Buffalo doctors share stories of Kashmir

By ELLEN GOLDBAUM

A Kashmir native and UB clinical associate professor of urology has launched the Ladi Shah Project, Kashmir’s first digital oral history archive.
Khurshid A. Guru, a Buffalo surgeon noted internationally for his advances and teaching in the field of robotic-assisted surgery, has created the project as an initiative of the Guru Charitable Foundation, founded by Guru and his wife, Lubna Guru, a pediatrician. The project has been in development since 2009.

“The Ladi Shah Project aims to share the meaningful stories of ordinary Kashmiris as a way of preserving the region’s unique linguistic and cultural heritage,” says Guru. “By recording personal anecdotes, such as an artisan explaining the beauty and meaning behind his craft, a retired teacher noting the perils of unquestioning obedience and a social worker’s struggle to help establish the first blood bank, the Ladi Shah Project creates vivid snapshots of everyday life in Kashmir as it is and as it was. The stories highlight Kashmir’s diversity, as well as the common experiences that define its history and culture.”

Interview podcasts are now accessible to the public on the Ladi Shah Project website,  which will share new stories from the expanding archive each month. The archive currently contains more than 150 interviews and extraordinary personal accounts from a broad section of Kashmiris.

The Guru Charitable Foundation is a nonprofit organization devoted to improving the quality of education and medical care in Kashmir.