I heard a story on the radio a few days ago about violence in Indian-controlled Kashmir and reactions from the Indian government and Kashmiri separatists. I don't know much about Kashmir, its relations with Pakistan and India, or its struggles for independence.
So here's what I thought about instead: What must it be like to be from a place with a name instead of a label? I am from the United States. I'm a U.S. citizen. We call ourselves Americans, but we don't really have an exclusive claim on that label -- anyone from North or South America could call themselves American. I've seen us U.S. citizens referred to as USians, with seems ugly and totally unpoetic. But what else do we have?
Wouldn't it be lovely to be from a place with a name like Kashmir? To be called a Kashmiri? Of course, I'm not saying I want to live in a place with political unrest and separatist violence. I just like the way it sounds.
