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Actor Sandeepa Dhar has shared a deeply emotional account of her recent visit to Kashmir — her first time returning to the land her family once called home before the exodus.
For Dhar, who grew up hearing stories of a homeland she never truly knew, the journey became a poignant rediscovery of identity, memory and belonging.
“Kashmir, a home I’ve only known through my parents’ stories and faded photographs,” she wrote, summarising the sentiment that defined her trip. In a series of evocative images, Dhar can be seen standing under the towering tree her family once picnicked beneath, revisiting the house her parents built “brick by brick with sold gold and every saved penny,” and offering prayers at Mata Kheer Bhawani — a temple her family visited every week until they were forced to leave.
The visit marked her parents’ return to these sacred spaces after several decades, making the experience even more meaningful. Dhar described the moment as stepping directly into the memories that had shaped her family for generations.
Her journey also took her across some of Kashmir’s most iconic landscapes — Nigeen Lake, Chashme Shahi, Nishat Garden, Pahalgam and Gulmarg — places she had only heard about in stories passed down over thirty years. “I rode shikaras on Nigeen Lake, drank spring water at Chashme Shahi, and wandered through Nishat Garden, Pahalgam and Gulmarg; places that lived in their memories for thirty years,” she wrote.
While the surroundings carried the weight of time, Dhar said the emotional pull remained unchanged. “Everything has changed and nothing has. The gardens aren’t as full and the house sits empty, yet somehow I felt like I’d always belonged here.”
In one of her most powerful reflections, she added, “Strange how a place you barely know can still hold pieces of you. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but these few days inside my family’s past felt like coming home to something I didn’t even know I’d been missing.”
For Dhar, the visit to Kashmir was not just a homecoming — it was a reclamation of history, heritage and a sense of self that had been waiting for her across decades and distance.
