Tucked between Baramulla and the Uri border city in Kashmir, simply 14 km from Boniyar tehsil, lies Dudran—a village the place the scent of contemporary milk winds by slim paths and the place life hums round dairy as naturally because the streams that run beside it. With solely 90 households, Dudran seems like a spot formed by the land itself, a neighborhood held collectively by cows, craft, and an previous, unbroken means of doing issues. Dudran has lengthy been known as the “Milk Village,” a title it earned not only for its wealthy dairy merchandise however for the unusual means it preserves milk. As a substitute of buzzing fridges, the villagers depend on the cool breath of nature: cave-like areas and doud khots—picket constructions that work like fridges and not using a hint of electrical energy.
Standing beside one such construction village Sarpanch Abdul Razzaq Sheikh explains, “Folks assemble small home-like constructions close to pure springs to keep up the temperature and moisture.” Round every sits a cautious fence—not for adornment, however to maintain livestock and wild animals from serving to themselves. “The phrase dudran means milk. Each family right here trades with milk, yogurt, butter, cheese, and different dairy objects. And it is all pure.” he provides with satisfaction.
Stroll by the village on a summer season day, and also you’ll see milk being set in these picket fridges, slowly remodeling into curd and butter.
“Each family right here sells dairy,” provides Sheikh. A lot of this turns into butter, curd, and cheese, saved safely within the doud khots till merchants from close by cities arrive.
The Kashmir village alone produces 1,800 litres of milk day by day whereas the Uri division’s month-to-month output touches 19,000 tonnes. Imran Nabi from the Animal Husbandry Division believes doud khots usually are not only a conventional observe, however a local weather–resilient mannequin. “These easy constructions function the muse of a long-lasting dairy trade that helps individuals’s livelihoods and preserves their conventional lifestyle.”
The previous custom in Dudran isn’t simply rural, it’s additionally resourceful. Ghulam Mohd, 45, spoke of 1 such observe: “After making butter, the villagers use it to remedy diarrhoea.”
Ladies carry a lot of this custom on their shoulders. Each morning, 43-year-old Kaddeja Akhter fills three to 4 pots with milk and slides them into her picket fridge. “I retailer the milk right here. It stays contemporary for a minimum of 4 to 5 days,” says the dairy dealer, who sells milk and its by-products for a residing. Her clear, pure dairy merchandise earn her as much as `16,000 a month. Watching her work reveals how the ladies of the village stability change with continuity, tending their houses and their traditions with the identical regular fingers.
Because the night gentle fades throughout the hills, the tales of Dudran tackle a nostalgic heat. Haji Noor Mohammed, 68, pauses beside a doud khots with a smile. “I bear in mind my childhood, when each home had its personal pure fridge,” he says. “My mom used it to maintain milk and different meals cool by the most popular summer season days.” In a world wired with devices, the village’s calm defiance is unmistakable—its individuals nonetheless belief the strategies their forefathers taught.
In Dudran, milk is greater than meals; it’s livelihood, craft, heritage, and the thread that ties generations collectively. The village could also be small, however its lifestyle feels expansive, formed by earth, effort, and a outstanding type of ingenuity.
