As a child growing up in Srinagar, Zahid Yaqoob Shah, 29, remembers being painfully shy. “I had no confidence. To make matters worse, I also had a stammer.” It’s hard to imagine that, given how effortlessly his words flow over a telephonic interview. Equally fluid are his movements. It’s not surprising when you learn that Shah, a commerce graduate, is one of Kashmir’s first parkour practitioners. “I played a lot of football and cricket, but I couldn’t stick with it. I found them constricting because of the rules. Parkour, on the other hand, was liberating because it’s less of a sport and more a way of life. You’re free to make your own rules and break them.” 

Having found his own voice and identity, Shah is now helming the Kashmir chapter of WallRunners, an international project that attempts to empower individuals through parkour. The initiative was first launched in Gaza in December 2020. Project lead Tom Vaillant, who is based out of France, started Gaza Parkour, the first parkour academy in Palestine’s enclave that saw yet another flare-up of violence last month. The conflict left more than 255 people dead, most of them Palestinians. Months before the conflict erupted, Vaillant secured a family-owned warehouse in the city and brought on board leading sports brand Decathlon as partner. “It’s been difficult to say the least. However, there is an incredible amount of interest in the sport [in Gaza] and we’re currently getting a lot of visibility, with new children joining our classes every week,” shares Vaillant.