A little attention

Here is the caption of a picture showing the mosque at Hazratbal and the library of the University of Kashmir that appeared in the online edition of the Srinagar Newspaper 'Greater Kashmir':

"GK lensman Habib Naqash brings together the icons of faith and knowledge- the Hazratbal shrine housing the relic of the Prophet (SAW) and the central library of Kashmir University, named after poet-philosopher Allama Iqbal."

While I noticed what the caption read, my eyes also saw something I didn't want to see. The picture also had Dal lake in the foreground. It could have been picture perfect but wasn't to be. The water of the lake appeared sick and on the verge of death. It was bizarre. The same picture depicted, as the photographer called it 'icons of faith and knowledge' and we failed on both fronts.

Our religion demands from us that we take care of our environment and our knowledge of science should tell us how we could do it efficiently. How is it that we are ignoring both and expect a miracle to happen and things to change on their own. The picture could become perfect if we just pay a little attention to these two icons and heed what they are telling us. Money does not solve problems, application of knowledge does. We have people praying everyday and academicians learning new things each day, both groups on the banks of the same dying lake, yet we can't apply the teachings of either one to give a new lease of life to this beautiful('dying') lake.

Hail Democracy

Democracy is good when it is seen on ground under all circumstances. A biased selected application of it at some places and gross violation of it at most other places renders it not only worthless and useless but just a rhetoric.

You might be wondering what I am talking about here. It was a photo that finally made me give vent to these expressions. It was a photo of a man in Srinagar protesting against the bad treatment of Kashmiri prisoners in various jails inside Jammu and Kashmir and outside. It was okay as long as the picture had this person protesting but not to be. He had company. Six of them. All in police uniform dragging him and hitting him with their batons. These were the cops in Kashmir trying to probably prevent this dangerous person from registering his protest against something very shameful. Ironically there was a shop(closed) in the background. The front shutter of the shop was rolled down and it had an ad on it. The ad was of a soda and it read 'CRUSH'. Yes, crush is a soda. Apparently, the cops took a cue from it.

This is democracy for you in Kashmir and most of the politicians out there are proud of this form of democracy in Kashmir and brag about it in the international forums where people hardly see it working on the ground. Shame.

To Learn and Unlearn

To question is human and none knows this better than the One that created us. I could question newtonian - either because i am a relativist or actually I did not understand an iota of physics. Where as in the first case I am intellectually inquisitive , in the second I am equally naive. So, the fallacy is not in questioning which but is idiosyncratic to human being, rather is in the underlying comprehension. Whereas we know for a fact that more dimensions exist, our mind yields beyond just three. So, its not what seems strange to us, it is how much we can fathom. And when in the conclusion of the very second chapter, it is mentioned, in retrospective, Lord! lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear - is it announcement of fragility, a meek surrender or a desolate plea? Rather it is an advise to all those that find it hard. Pity that person who blew himself to smithereens thinking he did an act of great courage, on the contrary he was a coward, for he did something that was easy and cruel and saved on the hard part - struggling with himself, fighting his own devil. The turbulent waters may seem perilous and oh so strange, but only when one dives can it be experienced. There is no end to learning, get close to learning, gain more knowledge, yearn for understanding, the same questioning might make the faith more firm than shaking it all up.

Welcome home

I read a news item recently about pandit families moving into government apartments. It is a good news because some of the pandit families can think of returning back to their homeland. Welcome home!.

However, it is not the same as living earlier when muslims and pandits lived in the same neighborhoods and shared similar experiences "Power waer", " mood swings during an India-Pakistan cricket match (in opposite directions)" etc. Living in Pandit only apartment complex might still keep them away from their roots. This time they will be close to their land but still far from home. I can understand the logic behind these apartments. They have been away for so long. Kashmir has changed. it might take some time for pandits as well as muslims of Kashmir to get aquainted with each other all over again.

At some point in future they will have to move out and become part of real Kashmir. The coexistence is very important for a healthy society. It helps each community to grow. Everyone has something to offer to others and we could learn from each other.

Cash Ban

Here is what came to my mind while thinking recently about the corruption in Kashmir. This might be applicable to lots of places but since we are kashmir bloggers so we will talk about Kashmir.
So here are my two cents. We should completely ban money in the market. Purchasing anything with cash should be made illegal. Instead all our money should stay in the bank. We may not even need to print currency bills.What we should have instead is electronic cards. All the payments made only using these cards. Each person would have his/her money's equivalent in the bank and they would be able to use only as much as is in their banks, using these electronic cards.
This technology will possibly make sure that I can't pay money to anyone unless the person accepting the money has a machine and an account to accept it. All the business owners and the government will have that facility. For those business owners who are very poor I guess we could help them in purchasing the equipment. There will be some initial costs involved but in the long run we will have a much less corrupt state. We will also save money in printing the bills.

All jumbled

When I look at Kashmir today it looks all jumbled up, to me. I tend to compare life here in Fort Collins with that in Kashmir. It seems we have the same needs in Kashmir as the people in this country. I take a look at the management here and wonder why is it so different in my home. In this town if I want to go to play golf ( just an example), I can go ahead pay for my rentals and the time spent in the golf course and that is it. It might cost me $10 which is the same as a person would earn in an hour. So easy. Kashmir has golf courses too but how accessible are they for a student like myself. I can go to any park here and use one of the tennis courts to play for as long as I want. I don't pay anything for using that space. Why is it so impossible for something like this to happen in Kashmir. One reason I feel could be because some of my tax dollars that I pay everyday here are used to build these places and made accessible to everyone.
In Kashmir people wouldn't either pay their taxes or when they pay it would be used by some corrupt officials to make themselves richer.
Everything seems so inaccessible in Kashmir unless you are either an officer in the civil administration or some police officer or very rich and have connections. GOD, you need connection even to visit a wild life sanctuary. You could have allowed us to go to these parks and we could pay for the entry to these parks . This money could be used for the maintenance of the animals there and the parks. Countries don't become rich or great by complicated processes but by simple steps which are people friendly.

A year has passed

I want to congratulate all you Kashmir bloggers. Thanks for an exciting year of blogging. MashaALLAH, Kashmir bloggers completed its first year. I have read so many wonderful and eye opening posts throughout this year, alhamdulillah. Keep up the good work. I am looking forward to learning more from all of you. InshaALLAH we will open up the gates to a better tomorrow. Aameen.