendered. The young children saw many of their ilk been killed, brutally tortured and if you look in the eyes of any Kashmiri (Hindu or Muslim) you will see this haunted expression.

Kashmiris were at fault and created unrest and the Indian army had to control the 'situation' somehow. But if someone takes an extreme step like this, there has to be a damn good reason. In the process many innocent people lost their lives. Ask any Kashmiri if they have lost someone in their family to militancy and their answer will always be in affirmative.

Decades back, Kashmir was the jewel of Indian crown. And it was said that if there is heaven on earth, then it is here. Ironically the situation has become if there is hell on earth, it is here. Where once hindi movies were shot, there are no movie halls in Srinagar anymore. They have all closed down. Where you could hear the music once, you only hear bullet shots. So if a young lad from the strife torn region of this country comes out the shadow of guns to pursue music, I see hope.

Is it a sign of changing times? Does it mean that things are improving? I also see a feeling of mutual mistrust melting away. For once, I hope I am right.



Originally posted on Friday, October 21, 2005 11:39 AM