Waruk: A Helping Hand In Heaven

In strife torn Jammu & Kashmir, ironically known as Paradise for its natural beauty, a group of youngsters who call themselves Waruk, are working with the state Department of Tourism to give local artisans and craftsmen a platform to showcase their talents and preserve Kashmiri arts and crafts

- Adnan Amin

Waruk (meaning 'a page from a book' in Kashmiri) was informally founded way back in 2010 by Taha Mughal, an architect by profession. However, it got its formal name only in 2017. Waruk started like many of those public organisations driven from a bitter personal experience. The founder, a victim of physical abuse, broken family and child bullying was understandably reticent and introvert, so art and poetry proved to be the only possible catharsis in his personal survival story.

This experience, evolution and strategy laid the foundation of Waruk that started with individual contributions of the founder in the same school where he was bullied and harassed. As time passed by, friends started to appreciate the cause and gradually as Mughal puts it, “log judtey gaye, karwaan badhta gaya' (people gradually joined the cause and it all became a movement). The core team of Waruk, now consisting of 10 young people, provides a space for self expression and healing through creative arts in our by-and large conservative society that still considers many important issues a taboo.”

Working with tourism

Waruk's collaboration with department of tourism in J&K started in 2016 during a state level art exhibition as a part of annual Gulmarg snow carnival. Over time, the department has collaborated numerous times in a lot of events, activities and workshops that promote the culture, heritage and traditions of Kashmir through the media of creative arts including writing, poetry, photography, painting etc.