The latest official data revealing a decline in forest fire incidents across Kashmir in 2025 offers a momentary sigh of relief, yet it disguises a persistent ecological wound that continues to fester. While the recorded 310 incidents mark a statistical drop compared to the previous year, the destruction of over 880 hectares of forest land […]
Opinion
The March of the Seventy-Seventh
As the dust settles on Kartavya Path and the tricolour continues to flutter in the January breeze, the 77th Republic Day offers more than just a spectacle of military might or cultural vibrancy. It serves as a critical checkpoint in India’s journey as a constitutional democracy. Seventy-seven years is not merely a number; it represents […]
The Art of the Ask
The barrier to entry for asking questions has collapsed, but the art of the interview is in danger. Are “armchair interviews” democratizing media or fueling one-sided narratives? By Aubaid Ahmad Akhoon In the modern media landscape, the interview has escaped the confines of the newsroom and the corporate boardroom. It has become the background noise […]
A Healthy Change
The positive story coming out of Jammu & Kashmir that deserves everyone’s attention towards the betterment of healthcare. While we often hear about infrastructure or politics, a quiet revolution is happening in the hospitals and clinics of the Union Territory. Recent data shows that J&K has become one of the safest places in India for […]
The Debt Illusion
Has Kashmir’s Appetite for Luxury Outpaced its Reality? By Rafiq Dar In Kashmir, there is an old saying that cuts to the bone of the valley’s current economic temper: “If one rides a horse, the other one climbs the wall.” It is a proverb about envy, about the desperate need to match a neighbor’s stride, […]
The Cold Season’s Silent Emergency
Kashmir’s harsh winter is more than a seasonal inconvenience; it is a serious public health challenge that quietly but steadily claims lives each year. As temperatures plunge and daily routines slow down, another invisible crisis intensifies inside hospital emergency rooms: a sharp rise in cardiac emergencies. The recent winter heart health advisory issued by doctors […]
The Canopy of Common Ground
When a towering newcomer threatens to uproot centuries of peace in the Kingdom of the Talking Trees, the inhabitants must choose between ego and empathy. This modern allegory explores how a community’s greatest strength lies not in its tallest members, but in the invisible roots that bind them together. By Aubaid Akhoon Deep in the […]
A Son’s Letter to His Mother
A son revisits the morning that changed his life forever, tracing grief, memory, and a mother’s love that refuses to fade. By Mool Raj Every time I left home for Jammu University to pursue my M.Sc. in Environmental Science, I wrote letters to my beloved mother, Smt. Nant Devi. Between 1997 and 1999, I entrusted […]
The Longest Chill
In the heart of the Himalayas, the arrival of Chillai Kalan on December 21 marks more than just a date on the calendar; it signals the commencement of a forty-day trial of spirit and survival that defines the Kashmiri identity. This period of “Major Cold,” stretching until the end of January, is characterized by a […]
In a World of Endless Copies, Original Thought Is Fading
We are living in what can best be called the age of the photocopy. Like a page copied again and again from an already fading original, our ideas, words and expressions are losing sharpness By Abid Hussain Rather We like to believe that we are living in the smartest age humanity has ever known. We […]