WINTERS IN KASHMIR
‘Kashmir’, whenever anybody hears this word the imaginations of its beauty, nature and winters springs to mind. There is no doubt that Kashmir is considered a “PARADISE ON EARTH”, and of course should be called. The winters in Kashmir are very famous throughout the world, even most of the kashmiri cultures and traditions are practiced during winters, that is why the winters in Kashmir are so famous. The first thing which makes winters in Kashmir so famous, is the heavy snowfall. All children get very thrilled for the first snowfall of the year and wait eagerly for the pleasure to play with the first snow!
And while waiting for the snowfall children recall their last winters and their snow plays and make even more exciting plans for making their another winter unforgettable ,catchy
and full of adventures. The next thing which makes winters in Kashmir truly different from other places is the “FAMILY GATHERINGS “during this season. As the winters in Kashmir
are cold and chilly, the government of Kashmir declare winter breaks for all schools. So, every family starts practicing its culture ;they sit together having their traditional tea, nun-chai(salted tea) or the tea made using salt,nun-chai leaves and baking soda (for pink colour) served in their tradition kettle “SAMAVAAR”, with beautiful handcrafting done on it.
All the people of Kashmir wear a long gown type cloth, called as Phiran and an earthen pot, which is made of mud inside and covered with wooden sticks outside and contains burning coal in ash which gives the warmth. This Earthen pot is called as Kanger in kashmiri language. The best thing about the family gathering during winters is that it makes forget every stress of work which was going on during summers. Actually the winters in Kashmir is a kind of holiday for the people due heavy snowfalls and people get
busy with their family leaving work aside during these beautiful winters. And the most important place in Kashmir which plays an essential role in making Kashmir a Paradise on the earth, is of course Gulmarg. If any person wants to really enjoy the winters of Kashmir there is no place better than this epic one. Most of the families make planes to visit this soothing, pleasant and of course chilled place for making their winters really memorable.
So coming back to family gathering, the place where the family gathers or sits usually during winters and have discussions and conversations is called “Hammam”. It’s a room which is usually used during winters because of its advantage of heating the whole room floor. Kashmiri people prefer this room in their houses to enjoy the winters of Kashmir with full confidence and happiness.
As winters of Kashmir is so famous, many visitors also visit here to enjoy winters of Kashmir. They visit here to enjoy the cool and mind refreshing winters to relax them selves from all the worries , problem and stress, indeed! They commonly prefer to visit to Gulmarg as it adds to the beauty and this where nature defines the real beauty of the’ Paradise on earth’ , Kashmir! Undoubtedly, Gulmarg is very famous for its beauty during
winters and tourist attracting sports .Its famous for adventurous activities such a highest gondola ride , ice skating, ice hockey, skiing etc. No place can be visited for enjoying winter breaks rather than Gulmarg.
Every person existing in this world is busy with his own musings, problems and endless works but unfortunately, nobody even thinks about noticing the nature and its beauty by which they are surrounded every single moment, even once! They have completely forgotten about the world and its beauty which is indeed perfectly defined in Kashmir and during its chilled but truly soothing season by nature!
So finally, after gathering enough memories during the long breaks of winters season, it ends up usually in March and people again enter in their busy and timeless life because of their occupations , which of course is important for everyone but affects their conversations and bounding with their families too!
Article wrote about ‘Winter in Kashmir’.
By:
NUMA JAVAID 
CLASS:8TH ‘A’
DPS BUDGAM, J&K
email:-numaqureshi13@gmail.com
