KOA Achievement Awards 2009
Rudra Koul | Aditi Jalla | Isha Kaul
Rudra Koul is a senior at James S. Rickards High School in Tallahassee, Florida and is the daughter of Pradeep and Anita Koul. Rudra, an IB Diploma Candidate, is the valedictorian of her high school with a weighted GPA of 4.95; she also scored 2260 on her SAT and is an AP Scholar with Distinction. In addition, Rudra is very active in her school community. She is the president of the Rickards National Honor Society, a member of Key Club, as well as the Spanish Club. She also enjoys participating in competitive clubs such as Mu Alpha Theta and Junior Classical League, in both of which she has placed at regional, state, and national levels. Rudra is also an avid soccer fan and has been a part of her high school’s varsity team all throughout her high school career. Dance is another activity in which Rudra is very active; she has co-choreographed and performed for both her high school’s annual cultural show, as well as the local Indian association’s annual Glimpses of India program. Rudra also enjoys volunteering at the local hospital, as well as the Tallahassee Museum where she volunteers as a summer camp counselor assistant.
In the fall, Rudra will be attending Cornell University’s School of Engineering where she will be majoring in Biological Engineering with a minor in Biomedical Engineering.
Following is the essay Rudra wrote to become an awardee:
Heritage, something handed down from your parents, earlier generations, or the past, has been, still is, and will be one of the core representations of the human race. It is through heritage that diverse cultures have come into existence. I, being born to Kashmiri parents, have had the privilege to grow amongst a diversity of cultures, while at the same time to practice, protect and make people understand my own rich Kashmiri heritage and culture.
Jammu and Kashmir is a resplendent state steeped in history, surrounded by snow clad mountains, green valleys, and stunning natural beauty. Situated in the northern most tip of India, my parents were born, raised, educated, and married in the beautiful city called Srinagar. When they left Srinagar to pursue their life’s endeavors, they never envisioned that they would not be able to revisit MAEJ KASHIR. This paradise on earth has been consumed by radical Islamists from within the state and its neighboring country, Pakistan. This very conflict has kept me from visiting my ancestral homes, gharu and matamal in Zaindar Mohalla and Sathu Bar-Bar Shah of Srinagar city. My fortunes of visiting Jammu and Kashmir end in Jammu city where my paternal grandparents now live after being forced to leave their home in Srinagar in 1992.
Following the exodus of Kashmiri pandits and their heritage, my parents had to decide whether to retain their distinct identity and traditions or to merge into anonymity. Feelings of anger, sadness, and frustration would have made the future difficult to identify in terms of belonging, especially after coming to a foreign land. The experiences of living away from the motherland, combined with the memories from the past, are intricately woven into a trajectory of identities; this in turn affects the way the future is perceived in terms of self, place and maintaining a unique heritage. My parents had to make an important decision of maintaining and practicing the Kashmiri traditions not only for themselves but also for me and my sister, because we are the future of our Kashmiri culture and heritage. In fact, this remoteness to my ancestral roots has ignited a flare in me to learn and promote my cultural identity through religious and social mediums!
The cultural heritage of Kashmir is an amalgamation of numerous civilizations that have inhabited the valley and left their impressions. It is abound in ancient literature, language, religion, arts, crafts, dance, music and cuisine. When my parents left the valley, they left behind a house and its valuables; but, they carried with them across the oceans the riches of Kashmiri pandit heritage that their parents inculcated in them and that no radical on the face of the earth could steal. I see these values of heritage flux into every day of my existence from Herath celebrated with vatuk barun, harun gindun, shupthu khuon and Herath karich, to the welcoming of spring with thaal-barun, and Navreh, which is the beginning of Navratri and fasting.
While sitting around the dining table with my family and eating warimuth and gogaj, my parents love to recall how both dishes were cherished as winter soul food. They always convey the image of falling snowflakes kissing the ground with absolute and soft silence. Such a scene was treasured during their own childhood when they sat by a window and ate scrumptious warimuth and gogaj. I feel very fortunate to be able to share this and other precious memories with my parents mainly because it allows me to feel intimately connected not only with my heritage, but also my ancestors as well.
One of my favorite Kashmiri traditions is the celebration of woharvod, which gives me nostalgia during the puja and eating of thuhur muet. It was not until I turned three that I started to understand the concept of celebrating birthdays. One with Kashmiri traditions based on the periodical movements of the moon, and the other according to the English calendar. This part of my heritage not only brings joy and a second birthday gift, but also gives me the sense of belonging to my Kashmiri heritage.
Culture and heritage is a non-stop mental journey. It is the cumulative expression of the values enshrined in the hearts of our parents, grandparents and ancestors. As an offspring of my Kashmiri parents, who have fluxed and fermented the unique and rich Kashmiri heritage in me, it becomes my responsibility to promote and preserve the sanctity and diverseness of my heritage. To protect our heritage and culture allows for us to gain experiences and values. These values, in turn, will help us bring together strong societies, countries, and eventually the whole world, for the peaceful co-existence of all human beings.