A Kashmiri Architect’s Journey From Darkness to Design

After years of struggle, a Kashmiri woman turned her pain into purpose and became a voice for mental health awareness.

- Gowher Bhat

Inthe soft morning light of Larnoo, a small village near Kokernag, Hina Khan believed life was exactly as she had planned it.

The architect's home rang with her son's laughter, her sketchbooks filled with clean lines and balance. At work, her designs earned praise. Her husband spoke proudly of her strength.

In those days, she felt steady, certain, surrounded by the small, familiar joys that make a life feel complete.

Then, one rain-soaked morning, a phone call changed everything.

Her younger brother had died in a road accident near Anantnag. The sky that day, she says, “looked tired, like it already knew.”

Grief came in waves she didn't know how to swim through.

For weeks she stayed composed for her parents, family, and everyone who looked to her for strength. Then, when the condolences stopped and the house turned still, she began to break from within.

“I stopped recognizing myself,” she recalls. “I couldn't feel joy or sadness. | felt erased.”

The days slipped by without shape. She avoided people. Work felt impossible. Small things, like bathing, cooking, and even combing her hair, became unbearable.

When friends told her to pray or rest, she wanted to scream but couldn't find her voice. At night she lay awake, her thoughts circling the same dark corners.

“Depression tells you that you're a burden,” she says. “And the worst part is, you start to believe it.”

It was her mother who saw through the fog.

One evening she arrived from the nearby village, sat beside Hina for a long while, and said softly, “My child, this is illness. Let's go see a doctor.”