Actor Kunal Kemmu's sister Karishma Kemmu made an emotionally charged return to her family's ancestral home in Srinagar, Kashmir, years after the family was forced to flee the Valley during the Kashmiri Pandit exodus of the early 1990s. She shared the visit in a video on her social media account, walking viewers through the old house alongside her parents.

Walking Through Forgotten Rooms

In the video, Karishma's mother guided the family through each section of the house, pointing out rooms that once held deeply personal memories. 'When we got married, we used to sleep on the upper floor of the house. What we had to leave behind in one night... today, years later, we are walking through the streets of Srinagar and reaching our house,' she recalled.

The family moved from room to room as the mother narrated, 'Dad used to study here... This was your room... We used to sit here... My sister had once fallen from these stairs. Every room is a childhood memory.'

A House Divided, Memories Intact

Karishma revealed that the once-sprawling family property has since been subdivided into smaller rented units. 'This house is now divided into rooms. Each room is someone's home on rent,' she noted, adding that the staircase had no electricity and most rooms remained locked.

In an emotional caption accompanying the post, Karishma wrote in Hindi and English: 'Bahut gayi thodi rahi. 9 seedhiyan thi kabhi, ab sirf 3 reh gayi hain. Zameen badal gayi, ghar badal gaya — par jo yaadein reh gayi thi, woh aaj bhi wahin thi. Saalon baad apna ghar dobara dekhna... alag hi feeling hai. It would have been so much better if it was maintained but ab woh humara toh raha nahi. Every time my parents visit, it's a mixed feeling - most are memories of childhood and some haunting. Kashmiri pandit home, Kashmir.'

A Story That Resonated Beyond One Family

The post drew a strong response, particularly from the Kashmiri Pandit community. Producer and activist Ashok Pandit, himself a Kashmiri, commented: 'I am speechless & numb. This is a story of each & every Kashmiri Pandit. Thank you Karishma for reliving our roots.'

Notably, both Kunal Kemmu and Karishma Kemmu have spoken previously about their Kashmiri roots and the trauma of displacement. Kunal was reportedly born in Srinagar before the family migrated from the Valley during the mass exodus that uprooted hundreds of thousands of Kashmiri Pandits.

The Broader Context of the Kashmiri Pandit Exodus

The displacement of Kashmiri Pandits in the early 1990s remains one of independent India's most contested and painful episodes of forced migration. Hundreds of thousands of families left — or were compelled to leave — the Kashmir Valley within a matter of days or weeks, abandoning homes, property, and generations of roots. Decades on, visits like the one Karishma documented continue to surface the unresolved grief of a community still seeking formal acknowledgement and, in many cases, a path to return.

The Kemmu family's visit, shared publicly on 30 July, has reignited conversation around the lived experience of Kashmiri Pandit families — and what it means to return to a home that is no longer yours.