Hidden Sadness in Kashmir

From top student to introvert, the story of a Kashmiri girl shows how academic pressure and isolation can affect young minds.

- Madeeha Farooq

She always had a smile on her face. Even on dull mornings in her hometown in Kashmir, her bright grin made people look twice.

Friends leaned in when she spoke, strangers stayed a moment longer. Her cheer was like a warm scarf, you could feel it, and it made everything feel a little safer.

She liked this part of herself. She liked the idea that she could make people feel lighter. Even the saddest souls seemed to walk taller after passing her. She thought she was gifted, chosen to lift the weight of others.

But underneath that bright and buoyant body language, a small voice whispered doubts. That voice told her she was unworthy, imperfect, and unfit for deep attachment. Lifelong friendships never took root. People stayed at the edges, close enough to enjoy the warmth but never to see the ache behind it.

When she was alone in her room, the tears came like rain on tin roofs: sharp, relentless, and unobserved. She wiped her face, adjusted her scarf, and stepped into the streets again, smiling as if her heart had never cracked.

School had its battles. She stumbled academically. Teachers doubted her, peers whispered. "She won't make it," they said, and she heard the words as sharply as knives.