Author: Nasir Yousufi
Homestays open doors to Kashmir’s final frontier Keran
Amid a captivating landscape, the homestays in Keran become a bridge across borders, inviting guests to feel at home in one of the remotest frontier villages in Kashmir
Kashmir stares at a saffron sunset
Pampore, the hub of Kashmiri saffron, casts a gloomy picture as production of the prized spice declines due to climate change, encroachment of fields, inadequate irrigation and intrusion of cheaper Iranian variants
Kashmir’s walnut harvesters are in danger
Amidst the lack of proper protective gear and ignorance of safety techniques, the walnut growers in Kashmir urge for safer means of harvesting to avoid life-threatening accidents.
Shielding trout from climate change in Kashmir
Fish farmers combat autumn dry spell with a groundwater harvesting technique that ensures a continuous, round-the-year flow of fresh, cold water vital for their trout.
Border tourism boosts Keran village
Standing on the banks of the roaring Kishanganga river, Keran has become a new tourism sensation in J&K bringing both hope and fortune to the villagers.
Sang tarash: Kashmir’s stone carvers face hard truth
Amid technological advancements and other challenges, Kashmir's traditional stone carvers, known as sang tarash, are striving to preserve their craft.
Kashmir’s purple revolution with lavender cultivation
Prized for its oil, lavender blooms are being farmed on parcels considered wastelands before and these have cast a spell of hope, a promise of prosperity entwined with fragrance.
How Kud has become Kashmir’s sweet-making powerhouse
Nestled at the foothills of Patnitop, Kud stands as a sweat stop for Jammu-Srinagar highway travellers. Sweet making here isn't just a job, but a cherished labour of love, sustaining families and community bonds.
Women suffer as Kashmir garlic faces market blues
As the market for Kashmiri garlic records a slump for the fourth year in a row, growers have been pushed against the wall in the Valley’s villages.
Impact of climate change on Kashmir’s mushroom pickers
Unpredictable weather patterns, early springs, and above-average temperatures have left gucchi mushroom hunters in distress, facing another season of low yield for the second consecutive year.
Fishing and fresh springs: Kashmiri festival unites villages
The Panzath fishing festival, locally known as Rohan Posh, is a centuries-old tradition wherein hundreds of people from multiple villages gather at Qazigund's Panzath village in Kashmir to fish and clean the water body.
A dose of dandelion soothes Kashmir’s palate and health
Called ‘haend’, Kashmiris consider a wild variety of dandelion a miracle herb that cures a host of ailments. They eat it fresh, cooked and dried.
Kashmir’s farmers switch from growing apples to exotic greens
Fruit cultivation is a mainstay of Kashmir’s economy, but many farmers are clearing orchards and shifting to integrated farming to grow exotic vegetables.
Solan mushroom farmers make it big with fungi
A mushroom revolution took place in Himachal Pradesh about 30 years ago as farmers looked for high returns from a limited space. The result is mind-blowing.
Deaf-mute Kashmiri woodcarver’s work leaves world speechless
Woodcarver Muhammad Yusuf Muran of Srinagar is known to be the man with golden fingers. His Midas touch on his family’s 200-year-old craft amplifies Kashmir’s handicraft heritage.
The notice that proves no one takes dowry in this village
Families sign an anti-dowry pact in Babawayil village and rule violations entail social boycott from the masjid and graveyard. There’s been no violation in 40 years.
Immerse yourself in a sea of tulips this summer
Sitting pretty on a strip between Srinagar’s Dal Lake and the snow-capped Zabarwan mountains, Asia’s largest tulip garden is set to witness 1.6 million tulips blossom.
Fit to core: Kashmiri women smash patriarchy
Hundreds are enrolling in female-only gyms in cities and the countryside, smashing taboos and stereotypes that forbade women from sports and fitness training.
Kashmiri couture trends globally
Worn by Kashmiris of all ages and genders for centuries, the gown-like pheran is now trending globally, keeping local designers busy stitching up a storm.
Will this stag party again?
Hangul, Jammu and Kashmir’s state animal, is critically endangered. While conservation efforts are leading to a small increase in its numbers, the struggle is far from over.