US pop star in Kashmir to highlight climate change

SRINAGAR - After performing at picturesque Gulmarg, US pop star Terra Naomi is set to sing on the banks of the Dal Lake here as part of her global campaign to create awareness about climate change.

“She will sing the famous song ‘Say it’s possible’ wearing local attire and playing her own guitar. The song is inspired by former US vice president Al Gore’s film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’,” said Usman Ahmad, regional director of Mercy Corps, an NGO that has organised Terra’s campaign in Kashmir.

The concert Monday evening is aimed at attracting local and international attention towards climate change, he added.

“She has urged the world leaders meeting at Copenhagen (climate summit) to take strong note of Kashmir’s changing climate,” Usman said.

Terra had Sunday gone to north Kashmir’s famed Gulmarg hill station and sung ‘Say it’s possible’ — the track that had won her a YouTube Music award in 2007.

“She writes her own songs and plays the guitar to create global awareness about climate change,” Usman told IANS.

He added that the pop star was pained to find very little snow on the ground in Gulmarg, which usually experiences heavy snowfall at this time of the year.

Asked why she was in Kashmir, Terra said: “Why I am in Kashmir is because this is where climate change is felt the most.”

“When I go back to America, I will write a song for Kashmir,” Terra had told reporters at Kangdoori (Gulmarg) at an altitude of 11,000 ft.