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Showing posts from March, 2011

Born To Work

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Child Labour in India India! “The fastest growing economy” that’s what comes in our mind, when we speak of India but it is unfortunately only one side. In India we can see some of the richest men in the world with the biggest industries. But on the other hand we can also see some of the poorest communities of the world. These communities can hardly make their living; they don’t earn even a dollar despite of their hard work. The children of these communities are the most effected, they face a very tough life right from their child hood. They are not lucky enough to be cared in their tender ages. These children have to pay a huge price for their existence. Child labour is at its peak in India despite hollow slogans from the Indian government. There are millions of children under the age of 14 who are working only to survive. They work for food, they work to be alive. The main reason behind child labour is poverty and growing population adds fuel to it. These children are working ever...

PATTAN IN HISTORY

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Sankaragaurisvar Temple Pattan Pattan is a small town located on Srinagar Muzafarabad national highway and it is some 27 KMTR’S north of Srinagar .In Kalhana’s Rajtarangni town Pattan is written as “Shankarpora Pattan”. Later Shanankarpora Pattan came to known as “Pattan”. In Sanscrit ‘Pattan’ means ‘water body’. During the kingdom of King Sankarverman, Pattan was the capital of Kashmir. Pattan was a business centre for wool, livestock and grains. There was a lack of ground routes. So, maximum transportation took place through the water. As Pattan was situated near a water body, it was considered an important business centre. Parihaspora Pattan The Sugandesh and Sankaragaurisvar temples located in Pattan (locally known as Paandav Larie) were constructed by King Sankerverman. The temples are about 300 meters apart; both are declared as protected monuments by Archaeological survey of India. King Sankerverman demolished some old temples at Pari...

Fading culture of Houk sun

Zahid Qayoom Bhat Mohammad Shafi, along with his wife, was cutting some vegetables into small pieces. Then they spread these vegetable pieces all around the lawn and left them for drying. Shafi is used to this practice since his childhood. “We dry vegetables and use them in winter because there is scarcity of fresh vegetables in winter,” says 70-years-old Shafi. These dried vegetables are locally known as “houk-sun”. “In early winter days, there used to be heavy snowfall in winters Kashmir valley. All the agricultural activity stopped. Jhelum Valley Road, now known as Srinagar-Muzafarabad Road was the only link for the valley to the outside world. This road was blocked as soon as snow mounted up due to which import of food items, especially fresh vegetables, from Rawalpindi was also stopped. Then people used these dry vegetables from November to March,” says 67-year-old Abdul Aziz. “The dry vegetables also keep us warm in winter,” he adds. The ...