Sunday 24 August 2014

PRESS


These are some of the articles that have appeared in the leading newspapers about my work from Kashmir.

Article printed in Greater Kashmir about Folktales . 2014

http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2014/Aug/8/the-success-story-of-a-son-in-law-10.asp

Mention on New York Times Blog-2013

Asian Age-2012

http://archive.asianage.com/life-and-style/portraits-pain-document-loss-310

Deccan Herald- 2012

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/299577/a-story-loss.html

Indian Express-2012

http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/show-stealers/1120934/


Hindustan Times-(2010)

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news-feed/views/conflict-camera/article1-550045.aspx

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Monday 4 August 2014

Raina



I get accused all the time about being pro-Islam/ Pro Kashmiri rights and what not. If my work from Kashmir or anywhere was examined carefully, the examiner would not come to any conclusions. The dichotomy and ambiguity of my nature would be reflected. The constant need to look at both sides of the coin and not picking one- the complete fascination for both good and evil, day and night, masculine and feminine would be clearly seen. But Alas! we live in a world where no one has the time to look at anything, carefully.

So let me tell you where I come from. I'm neither Hindu nor Muslim. My parents are Sikhs, which should automatically make me one. I have spent more time in churches and dargahs than gurudwaras, only because of my affinity with quite places. But I believe I  have neither religion, nor nationality.  I was born in J&K but I'm not Kashmiri. I come from a family where one of my sister's is married to Kashmiri Pandit boy and one of my brother's to a Muslim girl from Bhadarwa. Now that enough of background and my standing has been stated, try not to pin me down and put me in a box. It would be an exercise in futility.


I read somewhere that one of the meanings of the name Raina in Bulgarian is- 'paradise'. I don't think that the Pandits who were named Raina, where called so because they lived in paradise (Kashmir). But it has been stated, that the Pandit families who originally lived in Rainawari and then moved into the main city where called by the surname- Raina.

Nikhil Raina,  my Brother-in- Law never lived in Rainawari. He resided in a famous Pandit locality of Srinagar, Habba Kadal close to the Ganpatyar Temple, with his maternal grandmother. Though, he personally never witnessed the Pandit exodus, his family did. Living with his nani, helped him to remain a bit disconnected from what happened. Nikhil, is a 37 year old  Kashmiri Pandit man who lives in Bombay, these days.


Q1 What are your earliest memories of Kashmir?

Earliest memories are that of the snow and of going to school. I also remember the Ganpatyar temple very distinctly. I recall going to my maternal grand father's shop in Habba Kadal, after school.The temple was bang oppisite our shop. Since I lived with my maternal side, my memories of Kashmir are primarily of Srinagar. My parents lived in Kulgam with the rest of the family. I don't remember that very clearly.

Q2) What are your feelings about the Kashmiri Pandits exodus from the Valley?

About the exodus - I don't have very strong feelings, since I left the Valley much before militancy. I shifted to Delhi. But my parent's suffered a lot in Kulgam. They received threats and that made them leave. When they were in Kashmir we had a bunglow with around fifteen rooms but when my family migrated to Jammu, they had to live with a relative. There were seven of them in one bedroom, for one whole year! Of course, they were lucky- no one had to stay in a migration camp.

As far as exodus is concerned, personally I think it was a blessing in disguise for the Kashmiri Pandit youth. The kind of exposure they got was huge. They left their homeland but the displacement helped them to achieve a lot.

Q3) For a Kashmiri how hard is it survive in Bombay, considering the climate and the cuisine?

The climate and the cuisine- I don't think that matters now to anyone, anymore. It's been a long, long time since my family left Kashmir and shifted to different parts of the country . So all of us have adapted nicely to our present environment and culture.











Meaning of the name Raina











Saturday 2 August 2014

The Two Thugs




The Two Thugs




There was once a thug, who called himself a tradesmen. If asked what he dealt in, his reply was, whatever can give me a meagre profit.

To Be Continued. 

Friday 1 August 2014

Himal & Nagrai




Folktales of Kashmir


Soda Ram, was a poor Brahmin man who had the misfortune of being married to a nag. His wife, was terribly disappointed in him as he couldn't fulfill her materialistic ambitions. Soda Ram was tired of her constant complaining but couldn't find a way out. One day, his wife asked him to visit the king to receive alms from him. Soda Ram was only too pleased to get away from the constant complaining, so he left, without so much as a murmur.

He returned a few days later carrying a bag, which he presented to his wife. The woman felt suspicious as her husband had never been this nice to her but decided to open the bag. Out leapt a serpent. The poor woman screamed and shrieked but her husband had locked her in the room and wouldn't let her out. ''Let it sting you'', he replied to all her pleading. 
But the serpent decided to spare the woman and miraculously turned into a beautiful baby boy. 

This boy was called Nagrai, the king of serpents. The Brahmin and his wife took care of the little boy and soon he grew into a beautiful young man. One day, he asked his foster father to take him to a pure spring so that he could bathe. The Brahmin couldn't help this young man, whom he adored- as the only spring of that kind belonged to the princess. But Nagrai, pleaded with his father to take him till the outer wall. When he reached there, Nagrai turned into a serpent, crawled in through a tiny crevice in the wall and took a bath.

The next day, the princess Himal observed that someone had taken a dip in her spring because she had heard the splashing of water. but she couldn't see anyone. As all such love stories go, she saw Nagrai one day and fell in love with him. She inquired about him from the serHimal, though a well mannered girl was so taken by Nagrai's handsomeness, that she immediately approached he father and insisted on marrying this boy. The poor King did not know how to respond to this request. But eventually, gave in as his precious daughter refused to eat.

To be Continued.