Pakeezah, Zeenat, Asmat, Shaziya, Shobiya…
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Kashmir Diary 2: The future of the world is in this room.
By Amit Sengupta in Bandipora, Jammu and Kashmir
The green meadows heal the eyes, surrounded by the endless Wullar Lake, stretching in its peak to 24 km, and as wide and vast across its three-dimensional landscape as eyes can see. A little stream runs along the zigzag, muddy way, white and purple and pink wildflowers marking the path. A small boat waits for the boatman.
It’s late noon, and in this serenity, the cool air moves with no hurry, caressing my eyes, soaked with the beauty of the place, and the beauty of its gentle, soft-speaking people with big, generous hearts; it touches the softness of the skin, softened by the mountain wind, arriving long distance from beyond this pristine landscape of the Valley.
We cross a group of boys with home-made fishing rods, made of the fallen branches of the willow tree. They make the best bats in world cricket from the willow trees in Kashmir.
These boys are serious, they don’t smile easily, and they are ready to talk. Studying in Class 5 and 4 in the co-ed Government Primary School in the neighbourhod, they had no catch today, but it is fun after school to fish in the rippling waters of little riverlets, looking for small fish such as the Common Carp. At other times, a fish a day, keeps the boys happy and gay.
Sometimes, as patient as they can be, they wait. A good catch makes a good meal at the end of a hard day in the humble homes of this sweet and small village with a sweet name: Mukhdum Yaari.
Their favourite subject is – guess? English. They are unanimous. They play cricket, football, badminton. They study hard. They want to go to the secondary school in the small town nearby. They have dreams floating like wild flowers in their innocent eyes.
Their spic and span school with around 150 students has three permanent, male teachers; they certainly need more teachers. They have no table and chair, but no one minds. The teachers are dedicated and proud of their students, especially when they pass out to go to secondary schools in the nearby town. They also want them to play all the games, including chess and ludo.
In the teachers’ room, they are doing extra time, much after the school has shut for the day, like most school teachers across the country. On the wall are inspiring calendars and the portraits of Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, Dr BR Ambedkar, among other legends.
One teacher, as eager as an eclectic student himself, says he wants to put up more portraits to inspire the students, especially girls: Bhagat Singh, Ashfaqullah Khan – revolutionary freedom fighters, Savitribai Phule, Fatima Sheikh – pioneers in education and against all odds, especially for girls from marginalized families, Dr CV Raman and Amartya Sen (Noble prize winners), great sports champions from India and across the world, tennis star Sania Mirza and vice-captain of Indian women’s cricket Smriti Mandhana, footballers Mbappe and Messi, among others.
“We want our students to aspire for big dreams, we want to inspire them to chase incredible achievements, we want them to study hard and go to big universities; they should reach out to the nation and the world, fulfill their dreams,” the teacher said.
Yes, of course, while they remain rooted in their roots and remember their little, lovely village, and return to their original, dream-like homeland, and give back whatever they can, as a tribute to their childhood of such beauty and freedom. Despite a humble background, a hard life, relentless difficulties of livelihood and daily life, and six months of snow when they have to live and survive indoors.
Across the green meadows, under a big tree, a village elder, his face replete with humanity’s grace and kindness, is singing an old Kashmiri folk song. His lilting voice moving like a tide with the wind, the rustling leaves of the big tree adding background music to his pauses.
If human beings, and their hearts, bodies and soul, are crafted by the expressed beauty of their organic landscape, then Kashmir is the place which tells an unstated story. Perhaps, as invisible to mainstream India, as it can be. Even the typical tourist might miss this essential reality, while typically floating around Srinagar’s Dal Lake.
So there we meet the girls, their eyes sparkling, their smiles radiant, their language and gestures full of self-confidence, their faces shining with a certain, nuanced joy. Talented and extremely intelligent school girls, coming from homes of hard working fisher-folk and daily- wagers, they are forthcoming and confident.
Wearing bright salwar kameez with a dupatta, carrying baskets with dirty clothes to wash in the stream in the distance, these friends share one passion – football and English – their favourite subject. “We love football. We play football. We want to watch the World Cup,” they are unanimous.
They are also keen on chess. When told that these days some of the world champions and grandmasters in chess are youngsters, often teenagers, from India, their eyes fill up with dreams. And they are happy to know that women are playing football in the top league all over the world, and no game is only a man’s game anymore.
So they study hard, and play hard, and they enjoy both. Studying in Class 4 and 5, in the same school as the boys.
They tell their sublime names: Zeenat, Asmat, Shobiya, Shaziya, Pakeezah.
Pakeezah!
I tell them that this was the name of a celluloid classic, a movie with great actress Meena Kumari and Raj Kumar, a dashing forest ranger in the film. (He defies all orthodox odds to give her the dignity and love she deserves). I tell them Pakeezah has fantastic songs and has been an all-time box office hit.
They have never heard of Pakeezah in this remote village next to the Wullar Lake, one of the largest lakes in Asia, and an eco-hot spot. They are curious and interested, of course, but this childhood is different – it is not digital, or obsessively hooked to their mobiles, there are no movie halls, they hardly venture out into the towns and cities, and they know little of the metros and towns of India.
“I will go to the secondary school in the town nearby. I am determined,” said a girl, and they all are unanimous in their agreement. “Then we will go for higher studies,” they said.
Of course, they will. The writing is on the wall. These primary school students, girls and boys, will one day make history. All they need is a chance.
Indeed, in their innocence, dreams and aspirations, lies the authentic and original story of Kashmir, the paradise. Unseen by mainstream India.
Written on the wall outside a classroom in their modest school, Government Primary School, Village Mukhdum Yaari, Wullar Lake, Bandipora, is a prophetic message, which tells this true, unwritten story.
The future of the world is in this room.
Photos by Samuel Haq.
Amit Sengupta is Editor, independentink.in
A Masters' in commerce, Samuel Haq is a photographer and documentary filmmaker based in Bandipora, Jammu and Kashmir. He also works on community issues for educational, ecological and sustainable development.
Editor’s Note: Kashmir Diary Part 2 is a series of travel writings. Part 1 has been carried in this edition.