Srinagar, July 17 -- Kashmir is not just a place on the map. It is a feeling, a wound, a memory, a heartbeat. For those of us who have grown up here, empowerment was never just about big words or government speeches. It was about survival- about finding a reason to believe in tomorrow. For the longest time, we were taught to adjust, to endure, to be grateful for the bare minimum. But something in the air has changed. There is restlessness in our youth, a new confidence in our women, and a quiet rebellion in our silence. It does not mean everything is fine. But it means we are no longer content with waiting.

Kashmir has always been a land of stories-of silence, of resistance, of waiting. But in recent years, I have seen new stories unfold...