Raisa Nastukova
Bio
Freelance journalist focused on stories of both Kashmir culture and society as well as the rising tide of climate change.
Stories (16)
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Cactus Thieves Plague Arizona’s Deserts
Arizona’s deserts are home to the world’s densest forests of towering saguaro cacti. These cactus grow up to 50 feet during their lifespan, which can last as long as two hundred years. However, these stoic giants face a pervasive threat — poachers who dig them up under the cover of darkness to resell on a growing worldwide cactus black market.
By Raisa Nastukova5 years ago in Criminal
Flooding Caskets and Floating Corpses
Casket flooding has been a problem in Louisiana longer than climate change, but as sea levels rise and hurricanes become more powerful and frequent, burial solutions in the state need to evolve — and fast. Louisiana loses land the size of a football field to the rising tide every hour. But for Louisiana’s dead, the rising tides of climate change isn’t a nebulous prediction but a current reality.
By Raisa Nastukova5 years ago in The Swamp
Resistance Literature is Blooming in Kashmir
A poet famously wrote of Kashmir, “if there is a heaven on earth, it’s here, it’s here, it’s here.” The steep, icy slopes of Sonmarg or the soaring Himalayan views are the sights that inspire poets and tourism magazines alike, but Kashmir is having a surge in a different kind of writing: passionate resistance literature against Indian occupation.
By Raisa Nastukova5 years ago in The Swamp
New Mexico’s Missing Native American Women Deserve Better
Audra Willis, a member of the Navajo To’hajiilee community, was only 39-years-old when she was decapitated and mutilated. The lively mother of six young children was close to her family and was known around her community as a hard worker and a good friend. However, she recently fell in with a rougher crowd. Passersby found her body in an arroyo in Four Hills, a middle-class neighborhood outside of Albuquerque. The last time her family saw her was on Thanksgiving. Authorities found her body mere days before Christmas 2017. In 2019, police broke the case and arrested a man for her murder.
By Raisa Nastukova5 years ago in Criminal
Louisiana’s First Climate Change Refugees
The residents of Isle de Jean Charles in Louisiana’s southeastern bayous are the first trickle in the coming wave of climate change refugees. For decades, the tribes (Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw and United Houma Nations) who once called the isle home have been relocating to safer land. 98 percent of the isle’s land has sunk under the rising tide since 1955, with nothing but a thin strip of land left.
By Raisa Nastukova5 years ago in The Swamp
Houseboats of Srinagar
At the base of the Himalayas near India’s border with Pakistan, Kashmir is a deeply troubled region that, despite oft-violent political turmoil and destitute poverty, still captures the fantasies of tourists. The mystical land, sometimes called “India’s answer to Switzerland”, is known as an exotic getaway, far from the unbearable heat of Delhi or Mumbai, that was especially loved by Bollywood icons. There were once over a dozen theaters screening Bollywood flicks. Those are gone now, all closed by 1990 after threats against “un-Islamic” bars and cinemas by a militant Islamic group called the Allah Tigers.
By Raisa Nastukova5 years ago in The Swamp
Dealing With A Pandemic For An Already Troubled Region
When the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the globe, countries were plunged into a chaotic period of enforcing restrictions on activities, scrambling for medical equipment, and preparing their medical infrastructures for the wave of new patients. While nearly no region has come out unscathed, few have been as hard hit as Kashmir. Even before COVID-19, Kashmir had been through months of strict lockdown which, at one point, included a full internet shutdown imposed by the Indian government. While rudimentary internet services have been restored, stay-at-home orders are often difficult for Kashmiris to adhere to. Due to the slow-speed internet, many students and workers don’t have the services to work from home, medical professionals are stifled, and misinformation abounds.
By Raisa Nastukova5 years ago in The Swamp
Climate Change is Decimating Kashmir’s Agricultural Economy
Thousands watched online as a Kashmir farmer wept as he wildly tried to unearth his apple crop from the fresh snow deposited by an uncharacteristic snowstorm. The viral video was widely shared in the valley, with many farmers expressing their own frustrations with losing crops due to the changing reality that climate change has brought. Uncharacteristic snowfalls and the change of weather patterns can destroy a farmer’s entire season of work in just a day.
By Raisa Nastukova5 years ago in The Swamp
God Served Me Tea At California’s Trippiest Festival
Jon lifted a nebulous green crystal to my face. “Stare into it,” he said. “It will transport you to another universe.” A handful of people huddled at a low table, shoulders wrapped in woven pashminas. The cream-colored drapes of the tent hung around them. Some sat on the ground, others on small pillows. Many had chemically altered perceptions and flying saucer eyes to match. The neon cobweb tablecloth was covered with gems and minerals in a dazzling variety of hues, leaving barely enough space for the tiny glass tea cups.
By Raisa Nastukova5 years ago in Futurism
The Grand Canyon’s Lost Honeymooners
1928 was the year of adventurers. Charles Lindbergh earned a Medal of Honor for being the first solo pilot to cross the Atlantic on a non-stop flight. Amelia Earhart took off on her voyage to become the first female aviator to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Explorer Richard Byrd’s first expedition to Antarctica launched. The wonders of the world seemed more attainable than ever. For newlyweds Bessie and Glen Hyde, this was the perfect year to spark their novel lives as noteworthy adventurers.
By Raisa Nastukova5 years ago in Horror
Major Asian Cities Are Sinking Under Climate Change
In 2019, Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced the impending move of the country’s administrative capital from Jakarta to East Kalimantan on Borneo island. While government officials leave the current capital, about 40 percent of Jakarta is below sea level and some portions of the huge metropolis are sinking at a rate of about eight inches per year.
By Raisa Nastukova5 years ago in The Swamp
