I never knew I had a flair for writing till I was in class 11. I realised there were issues that needed to be addressed and I took the onus of talking about these issues that concern me, on social media. I got into online spats primarily because my posts talked about the political situation in Kashmir and that is when I realised I needed to write more often because most people I interacted with knew just one side of the story. I believe that we all have the right to make informed choices and this is only possible when we know both sides of a story.
I have realised that mainstream discourse is market-oriented and experiences of people are nothing but a commodity which the media is going to alter and modify according to the demands of their audience. In this TRP hungry world, the truth is lost and what we have is just one truth – the truth that is commercially feasible. Media, which is supposed to be a vanguard of democracy, has completely sidelined journalistic ethos and is presenting to its viewers a partial-truth. The mass protests in Kashmir against the Indian State have been reduced to an imagery of a few ‘disenchanted youth’ pelting stones and violence. Then, the entire thing is described as a ‘law and order problem’.
Deeper questions of poverty, unemployment, oppression and human rights violations committed on the behest of the Indian State are not even touched upon and the whole debate is astutely steered into an India vs Pakistan debate to fuel pseudo-nationalism among the masses, and in the process, a Kashmiri gets labelled an ‘anti-national’ and a ‘terrorist-sympathiser’. I no longer feel surprised when someone gives me a suspicious stare when I tell them I am Kashmiri, for I know what they know about Kashmir is clearly a biased one-sided narrative as media has become the sycophant of the armed forces and the Indian State. I write because the ones who suffer shouldn’t be reduced to mere statistics. I write because each of them had a story that was never given a platform to be heard.
Each one of us suffers differently, each one of us has our own narratives. I always had this problem of how issues that concern me as a woman, Kashmiri, and a student are misrepresented. What I write won’t be the ultimate truth but at least it will have a resemblance to the experiences of so many voiceless people with whom I share an affinity of some sort. That’s why I write. I write so that what I consider the truth doesn’t get lost.
I believe I have the responsibility of breaking silence on whatever is happening because I can’t always blame the government or the media. Sometimes as an individual, I need to take a stand. For me then, writing becomes a political act – an act to register my voice. Writing for me is a protest against what I consider wrong.
Writing for me is an exercise of my rights to ensure all those ‘fundamental’ rights I’m entitled to and I believe it is my duty as a conscious human being to talk about those issues. I know my words won’t solve the problems of the world, but it will at least highlight them. Solutions don’t come from people holding high offices, but it comes from ordinary people like you and me. I write because I believe that the masses need to know our side of the story because if our voices aren’t the stakeholders in decisions that directly or indirectly impact us, it will have an adverse impact.
I write because I feel responsible for every single person suffering. Be it a kid dying in Syria or a farmer committing suicide. For my not taking a stand is a stand in itself. My silence on their issues would mean that I do not consider them important but these issues do not exist in isolation. I think we need to understand that deeper issues like conflict and poverty can knock our doors anytime. Our caste, class, gender and nationalities do not shield us or give us an edge because someday we might suffer and feel disheartened that no one raised a voice. Be that voice you would want someone to raise for you when your dignity as a human is belittled. Be that voice not for someone else but your own self.
If I don’t write, I become one of the thousands whose voices aren’t heard. I write to register my presence. I write because out of thousands subduing my voice, there might be someone who might be willing to at least acknowledge what I feel. I am a mere student whose only ammunition to wage a war against dehumanising forces is nothing but ‘words’. Who feels it, knows it. I write what I feel and it needs to be given a space because what I feel is an outcome of the power structures and hierarchies within our society/nation.
The more I write, the more sensitised I become to issues of the subaltern, because when I write I try to present the truth of those whose version of truth isn’t able to make it to the headlines or prime-time debates. I believe I have this onus of giving their voices a voice; I use words to register that alternative subdued voice. Writing is my way of bringing their meanings to the mainstream.
I write because when things are on paper, you can’t take a stand as per your convenience. When I write, I’m conscious of just one thing – that I’m able to do justice to what I feel. These words that I spill strengthen me to stand by them, not just when it is convenient but also when it is being contested.
Like any other youngster, I feel things are wrong and need to be changed. I want to be an agent of change. Maybe, I won’t be able to change the entire world but I can make ripples of change in one single person’s life. Even this little change will be significant for when these little changes are cumulated, revolutions take place.
I’m in a privileged position for if you are reading this, my voice has been heard and I believe it’s my social responsibility to ensure the voices of the not-so-privileged find a niche within my words. I write to bring about change, one word at a time.
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