Wazwan, Work and Wellbeing: Finding Balance in Kashmiri Life

Credit By: NASIR RASOOL

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• 21 Apr 2026

Kashmir is often introduced to the world as a land of mountains, lakes, and meadows, a place where nature still seems to breathe freely. Yet beneath this postcard beauty, daily life in the Valley has changed dramatically over the last two decades. Urbanisation, unemployment, and the arrival of a fast‑paced digital culture have reshaped how Kashmiris eat, move, sleep, and cope with stress.

At the same time, non‑communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease are quietly on the rise in Jammu and Kashmir. The paradox is striking: a place that looks like the perfect setting for a healthy life is increasingly grappling with lifestyle‑related illnesses. This makes it essential to rethink what “healthy living” really means in the specific social and cultural context of the Valley.

Food: From Dastarkhwan to Delivery Apps

Food is central to Kashmiri identity. Traditional dishes like haakh, nadru, turnip, and pulses served with rice form the backbone of a diet that was once largely seasonal, simple, and home‑cooked. Even the elaborate wazwan, while rich, is historically reserved for weddings and special occasions, not everyday meals.

Over the years, however, several shifts have taken place:

• More oil and meat, less greens and pulses: Regular consumption of fried snacks, repeated use of cooking oil, and heavy meat intake have become common, especially in urban areas like Srinagar, Baramulla, and Anantnag.

• Rise of packaged and processed foods: Biscuits, chips, sugary drinks, instant noodles, and bakery items have become routine, even in rural belts, thanks to better road connectivity and aggressive marketing.

• Salt and noon chai: Sheer chai or noon chai is a cherished part of daily life. But multiple cups a day, laden with salt, combined with pickles and salty snacks, adds to the risk of hypertension.

A healthier food culture in Kashmir does not mean abandoning our cuisine or identity. It means:

1. Restoring balance: Returning vegetables, pulses, seasonal fruits (especially local apples, pears, plums, cherries, apricots), and walnuts to the centre of the plate, while keeping mutton and chicken as accompaniments rather than the mainstay of daily meals.

2. Moderating the bakery culture: Bakeries are now an integral part of urban Kashmiri life. Reducing the frequency of cakes, cream‑filled pastries, and heavily refined flour products can make a significant difference, especially for children.

3. Rethinking salt habits: Cutting down on the number of cups of noon chai per day, using less salt in cooking, and avoiding extra salted snacks can be a simple but powerful step.

Healthy lifestyle choices will succeed in Kashmir only if they are realistic and rooted in existing food practices, rather than importing a “diet culture” that does not respect local tastes and economics.

Movement and the Mountains: An Underused Blessing

Kashmiris are surrounded by mountains, rivers, orchards, and paddy fields—natural gyms that many urban populations around the world can only dream of. Yet, for a growing number of people, especially in cities, daily life has become surprisingly sedentary.

Office work, coaching classes, endless scrolling on phones, and long hours indoors have replaced traditional forms of physical activity like farming, walking to school, and household chores. In winter, the cold becomes an additional excuse to stay indoors with a kangri and a smartphone.

We do not need expensive gyms or imported fitness trends to reverse this. The Valley already offers what we need:

• Walking culture: Simple daily walks on the boulevard, in neighbourhood lanes, orchards, or village paths can be more sustainable than unrealistic workout plans. Even 30–40 minutes a day of brisk walking reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

• Reviving outdoor play for children: Children in Kashmir are increasingly glued to screens, whether for online studies or gaming. Reserving at least an hour a day for cricket, football, volleyball, or even cycling in safer neighbourhood spaces is essential for both physical and mental health.

• Using our landscape: Trekking, light hiking, and even seasonal activities like saffron picking or apple harvesting can be framed as community fitness and family bonding activities, not just labour.

In many ways, the geography of Kashmir is already a prescription for better health. The real challenge lies in changing attitudes and priorities.

The Silent Weight of Stress

Any conversation on lifestyle in Kashmir that ignores mental health is incomplete. Unemployment and social pressures further aggravate anxiety and depression, particularly among the youth. Under such conditions, telling people to simply “think positive” or “do yoga” can sound insensitive. Yet, mental health and physical health are intimately connected. Poor sleep, emotional eating, smoking, and substance misuse often arise from unaddressed stress and trauma.

Practical steps that could make a difference include:

• Normalising mental health help: Consulting a counsellor or psychiatrist should be seen as no different from visiting a cardiologist. Media, religious leaders, and community elders can help reduce stigma by speaking openly about mental health.

• Community spaces and conversations: Mosques, shrines, schools, and community halls can host regular sessions on stress management, grief, and resilience, led by trained professionals and supported by local volunteers.

• Routine of calm: Simple practices—short walks at dawn or dusk, regular prayer or meditation, journaling, or even practical hobbies like gardening and knitting—can provide a sense of grounding in an unpredictable environment.

Healthy lifestyle choices cannot be limited to diet and exercise alone. Emotional resilience and social support are equally important.

The Double‑Edged Sword of Technology

Smartphones and the internet have connected Kashmir to the world, enabling education, business, and social contact. But they have also brought unhealthy habits: late‑night scrolling, social media comparison, eye strain, sleep disruption, and reduced face‑to‑face interaction.

For young people, constant exposure to idealised bodies, luxury lifestyles, and unrealistic success stories can create deep dissatisfaction with their own lives, leading to anxiety, low self‑esteem, and poor decision‑making around health.

Reasonable, culturally sensitive steps are needed:

• Digital discipline at home: Families can agree on simple rules—no phones at mealtimes, reduced screen use after a certain hour at night, and device‑free times during family gatherings.

• Using tech for health, not against it: Step counters, walking groups coordinated via WhatsApp, and credible health content in Urdu and Kashmiri can turn the same devices into allies.

• Media literacy in schools: Teaching children to critically analyse what they see online can protect them from misinformation about diets, body image, and quick‑fix health products.

Technology is not the enemy, but uncontrolled use is. Smarter, intentional use of digital tools can be part of a healthier lifestyle rather than its enemy.

Policy, Community, and Personal Responsibility

Healthy lifestyle choices cannot be reduced to individual willpower alone. The environment we live in strongly shapes our options. In Kashmir, this means policymakers, religious leaders, educators, doctors, and media houses all have a role to play.

• Policy support: Better public parks, walking tracks, cycling lanes, and safe recreational spaces would encourage physical activity. Stricter checks on adulterated foods and excessive marketing of junk food near schools are also needed.

• Role of mosques and community leaders: Friday sermons and social gatherings can include brief but regular messages about moderation in eating, dangers of tobacco and substance abuse, and the importance of seeking timely medical help.

• Health education in schools and colleges: Practical sessions on reading food labels, understanding mental health, basic first aid, and the importance of exercise can prepare a healthier generation.

Towards a Healthier Valley

Kashmir today stands at an important crossroads. On one side is the traditional way of life that valued simple food, physical work, close family ties, and spiritual grounding. On the other is a modern lifestyle heavy with screens, processed foods, mental strain, and social isolation.

We cannot turn the clock back, nor should we romanticise the past. But we can consciously select the best elements from both worlds: the wisdom of our elders and the benefits of modern medicine and information.

A healthier Kashmir will not emerge only from hospitals and clinics. It will be built in kitchens where families cook mindfully, in parks and orchards where children play freely, in homes where phones are put aside for conversation, and in mosques and schools where mental and physical health are discussed without shame.

The Valley has given us a beautiful environment. The responsibility now is ours: to make daily choices, however small, that honour that gift and protect the health of present and future generations.

(The Author is a certified fitness expert and health columnist)