An Accidental Vlogger

As internet service became better during the last 3 to 4 years in Kashmir with no-more “internet blockades” many young people turned towards making video blogs also called vlogs. As per my own research, Vlogging gained momentum in Kashmir during COVID 19 pandemic when people had no work and life was at a standstill but the internet facility was not affected. Many young men and women started making video blogs (vlogs) during that period. The women cooking enthusiasts of Kashmir started making vlogs on Kashmir’s traditional food and young men made vlogs about the mountains, lakes, forests and meadows of Kashmir. Most of the cookery Youtube channels or Instagram or Facebook pages like Kashmir Food Fusion, Tasty Bitz, Zoon Dab or Chef Yaseen were created between 2020 to 2022 and they are now a big hit. Similarly the vloggers like Imad, Muneer Dar, Idrees Mir, and The Umar have also been making good video content in the last 2 to 3 years and have great following on social media. Truck drivers like Shahnawaz from Shopian run a Youtube channel Sethi Express that makes travel vlogs depicting the life and challenges of truck drivers. Ishfaq Kmr is another truck vlogger from Yaripora Kulgam who also makes vlogs on the lifestyle of truck drivers.

The Umar

Many vloggers have been promoting Kashmir’s tourism through travel vlogging during last few years. This is not only helping to strengthen Kashmir’s tourism trade by attracting more tourists but the people involved in vlogging also earn their livelihood as well. Youtube Channels and Instagram accounts like Imad Clicks, The Umar, Rahi Clicks, Discover Kashmir, Doodhpathri Kashmir and many others promote Kashmir before national and international audiences. Yawar Wani, Idrees Mir, Raashid Sarfaraz, Mohammad Noumaan Mir, and many more are also making vlogs on Kashmir. I believe the vloggers who make video content on tourism and tourist places need more handholding and proper guidance so that their work is more professional and the virgin tourist destinations they portray are not spoiled by tourists. These content creators / vloggers must be sensitized about Kashmir’s fragile environment, climate change challenges and other things.

For the last more than a year I have been closely following a young vlogger Umar Iqbal Sheikh who has more than 12 lakh subscribers and followers on social media handles like Youtube, Facebook and Instagram. Umar who hails from Dadsara Tral in Pulwama district runs his Youtube Channel The Umar which has 2 lakhs plus subscribers. His Instagram account has 5.76 lakhs followers and his Facebook page has 4.88 Lakh followers. Umar has done his BSc Nursing from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences Bangalore. Umar has gained more than one million followers in less than 2 years only and has been travelling extensively on his motorbike from Kashmir to Kanyakumari in snow, rain and hot weather. Umar has made vlogs in the deserts of Jaisalmer Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and other states when the temperature was as high as 45 to 47 degree Celsius. During monsoons also he made vlogs in MP, Chhattisgarh which became hit on social media.

An Accidental Vlogger

I call Umar an accidental vlogger because he chose to vlogging just to come out of the mental depression. Umar is around 24, and passed his matriculation exam in 2016. He completed his class XII from Govt Higher Secondary School Dadsara Tral in 2018. Around September 2018 he went to Bangalore and got admission in BSc Nursing but within a few days his mother died of heart attack on September 29th 2018. He couldn’t get a flight to Srinagar on that day and reached home the next day, September 30th, 2018, but her mom had been buried already. Umar was closely attached with his mother and her death shocked him which impacted his studies as well. He went back to Bangalore in February 2019 and started doing a part time job in a private clinic in addition to his studies only to overcome the depression. He would feel better while in college or at the clinic but on weekends Umar would panic and his mothers memories would depress him. To overcome the depression Umar started making videos on weekends on Kashmiri culture from 2022 like offering Noon Chai and Kashmiri food to Kannada people, wearing a pheran in Bangalore. By December 2022 he had gained around 8000 subscribers on Youtube and within three to four months this number jumped to 5 lakh on Youtube, Instagram and Facebook. By December 2023 the number crossed 12 lakhs.

Umar has been exploring different areas of Kashmir and has visited all the districts of J&K from Kupwara to Kishtwar and Pulwama to Poonch. He crossed Sinthan top on his motorbike in winter (Jan 2023) when there was 12 feet of snow. Umar undertook All India travel in July 2023 from Kashmir to KanyaKumari. He visited Mumbai, Goa, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and other states. He left for Kanyakumari via Anantnag Kishtwar and came back via Jammu -Poonch Shopian road. Umar plans to go for Hajj on his motorbike in future.

Ecotourism and Environment

This winter Umar visited Gurez in a chopper and made several vlogs highlighting the hardships faced by people of Gurez in winter months. He highlighted the weak health sector in Gurez where there is dearth of doctors even in the main Govt hospital at Dawar. Umar highlighted the lifestyle of people in Gurez especially in winter months when the area witnesses 6 to 7 feet snowfall. During this winter Umar visited places like Yusmarg , Doodhpathri and did camping in snow as well. These videos gained huge views. Umar wants to focus his vlogs on ecotourism and climate action in future as Kashmir and other Himalayan states are facing severe environmental crises. “ I own a 4 x 4 Jeep for travelling but I make sure that I won’t run it on green grass and would not promote activities like excessive off-roading etc “ he told me.

Conclusion

Travel vloggers like Umar and many others are an important asset of our society. Their vlogs act as a source of information about tourist places especially the unexplored destinations that remained hidden from the visitors. Travel vlogging can have an adverse impact on the environment and ecology if a large number of tourists visit virgin destinations and start spoiling the forests , water and glaciers. It is therefore very important that travel vloggers and those promoting tourism must be guided by Govt institutions and NGOs working on ecotourism. Umar is planning to register a tour and travel company so that he can promote Kashmir professionally. I would also suggest the Govt to support people like Umar in getting tourist trade registration because such people can become not only ambassadors of tourism in Jammu & Kashmir but will also turn out to be climate action and ecotourism champions.

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is Anant Fellow for Climate Action. He is Chairman and Founder of Jammu & Kashmir RTI Movement