Kashmiri muslim school girls dressed in traditional outfits

I met two innocent girls singing at a crossroads during my trip to the Kashmir valley. There was an exuberance infused in their song and they were dancing without any care for tomorrow. It was probably a folk song. I don’t remember the girls’ names now. But I still recall their fondness for Maggi. One of them told me that whenever they got money from the tourists, they immediately headed to spend it at a local food stall. This little encounter with the two happy and talented souls stayed with me as a serendipitous memory for some time.

Chasing her dream of becoming a hockey player, Inayat Farooq from central Kashmir’s Budgam district has had to battle all the odds in Indian society since deciding to play at this beloved sport.

Kashmir is a region of unmatched beauty. The valley’s breathtaking serenity attracts thousands of tourists every year. Saddeningly, it is also marred by frequent violence due to conflict and militancy.

Poets call it one of the most beautiful places on earth. Analysts consider it to be one of the most dangerous areas in the world. But what is Kashmir in reality? (Picture:  Kashmiri muslim school girl dressed in traditional outfits sing during the full dress rehearsal for the Republic Day parade in srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, on 24/1/ 2013.)

The steady environmental deterioration in the Indian Himalayas spurred more than 4,000 volunteers to take measures to tackle plastic waste.

The hunger to learn and have an education is a dream most Kashmiri girls aspire and want. © Murali Krishnan

Empowerment for Muslim women in India is still some distance away. Many are denied an education and forced into early marriages. But a recent Supreme Court ruling banning unilateral divorce could be the harbinger of better things to come.

Anshita Koul said that. She is also known as ‘Anshita Crazy Koul’, a rising YouTube star who divides her time between India and Germany is breaking stereotypes and fighting patriarchy by making people laugh. She is tickling India’s funny bone and putting the State of Jammu and Kashmir, a place always associated with conflict, on the world map in a new light. She recently starred in the first ever comedy show exclusively for women in India – The Queens Of Comedy and recently organized Jammu’s first open mic. Koul spoke to WTO Reporter Roma Rajpal Weiß on the comedy scene in India.