The Culture We Scrolled Past

Digital isolation and cultural shifts are dismantling the emotional support systems that once defined Kashmiri homes and hearts.

- Malik Daniyal Shabir

Every Kashmiri home once pulsed with life—a warm, welcoming mehfil where stories flowed, hearts opened, and bonds deepened.

Picture a winter night, the kangri glowing, elders sharing waez, kids wide-eyed at tales of Raja Rasalu, friends laughing over nun chai and salted bread.

These weren’t just cozy get-togethers. They were lifelines—our therapy, our history class, our support system.

Today, those mehfils are disappearing.

A combination of digital isolation, migration, instability, and shifting cultural values is steadily dissolving the communal fabric of Kashmiri society. In its place, we are witnessing a rise in individualism, loneliness, and emotional disconnect, especially among the youth.

The transformation is most visible in family settings. Earlier, multiple generations often lived under one roof. Grandparents played vital roles as oral historians and moral guides. The younger generation soaked in wisdom through osmosis—without sermons or lectures. But now, nuclear families, smartphone screens, and YouTube preachers have taken over that role.

And yet, there is a growing sense that something vital has been lost in the process.

Even when people gather, it's no longer the same. Eyes are fixed on screens, not faces. Conversations revolve around trends, not thoughts. One college student explained that though their family still sits together for tea, everyone remains absorbed in their devices. "We are in the same room, but living in different worlds. Even when we sit with family, everyone’s scrolling. I don’t even remember the last time my cousins and I talked without checking our phones."

This is not mere nostalgia—it is an observable shift in the way relationships function today.