RESEARCH PROJECT

Photo Feature of Traditional Kashmiri Gatherings.First part

showcasing the different traditional gatherings and the
second part showcasing some facts about these
gatherings.

Researcher/photographer: Rooh Yaseen Shah

Semester: 4th

Supervisor
Dr Sabiha Mufti, Faculty, Media Education Research
Center, University of Kashmir

Department
Media Education Research Center, University of Kashmir

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 DECLARATION
I, Rooh Yaseen Shah, do hereby declare that the project
work has been carried out by me during the 3rd semester
of the academic year 2018, under the supervision and
guidance of Dr Sabiha Mufti, faculty, Media Education
Research Center (MERC) University of Kashmir. The photo
feature is an original piece of work. The submitted photo
feature is entitled as Traditional Kashmiri Gatherings: An
Appraisal.

Rooh Yaseen Shah

Roll No: 17077118010

M.A 3rd Semester

Mass Comm. And Journalism

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
First of all, I thank my lord almighty Allah for giving
me the strength to accomplish this project entitled
"Traditional Kashmiri Gatherings: An Appraisal".

I thank my supervisor and guide Dr Sabiha Mufti

for her kind support and guidance, she helped me in
every moment. I needed her help and ultimately was
able to accomplish this project. I also thank
Coordinator MERC, Mr Farooq Masoodi and all the
staff members as well.

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 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Mr Rooh Yaseen Shah has been a student of
3rd semester of Media Education Research Center, the University
of Kashmir during the academic year 2018. He has worked on a
photo feature as project work entitled as "Traditional Kashmiri
Gatherings: An Appraisal" under my supervision and guidance.

He has conducted the work with full dedication and

commitment. I wish him good luck for academic and
professional pursuits that will enhance his prospects for a
successful career ahead.

Dr Sabiha Mufti

Faculty

Media Education Research Center

University of Kashmir

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 INTRODUCTION
The world is a mysterious place, composed of multiple mazes of human
behaviours. There are many different traditional gatherings in this world
characterised by endless communities. Some of them are open to the world
while most of them are hidden from the common eye. The Asian region
occupies one of the major portions of the world, displays a huge number of
these socially relevant traditions.

In a small place like Kashmir, one comes across many such gatherings which
a common man has no knowledge of. The scope of working on the
significance of these gatherings is immense. I propose to do a small
research on these traditional gatherings that are held at various places in
the Kashmir valley.

Regarding my project entitled "Traditional Kashmiri Gatherings: An

Appraisal", is the pictorial depiction of these gatherings illustrating the
socio-economic relevance of these gatherings exploring the essence of
these gatherings through pictorial depiction.

Due to my interest in telling stories through photographs, I have opted for a

photo feature.

During the course of undertaking the said project, the photographer has
tried to put forth the narration in the form of pictures of the subject
chosen.

The photographer tries to explore these traditional gatherings and narrate

their origin, socio-economic relevance and essence.

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 MOTIVE
The motive of the photographer while selecting the photo
feature as the project was to capture some outstanding
pictures of some unique traditional gatherings of Kashmir
and open them to the world. As very few know about
them. The photographer has visited and taken part in
these gatherings to express them to the best he could.
Capturing these gatherings was to show the audience the
hidden traditions of Kashmir and how beautiful these
gatherings are. The effort was made to revive these
traditional gatherings and increase their reach so that they
are welcomed in the present world.

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 The Photographic Narration
A photograph does not merely mean clicking and developing an
image but representing a story in imbibing words, which has a
stronger effect than mere words only.

The current photographic narration is an attempt to draw the

attention of audience/viewers towards the essence of traditional
Kashmiri gatherings and their beauty.

The main attempt is to capture the untold part of these

gatherings. These gatherings reflect the traditional jewel of
Kashmir.

Equipment Used

1.Canon EOS 80D DSLR Camera with 18-135mm Lens

2.One + 5 Smartphone Camera

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PHOTO FEATURE
The Floating Markets

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Why Floating Markets?

Srinagar's Dal Lake is famous the world over for its scenic location,
for its shikaras (boats) that float on it and for the promotion of
aqua sports like water skiing. The Dal Lake is also famous for its
'floating vegetable market', the only one of its kind in India and
only the second in the world, the other being the rowing shops
along the backwaters of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

Around 10,000 kanals of land along the Dal Lake is being used for
the cultivation of vegetables, "This is a very old market where the
sale and the purchase of vegetables take place between 5 am. and
to 8 am every day. Most of the vegetables are grown on the
lakeside and retrieved from the lake before being sold in just 2-3
hours. Any vegetables left over are taken to street markets.

Locals as well as vendors come to buy cheap, fresh and healty

vegetables early morning.The sellers come in their boats.The
social interaction in healthy as the market is very noisy and people
are seen laughing, talking, barganing, buying, and selling.

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People come with their fresh vegetables early morning in their boats to sell
them.

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Some arrive as early as 5A.M while some arrive after the early morning Prayers (Fajar)
through different water channels connecting at one single spot.

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Fresh tomatoes in the boat.All the vegetables are fresh, clean, cheap and
healthy.

The boatman socialize with their friends and the buyers.Smiling faces can
be seen all around the market.

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Everyone brings a variety of vegetables to sell.All the vegetables are sold in 2-3 hours.

Vendors from the streets and shops come to buy the vegetables and sell them in and
around the city during the day at higher prices.

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An old man weighing his Knolkhol (Monj) to sell them.

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A buyer from the streets buying Knolkhol (Monj) and filling his
bag.

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A boatman after selling almost all his vegetables is leaving for the
home with some turnip left over.

I have also uploaded a video of the market which can be seen

from the link given below:
https://youtu.be/Xx6jv8z5QME

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