ACROSS THE BLUE WATERS

With dreamy eyes of a ten year old I stared at the purple wrinkled silk stole my aunt was holding in front of me. I was not fascinated by the fabric or colour but the smell of the land of its origin. The garment sent by my grandfather’s cousin came from across the LoC.

In 1947, Kashmir was divided by a ceasefire line –the line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan. It resulted in division of thousands of families.

The blue waters of river Neelam run almost across the LoC. At various points, relatives from both sides come to meet each other on a wedding or a funeral after the announcement is made in a mosque over the loudspeaker. Congratulations as well as condolences are helplessly shouted across as the noisy river furiously threatens to drown their voices.

Straying into each other’s territory is common as the land of many farmers on Loc is lying in both the regions.

In July 2005, Kapoor Jan crossed over to Indian side while grazing her goats. She was arrested and convicted. Failing to get released after serving her term she suffered a brief psychotic episode and was admitted in a Psychiatric Hospital. Post recovery she is still there.

There is no telecommunication between the two parts of once single entity. A recently introduced bus service requires special permit making it impossible to travel across.

I live in the hope that the LoC just like the Berlin Wall will cease to exist one day.

‘Land doesn’t care who lives and dies on it, yet it possesses us as we fight to possess it.’
Basharat Peer, A young Kashmiri Writer and Author of CURFEWED NIGHT