Recently, I called one of my cousins living in Ghaziabad to inquire about his welfare and was surprized to learn that he and his family, including his +80 yrs old father were in Srinagar, visiting the city of their origin first time since the Exodus...
In Kashmir, we have a saying, at times attributed to the great poet Mahjoor (1887-1952), in the form of a lament of a sheep, that loosely translates as,” Only the faces of my butchers have changed – tools of oppression remain the same,”! I was...
The blessed land of Rishi Kashyap, Kashmir became a garden in which bloomed knowledge in all its creative forms – philosophy, religious theology, languages, poetry, music, sculpture, architecture, painting, dance and performing arts (natya shastra)...
Bharat, known and described as Bharatvarsh in our ancient historical texts is one of the most ancient civilizations in the world. Hominid activity in the Indian subcontinent stretches back over 250,000 years, and it is, therefore, one of the oldest...
Kashmir’s history, as per its illustrious historian son, Pt Kalhan, can be traced well into the Mahabharata times. Kalhan, in his epic Rajtarangini has mentioned that King Gonanda I ruled Kashmir (3238-3188 BCE?); he was related to King Jarasandha...
I wish to start my presentation with a story about a friend living in Wayne, New Jersey (USA) – Mr Bhupendra Gadhavi, a NRI for 5 generations now. Starting 1880, one of his ancestors left Bhavnagar, Gujarat for Zanzibar, off the coast of east...
Year 2023 marks the 34th year of our community’s Seventh Exodus from the land of our forefathers. Our first exile started in 1389 when Sultan Sikander Shahmiri (1353-1413), notorious as Butshikan (the breaker of idols) ascended the throne of Kashmir...
Today, we are living in what is termed as a ‘unipolar’ world with USA as the sole Global Superpower, straddling the globe like a ‘club carrying Neanderthal’.
In this issue, we plan to take up Celebration of Birthday, although it is not officially listed as one of the SANSKARS, however it is an essential part of every Kashmiri Pandits’ lifespan. So let us discuss in this issue Birthday as per LUNAR...
Seven decades ago, people of India gave themselves what is termed as the World’s longest written constitution with 448 Articles, divided into 22 parts and 12 schedules. Our constitution recognizes two types of Minorities – Religious and Linguistic....