The Hidden Half of Kashmir

From kitchens to classrooms, Kashmiri women carry invisible burdens. They labour, they endure, and they rarely speak. It’s time we listened.

- Mohammad Arfat Wani

Before the roosters cry or the mosque loudspeakers crackle to life, she’s already up. The stove is lit, the tea is boiling, the kids’ uniforms are ironed.

Her husband still has an hour of sleep left. The rest of the family will wake to a warm house and a hot breakfast. No one asks how her night was.

This is not one woman’s story. It’s a pattern stitched into homes from Kupwara to Kulgam.

Women work constantly: cleaning, cooking, nursing, fixing, soothing. But no one calls it “work.” It’s just what they do. Or more precisely, what they’re expected to do. If she pauses, she’s lazy. If she speaks up, she’s disrespectful.

She listens more than she speaks. She adjusts more than she resists. That's how many Kashmiri women survive their days. And their silence is not peace. It’s pressure.

What happens when the only person holding a family together never gets a break?

She breaks. Not all at once, but slowly. In ways others can’t see. Her anxiety builds. Her sleep fades. Her appetite shifts.