Sanah Singh
After the much discussed ‘generation me’ of Millennials, comes the ‘zombie’ generation of Gen-Z(born late 1990’s to early 2010’s). Accounting for a third of the population, this digitally savvy generation is also given to distrustof ‘identities’ and ‘institutions’ that defined the earlier generations. The issues that concern this generation tend to be moreglobal like climate change, sustainability etc., and are less attached to region, race, religion, ethnicity or any other localization. However, one collateral damage is the sense of ‘rootlessness’ or the ‘unbelonging’ to any place – global citizenship blurs ‘nativity’ given that the places of education and work-life are in the amorphous and indistinct urban-clusters or foreign lands.
In my case, with working parents belonging to Gen X (born between 1965-1979), the concept of rootlessness in terms of ‘belonging’ to any specific place, was introduced much earlier. When asked about where we belonged, we would instinctively say ‘Delhi’, as that is where we stayed, though not necessarily ‘belong’. In Delhi, introduction to various cultural identities of the country is often experienced through regional art exhibitions, fairs and food. For a never inquisitive, experimental and ‘networked young generation’, we are sensitive to authentic and ‘real experiences’ that exposes us to diverse gastronomical delights like Naga, Bihari, Kashmiri, Udupi, Goan, Awadhi etc. Food becomes an important lever of regional introduction, opinions and preferences.
Having lived my initial formative years in a joint family with my grandparents, our household was given to the predominant flavour and ‘culturality’ of Jammu – as insisted upon by my grandmother, a proud Jammu Dogra, only originally from Jammu. In her case, twists of the historical accession to India had led my maternal great-grandfather to shift base to Himachal Pradesh, towards my great-grandmother’s native Chamba, a place of similar Dogra sensibilities and intermingling’s. But my own grandmother never outgrew her Jammu roots and despite the distance, always insisted on ‘belonging’ to Jammu. Her passion, pride and fondness for Jammu was infectious and it manifested in the kitchen, language and even the wedding dresses which she got stitched for us i.e. Velvet GotaDogri suits or intricate Suthan Kurtas with churidaars. While the Jammu imprint was overwhelming on all of us with the matriarch’s insistences at home, the elements of ‘Jammu’ were not to be seen outside our home, be it in terms of any Jammu/Dogra festivals, Dogrimusic/art shows or even any Dogra food restaurant, in Delhi. Even the mandatory State House of the J&K Government was content to showcase the delectable Kashmiri food, but the equally exquisite and sophisticated Jammu/Dogra food, was conspicuously missing.
While we continued to regale guests to our house with distinctive experiences like Madra, Kalaadi, Gucchi pulao, Maani, Katha meat, kasrod ka achar, timru-di-chatni etc., but further questions about where else the same could be had in Delhi, was met with awkward silences and sad deflections of the topic. Fact was, for all its unmatched richness of culture, Jammu was under-punching in the national capital. An unusually large number of the citizenry simplistically equated Jammu region with the Kashmir valley in terms of food, art and culture, when the reality could not have been more different. Both regions are culturally vivid, spectacular and diverse – except one is generously exposed to the outside world, whereas, the other remains a little-known, for all practical purposes. Obviously, politics and other factors that Kashmir generates, gives it a head-start over Jammu, but somewhere Jammu itself fails itself by not putting its best foot forward. Even the presence of many eminent politicians, celebrities and accomplished professionals from Jammu region, failed to join hands and project its unique magnificence.
On infrequent visits to Jammu owing to odd marriages or other ceremonies, one always witnessed extremely localised prioritised, which were not critical enough to have resonance outside Jammu. From wanting to observe the former Maharaja’s birth anniversary as a holiday to restoring his erstwhile court complex – certainly noble thoughts, but where the larger national memory of the Maharaja itself is based on untruths and wrong perceptions, the fundamental task of correcting the historical narrative of history, are more crucial than mere tokenism and symbolism. But Jammu seems content to remain in the backdrop of the overall J&K framework, and it only seeks to ‘avenge’ itself politically, with further polarisation. And through this political assertion, what was secured was a diminishment from a State to an Union Territory, more polarisation of society and electoral harvest for some – Jammu remains as forgotten and unchanged, as ever.
Few brave attempts by individuals to perpetuate the Jammu/Dogra pride notwithstanding, there is no visible mass movement, institutionalization or groundswell to support these efforts. My own grandmother was very keen to write an exclusive book on Jammu/Dogra foods and sought rare recipes from both sides of her equally placed and split family in Jammu region and Himachal Pradesh.
Unsurprisingly, while she was inundated with input from the Himachal side, her familial contribution from Jammu remained sadly muted for her. Then contrary to her initial desire, my grandmother went on to write the authoritative ‘Classic Recipes of Himachal Pradesh’, which has since become a best seller and the definitive book on the Himachali cuisine. But within the family we all know that deep down, despite the brave front of her success, it was always her father’s Jammu, that inspired and moved her. This also begs a larger enquiry as to why Himachal Pradesh which was a sub-part of the larger Dogra identity with Jammu as its undisputable epicenter, has stolen an inadvertent march over Jammu, be it in terms of national visibility of successful politicians, entertainment stars and other publicly known professionals. I don’t think it is about more numbers vis-à-vis Jammu region, but just that the Himachalis wear their ‘nativity’ as a badge of honour, whereas the Jammuites tend to be inexplicably reticent.
In any case, the generations to come will be even more detached from any regional anchorage and their only interaction points will be when the various regions are able to present their cultural abundance through meaningfully articulated formats and showcasing. The track record of the same, for Jammu so far, is woefully worrisome and as cultural impressions from other regions gather even more steam, Jammu may unfortunately get relegated further down the memory lane. That would be a tragedy for such a magnificent, glorious and thoroughly unique experience and emotion called ‘Jammu’, even for a supposedly detached Gen Z like myself
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