Life On The Edge

Recently I read somewhere ” Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about, so be KIND, It kept on reverberating inside me for a long. It reminded me of something  back in my childhood, When I was a kid, I used to think how  people make their ends meet, how they earn and how they meet the expenses. From a sweeper to a labour, everyone’s life seemed to be a mystery for me, I could never imagine the hardships they go through everyday. Every human being is equal but not same, everyone has been choosen to live a different life.  I found an answer to the question in my childhood somewhere hidden in the lives of these people, their lives are no less than a struggle, a struggle which they fight every  day with themselves and with the world to survive, a struggle which keeps their spirit alive. They are stronger than you and me, they lack the comforts yet they don’t complain.

I have assembled a collection of pictures and tried to portray their  pain, agony and their never ending hope.

Shades Of Autumn In Kashmir

Autumn Sunrise

Mughal Garden,Nishat

Walking into the Symphony.

Mughal Garden,Shalimar

Dalgate

Autumn Reflections

Saffron, The only Blossom during the Autumn Season

Farming

Neel Nag

Portrait of two Village boys

A typical flour mill, which runs on the energy of the water flowing through it.

Children Playing Cricket inside a Military Camp.

Gathering Leaves for fuel.

Making Charcoal.

A walk along the Chinar Bagh Bund.

Warming in the morning chill

Autumn Impressions

Walking through the Autumn Corridor

Chinar colours

Security Guards

City Life

Collecting dry leaves to be used as fuel.

Chinar (Maple) tree

The Caretaker

Shepherd

Carrying fiewood

Reflections

Autumn! The season which takes one to the world of wondrous shades of the life coexisting at one place and the strengthening the grounds of living with the warmth of fire though the harsh winter when it itself is busy faking the life. It is the season of maturity of the love that settles down on the cracks of the soil to fulfill its voids and in turn promises it for the spring. The walk through these autumn woven streets, each step there, bewitches the soul, ravishes memories of the era spend in the golden womb of the nature and the time take us back to the tranquility of the moments that speaks the gravity of the relations. Moreover, when we talk of the autumn in Kashmir it reminds one about the simple living and the benevolence of the nature which keeps on knitting the threads of beautification over the harshness of the time. Thus, beauty rules the hearts and optimism keeps life going.

Text : Amreen Naqash

Photos : Sajad Rafeeq

Saffron Harvest 2013

Morning Buds

 

Saffron collection during the sunset.

An Old Farmer Taking Stock his fields

Fruit Vendor, people buy some fruits and biscuits and in return give some saffron, in the fields at the time of harvest.

Caretaker of the Saffron fields.

Plucking the Saffron Flowers

People collect the saffron flowers in small baskets and then keep on a large sheet of cloth.

Autumn and Saffron

A typical Basket for collection of Saffron.

Collecting Saffron, People collect the saffron flowers in small baskets and then keep on a large sheet of cloth.

Separation of Saffron stigma

Separation of Saffron stigma

Dried up Saffron.

When we talk of saffron, mentioning Kashmiri saffron can’t be skipped which in local language is known as Kong. Saffron in Kashmir is grown at Pampore which is approximately 13 km away from the Srinagar city and is known throughout the world for its finest quality. Saffron fields when in full bloom appear no less than a velvety carpet spread out in the fields and the nature keeps on adding to its aesthetic appeal. This blossom is the result of the patience and the mark of the autumnal end. While the rest of the trees, and flowers shed their leaves, dry off and mark the autumn as an end of the life, saffron flower is in its full bloom keeping the hope of the people alive. People of all age groups are seen by one or other way playing the role from the day of cultivation to the harvest. This keeps on interesting the eyes and adds a reason of maturity of the life.

Text : (Amreen Naqash)

Photographs : (Sajad Rafeeq)