Kashmir Heaven on the Earth

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K nown for its pristine beauty, theKashmir valley is a land of snow clad mountains that shares a common boundary with Afghanistan, China and Pakistan.But conflict in the region has often marred it surreal beauty. The Kashmir region has been a reason of dispute between India and Pakistan for several years now.
However, life seems to go even in the midst of this turmoil..Here are glimpses into the lives of Kashmiris, who live in a place described as paradise on earth...
A Kashmiri woman walks with a bottle of rosewater after buying itfrom Aziz-Ullah Kozgars shop in Srinagar.
Kozgar said that he is trying to keep alive the traditional businessof selling rosewater, which was started by his great-grandfather, but that people are switching to modern and easily available rosewater bottles.
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A Kashmiri woman smokes a pipe inside her shelter at a slum in Srinagar.
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A Muslim boy cries after Eid al-Fitr prayers in Srinagar.
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A man walks past an Central Reserve Police Force personnel holding his weapon at a market ahead of s Independence Day celebrations.
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A n Indian army truck crosses a bridge over a stream in Gurez, north of Srinagar.
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M ohammed Maqbool, a Kashmiri craftsman, weaves a flower vase made of willow twigs inside his workshop in Srinagar.
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A customer passes money to a Kashmiri girl selling lotus buds and other vegetables on a street in Srinagar.
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A Kashmiri villager stands next to his geese at a field in Bandipora, north of Srinagar.
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K ashmiri village women sit in boats filled with water chestnuts, in the waters of Wular Lake at Bandipora, north of Srinagar.
Water chestnuts are locally knownas singada and are eaten raw, boiled or are grounded into flour after they are dried.
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K ashmiri men unload a boat froma horse cart near Dal Lake in Srinagar.
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A Muslim man performs ablution from the water of a fountain before performing prayers inside Kashmirs more than 600-year-old Jamia Masjid during the holy month of Ramadan in Srinagar.
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C hildren climb trees as they play on the outskirts of Srinagar.
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A Kashmiri government teacher shouts anti-government slogans from inside a police van after he was detained during a protest in Srinagar.
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A boy jumps from a jetty into the waters of Dal Lake to cool himself on a hot day in Srinagar.
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K ashmiri Muslims look out of a window during an unofficial curfew in the old city in Srinagar