I f you travel around Kashmir today, you are bound to come across numerous stories of hope. Just go 50 km south of Srinagar to Shopian, a terror hotbed that saw the burning of schools by militants not long back. At Higher Secondary School Narapora, you will meet young boys and girls who all want to become IAS officers.
Sehrish, a Class XII student, writes poetry in Kashmiri. She loves to recite her latest: “Our greeting to the moon, Chandrayaan 3..
.Bharat is now symbol of greatness/Bharat holds the leadership now/salute to your imagination, O Great Garderner..
..” The loose English translation doesn’t do justice to the Kashmiri poem, though.
It was so beautiful that all her classmates clapped for long when she recited it in my presence. Hearing about the Chandrayaan programme and the greatness of ‘Bharat’ in a Shopian school should not surprise you. These students are all dreaming to fly high.
Sehrish walks nine kilometres one way to reach school. Walking 5-10 km to school is normal for many students in Shopian. Showing the new online library and improved amenities at the school, John Mohammed Paul, a history teacher, told me: “The government has done some good things here.
It should also consider our request to arrange vehicles for pick-and-drop facilities for these poor children! It will change their life.” The school building had been set on fire by militants a few years ago. But the students studying there have a fire of a different kind in their belly.
There.