Children of Heaven

They are so real and honest in their expressions. There’s no pretence, no diplomacy. That is precisely why children are such an intriguing subject for photographers like me. They provide us with an infinite number of photo opportunities.
I travelled to Kashmir in June this year, with a lot of excitement about capturing the essence of childhood in a state like Kashmir. The children in Kashmir are the prettiest children I have ever seen! Their rosy cheeks, brownish hair and innocent eyes form a very poetic image. But Kashmir is cursed, and so are its people. I don’t need to go into how the history of Kashmir has been marred by the violence and bloodshed. It has taken a heavy toll on the lives of the children here. The way the municipality rickshaws make water shortage announcements in Mumbai, governments jeeps in Kashmir during curfews, make announcements which go like this- ‘If you step out, you will be shot. If you survive, you will be shot again.’
It is no surprise then, that the locals, especially the children are extremely hostile to any undue attention from tourists. During my stay in Kashmir, whenever I attempted to click pictures of the children, on seeing the camera, their faces would get clouded with suspicion and fear. As a photographer, the subject’s comfort and ease is one of my top priorities. So, to my disappointment, I got only a few good photos of the children in Kashmir.
The first picture was clicked by me, while on a shikara in the Dal Lake. The second picture, right outside of the gate of the royal Chasm-e-shahi Gardens in Srinagar. These little boys, along with thousands of other children in Srinagar had stepped out of their houses after 15 days of curfew. 15 days of gloom, of fear and of anticipation – a normalcy in the lives of these children of Paradise on Earth.