Global News by Region: Asia
SRINAGAR, KASHMIR, INDIA – Kulsum Dilawar, 16, stands up nervously before sitting back down on the edge of her bed, her eyes gazing down at the floor. Wearing a simple outfit and a printed scarf covering her hair, she flips through the pages of her notebook.
“Can we talk outside?” she mutters.
KATHMANDU, NEPAL – Thamel, the touristic hub of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, has its own quirky charm. On one side of the street, branded clothes are on display at a shopping center. On the other side, people are sipping cold beverages in the midafternoon sun.
SRINAGAR, KASHMIR, INDIA – A tulip garden in Srinagar, Kashmir’s summer capital, has been transforming tourism in the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The garden has extended Kashmir’s tourist season by more than a month,” says Javid Ahmad Shah, caretaker of the tulip garden and district officer for the Jammu and Kashmir Department of Floriculture.
KATHMANDU, NEPAL – “What had my little son and myself done that my husband brought home a second wife?” asks a frail-looking Janaki Adhikari.
Her eyes well up with tears.
“Yes, I then divorced him and raised my son on my own,” she says. “He is now 15 years old.”
SRINAGAR, KASHMIR, INDIA – Passion drove Shahnawaz Bhat, 25, into theater.
“Theater is my first love,” says Bhat, who is not related to the reporter. “It is my passion, and I am pursuing it as my career.”
But in Kashmir, this is rare. Theater garners little social respect as a profession, though actors such as Bhat are starting to change this.
SRINAGAR, KASHMIR, INDIA – Arifa Jan, 27, is striving to infuse life into the traditional craft of making namdas, rugs created from felted wool. In the process, she is also realizing her dream of becoming an entrepreneur, a dream that has been traditionally out of reach for women in Kashmir.
BANGALORE, INDIA – Shreya Shresht, 22, moved to Bangalore, a city in southern India, to work as a software engineer trainee. She says it’s been challenging moving away from her family and home state of Jharkhand in northwestern India.
“When I was staying with my parents, I had lesser responsibilities,” she says. “It felt protective, as if living in a shell.”