By Sahil Bilal

Every morning in Kashmir, students step out with backpacks filled with books and lunch boxes. But the heaviest thing they carry rests silently on their hearts.

It is the weight of expectation.

Parents, teachers, and society measure worth by grades, college admissions, and career choices.

Childhood becomes a performance. Dreams get borrowed, joy is delayed, and identity takes a backseat.

Parents add the first layer of pressure. They love fiercely, but fear shapes every decision. They see the world as a battlefield, where only the top succeed.

Rising education costs, unstable finances, and a competitive job market amplify that fear. Parents schedule every hour: tutoring, music lessons, coding classes, and sports.

Free time disappears. Career paths narrow to medicine, engineering, law, or finance. Interests in arts, history, or theater become hobbies, dismissed as irrelevant.

Projection adds a heavier weight. Parents pass on their unfulfilled dreams. Children must succeed to redeem their parents' lost opportunities. Failure becomes betrayal.

This invisible chain tightens further in a place like Kashmir, where opportunities remain limited and competition intense.

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