Nomadic culture on the Himalayan front line

Tucked away in the rugged Himalayan Pir Panjal mountain range of Indian-administered Kashmir, my home terrain, the Bakarwal nomads, guardians of an ancient pastoral tradition, stand at a crossroads carved out by climate change, conflict and the inexorable march of modernity.

The snows that heralded the seasonal migration I grew up with now fail to arrive, a testament to the capriciousness of a warming planet. This year, prolonged dry spells in Kashmir have disrupted not just the land but the cadence of Bakarwal life, affecting the carefully timed breeding cycles of their herds and the cultural weave of their nomadic existence.