IN A STATE WHERE INDEPendence Day for over 20 years has meant empty roads, closed shops and barbed wire, getting people to speak about their love for the country was a Herculean task. But a quiet couple living in the bylanes of downtown Srinagar have no qualms in stating that `a secure future lies with a stable, progressive India'. That's how Mohammad Altaf, a small-time handicraft entrepreneur, feels.
“India is developing in a way that even America is looking at. Obviously we would want our children to grow up in a place where we feel their future is secure,“ says the 41-year-old.
The family is proud to be both Kashmiri and Indian. “The special status of the state is what connects the state more to the rest of the country,“ says Altaf's wife, Rabia. “The solution to the problem has to be found within the Constitution, but if Kashmiri aspirations like restoring the 1953 position are considered, it will bring back everybody's faith in the greatness of Indian democracy.“
Rabia is also proud that her family are true practising Muslims. While Altaf sports a well-trimmed beard, Rabia doesn't forget her veil even while making halwa and wadas in the Kashmiri summers of 30° C. Though these are not traditional iftar snacks, they are what the couple and their two sons, Mohammad Suhaib (12) and Mohd Ilyas (5), break the Ramzan fast with.
The boys, besides liking traditional nonvegetarian Kashmiri dishes, love aloo parathas and chola bhature. “My sons are very Punjabi in their tastes,“ says 43-yearold Rabia.
Perhaps that's because Rabia was a different person before marriage. She was born and bought up in Delhi as Nirupama before converting to Islam in 1989. Rabia's Kashmiri Pandit family left Kashmir in 1947. “My grandfather, Pandit Parmanand, was the last accountant general of Jammu and Kashmir.
My father was just three when we left Kashmir,“ she says.
Rabia came looking for her roots in 1989 as a Youth Congress leader and ended up taking up Islam as a faith. “I didn't convert at the time of my marriage. I converted long before that,“ she explains.
The couple met in Delhi in 1997, fell in love and got married. “I am a businessman and was running my handicraft business in Delhi when we met,“ says Altaf. They shifted to Srinagar in 2004. “We wanted to help our community, which we felt was under a lot of stress,“ explains Altaf.
Rabia set up the NGO All India Centre for Rural and Urban Development, and started working with Kashmiri youth. Altaf meanwhile still runs his ancestral business. “He earns money, I spend it in social work,“ grins Rabia. “I work with politicians, separatists, and common people, and am producing a document with the help of civil society which we will submit to the government,“ she explains.
When the couple is not working, their sons keep them busy. “The older one loves cricket and will soon be participating in the under 14 KPL starting in Kashmir soon,“ says the proud father. The younger son however doesn't care about cricket; he is happy spending hours watching his favourite cartoons Ben 10 and Chota Bheem.
Meanwhile the family's connection with the world beyond the PirPanjal range remains strong. In the holidays, the boys will be heading to Delhi to be with their maternal grandparents. “My parents were shocked first by my conversion and then marriage, but they have come around,“ says Rabia.
However, the family might not be lucky enough to witness a normal Independence Day for some time. The day will again be marked by a shutdown, curfew, protests, statements, counter-statements and a lot of politics. “We will celebrate with a holiday and an inter-family T20 and cheer for the family's budding Zaheer Khan,“ quips Rabia.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please do write your suggestions and thoughts.