Bharat Darshan tour: Students explore the world outside Kashmir

Till a few days ago, Rubina Aziz’s world revolved only around Kashmir. But in the past few days, she tasted dosas, saw the beaches and experienced the tropical heat and humidity of Chennai. The 16-year-old, who hails from Handwara in Kupwara, is one of the inmates of Rahat Ghar in Srinagar. She is on a visit to Chennai as part of Bharat Darshan and is protected by the CRPF.

On Wednesday, they met the Kathak dancers from Devaniya, the Kathak dance school headed by Jigyasa Giri. This helped Rubina brush up on her Kathak lessons—the steps she learnt in Srinagar a year ago. “I was thrilled to see their performance and this city is enthralling. I have never seen anything like it.” The Kathak performances by a few senior students from Devaniya made them realise how culture from one region thrives in another.

For several girls from the shelter home run by the Guild for Service, the militancy and poverty have consumed their hope for a better life. Along with education, these girls are also given training in vocational courses and are made to pursue higher education, in an attempt to provide them a new lease of life.

For Yaseer, who hails from the government aided Gujjar and Bakarwal Hostel in Srinagar, the sight of tension between militants and the army, and the sounds of bullets and grenades are like a distant mirage. The only hope for him is education. “I aspire to appear for NEET soon,” he says with a shy smile, quickly adding that even the city’s humid weather is a welcome change. “People are also friendly,” he added.

For the boys from his community, hailing from scheduled tribes and below poverty line families, the rehabilitation efforts make a big difference. Warden of the hostel Naseem Ahmad said that the tour gives them a glimpse into the dreams and world beyond Kashmir and the turmoil. “Apart from novel experiences like sitting on a plane for the first time or even travelling by train, the tour makes them hope for a bigger and brighter world that has a space for first generation learners.”

Jaya Iyer, the project coordinator of Rahat Ghar, is proud of the changes in the girls. “They have become beauticians and pursued careers in corporates, shielded from the volatility in their homes. Their lives have all been affected by the militancy and this is an effort to take them away from it as far as we can,” she said.

The girls from the home also performed devotional numbers for their hosts, leaving them with the same desire for them as theirs, when they performed, “Allah Tero Naam, Ishwar Tero Naam. Sabko sanmathi de bhagwan (In your name God. let good sense prevail in all).”