Valley s almond trees are in blossom But not for Kashmiri Pandits

 

Almond trees, in Kashmir, are in blossom. These add to scenic beauty of the valley After a lengthy difficult winter, residents of the valley are experiencing a temperature, neither very cold, nor very hot. It is congenial for outings Educational institutions have opened Offices have better attendance as compared to that of the winter period when changing clothes in the mornings, too, was an unpleasant exercise. There is no need for kangries. These will, soon, lose their importance. The unbroken ones, among these, will be placed in a corner of the house for another seven months when the warmth of the autumn sunshine season will say good-bye.

This season is the best of all. Agar firdaus bar royal zameen ast Hamin asto, hamin aslo, hamin ast is a fact That is: If there is heaven in any part of our globe. it is here (that is in Kashmir). There can be a similar fact like: Agar behtater mosim, bar royal Kashmir ast, Hamin asto, hamin asto, hamin ast That is: If one wants to experience the best season in the Kashmir, it is the present one:

These days residents of the valley have tea parties in the gardens where almond trees abound. They go there along with their kith and kin. They travel in freshly-washed, clothes or new bright ones, after having removed their dust and dirt of the past six months. The fea is carried in huge samawars, the like of which are available only in the valley or Russia. People, in an enjoyment mood, take their seats around the samawar which gives them hot, boiling cups of kehwa. The tea is accompanied by felewaer and/or namkeens.

The happy assemblage provides residents an opportunity to forget domestic worries for a while. The elders exchange ideas on matters-important and transitory Young ones play games. Babies make their toys play tantrums. The occasion provides the revellers opportunity to forget the difficulties that the winter season had created for them. Many matrimonial proposals are initiated in this atmosphere. Some of these are settled also.

All this is for the majority population of the valley. Its memory causes pain in the neck of the Kashmiri Pandits, the original residents of the valley. For them the almond- blossom beauty is a sorrow for ever. They too want to go to badam waries and have kehwah there. Majority of this community has been driven out. Per force they have to live in areas that have no almond trees. Nor are the cool Kashmiri Navreh breezes blowing around. Some of them succeed in going to such almond orchards, but only during nights when the sun is not shining and the world is engulfed by darkness The Pandits fall asleep in their temporary night shelters. Their body is lying outside Kashmir. Their mind has flown to Kashmir. Sleep brings dreams to them. Dreams provide them opportunity to experience imaginary happenings when they assemble in the almond orchards, play cards, discuss various matters and have gossip sessions. This happy atmosphere gets shattered when they get up in the morning to realise that what they did during the night was a feat of their imagination.

What a tragedy it is that while some non-Kashmiris, who have managed to settle in Kashmir, are able to enjoy the beauty of almond orchards, KPs cannot. Some such non-Kashmiris are reported to have, also, acquired state- subject certificates. Some of them are conducting religious prayers, but the commentaries they present after the prayers are not understood by some Kashmins because these are in Urdu and all original residents are not well-versed in that language. This system is proving fatal for the growth of the Kashmiri language which is getting replaced by Urdu.

It seems that those days, now, belong to history when both Kashmiri Pandits and their non-Pandit neighbours used to go hand-in-hand to such orchards and exchange information on their possibilities, problems and difficulties. 

Along with the blossoming of the almond trees, what has blossomed is the communal hatred against Kashmiri Pandits

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Courtesy:- Jagannath Dhar   " and Koshur Samachar 2018, March