Trarkhel Azad #Kashmir

Planing for summer holidays??? Why not go to a trip to Kashmir????

There are many advantages of going to Pakistan or Kashmir, to count few;

• You can see beauty at it's peak with a blend of both rural and urban life. 
• Shocked to see hustle and bustle of cities and amazed to feel calmness, freshness and peace of villages.
• Pakistan is rich with variety of scenic beauty of lush green valleys, towering snow covered mountains, with flowing waters of springs, rivers and waterfalls.
• World second highest peak K-2 is in Pakistan. 
• There are colors of nature blended with colors of traditions, you will see nature at it's peak with variety of traditions. 
• You will also realize that the propaganda that your media is doing against Pakistan is black - one with no reality on ground. 
• Above all it will cost you few hundred Dollars ($). 

In my blog, I try to concentrate more on Kashmir and to introduce you will different cities/ villages of Kashmir. If you want to have  a look on few cities of Kashmir then check here to see Pallandri and here to see some amazing pictures of natural beauty and have a look on flowing waters of waterfalls click here. Check here to read about Virgin Beauty of Kashmir Neelum Valley.  To check my YouTube video about Kashmir check here. If you have checked my previous post about two cities of Kashmir,  I will take you on a trip of another village of Azad Kashmir today. 

Great advantage of going to Trarkhel is that, you will cross Pearl of Kashmir, the city of natural beauty Rawalakot then you will see wonders of man-made lake Banjosa and finally reach your destination with spiritual feels and blessings of natural beauty. 

I tried to put as much details about the town as possible. I do not think that you can find such details anywhere else. 

Trarkhel is a small town at the distance of 1.5 hours from Rawalakot. The distance of Trarkhel from Rawalpindi is 2 hours 33 minutes (131 Kilometer) via Pallandri- Hajira Road. It’s elevation is 6502 Ft. from sea level. 

According to Wikipedia different spellings are used for this city like; Tarar Khel, Tarar Khal, Tararkhel and Tararkhal  

Trarkhel is the biggest Tehsil of District Sudhnoti. Pallandri is District Head quarter and Deputy Commissioner and staff sit in Pallandri but there are offices of administrations and Assistant Commissioner sits in Trarkhel.

Before 1995 District Sudhnoti with all of its four Tehsils Pallandri, Balloch, Trarkhel and Mang was part of District Poonch whose head quarter is Rawalakot, Azad Kashmir.

It is a hilly area with high pine trees and lush green valley. Along with natural beauty and variety of wild flowers, trees and fruits. People of Trarkhel love to grow flowers in their gardens, in front of their homes. You can see the pictures of few varieties that people grow there. 

Trarkhel is connected to other parts of Azad Kashmir with a road. From Rawalakot to Trarkhel the condition of road is good as mostly people use Gouin Nala road to go to Rawalpindi, Pakistan. But the road joining Trarkhel to Pallandri is not that good. Nowadays construction work is under process and hopefully this road will be fine again. Before the construction of Gouin  Nala road mostly people going from Rawalakot to Pallandri were using Trarkhel road but after construction of the alternative path people left to travel on this road and many bazaars on the road have vanished that were working just because of local transport and routes of the buses.

Fame:

Trarkhel is a beautiful place and tourist spot, it is famous for few reasons in Azad Kashmir.

• ·         Nerian sharif: This was a remote area and house of wild life once. There was nothing but a dense jungle. Long ago a sufi saint Mohiuddin Ghaznavi came here and started teaching Islam to people and after some time, people from all around started travelling to this place to learn about religion and it’s values from him. Until now, long after his death people travel to Nerian for the same purpose as his son is also following his footsteps and doing a lot of social work for the poor and orphans.
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• ·         Mohi-ud-din University: Alauddin Saddiqqi a dignified and intellectual personality of Trarkhel. He has built a private university near Trarkhel, the name of place is Nerian Sharif. The name of university is Mohi-ud-Din Islamic University Nerian Sharif (MU).  Visit this link to go to official site of university; http://www.miu.edu.pk/ . This university is also recognized by Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC). Ala-ud-din Saddiqi chancellor of MU is also running a TV channel in UK with name Noor TV. More information can be checked on the website; www.thenoor.tv . Alla-ud-din Saddiqui is also founder of Mohi-ud-din trust and Chairman of Al-Ehya Trust that helps poor, needy and orphans, educate them along with providing them food and accommodation.
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• ·         Tomb of Khwaja Pir Ghulam Mohiuddin Ghaznavi: There is also a shrine of Khwaja Pir Ghulam Mohiuddin Ghaznavi who was a religious sufi scholar and saint in Nerian. An annual praying ceremony is held, where thousands of people visit from around the world. This tomb is now called Darbar Aalia Nerian Sharif. The details can be checked here; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerian_Sharif . The Allauddin Siddiqui the son of Mohi-ud-din Saddiqui has also constructed a medical college in Azad Kashmir in Mirpur named Mohi-ud-din Islamic Medical College, Mirpur.
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• Danna Pothi Mir Khan : The thing that make it a tourist attraction is the place named
  
  Danna Pothi Mir Khan. This place is famous because of 22 Deodar trees that are so closely placed that it seem that there is one tree. These trees were planted in era of Maharaja Hari Singh that was using this route to go to Occupied Kashmir and  used to take some rest at this spot during his journey as this spot is situated at a high place. He order for the plantation of Deodar trees here and then these trees were planted. There is a nearby water spring where he, his wife and other soldiers etc. used to drink water, it is called Baei until now.  
  

 Many people from Pakistan and Kashmir come to visit this place daily. Many school trips are arranged to visit Deodar and Mohi-ud-din university.

Literacy rate/ Jobs:

In all the areas of Azad Kashmir, literacy rate is very high including Trarkhel. There are many government and private schools and colleges in the area. There are separate government colleges for boys and girls.

Most of the people of District Sudhnoti are serving in army including Trarkhel. There are not much options with the people for earning. Many are government servants in different departments, others run their business and rest are abroad in other countries.

Females:

Females do not have much options for jobs with them. Normally they become teachers in private/government schools colleges and university. Few go in medicine as there is limited quota in medical colleges for females.

Holidays:

Trarkhel is winter station and due to rain and snow in winter all the schools/colleges and university is closed for winter. Rest the market and offices remain open. 

Social Life & Living :

• ·         Religion: Almost 100% population is Muslim. Hardly with few homes of Christians. Many masjids are constructed by the locals to facilitate the public to perform religious rituals and prayers. There are few grand masjids in market where Friday prayer is offered and people from surrounding area travel to market to offer special Friday prayer. There is much hustle and bustle in the market area on that day. Many seem busy with grocery after the prayer.
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• ·         Dress: Male use a long shirt till their knees, shirt normally as collars and cuffs with a trouser. Females also wear long shirt but it do not have collar and cuffs with trouser. Females also wear a long piece of cloth to cover hair and upper part of body called dupatta.
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• ·         Marriages: In whole Kashmir people are conservative and stick with their traditions. They normally do not allow cross cast marriages. Members of a certain cast prefer marrying with people of their own cast. If not all, more than 95% marriages are arranged by family members. Main tribe of the Trarkhel is Sudhan.
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• ·         Houses: Few decade before people were living in mud houses but now mostly concrete houses are constructed. After earth quake of 8th Oct 2005 people prefer to build concrete walls as majority of mud houses fell in a massive shake with the magnitude of 7.8 in Richter scale with center near Capital Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir.

Facilities:

·         Roads: There is a network of roads on hills to join small towns together. People have their cars who can afford, rest travel by local buses, Suzuki and jeeps. At few places there are no means of transportation and roads are not constructed/carpeted. There are mud roads and jeeps move on them. At some places people also use donkeys and horses to carry goods and construction material to build houses. People also prefer walking on foot to their homes from main market place.

• ·         Water: Mostly people use water for household use from natural springs and there is a water scheme by government that is limited and few get its benefit. Some also have hand pumps to use at homes. Females carry pitchers on their heads full of water from the springs for drinking purposes.
• ·         Gas: Gas of cylinders is used for cooking near market area and away on hilly side people prefer burning wood from the jungle as they cut the tree for free.
• ·         Electricity: People have electricity at their houses who are near markets, still there are some places where electricity has not reached. People suffer heavy load shedding in summer and do not have electricity for more than 18 hours. Even having a Mangla Dam in Mirpur people of Kashmir suffer most power shortage and many businesses are effected due to power break down.
• ·         Mobiles & Internet: After the earth quake, permission was granted to mobile companies to operate and set up their towers in Kashmir. Before that, no mobile company was in Kashmir and people were relying on landline and there is a SCO digital exchange in town to provide people with facility. After earth quake all mobile companies set up their towers and people started using mobiles with ease and soon came the internet facility with wireless networks. Many are using internet on their mobiles and few use PTCL devices to connect with the world through net.
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• Climate:

      The weather is pleasant in summer, temperature range from 25-30C. In winter there is heavy rain and snow. All the nearby mountains are covered with a sheet of white snow.

• ·         Crops: People grow wheat and corn in their fields with some seasonal vegetables. The crops they grow are normally for their own use or just to feed chicken they have at homes for eggs and meat. The soil is very fertile but due to lack of use of technology people do not make much profit from land and normally people do not have much land with them and what they have, is hilly.
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• ·         Fruits: Whole Kashmir is a fruit paradise. There are many fruits trees grown naturally and in many places people grow themselves. Apple, orange, walnut, plum, peach, pear and pomegranate trees can be seen everywhere. People enjoy different the juicy fruits in different seasons.
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• ·         Pets: People have chicken, pigeons, cows, buffalos, goats, lamb and dogs as pets at home. 

Rest House/ Market:

There is a rest house for tourist, hospital, market having few hundred shops with all basic necessities of life and  many other government and private schools and offices are situated in the town.

People are very hospitable. They are always happy to welcome the guests; serve guests with traditional food and drinks. 

For the pictures of Trarkhel and surrounding open below link;

http://www.pbase.com/hgharib/thrarkhal

Google satellite image of Trarkhel can be checked here;

http://www.citymaphq.com/pakistan/azad_kashmir/trarkhel.html

Photos of nearby place Madhole Azad Kashmir

http://www.panoramio.com/user/7015496?show=all

List of cities near Trarkhel;

http://www.gomapper.com/travel/list-of-cities-near/trarkhel.html

For map of Danna Pothi Mir Khan click here;

http://1geo.info/map/333780

All the pictures are sent by my Friend Bazga who is from Trarkhel. 

Neelum Valley #Kashmir

Today I want to share with you some information and pictures of journey into a magical valley of Paradise Kashmir known as Neelum Valley. If you are not sure about Kashmir name and meaning then visit here.

Kashmir is a disputed area divided into three parts between India, Pakistan and China for the history check this link.  I have written a poem about Kashmir, you can check here. 

Neelum Valley: 

When this names comes to my mind, the sound of air spreading music with the movement of its cider, pine, deodar and fruit trees start soothing my mind. A lot of sites are there that will be busy praising the splendor of this magical land. I think I do not have suitable words to write about it’s beauty.

The name Neelum Valley is because of the fact that the valley is surrounded by bluish green Neelum River. Neelum mean Blue.

It’s heartwarming lush green valleys, gigantic snow-capped  peaks that loom on upper part of valley and line the horizon, finest soothing forests of cider, pine, fir and deodar with milky waterfalls, springs, fresh water lakes nested in mountains and river make it a wonder land.

I will provide you will the links of many websites that you can check to see amazing pictures from this valley. This valley is situated some 4000 m above the sea level.

This valley at 8000 ft. height  is a dream land and I can not describe what one feels for being there the land seems enchanting. It’s soothing air, fresh water springs and the crystal clear waters make it a fairy land. It is believed that fairies descend on lakes. It is gifted with excellent scenery by the Almighty Allah and I think if I tell you,” this valley tops the list of most beautiful valleys of Pakistan” you can guess about the beauty that is there to welcome you.

Fast flowing River Neelum winds across the valley downhill and meets and Jehlum River at Donail in Muzaffrabad. The river water is freezing cold because of melting snow from the mighty snow covered hills.

When you are bored of your routine and fed up of the hotness of your place, I will strongly recommend you to take a break and have a look what nature save for you in this gem. The temperature in May remains between 18⁰C to 30^oC.  It’s charming in summer but in winter extreme weather conditions with heavy snowfall covers whole area with unbearable cold breeze. 

Snow fall starts in upper part in November and afterwards in lower parts and it is hard to reach there as all the roads are closed normally because of heavy snowfall.

A new road has been constructed parallel to roaring Neelum River to reach this dream land but still it is not complete and it goes till Dowarian. Rest you have to go by four wheel drives(jeeps) or by horses. If you travel for the first time in a hilly area then be careful. Do not sit towards river as you can easily get scared.

This valley brings some special feelings to my mind as when for the first time Athmakam was announced as headquarter of, 90 miles Neelum Valley with 20,000 residents. This valley is at the distance of 84 km from capital Muzaffarabad and is at the height of 1371 m from sea level. My father was appointed in Head quarter to look after the matters. Then he also served in Hattain bala and finally passed 3 years of his life in Sharda and Neelum Valley. At that time new road was not built and he have to travel for couple of days to reach there after staying in different places. 

The name Ath-mukam  is taken from the fact as it is 8^th station from to valley from Muzaffarabad. Ath is Urdu word for 8 and Mukam mean place or station. Interesting… isn’t it???

You will be amazed to know that one side of Neelum rizer is part of Azad Kashmir and other side is occupied by India. Brothers are separated by this river and when they have some important function or any sad happening in family, they call each other from banks of river and sing and dance in case of happiness and condole in case of any death. But can not meet and touch hands and never visited each other. Children have grown up by looking at each other from banks of the river.

There are many hotels near river and rest house in Athmuqam.

When my father was there he called us to visit this highly fascinating magical land and my eyes cannot believe the scenery that I see there the scenic beauty absorbed me. Valley is profound with fruits and wildlife. Apple and walnuts are very famous and also sent to other parts of the country. It was like, if I am not on earth. All the tiredness finished after reaching there. There were not much ways for communication at that time and there was a special sim that was given to government employees to keep in touch with the capital Muzzaffrabad and family. There is also a factory that makes the furniture of fit, cider and deodar and it is believed that this furniture lasts for more than 100 years.

It was rule of the Government of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K) that no one will be appointed there for more than 1 year as during winter whole area is blocked and the officers were just locked up in their quarters with fir/deodar burning inside in rooms. The boredom was killing and many can get some serious health issue, because of continuous exposure to heat and boredom. But the people of the valley liked my father a lot and government was so much happy that my father lived there for more years and finally he became heart patient and while coming back from Athmuqam in 2007 he got his first heart attack. But he is a man of strong nerves and courage and finally with his will power in that condition reached Rawalpindi after travelling 8-9 hours.

These memories bring tears to my eyes.

Villages:

There are different villages, I am listing down few of them. 

Patika is gateway to Neelum valley and has bazaar that provides with all essentials for living to villagers . The rhythmic crystal clear water of waterfalls amaze the visitors. Trout fish is in abundance in waters and mostly people visit to enjoy trout fish and do fishing there. Jagran Nallah is famous for Trout Fish. 

There is a rest house in Kutton. The valley is famous of its revealing charming landscape. There are two famous hiking tracks as well. Tracking, hiking and camping is famous . 

Keran military bridge is finest spot to spend a night as there is no shelling or firing across the border after ceasefire on Line of Control(LOC). 2 ½ km from Keran is Neelum Valley. Entire occupied Kashmir can be seen from here. 

A high Alpine Lake and a Ratti Gali lake are situated in Dowarian which is at the distance of 13 km from Neelum valley. People cross the river by ropes, that is like a dangerous adventure, yet thrilling. 

Tao Butt is famous for forest wealth with abundance of vegetation and wild walnuts, strawberries with other trees and herb growth.

The valley provides with a captivating scenery with its gushing waters and forests. Sharda valley is tucked deep inside the mountains.  In Sharda there are remains of one of the oldest universities of Asia named Sharda University. The pictures of ruins of the ancient university can be seen here. These ruins attract many archaeologist from different places. This was a great place of learning starting in Buddhist rule till Hindu and Muslim rule. 

This beauty leaves an everlasting and captivating impression of pleasure  in your mind and soul. This valley offers plenty of opportunity to visitors to see the diversity and beauty at it’s peak. 

Many students of botany and other sciences of different universities of Azad Kashmir and Pakistan visit this place to collect data and samples of the vegetation. 

Neelum Valley is the place were you will feel yourself most alive and at peace. 

Lakes: 

There are four famous lakes in the area named;

1. Barkatia Lake – Ratti Gali altitude 3700m,
2. Chitta Katha Lake – Kel altitude 2097m,
3. Dakh Lake - Junai,
4. Shounter Lake – Shounter valley 3100m,

At any point of the year there can be rain and sudden change in weather so it is highly recommended to be prepared for cold and keep warm cloth with you.

If you carefully plan your trip then you can get maximum advantage, pleasure and enjoyment from the visit. Before planning the visit contact information centers and make sure if the routes are open. 

This beauty of nature is enhanced by traditionally built wooden huts and terraced fields. The residents of this breath taking place are hospitable and live in harmony and peace. 

Visit to this place really make your life full and for sure the visit can never been forgotten. I think now you have enough travel inspiration and it is easy for you to decide where to go. In my view this is an exceedingly beautiful place. 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 

For more information you can visit these links. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neelam_Valley

http://www.ajktours.com/index.php/2011/07/visit-neelum-valley/

http://www.valleytrackers.com/cms/

For Pictures: 

http://www.ajktourism.gov.pk/en/index.php/ajk/neelum

http://poonchazadkashmir.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-beautiful-neelum-valley-kashmir.html

Facebook Page of Neelum Valley

https://www.facebook.com/neelum.valley.ajk/photos_stream

Most Beautiful places of Pakistan:

http://www.wonderslist.com/10-best-natural-places-to-visit-in-pakistan/

For trip, track, map and Facilities details;

http://mzees.hubpages.com/hub/Tour-of-Neelum-Valley-Azad-Kashmir-Pakistan

Images: 

All pictures are shared by my friend Meryye and her friends. I really want to thank them who took these wonderful pictures on their trip to Neelum valley and shared with me. 

#Rain, Rain Please Come our Way.

Rain is a great blessing of Allah. It change the dry, dead earth and gives it a new life. The parts of the world that acquire more rain annually are full of greenery and vegetation.

The parts with less annual rainfall are mostly dry.

There is very small amount of annual rainfall in Saudi Arabia. On average there is 101.3 mm rainfall per year in Riyadh, Capital of Saudi Arabia and it’s largest city.

From few months people here in Riyadh were desperate about rain and there were many prayers in masjids for the rain. People asked Allah to descend rain from sky to finish dust storms that was creating a lot of problems from few weeks.

Every day everyone will open the window in morning to see if it is raining or if there are any clouds on sky. But the eyes turned dry and sad, as there was not even a single cloud in sky. 

Yesterday I could not sleep properly as was busy talking to family till late at night and afterwards sleepless night. Around 2-3:00 a.m. I heard the sound of rain drops on my window. I got up quickly, opened my window and thanked Allah for the cool breeze and drops of rain. The temperature fall quickly and there was a freshness in air. I was so happy and then I slept with peace Alhamdulillah.

When I woke up in morning it was raining. I told to my daughter and she started jumping as she loves to see the rain. Everything changed after a short rain. Red Sand dunes in the desert look beautiful and shinny after the rain. People rush towards their camps in the deserts to enjoy the freshness of the air.

In the desert people walk, run, BBQ, enjoy car race and check the powers of their vehicles by going on high sand dunes. Many videos on internet circulate showing people enjoying in sand.

Rain change everything in few hours, no matter how slow it falls. This is one of the biggest blessings of Almighty Allah. It brings freshness in air. 

I remember the verse from Holy Quran Surat Rahman,

" Which blessing of your Lord will you deny?"

I have some amazing pictures of rain from month of December. I hope you will be amazed to see water flooding on the roads of Riyadh. 

I hope and pray that Allah descend frequent rains in Saudi Arabia and turn this beautiful desert area into a lush green country.  

Some facts about Riyadh can be checked here. 

All the pictures are from last rain in Riyadh, taken by few friends. #streetphotography  

#Kashmir: Fresh waters of Pallandri.

I was wondering what to share on blog today. Then on my Facebook news feed page, I came across a beautiful picture of my area Pallandri, Azad Kashmir, shared by my cousin. The picture of waterfall was amazing. I asked him if he can send me the pictures. He whats app me all his pictures and I thought to share with you as well.

Many of you may not be aware about Kashmir. 

You may be wondering about the word, check here to know about origin and meaning of Kashmir. Just as a short introduction here; Kashmir is a disputed area and divided between India and Pakistan since 1947. People of Kashmir are struggling to get their right of self determination and Kashmir has been torn and is bleeding. There is no one who wants to listen to, what people of Kashmir wish for. Apart from being the oldest unsolved issue on the charter of United Nations,  Kashmir is famous because of its magical beauty and fresh-waters. There are many lakes and rivers in Kashmir. 

You can check a video from different amazing places of Kashmir here. 

In a previous blog post I have written about Pallandri, it is the head quarter of District Sudhnoti. You can check the post about Pallandri here. The winter of Pallandri is as beautiful as its spring. There is another post about winter in Pallandri, I hope you will check that too. The winter is cold and full of snow. I have also shared about the snow of my area that I used to enjoy during my childhood. You can enjoy that post here.

Now after checking above link, you may know little bit about Kashmir and a small town Pallandri. Now its time to come back to today's post. You can see some incredible pictures of waterfalls in this post. This water is actual beauty of Pallandri and Kashmir as a whole. I am always happy to see such scenes while travelling to Pallandri. Still the beautiful sound of flowing water is like a music to my ears. The freshness of falling cold waters, takes the breath away. Visit to such places always relax me and leaves a positive impact on my personality. Nature always do us a lot of favors but we are not much willing to be close to nature. 

If I think about Pallandri, then during my childhood, everywhere we will go, we will be accompanied with flowing waters from the mountains along the roads. 

We used to stop and swim in water, though now, I do not actually remember how to swim. When all my friends are jumping in swimming pool I am just sitting on side and enjoy my coffee. But believe me I was good at jumping from high rocks into the water and staying for long time underwater without any aid for breathing. That was actually a fun game for all the kids. 

The change in environment is effecting everything including beauty and waters of my Pallandri, Pollution is having adverse effect on the climate. Now we have to search for such sites, where we can see natural water flowing. There were plenty of natural resources of water but now, such sites are hardly visible. All of us are aware of importance of water. Water is our life and now, it is disappearing from face of earth. 

Pallandri was covered with trees and was surrounded by jungle of tall pine and cider trees with water flowing through its mountains and falling into River Jehlum at Azad Pattan. But unfortunately, extensive cutting and summer fire has damaged the jungle a lot. No one is interested in planting more trees but old are just cut and used. This too is affecting the cool, amazing weather of Pallandri.

I feel blessed for being the resident of the Kashmir but sadly,

we are destroying our heaven. Serious talks apart, just want to share few pictures, you can enjoy these pictures as I did. I hope you will love all of them and you will feel freshness in your soul as well. The magic of Kashmir is because of it's #‎hillyland‬ , air sings with the sound of  ‪#‎riverflow. ‬‪#‎kashmir‬ is truly a heaven on earth and no match of it's ‪#‎naturalbeauty‬ anywhere in the world. Many of my friends who traveled to Kashmir tell me that it is more beautiful than Switzerland. The only problem is lack of  facilities and difficulty to approach there because of long visa process.

Who ever have read this post I think must ‪#‎readyforcoldwater‬  and ‪#‎familytime‬. It helps us in many ways that we can not even count. 

I love this picture on left side. Is not it amazing how water can even shape the stone for its way?

Most of these pictures were taken at Khuirrata, Pallandri by one of my cousin Muazma Khan and few other friends. Thank you Siraj for sending me pictures and thank you Muazama for capturing beautiful scene.

What is the importance of being close to nature??? What affect such scenes have on our personality and life???? What is your opinion ???

I have created first picture using: http://apps.pixlr.com/express/

I find it such an amazing app. You can also try it. 

I have tried this app for the first time. Not sure how much more magic it has but I feel it easy to use. Hopefully I will explore it more. 

#Life: Do not stop Questioning.

    World is stopping you to ask?? Do not Stop!!

I do not know if after sharing my posts on Face book or Twitter anyone really wants to listen to what I am saying or not?? But I believe that they are listening. We are often told, what we will think, ultimately will be true.  

In process of revamping my blog, I always try to experiment about stuff. Sometimes I have a lot of ideas to write about and at times, even desperate try do not show productive results.

Today I want to share an inspirational quote by Albert Einstein with you, 

“Learn from yesterday, Live for today, Hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop Questioning.” 

This quote always encouraged me in times of despair as it gives me a precious thoughtful push and hope. I am not sure about others what they get from this, but it tells me; not to regret but learn from mistakes and do not live in yesterday but today. If we will always regret about mistakes in our past we cannot have time to learn and improve our future. Whatever is the case, we must be courageous to question not from us but also from others. This is only way we can be benefited and can learn from our mistakes and experiences of others.  All of us want to go after our heart but always our mind stop us, so in that situation we must ask from ourselves, why heart wants this and why our mind is stopping us?

You can not always have a response that you want in reply to any of your question but you must not lose hope and keep on looking and asking ultimately you will get what you want to learn. I feel this is the secret of success. 

Try to live every moment of your life now, not in yesterday. Try to learn from mistakes and experiences and improve your future. We must live for today as if we will remain in past we will miss the joy of today. We should think good, what we think, we ultimately get that. 

Therefore try to move in right direction by keeping eye on outcomes and do not be depressed to ask, whatever comes to your mind. You will learn more by questions that you will ask. Do not stop them but let them go. Questioning helps in learning about stuff and deciding about better path towards the destination.  

Now it's your turn. 

What thought this quote brings to you?? What you have chosen to live for ; Past, Present or Future!!  Above all;

WHY YOU SHOULD NOT STOP QUESTIONING????

#Kashmir Solidarity Day: 5th February

Kashmir, a paradise on Earth. But sadly this heaven is facing pain from years. Our homeland has been brutally divided by force into two parts; Azad Kashmir( with Pakistan)  and Occupied Kashmir( with India). We can say,

  Kashmir a Divided Heaven

No serious action has been taken from many years to solve Kashmir issue. Kashmir Problem is oldest problem in UN and now I think this must be addressed and solved in a peaceful way. Many experts have expressed their views about Kashmir and many suggestions have been given for the solution of main dispute between India and Pakistan.

I do not have much knowledge about the history of issue and agreements that have been made between these two countries. As a Kashmiri, I just want to express my feelings and belief about the issue on 5^th February, that is celebrated as Kashmir Solidarity Day.

People express their passion, aggression and concern about the issue. They are concerned about the future of their children. No one knows in Azad and Occupied Kashmir, when they will be able to see each other and the distances of the decades will finish. Any patriot can easily understand the attachment to homeland and the blood, spiritual and psychological connection to each other on both sides is no surprise.

Kashmir is torn--It's bleeding

Kashmir dispute is main cause of anger, aggression and hatred among the people of India and Pakistan. India and specially Pakistan is under terrorist attacks, recently, you may have come across news of terrorist attacks in a school of Peshawar, Pakistan. Most of the time after every attack there is a blame game between India and Pakistan. The enmity between these two countries is increasing because of unresolved issue of Kashmir. Both the countries were pushed in war three times from their independence in 1947 over the issue of Kashmir.

Now a days  the condition in Pakistan is critical as Pakistan is a ally in war against terror that has cost thousands of lives of civilians, army personnel , property and resources.

Over the past years, some efforts were made to solve issue between India and Pakistan via dialogue and little progress of contact were made by Samjota Express and bus service between different cities of Kashmir. Such efforts are not enough to bring these countries near each other and bring peace. Many issues between India and Pakistan can be solved by dialogue and mutual understanding. But the way towards peace starts with the consideration of issue of Kashmir. Understanding the problem and accepting Kashmir as dispute between two countries. Dialogue cannot be effective unless started to solve Kashmir dispute. Kashmir issue must be addressed and solved as soon as possible. Both countries must show some courage to come on table and be open to the issue of Kashmir.

Where these is hate and jealousy there cannot be peace and harmony.

It cannot be said that the people of both countries cannot live with peace with each other. If we consider the history when country was one and people of all the religions lived with each other from centuries together with peace.

India and Pakistan are facing some problem due to corruption and natural calamities but rest of the problems are linked to the problem of Kashmir, in one way or another. The destruction, militant groups and attacks are just because of unrest and issue of Kashmir.

Both India and Pakistan are using large sum of money for the production of nuclear weapons and for sure this is linked with Kashmir dispute. Both countries believe somewhere deep inside that may be some day they have to come face to face again over the issue of Kashmir like past three wars between both countries that have been fought over the  issue of Kashmir. Both countries are trying to get ready for that war, that is actually very sad as we are not thinking about peace but war, that is not the solution of problems, many wars have been fought in the world and not even one helped to resolve the issue.

People of both the countries are living below poverty line and both are wasting their resources on weapons and missiles and bombs.

If the issue between two countries are resolved with dialogue then there is no need to deploy both the armies on the highest battle filed of Sia Chin glacier and on other snow covered disputed areas.

This move cannot only save a lot of resources which both countries are spending for the living of soldiers in severe weather conditions but  also the money that is being used to buy or produce weapons for long standing armies of both countries.

Many times throughout the year we hear about the violation of cease fire and agreements on the Line of Control (LOC). Obviously each gun shot or the missile fired cost a lot to both countries and hinders both countries from the economical development and peaceful living.

If both countries settle sensibly the Kashmir issue according to the wishes of Kashmiris, it will bring peace to both countries and then the defense budget can be utilized for the welfare of people.

Any solution cannot be acceptable, if the people of Kashmir are not included in dialogue. Over past years some efforts were made and the representatives from both sides were included in dialogue and were allowed to see each other as well but unfortunately due to non cooperative behavior from India side the dialogue couldn't continue. So the solution of issue is yet to be found.

After recent referendum in Scotland, an example has been set to give a chance to the people to decide for their future. I think this example is now set to follow the steps. There are many in Kashmir who want to be United but referendum can help to know about the wishes of people if they want to live with India or Pakistan.

No matter how the solution is found, I hope someday I will be able to visit the Kashmir on the other side of the LOC that is just 10 km away from my home. I can see cars moving on roads and sparkling window planes of the buildings. Shining water of the river and lush green valley but cannot breathe in the air and my feet cannot touch the ground on other side of boarder.

We must not forget the realities and our past. I think youth must know about all the details, as if we do not know about our past, we cannot build a secure future. We in Kashmir are still thinking about Simla Agreement and talking about it and regretting the violations. Watching toward UN and trying to seek help. World has moved way forward, there can be many solutions, if we want to find and talk about them. 

What you will say about this issue of Kashmir between India and Pakistan??? What do you believe, is it fine to keep families separated by Line of Control (LOC) and do not allow them to meet?? Is it fine to deprive people from their home land?? Until when this can be done with force??

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