Just One Room for Everything- Just a single room accommodates all the family – for sleeping, eating and entertaining
Kashmiri ‘Pandits’ (KP). For centuries writers and poets have waxed lyrical about the Kashmir Valley, considered the ‘Jewel in India’s Crown’. . This fertile land and invigorating clean crisp air generated by the snow capped Himalayan Mountains captivated Mogul Emperor Jehangir to the point he exclaimed when he first set eyes on the Valley, ‘If there is paradise anywhere on earth it is here!’ This ‘Paradise on Earth’, Kashmir has many distinct facets one being the people – the Kashmiri ‘Pandits’ ‘Pandits’ are Hindus who are considered wise, learned people, 100% literate and their field of expertise is boundless from art, literature, religion, science and more. In 1989 / 90 over 350 000 Kashmiri ‘Pandits’ (KP), men, women and children fled Kashmir Valley. Some KP’s took up refuge with family or friends living in other parts of India, but for the vast majority their accommodation was initially tented accommodation before being moved to either one room tenements in New Delhi or to the government constructed camps around Jammu. Just one room to accommodate the whole family where husband, wife and children all eat, sleep and entertain, whilst outside are the squalid communal toilet and bathing facilities. No longer do they have the luxury of kitchen, laundry or hot water. Washing clothes and household dishes has to be conducted with cold water outside braving the elements summer and winter. But strive to overcome they do for the children who are the Pandit’s future. Education is viewed as being paramount so they ensure that from primary school upwards their children will be educated in the makeshift schools within the camps. Many of these children were born in these camps and know no other lifestyle and it says a great deal for the parental guidance they receive in that there is no alcohol or drug related problems within the camps.
Size: 2500px × 1667px
Location: Jammu and Kashmir India
Photo credit: © Adrian Page / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: accommodation, blue, communal, cramped, crowded, females, green, health, hygiene, india, jammu, kashmir, kashmiri, lacking, ladies, lady, pandits, people, pictures, privacy, room, single, turquoise, unhygienic, women
