FJ Kashmir

    Documentary: TransKashmir Director Duo: SA Hanan and Surbhi Dewan Cinematography: Faisal Bhat Duration: 60 minutes     inam ul rehman    What is your first reaction on seeing a transgender walking on the road? You look at the other side? Spit? Intense gaze? Tease? Sneer? Or you just take him/her as any other human being?    “TransKashmir”, a 60-minute exploratory documentary shows us a mirror which we don’t want to see.   It is a story of aspirations denied, ambitions cut short, and dreams snatched. Narrated through 6 transgender persons, “Trans Kashmir” takes you to the underbelly of Kashmiri society, which we don’t want to discuss.   When as children these transgenders go to school, they are subject to bullying and derogatory words. Sneered at, and humiliated. Without any family and social support these persons drop out from schools. After that their families try to hide them, or send them to work, or fetch for themselves....

Book: Rupture: stories on the sorrow of Kashmir  Translator: Dr Javaid Iqbal Bhat Author: Rattan Lal Shant   Publisher: Oxford University Press Pages: 144   inam ul rehman    For years I have been longing to read a book that makes me experience the Kashmiri Pandits condition in exile. Rahul Pandit ’s much-acclaimed book " Our moon has blood clots ” mostly dealt with Kashmir Pandits conditions in Kashmir peppered with exile ordeals in refugee camps. Siddharth Gigoo ’s “ Garden of solitude ”, which came earlier than Rahul’s book, partly mentioned the ordeals of living in a single tent under the scorching heat. However, nothing comes to mind which tells different stories of the same exiled communities.  In a way it's surprising that the Kashmiri Pandits haven’t written a lot on living in exile. Even only Ashok Pandit and Vidhu Vinod Chopra crafted two films— Sheen and Shikara . While the former is not much to be talked about the latter is a b...

inam ul rehman    Our society is a reflection of the façade of things we put on display. Maybe we like to be chaotic with no sense of responsibility. We want everything to happen on its own. That is why we don’t make our administration accountable. Whatever plan the administration puts in, we accept it.    Why do our city’s roads shrink rather than expand? Why does our city become chaotic with every passing year? There are many, many questions which we don’t ask our administrators.    Shrinking roads, traffic jams are because of shops on roadsides and vendors      Take the example of the roads. Wherever roads are constructed shops pop up making it difficult to ply vehicles. Because when shops come on the roadside people have to stop to buy things, and the Srinagar Municipal Corporation never asks shopkeepers to keep car space. People start to believe that parking on the roads is their birthright. As a result, a road of 25 feet gets reduced ...

   inam ul rehman   Book: A life in the shadows: A memoir Author: A S Dulat Publisher: Harper Collins India Pages: 264 pages     As the author of the book Dulat comes across a person of considerate, tolerant, knowledgeable, fun loving, and a great listener. The latter quality makes him a special person to develop rapport in Kashmir. And boy, his CV is full of North and South Pole people in Kashmir.  Dulat, as his books testify, knows all the important persons of Jammu and Kashmir.    He has already penned down two books, “ The Vajpayee Years ”, and “The Spy Chronicles” written in partnership with his ISI counterpart Assad Durrani . The latter one showed his subtility in nudging Durrani to talk more.  However, the book under review is a memoir, and is not restricted to Kashmir though the latter has occupied many pages. I have a strong hunch that the Bollywood movie Lamhaa , released in 2010, was based on Dulat’s experience in Kashmir just...

Book: Sultan: A memoir  Author: Wasim Akram and Gideon Haigh Publisher: Harper Collins   Pages: 297     inam ul rehman    During the launch of his book Wasim Akram went around the town trying to gain sympathy by stating his countrymen accuse him of being a match-fixer elsewhere he is loved for his cricketing achievements. What Akram forgets is that despite these allegations he has the highest endorsements in Pakistan. And is invited in most TV shows! Primarily it seems that he has penned this book to clear himself from match-fixing scandals that he was alleged to be involved. And the ire of his falls on the crusader against match fixers-­– Rashid Latif .    Wasim details why he didn’t play in the 1996 quarter-final match against India , which Pakistan lost. According to Wasim, not disclosing his injury in that crucial game in Bengaluru was “for fear of buoying India and dismaying our own players”. But, why didn’t he reveal the same thing to his ...

  inam ul rehman   As we start to grow up our desires become solid. Having a car was one of the desires that fortified with age, but I was always certain that I will not bring it from my father’s pocket, take an interest-based loan from any bank, or sell a piece of land for it. Although I would drive the vehicles of my friends and cousins. This too stopped in 2005, after some innocuous thing became prickly.    Finally last year I was able to bring one.    Owning a vehicle is a dream that only a small population can fulfill. Then having a license to drive is what one desires. And here in Kashmir licenses were distributed like freebies. I remember in my clan some had licenses before owning a vehicle. This was not a strange thing exclusive to our clan only, I saw many people who had licenses before driving anything.    In 2021, a new regional transport officer, Kashmir, Sajid Yahya Naqash took charge and he immediately shot a message for the p...