Shrouded in Silence

Shameema (name changed), 47,a home maker, living in a single story house with her two daughters (22, 19) and a son (18), prefers to remain indoors.The house in Bag-e-Mehtab was gifted to Shameema by her mother. Her husband, Mushtaq Ahmad Shahis a driver. He rarely comes to stay with his family, and when he does, he beats his wife during the late night hours, either for the high expenses, or most of the time, for no particular reason at all.

After hearing their battered mother’s cries, the three children come to save their scared mother.Every day they step out of their house, they feel awkward, fearing that the neighbors have heard their mother’s cries at night. When their father is away, they try to live a relaxed and peaceful life, but when he is home—they are constantly awake, so they can be awake at night for helping their mother in case their father hits her again.

Just a few months ago, Mushtaq got into an argument with his supervising officer, and in return, he was fired from his job. When he was still employed, he would avoid coming home for six months—saying he had night duty. And for the six other months, he would be in Jammu with the Durbar move. But now,he is home and beats his wife all thetime. “He says these children are not his children. He beats me because I pray regularly and visit Shrines.He feels I go to peers and fakirs to harm him,” says Shameema woefully while showing the marks her husband left on her body a day before after trying to strangle her. more

Learning To Relax

Sitting on a sea of blue and green exercise mats, a row of young and middle-aged women listen intently to their instructor, chant the name of God, and carefully release their breath.

“Allllaaaaaaaaah, breathe out and open your eyes,” Sumaira, a yoga instructor, utters calmly at the end of a meditation session.Sumaira’s yoga and meditation exercises are one amongst an increasing number of such classes that are being taught in Kashmir, and those who practice these say they have been helped significantly.

Anjum, 35, mother of two, would go to a gym regularly, as suggested by her doctor. She was a bit overweight before she started her gym routine, and after hours of workouts for the past year, she lost 4 kgs. However, she would come back home feeling drained. She now attends yoga classes in Kashmir, and feels more relaxed and rejuvenated. When she comes home, she says she is able to resume her usual routine. “That’s something which wasn’t possible after my exhausting sessions at the gym,” she says.

Anjum was distressed about her back pain, leg pain, irregular monthly cycles and hypertension. She happened to chance upon information regarding yoga classes in Barbarsha hand joined in the first week of September. She has been going regularly since. “I can’t tell you how relaxed I feel,” says Anjum. “I feel like all my problems have disappeared. My blood pressure is under control, and I don’t even take any medication now,” she says blissfully. more

Ladishah, Ladishah

Ladishah, the art of embedded satire in songs pleasing the kashmiri ear since eighteenth century now faces extinction. The peculiar rhythm coupled with situational sarcastic lyrics can still be remembered by many.

Dressed in a pheran, white trousers and a white turban, Ladishah would arrive with his musical instrument and play the melodious musical notes and sing satire. Ladishah, the author himself communicates a particular message about the cultural, social and political vandalism. There are no metaphors in Ladishah, it is in the simple local language.

Ladishah is a type of folk literary genre. It is by a particular author and the same author narrates it. Other folk genres are collective work of various people. He would sing against the atrocities of the rulers to show his resentment. Ladishah was the classical character of Kashmiri literature and a believer of constructive criticism.

Some historians believe Ladishah is not an independent genre but Dr Farooq Fayaz, an associate professor in History department, University of Kashmir and the author of a book ‘Kashmir Folklore’, treats it is an independent genre and says that the name Ladishah is given after its creator who was from a village Lari of district Pulwama, South Kashmir. The creator was from this village and from shah dynasty so he was recognized as shah of Lari village so finally this genre got the name of Ladishah. more