Snow art blizzard on social networking sites

After heavy snowfall in the Valley, social networking sites have been stormed with pictures of snow sculptures, architecture and designs depicting the culture, political and social situation of Kashmir.
While making of snowmen has been a centuries-old tradition in Kashmir, the innovations have announced a new trend. Many websites have invited snow art pictures from users.
A Facebook user posted a picture of a shikara (boat) with a kangri (firepot) and an oar sculpted out of snow. The concept showed the life of a boatman in Kashmir.
As the Valley witnessed civilian killings in summer last year, some young men created a piece of art from snow which depicted the situation in Kashmir following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani.
Another Facebook user posted a photo of himself on the networking site alongside a snowman whose head was covered in a ‘kifaya’ and ‘Don’t Pellet Me’ written on its body. Hundreds of people were injured after being hit by pellets last year.
“We have just come out of the long fatigue due to the unrest, but everything is still fresh. People are trying to express with snow art what happened in past months,” said Moiz Gulzar, a resident of Srinagar.
The season’s first snowfall has also acted as a platform for young artists. Misbah Iftikhar, 23, an art lover, created a minion with snow and posted the picture on her Instagram account. The picture was shared by many users on various social networking sites.
Even separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was not behind. He shared on his Twitter account pictures of snowmen representing his political views. Srinagar was carpeted with around 7 inches of snow.
The snowfall gave a reason to people to rejoice. Some of them used the live streaming option on Facebook to show the falling snow to their friends.
Facebook user Tufail Ahmad Khan posted a picture of coloured rooster sculpted from snow. The picture received applause and was shared more than 300 times.
Several people sculpted fish, leopard, polar bear and crocodile out of snow and posted the pictures on Facebook, receiving praise.
“It has become like an unannounced festival that people celebrate the first snowfall every year with photos, creative sculptures and many new things that were not there earlier. I think there should be a full fledged event at a community level where people can come together and compete in snow art,” said Shreen Hamdani, a resident of in Srinagar. “I and my brother sculpted a fish out of snow. I thought to do something different,” she said.