© Murali Krishnan

A month after flood waters battered the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, the magnitude of the tragedy is slowly unfolding. Bigger worries of death and disease still haunt the area in the aftermath of the worst crisis to have hit the region in the last six decades. Murali Krishnan visited the inundated areas in India-administered Kashmir and brought back some pictures and stories of brave women.

Pashmina queen Shaheena Akhtar

Kashmiri women entrepreneurs have made a mark for themselves in a region which has been riddled with conflict, death and destruction for over two decades.

Copyright: Murali Krishnan

It was an eye-opener to return to Vrindavan, a holy and dusty town in northern India steeped in the lore of Lord Krishna. For years, this town, christened the ‘city of widows’ has been the home of women from many parts of the country’s rural hinterland, particularly from West Bengal.

A still from Sumathy Sivamohan’s “Ingrinthu” or Here and now about the minority Tamil tea plantation community in Sri Lanka

The setting and even the timing was appropriate as women film makers from a range of genres, fiction, non-fiction, animation and television features, gathered in the Indian capital New Delhi to showcase and share their works. Coinciding with International Women’s Day, many talented filmmakers from 15 countries were happy to be back.

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