Author: Nasir Yousufi
Here’s why you should add Kashmiri nadru to your menu
The lotus stem that grows in abundance in Kashmir’s lakes is a major crop for farmers and a tasty treat for millions, sometimes selling at Rs 500 a kg.
Why Kashmiris love to spin a yarn
Kashmir has reinvented the old wooden spinning wheel into a new machine to yarn Pashmina wool, making the craft both – comfortable and profitable.
In Kashmir’s ‘Antarctica’
Snowy mountains full of majestic icicles and swathes of fluffy, silvery carpet covering the ground for miles around – that's how Kashmir's Tangmarg transforms into Antarctica. Well, minus the penguins, alas.
Sip on hot kahwa inside world’s largest igloo cafe in Kashmir’s Gulmarg
Literally India’s coolest tourist spot, Gulmarg offers visitors a warm cup of kahwa in a cafe where almost everything is made of packed snow.
Death on the tail of migratory birds in Kashmir
In the cold winters of Kashmir’s wetlands, migratory birds that roost and breed there under the shadow of hunters and trappers, never mind climate change, threatening their annual visit.
Kashmiri harissa: From posh grub to comfort food
Once a winter comfort food afforded only by the rich in downtown Srinagar, the minced-meat dish of harissa is now warming the hearts of people living in far-flung and high-altitude villages, thanks to online orders and delivery.
Kashmir’s willow wickerwork gets a modern facelift
In the face of cheap plastic products from China, Kashmiri craftsmen meld traditional willow with modern designs to create a wide range of competitive products – vases, lamp shades, haute kitchenware and even sofas.
Heaven’s the limit for Kashmir’s Khatamband ceiling woodwork after years in near-hell
A luxury of the medieval elite, the handcrafted and eclectic craft of wood-carved ceilings almost died out in the face of political and economic exigencies, but a few artisans keep Kashmir’s 400-year-old legacy alive.
Wakhoo: Journey from a sleepy village of timber traders to ‘Pencil Village’ of India
There’s a 90 percent chance that the pencil you’re writing with is made of slats processed in Wakhoo of south Kashmir – for it supplies more than 70% of wood to India’s pencil industry.
The ‘faere’ tale of Kashmir’s smoked fish dish
Faere is Kashmir’s smoked fish – most loved in the cold months – that’s gone from a survival dish, when fresh food was hard to get, to a Kashmiri comfort food to a gourmet dish for foodies.
Be in the pink this winter with Kashmiri noon chai
A symbol of Kashmir’s culture – salty, heavy noon chai – is brewed in evaporated milk and served hot at tea stalls and homes alike.
Boube jung – Kashmir celebrates the onset of chillai kalan with a friendly flame-throw
In a centuries-old tradition, people indulge in throwing firecrackers towards each other across the water in Dal Lake neighbourhoods, marking the winter solstice on 21 December, and the beginning of the 40-day harshest winter.
The first Indian woman who converted polythene into ashes
Despite lacking a technical education and being ridiculed for her ‘scientific pursuit,’ 48-year-old Nasira Akhtar of Kanipora village in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, is about to get a patent for her grassroots innovation of a magical herb that converts polythene into ashes.
“You’re a girl. How can you go out in a sports outfit?”
Taunted and rebuked by the conservatives during her teenage years for her passion for water sports, the encouraging words of her mother kept Bilquis Mir going. Now the 33-year-old is not only a household name and a youth icon in Kashmir but also a trusted coach and international judge.
Once a ‘burden’, double-humped camel is a prized animal in Ladakh today
Once regarded as a burden and used exclusively to carry loads in the remote parts of Ladakh, the double-humped camel is now a main source of livelihood for scores of families in the region.
Modern Farming: Growing potatoes on Mars? Ask these Ladakhi women farmers
Growing vegetable crops in covered low tunnels, trenches and unique greenhouses that protect their plants from the hostile elements, women farmers of Changthang, Ladakh take up modern farming to reap huge dividends.
Festivals in India: What’s behind the masks in Leh’s Hemis Festival?
This festival season we look back at Ladakh’s Hemis Festival that showcases the rich culture of dances and masks that are steeped in meaning.
Water sports offer Kashmiri girls new career choices
The popularity of water sports for girls is surging in Kashmir thanks to inspirational coach Bilquis Mir, whose success in national and international water events makes her a role model.
She brings fruitful farming to Leh’s cold mountains
Inspired by the verdant fields of Punjab, research scientist Jigmet Yangchin motivates women in the cold mountainous regions of her homeland, Leh. She introduces easy vermicomposting and cleaning the River Sindh – anything to make life better for her people.
PHOTO ESSAY: Phatxingu – Kargil’s apricot “miracle drink”
Phatxingu, a drink in Ladakh’s Kargil region made from dried apricots, is unbelievably popular among all age groups. In the photo essay, I delve into some of the reasons for its raging popularity.