00:00My main topic is Kashmir, so I'm just trying to understand our origin, our history, because
00:14as far as I'm concerned, we have to fully understand Kashmir, what our identity was,
00:24what we were, and what direction we are going in terms of the situation at the moment.
00:35Nothing is normal.
00:37You will say, what is normal in Kashmir, nothing is normal here.
00:44So when did you start to realize that there is a silence?
00:47There is a kind of…
00:48See, I'll tell you, immediately after abrogation of Article 370, I saw a lot of change.
01:01I cannot call it a positive change.
01:05For me, this change is very negative.
01:10And why?
01:12In the sense that there are a lot of things in this.
01:19I asked a lot of people, they think that we have lost almost everything.
01:30Yeah, that's the sense I also got.
01:33So there are a lot of things in this, I don't know.
01:37A lot of people say, let us live the way we are living.
01:43So it's difficult.
01:47People are stuck in a very strange situation.
01:56Now we think that if we talk, maybe we won't have a problem.
02:05Also, another thing that you were a teacher also.
02:07Now, art in Kashmir for instance.
02:10How does art work in a zone like this?
02:14Where there is silence, where there is conflict.
02:17See, I'll tell you, the confusion is in the younger generation of artists.
02:28That is there.
02:30So, now they find it difficult to think.
02:38Why?
02:40I don't know.
02:42Now there are a lot of issues in this.
02:47For example, the artist community here is not able to come in the mainstream.
02:59We want to connect with the community.
03:04We want to connect with the mainstream.
03:08But it's not happening.
03:11When the abrogation happened, it was like a blackout.
03:15The value was cut off from everything.
03:17In fact, people didn't know what was going to happen.
03:19How did you pass that time?
03:21Like in the sense as an artist.
03:23See, I'll tell you.
03:25There was a lot of silence as well.
03:27Mosques were shut.
03:29There was no Azaan.
03:31I'll tell you what happened.
03:34Before that, I was working with an Irish writer.
03:42I was just doing a book on Gandhi.
03:46So, I did all the illustrations.
03:53So, without knowing that person.
03:57So, we used to exchange those.
04:00We used to send haikus.
04:02I used to make illustrations on that.
04:05So, the day the last illustration was completed.
04:10After that, the internet shut down.
04:16So, after that, I don't know what happened to Gandhi's book.
04:23After a long gap, I got a paper cutting from somebody from Delhi.
04:30They had already printed the book in Ireland.
04:38So, I didn't know anything.
04:40Then he told me that there is a book in which your illustrations have been printed.
04:48So, that is titled Walk with Gandhi.
04:52So, at that time, I got to know that the book had been printed.
04:58So, now you can imagine how cut off we were.
05:06The last time I was in Goa, it was a festival.
05:12So, there, somebody asked me a question.
05:16See, I have done a lot of work on Gandhi.
05:20So, one of my books was also released.
05:25So, he had a question.
05:27Where will Gandhi fit in Kashmir in today's world?
05:35I said, see Gandhi had come here.
05:39So, what he said.
05:43He said that the whole country is burning in communal violence.
05:53And I see only Kashmir, which has a ray of hope.
05:59And I haven't seen violence here.
06:03So, in today's world, Gandhi doesn't fit anywhere.
06:09And see, the problems here.
06:15For example, if we take media.
06:18So, I met a few people from the media.
06:24They asked me, why don't you paint something on Kashmir, which is the current situation.
06:32So, I told them, why don't you write?
06:38So, they said, we have to be very careful.
06:44We are afraid.
06:49So, that is the case with the artist community also.
06:55There is nothing that you hear except development.
06:58What development are you talking about?
07:01We hear that Kashmir is happy, Kashmir is developed.
07:04There is a lot of tourism in Kashmir.
07:07Tourism is not the only development.
07:13See, there are so many other things.
07:21What I see is that there are a lot of people who have become depressed.
07:30Almost 99% are involved in this.
07:36And I am also one of the victims.
07:40Our youth, what I have seen, they have taken up drugs.
07:50So, it's because of this situation that we are having this problem.
07:59I remember when I was working on this Kashmir Terminal,
08:04there used to be a psychiatry hospital here with very few doctors.
08:12And the patients were also very few.
08:16Now, at this time, I go for my treatment.
08:21Which hospital?
08:24Renawari.
08:26I think you must visit that place.
08:28What are the problems there?
08:32There is so much rush here.
08:35And the doctors who treat these patients,
08:42there are no appointments for 15 days.
08:50In Kashmir, they put a number on the sheep and goats.
08:56So, you can say that Kashmiris are the same.
08:59They put a stamp on the sheep and goats.
09:03So, we are like that.
