Irfan Tramboo
Srinagar, Sept 13: As University of Kashmir remains shut since August 5, it has become a desired spot for joggers as scores turn up for morning walks from the neighbouring areas amid no traces of any normal student hustle and bustle on the campus.
The lush green surroundings of the campus and the stillness in the morning hours seem to have attracted the locals to the campus who carry on with their morning exercises soon after the dawn break till 9 in the morning.
“We live nearby, so it is easy for us to reach to the KU campus for the morning jogs. Normally, we used to have a run nearby, but now, as people don’t get to roam around much, we try to do an extensive jogging on the campus,” said Tariq Ahmad, a resident of Nigeen.
With no student on campus, the Kashmir University authorities had earlier closed down the campus for the visitors citing security reasons, however, it was later kept open for people coming there for morning walks. The only residents, at present, on the KU campus are the faculty members who are residing in the accommodations provided by the varsity.
The campus is witnessing the first time joggers as well, who earlier used to remain glued to their mobile phones, however, as the mobile services are down for more than a month now, they have chosen to take care of their health.
“People used to spend a lot of time with their mobile phones, now that they have been rendered useless, I thought, it is better to give some attention to the health,” said Jazib, an undergraduate student living in Habak area.
Not only people residing in the adjacent areas come to the KU campus, but those from old city Srinagar, where there is a rarity of such space for jogging, have also made it a point to reach there and spend few hours in taking care of their health.
The elders who also throng the campus said that they go there just to breath in some fresh morning air and try to get some peace of mind amid the situation that has subjected them to severe hardships.
“People are confined to their homes, especially students and those who are associated with business-students can’t go to their schools and colleges, and businessmen are not able to open up their units of business-under such circumstances, it is really important to divert the attention to other things and that’s why I am here,” said Bilal Ahmad, a resident of Hazratbal who is running a shop in Lal Chowk but has not been able to open since August 5.
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