Kafeela Hilal Farooqi

It was a very hot summer afternoon, the kind of day when you just want to feel the cool breeze of Dal Lake. Looking for a peaceful and quiet place for the evening, my family and I went to the holy Hazratbal Dargah.

The lake was right there, beautiful as ever from a distance. But as I stepped closer into the reality of how we treat our beautiful places, my heart broke into a million pieces. What was meant to be a peaceful evening turned into a harsh, disturbing wake-up call.

My first stop was the ladies washroom to perform wazu (ablution). What I saw inside was not just messy; it was horrifying. There were used sanitary napkins thrown openly on the floor, not even wrapped in paper. There was so much dirt that it was impossible to even step inside.

Why? Because it was a free public washroom? Does a space being free give us a license to act like animals? A girl can easily wrap her pad and throw it safely in a dustbin. But someone chose to leave it open on the floor because of an absolute lack of basic hygiene. Stray dogs were wandering inside the washrooms. Stray dogs inside a washroom right next to a holy place of worship! Just think about it.

Later, as I sat by the banks of Dal Lake trying to breathe in the fresh air, the nightmare continued. Right before my eyes, people were openly tossing empty plastic bottles and food wrappers straight into the water.

We always hear people complaining, looking around and saying, (Look how dirty this place is)!. But who made it dirty? Did the trash fall from the sky? Did outsiders come just to throw garbage there?

No. It was us.

We drink water, we eat snacks, and even when a dustbin is right there, we choose to throw our plastic on the ground or into the lake. People from all over the world call our Kashmir "paradise on Earth." They travel thousands of miles just to see our beautiful valley. But look at what we are doing to our own home. We are destroying this paradise with our own hands. We are failing our own land.

There is another washroom nearby that charges Rs 10. That one is cleaner. But this shows a big problem in how we think. Why should we pay money just to get a clean washroom?

The problem is not about 10 rupees. The problem is that many people do not want to spend money on using a washroom, and because the other washroom is free, they think they can make it as dirty as they want. Why do we need to pay money to behave well? If a washroom is free, does it mean we forget our basic manners?

Cleanliness should be our habit, not something we only do when we pay for it.

We feel immense pride in calling ourselves Kashmiris, but true pride requires taking responsibility. Protecting this beautiful land is our collective duty. If we do not change our habits and respect our surroundings, who will? The government cannot clean up after our bad manners.

It is now time to stop pointing fingers and look into the mirror:

Wrap your waste.

Use the dustbins.

Save our lakes.

Value our public spaces, whether they cost 10 rupees or nothing at all.

If we don't save our paradise today, tomorrow we will have nothing left to inherit except the trash we threw away.