Kashmir occupies a strange space in the Indian imagination — at once an integral part of India and an exotic elsewhere we do not often think about. When we rarely do think about Kashmir and Kashmiris, it’s often through the lens of conflict — as either the perpetrator or the victim. But the region is home to many people for whom it represents life beyond the binary of war and peace. Rubeena Begum of Drangyari — a remote village in the Bangus Vallery in Kashmir’s Kupwara district — is one of them.

Rubeena Begum grew up watching travellers pass through this landscape drawn by its natural beauty, but few stopped long enough to experience the lives of the people who called it home. Like many border villages along the Line of Control shaped by decades of conflict and isolation, Drangyari remained outside Kashmir’s tourism economy. Despite having no formal training in hospitality or entrepreneurship, she opened her doors to travellers, turning a spare room in her house into a homestay and her kitchen into a space where visitors could share local meals over conversations that would stay with them long after they left Drangyari.

It was a radical act in a community where women’s participation in the economy has long been limited. Rubeena’s initiative became the foundation for something much larger. Through ‘Project Jazba’, a community-owned entrepreneurship incubator by New Delhi-based NGO Turn Your Concern Into Action (TYCIA) Foundation, border communities across Kashmir are receiving support to create sustainable livelihoods through tourism, handicrafts, food processing, media, and other local enterprises. The programme was created to address the structural barriers that have historically kept these communities away from economic opportunities, offering entrepreneurs like Rubeena Begum capital support, training, mentorship, market access, and guidance.

Today, Rubeena Begum’s intiative has reshaped Drangyari’s relationship with tourism. The village now has ten homestays, a community kitchen, and a café — an emerging local economy built from one woman’s determination to challenge what was considered possible. Her story is now part of a larger movement transforming the lives of local entrepreneurs. Through Project Jazba, TYCIA has nurtured over 200 entrepreneurs, with 41 families running community homestays across Kashmir’s border villages. Many of these ventures are led by women, whose roles have expanded from managing homes to becoming entrepreneurs with access to financial systems, digital tools, and new opportunities.

Project Jazba’s impact extends far beyond creating individual businesses — it represents a shift in how development is imagined in communities shaped by conflict, isolation, and limited access to opportunity. By placing entrepreneurship in the hands of local communities, the initiative is helping border villages move from economic uncertainty towards self-reliance and resilience. In regions along the Line of Control and historically underserved districts like Kupwara and Bandipora in Kashmir, sustainable livelihoods are not only a pathway to financial independence but also a foundation for stability and peace.

By creating opportunities for young people, Project Jazba offers alternatives to seasonal employment and dependency, allowing communities to build futures rooted in their own skills, resources, and knowledge. At the same time, the rise of women-led enterprises challenges long-standing social and economic barriers, enabling women to become both contributors to household incomes and stakeholders shaping the trajectory of their communities.

Follow @tyciafoundation on Instagram.

Learn more about Project Jazba here.

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