Flames of Kashmiri chinar still glow on her face (Feature with images)

SRINAGAR - Fahmida, 39, sweeps dry leaves of the chinar tree to gather them into a heap with her broom. Her husband Razak, 43, then quickly moves to set fire to the heap. The crimson blaze creates a magical glow on Fahmida’s face.

She looks like a fairy as she moves her long-handled broom to stir the fire that will go into making much needed charcoal for the bitterly cold winter months. It has already started snowing in Kashmir Valley.

“You have to learn the art of making charcoal from chinar leaves. It is not an easy task,” said Razak in the Nigeen area of summer capital Srinagar.

“One has to wait patiently to extinguish the fire at the right time so that the leaves do not burn down completely. Once the fire is extinguished, you have the required charcoal - but if the fire is allowed to burn for long, all you get is ash,” Razak told IANS, sprinkling water over the half-burnt heap of chinar leaves.

The dry chinar leaves are an excellent material to make charcoal for ‘kangris’, earthen fire pots with willow wicker baskets woven around them.

Despite the rich and the affluent here using central heating and electric blankets to brave the winter cold, for an average Kashmiri, the charcoal-filled kangri is the best bet against the winter cold in the valley when temperatures fall much below freezing point.

Fahmida and Razak have made four bags of charcoal after toiling the whole day. As they leave for their home, there is a glow on their face.

Tired after the day’s hard work?

“Not at all. It is fun making the charcoal. The burning leaves keep you warm as you prepare charcoal for the winter months,” said Razak.

Mushtaq Ahmad, 32, a college teacher, said: “The charcoal made from chinar leaves is considered to be of high quality, for it burns slowly in the kangri, giving the right amount of warmth when used inside the ‘pheren’ (traditional Kashmiri tweed overcoat).

“Even though electric appliances are used by most locals to keep their homes warm during the winter months, the erratic electric supply and the low voltage makes the pheren and the kangri our best bet,” said Ahmad as he watched Fahmida and Razak at work.

Besides chinar leaves and dry twigs of willow trees, people in the valley also use dried cow-dung cakes to make charcoal and fuel for their ovens. Their use is on the decline though.

Master Habibullah, 65, who lives in a north Kashmir village, told IANS: “The absence of the traditional hearth in most local families has increased their dependence on electricity and LPG cylinders.

“The charm and grace of the entire family sitting around the hearth waiting for food to be served is rarely seen in the homes of Kashmiris nowadays as they have taken to modern appliances like rice cookers, gas stoves and electric blowers, completely ignoring their heritage and tradition.”

Habibullah has stood his ground though. Despite the insistence of his three sons, he has not agreed to dispense with the hearth on which the family still cooks its food.

“I would feel deprived and depressed if the smoke did not billow from the chimney of my home in the evening. The hearth gives a sense of life and warmth during the winter. This is an asset I would not give up for all the luxuries of the world,” Habibullah said.

“I continue to be self-reliant so far as cooking and heating problems are concerned. My dependence on electricity is just for lighting purposes which also help reduce the load on the village electric transformer,” he said.

An electric engineer here who did not want to be named said, “Most electric transformers in urban and rural areas of the valley get overloaded during winter as families use electricity for all their heating and lighting needs.

“We get complaints of transformer breakdowns basically because these are overloaded during the winter months and the areas remain plunged in darkness for days before the transformers are repaired and re-installed.”

The engineer also said overloaded domestic wiring often results in short circuits, causing accidental fires, which can be avoided if people used electricity sparingly.

In foothill villages, pine twigs and leaves are also used for making charcoal and lighting the hearths.

“The mindless change of lifestyle without taking local realities into account is the root cause of many problems. The traditions built by our forefathers were wedded in history,” said Habibullah.

“Just because a family’s income has increased does not mean we give up our age-old practices.”

(F. Ahmed can be contacted at f.ahmed@ians.in)