In new Valley, hope for love

Arun Joshi

T HIS is our Kashmir,”  exclaimed Hayat, the cab driver, as he adjusted himself on a chair at a restaurant on the Khannabal-Pahalgam road for a better view of the romantic song from the 1968 hit, Mere Humdum, Mere  Dost, playing on  the television screen. ‘This is Pahalgam, Hayat,’ he said, as if trying to assure himself that he was right in identifying the place.

 A scroll was being run on the screen along the song — ‘For someone special — Danish...’ The ‘special’ was not to be guessed. It must have been a message from someone in love to his beloved as the lyrics... Chalo sajna jahan tak ghata chale... made it clear.

This was a revelation of sorts. Kashmir of the past, where nearly all Bollywood romantic movies were filmed, was no more there. A deepening sense of nostalgia has gripped the Valley, as Kashmiris seek to identify themselves with the Kashmir of the good old days. It is particularly true of the generation of 36-year-old Hayat Mubeen Shah. This generation has seen only violence. 

Danish was seeking to profess his love through Bollywood songs. I imagine him to be in his late teens. The old lyrics resonate with their heartbeats.

At the restaurant, teenaged girls and boys kept coming, sitting for a while, eating something and then leaving. But their conversation was all in whispers. Two young waiters, Omar Bhat from Aishmuqam — a hilly and holy  township near Pahalgam — and Rameez Malik from Hapat Nag, were busy catering to the guests.

This was a change, which conflict-obsessed journalists take no notice of. Anantnag is a highly conservative town. Love messages, even if discreet, were unthinkable a few years ago. There were times when the girls would hum Aaj ki mulaqat bas itni... within the four walls of their homes, where it was not audible even to family members. Any such activity would have been treated as a socio-cultural blasphemy.

Much has changed since. 

The college girls in Anantnag, coming out in hordes with their heads neatly covered with scarves, were walking home.... marching on. There was not even a single boy following them. They were headed home fearlessly. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s words — ‘Girls are the safest in Kashmir’  — came like an instant law of association.

 This is the cultural beauty of Kashmir, where social values are rated high — whether the times be peaceful or turbulent. It is a forward march to a new Kashmir, with utmost caution, but a free vision for a bright Valley.