Shafat Malik

Bandipora, Sept 06: A man in remote Gurez valley has turned his house into a museum to preserve local Dard-Shin culture and traditions from the onslaught of modernity.  

Hailing from Gurez valley's Dawar area of the district, Bashir Ahmad Teroo has expressed his attachment to the Dard tribe culture in a different and unique way by converting his house into a small museum to educate the new generation about past traditions.

In a chat with Rising Kashmir, Bashir, a government employee in health department, said as soon as the corona virus spread in 2020, he continued to perform his duties in different areas of gurez and at the same time, he started collecting things from these areas that have been a part of the Dard-Shin civilization of Gurez. 

He said these items range from women's ornaments to shoes and slippers made of wood and grass, traditional clothing and farming tools.

Bashir said t about seventy five things have been kept in this small museum which is a part of the Dard civilization here.

He said that he has identified a hundred more items which will be part of the museum soon.

Locals of the Gurez valley are all praise of Bashir's initiative. They say with this small museum, people can reminisce about their past.

Talking to Rising Kashmir, seventy-year-old Abdul Sattar said the younger generation has drifted away from these things, but initiatives like Bashir's come handy in remembering golden traditions and cultural practices.

A 26-year-old youth Mohammad Mubashir while talking to Rising Kashmir said that it is a matter of great joy that Bashir came up with the idea and gathered them here in a small museum which was a symbol of their elders. 

"At least our generation came to know about the things we did not know and this knowledge will be transferred to the next generation so that they will understand and see how much hardships our ancestors faced, how they lived their lives", he added. 

Bashir says that all nations must not only take care of their mother tongue, but everyone must also take care of the things related to their culture.