The Memory Keeper of Mastan

In Kashmir's Gurez Valley, a health worker has turned his home into a museum to preserve the endangered Dard Shin culture

- By ISHTAYAQ RASOOL

On a biting December morning in 2019, as snow blanketed the steep wooden rooftops of Kilshay village near the Line of Control in Kashmir, Bashir Ahmad Teroo sat cross-legged on the floor of his home, spinning chaku—a traditional thread used in weaving. He had just returned from a long shift at the sub-district hospital. That evening, in the dim, warm glow of the hearth, his mother silently handed him a bundle—75 cherished objects: handwoven fabrics, worn utensils, ceremonial jewellery, even a rusted wristwatch that once belonged to her grandmother, who had lived in Gilgit.

“These are not things to be thrown away,” she told him gently. “They are our history. Promise me you’ll preserve them.”

That promise became a life’s calling.