The Valley Bets Big

In tea shops and on bus rides, the buzz of stock alerts is replacing old conversations about land, gold, and orchards.

- Irshad Mushtaq

It often begins before sunrise. A phone buzzes. A number blinks. And somewhere in the old city of Srinagar, beneath wooden eaves and peeling paint, a young Kashmiri glances at his screen and watches the price of Tata Motors shift.

For years, this would have seemed out of place. The rhythms of life here have been measured in orchards, saffron harvests, and the steady hands of carpet weavers.

But now, in the lanes where families once huddled around copper samovars, there is a new ritual unfolding: stocks, funds and charts. A language not native to these streets is slowly taking root.

It wasn't always like this.

For generations, Kashmiris trusted only what they could touch. Land, gold, the family shop passed down like an heirloom.

The stock market belonged to someone else, to those who lived in distant cities with glass towers and fast money. In the valley, the rules were different. Here, risk had a different weight.

That is why Faisal Ahmad's story doesn't begin with a big win. It begins with a hesitation.

He was 29 when he bought his first shares, sitting in his family home in Anantnag during the long, uneasy phase of the pandemic. A friend had told him about investing apps, about how it was now possible to buy shares from anywhere, even from here.