When I was a school boy, or, at the university, all that knowledge I had of Kashmir was from picture postcards, antique or curio shops in New Delhi, a little interaction with the men who burnt their skin moving from door to door to sell their exquisite Kashmiri Shawls, and, of course, from the yelling of Shammi Kapoor in the song Yahoo! chahe mujhe koi junglee kahe from the film Junglee released in 1961, shown in Doordarshan later in 1980s and “Yeh chhand sa Roshan chehra” – a romantic song of poise and harmony that mesmerised audiences with shimmering waters of the Dal Lake in the background in Kashmir Ki Kali 1964 together with the film Arzoo, 1965 – these were all Bollywood classics. These were the only memories of most our friends’ growing up years, of what we knew or glimpsed about Kashmir. And yet there was another door which opened slightly while at college I chanced upon an album from legendary British Rock Band, Led Zeppelin that had one epic song called Kashmir, very melodic and metaphysical with the lines:

“Oh, let the sun beat down upon my face
And stars fill my dream
I’m a traveler of both time and space
To be where I have been
To sit with elders of the gentle race
This world has seldom seen
They talk of days for which they sit and wait
All will be revealed…..”

I was enchanted with the song, repeated it over and over again till the woke up again with a new morning that beckoned a new hope and hum the rest of the lines of that song : My shangri la beneath the summer moon

I will return again
As the dust that floats high in June
We’re moving through Kashmir….

These were the only doors that time had opened to know a place which had a reservoir of resources, not just, snow, and, orchards and plenty of lakes that mirror every detail of the star-lit skies. But the map is not the territory – till I visited the brilliant curated show titled “The Kashmir Chromosome” put up by Kaunteya Sinha and an incredibly talented high school student Vaibhav Giani from Kolkata. I was anticipating no less, before I stepped into the KCC gallery, with my eyes glued to the 25 significant narratives that tell you about the journey of the people who come from humble backgrounds, and, against all odds they braved their way to their dreams, with passion, love and sincerity. The photographs – 25 of then – each constituting narratives with narratives – meta-narratives, that express the enduring spirit the people of Kashmir who always had to put their beautiful place in memories of poets, artists, designers, musicians, and, entrepreneurs.

I had to start seeing the exhibition at some point, and, destiny choose me to start with Zaz Shahab, who is the last recognised santoor maker in Kashmir, who spend hours with Pandit Shri Shiv Kumar Sharma Ji, who made this instrument popular not only in Indian classical music, but, across the world, still allowing the fingers to glide over to create modulation in sound. And then I bumped into Vaibhav, his eyes glistening, as he told me quite candidly his experiences, and the sincere heartwarming love he received from the people in Kashmir, visiting it several times with his photographer, constructing interview scripts ,and, working diligently with his mentor, Kaunteya Sinha, who guided him in every step, also, inspiring him to find another new young fresh talent in India who would invest time on “human equity”, on “human skills” , on “narratives of resilience and triumph” in many other forgotten parts of India.
The program was very well organised with the presence of these men and women from Kashmir, their narratives constitute The Kashmir Chromosome, the event flanked by guest luminaries like The Monarch of Ladakh- His Excellency Maharaja Jigmud Wangchuk Namgyal and Padma Shri Raghu Rai, India’s most iconic photographer, Bollywood sensation, singer and song-writer Vibha Saraf, who also sang melodiously with lilting grace, Indian Chess Grandmaster, Dibeyendu Barua, National Award winning singer, Imam Chakraborty with tabla maestro Bickram Ghosh and Aditya Ghosh, Founder of Akasha Airline.

The whole program evoked responses from the audience, and, all agreed at one singularity point – the people of Kashmir have come out and showed power, courage and resilience to seek their own destiny, with equipoise and rhythm that is so dynamic to a place surrounded by snowcapped mountains and the mirroring lakes.
I will try to put together each of the narratives very soon here, and please watch out Tantra Foundation Media Outreach Channel in YouTube to see all the interviews we have taken.

 Thanks to Kaunteya and Vaibhav and all others to make this event a reality - The Kashmir Chromosome tells us that the peoples are changing because they have the will power and lot of heartfulness to adapt and adjust to fast changing scenarios that are building up.

As I end, this blog what keeps repeating is lines from W. B. Yeats: ” We are the last of romantics, /Choose for theme, /Traditional sanctity and loveliness .. and it hauntingly hums with Led Zeppelin’s

” My shangri la beneath the summer moon
I will return again
As the dust that floats high in June
We’re moving through Kashmir”….