It all began on this night last year. An unfinished phone call to a friend got dropped and a redial didn’t help. With communication lines shut and a rumour mill churning fast I, like all the people of my homeland, was left guessing what will unfold next.
Next morning, I had just stepped out of the lobby door for a ‘holiday’ stroll that the big news on television pulled me back. A silence fell. Everyone sitting was taken aback. Who would’ve imagined of a robbery happening when the Sun was already shining? That very moment did I feel that the tremors will last long.
To witness those tremors, I rushed to my room, grabbed my camera and took leave of my family. No lunch that day as the appetite was gone.
My homeland, Kashmir, witnessed plenty of things since that missed lunch. Quelled protests, enforced curfews, gagged communications, missed classes, narrated tales of arrested boys and unarrested Coronavirus — you name it.
Today I completed a year’s survival. Looking back to that day, I can recollect all that my lens captured since and saved for this day.
Faisal Bashir is a young Kashmiri photojournalist. He travels throughout his homeland and clicks its history. All photos are by Faisal
