Kashmir Tulips in Bloom

Kashmir Tulips, you're again in bloom. Why not! it's the spring, the loveliest season of the year in Kashmir. You probably do not know that some of your admirers cannot enjoy your fresh colours. They’re out of the bounds of Kashmir for about two decades now. You and lots of other flowers that bloom in the early spring especially Yemberzal, Virkem and bredmushek are also ignorant of their absence. The reason is not far to seek. They left with a hope to return soon. They didn’t land in any strangers land but in some other part of their own land. Their new found neighbours treated them well; helped them in their adversity but they couldn’t forget their divine mother Kashmir. The nostalgia of Kashmir, its scenes and scenery, mountains and valleys, water and snow dogged them persistently. Do you know they tried their best to bring in Kashmir in their vicinities. They made the replicas of their various temples, gods and goddesses that they worshipped there and named their ghettos and colonies by the same Kashmir gods and goddesses. They also tried to celebrate with the same gaiety many of their favourite Kashmir festivals but still they couldn’t get Kashmir closer to them. The nourishing cool breeze coming down from the majestic snow covered peaks, the shade of Chinars and Villows, the blessings of Mata Kshir-Bhawani and Sharika could not be approached. They even tried to plant some Kashmir flowers and bushes in their small gardens and fed them with cold water frequently but these got withered by the hot air of the plains. They had even tried their best to forget Kashmir by trying to get accustomed to the foods and other habits of the plains and speaking the language of their new found neighbours but your remembrances reverberated forcefully and today was the turn of your blossom that took the lead.