How Kashmir waits for its next generation to take the test

As the leaves of the Chinar change colour, the water in the lake waits to freeze, waiting for another winter to wrap its cloak of white around the hurting city - Srinagar.

Four months have passed since the current unrest began in the Valley… the shutters remain down, an odd car here and there, furtive looks, the auto-stand with a single auto… Srinagar’s Lal Chowk bare, Downtown area empty except for the heavily armed CRPF personnel standing guard.

Things may have overtly calmed down considerably, life is clawing its way back on its feet, out on the streets there is the palpable sense of something being amiss - an underlying current of tension and fear. Something that an outsider can’t put a finger on, it is still a conflict zone.

And the latest casualty in the Valley is education and the youth.

Around 32 schools have been damaged during the unrest and most other educational institutes have remained shut since July 8, the day millitant Burhan Wani was killed by the armed forces. School after school across the city, the same sight.

Locked gates, bolted classrooms, CRPF on the grounds. Quiet corridors, the missing rush of naughty feet, the silenced sound of laughter and shouts, the bells that do not end periods, the absent feel of a teacher passing by, bereft of students the dusty labs, the unoccupied chairs and the tables piled up in a corner - installation pieces of art.

Witness to the loss of generations.

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