[My first article written for my school magazine when I was 13]
"All of us wait eagerly for our vacations just because of two major reasons.Firstly we get a little relief from studies, secondly we get time to visit our village.
I came to Chandigarh ten years before and joined my school when vacations were very near.My friends inquired from me where my Gaon was.I was speechless just because I never knew what the word Gaon meant?But as they told me the definition of Gaon meant where all your relatives live and where you go to spend your holidays.That very night i asked my parents and they told me, we don't have a Gaon,we hail from a city.On asking,they told me it is in Kashmir known as Srinagar,"Shall we go there?"was my instant reaction.They said nothing as they thought I would forget after some days but I didn't.
Whenever my father used to listen to any news about Kashmir, I used to be dragged happily, towards the news as my Gaon's name came on TV.
But as the days passed, months and years went by, I grew up and understood the real ground situation of my Gaon. I felt sad and helpless. My Gaon had become a place of massacres,firings and bomb explosions killing thousands of innocent people including old,young and small babies whose actual crime is still unknown to me..
Many left their homes and hearths for good,and never looked back.I am one of the children of those uprooted people who have become displaced in their own country. Like me their children don't know their roots and the motherland of their parents/grandparents. So the Gaon for me is just my imagination.
Today, I'm mature enough to define many things but I still don't know the definition of my Gaon.
Can you define my "Gaon"?
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9 comments:
I believe you or more broadly, Kashmiri's are not the only ones who have lost the definition of gaon.
I too am aware of the way in which ppl refer to the hometown as gaon. But for someone like me even, i don't hail from a gaon. As far back as seven generations that i have been able to trace back, we have lived in Kolkata. Prior to that, we lived in a place near Varanasi. Do i call that place my gaon. Can i even plan to go back there ever.
So what is the purpose of even getting to know which gaon you hailed from in the past. It's your present that defines you.
Dear Aeroinfi ,
Nice to know that it is present which matters but from past present blooms..when bruises of past turn into present scars one does cry..
One doesnt needs to be dragged out fo home at gun point and asked to eb converted and burn INDIAN FLAG to realise the meaning of GOAN..
Perhaps in our case after 30 generations we the breed of kashyaps will still search for our Goan...
Reason being .. I am not zionist or chauvinist.. but the void in our hearts has perplexed our DNA not jsut RNA so expecty 30th generation of Kashmiri Pandits asing for HOMELAND their GOAN.. Because SIKULARISTIC GOI is out to defend the terrorists not patriots thats why my little sis is stil looking for GOAN..
IN Now way kolkata or Banglore would eb my goan.. It is mY country and I love it but If I lose Kashmir today then I will lose kolkatta to DHAKA tommorrow
Thanks a lot
Veer JI Wangoo
I have tears in my eyes .. such a beautiful piece ... If only people could look at situations from young eyes ...
Whoever moves out of his native place out of choice .. can adopt any place to be his native place ...
But for people like us .. who have been forced out of our land .. we will always be searching for our identity .. "Gaon" here does not refer to a place only .. not to a village ... city .. country .. It refers to my identity!
Alas .. we have been left with no identity ...
Sugandhi .. we will fight for our gaon ... and we will surely get it back sooner or later!
differing points of views i'm sure. but you can't really blame me. is my point out place?
and what was that comment about the burning of the indian flag about. it was something done to a community i believe but again it has nothing to finding you 'gaon'.
hi .. i m not very sure well if i could ever define your gaon.. ya but what i can simply say is... the way you have written the artical.. at the age of 13.. oh dear.. its really.. appreciable... and i think just to define your gaon it will be good for you to stand in front of the mirror and give 5 mins to yourself.. stop thinking about those dam people... who are involved in al the evil deeds... and you will find that yes your gaon is the only beautifull place on earth... kyui woh kehte haina ... jaise aap ho waisa apka gaon hai.. may god bless you ... and i will pray to God that let all your wishes come true...
is this is an article written at the age of 13... n updated again later?
well to me my gaon is a place where all my relatives and friends live in... but now a days its hard to find a gaon at one place... some one is in b'lore and someone in delhi.. so u cant pin point on one place... our parents had the luxury to have a gaon named srinagar but in late 80s the genocide occured and the whole gaon vanished into the dark waters of jehlum...
i have been living in kashmir for past one and a half year and by checking the response of my elders they are not happy to return to the place that was used to be their gaon..... kashmir is worth a place to spend a fortnight or month but in present scenario its not possible to live there permanently......
@aeroinfo,bhawick
rupak the motive of the article wsnt to highlight anything but a childhood emotion,a childhood fantasy...thanks anyway
@khaqsar
thank you bhaiya for elaborating.
@rahul
thank you rahul you were nearest to the meaning..
@mr moody
thank you for your words..
@sandeep
yes,i'd written this when i was 13.
Thanks for writing it :)
I didn't have words when I read it first and still I'm none..
God Bless you. We'll go back to our Homeland...to our Village :)
After all we are fellow Rainawarins..
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