A TALE OF TWO LOCKDOWNS
“Be
kind to others. Because, the world is dealing with
three
pandemics same time:
Greed, Corruption and Corona Virus.”
De
philosopher, DJ Kyos
“Hello
Sir, how’re you? This is my new number; please save. Please do get in touch
with me whenever you plan to visit our beautiful land.”
Who was this
man, and which beautiful land was he referring to?
Both, my wife
and I, had a desire to visit beautiful Kashmir – which was, always, hailed as ‘The
Heaven on Earth’ - for a long time. But, for a very long time, our desire was
crushed under the painful reality of endless insurgency on the one side and the
merciless deluge on the other. It took decades for the people of Kashmir –
whose main livelihood depended on tourism – to limp their way back to normalcy.
So, in the summer of 2016, when our 25th wedding anniversary was approaching,
we both decided to fulfil one of our long-cherished-but-buried wishes. By then,
tourism was substantially back. A couple of our family friends had just made a
tour and opted to say at Nazir bhai’s wonderful facility. He had built a lovely
facility at the place where he lived… His wife cooked amazing local delicacies
and his children made the guests feel at home. He would dedicate one car and a
driver at every guest’s service during the entire stay… right from the pick-up
at Srinagar airport to drop-back at the same point. We had a fantastic local by
the name Farooq as our diver. He went out of his way to make us feel we were
his own…
After we came
back from Kashmir, we referred Nazir bhai’s name to many of our friends and relatives.
Some of them were lucky, that they could visit and enjoy Nazir bhai’s
hospitality before the abrogation of Article 370… when most of us got to hear
about this dreaded word ‘Lockdown’!
Kashmir’s
lockdown is not like ours’. There is no one-million-army (close to that)
patrolling our streets and by-lanes… We had our full-blown exposer to internet
and the latest mobile-network. They were robbed of everything – email to a
simple phone call. They couldn’t communicate with anyone around, leave alone
the people afar… Their leaders were put behind bars and their schools, shops
and fields – everything was ‘locked down’…
Yes, our
lockdown is different…
True, almost all
of us have suffered and continue to suffer because of our lockdown… The plight
of migrant workers and daily-wage workers is wrought with misery. Yet, when I
compare this with what the people of Kashmir had to go through – and still do -
I think, our plight has been much better off…
I do not know,
how Nazir bhai, Farooq and the rest in Kashmir have been trying to cope with
their lockdown… I remember the stories Farooq would graphically depict –
stories during the great floods in Kashmir… “Can you believe, that this entire
village was under water for so many days?” he would ask us pointing to some
villages he drove us by. But, never, ever we would hear from his or Nazir bhai’s
mouth one word about self-pity or victimhood…
A week ago, when
I saw this surprise message from Nazir bhai – “Hello Sir, how’re you…. Please
do get in touch with me whenever you plan to visit our beautiful land” – yes,
when I saw this message, it broke my heart!
Probably, the people
in Kashmir are just allowed to use 2G mobile network… Probably, they are trying
to limp back again to normalcy… But, I don’t think any of us here have the
heart to visit this ‘Heaven on Earth’ again… at least, not in many more years
to come…
And, what kind
of reply do you think I was capable of giving to this wonderful gentleman from
Kashmir – Nazir bhai?
Well, if words
could heal a bit! I did give an honest reply wishing the snowfall to return
soon in Kashmir and expressing our desire to be there to feel its gentle touch…
Are we still
cribbing about our lockdown?
GERALD D’CUNHA
Pic's.: pixabay
Video: Aabha Hanjura
Comments
I was also fortunate to enjoy hospitality of nazeer and farukh bhai ��