Today I`m going to talk about a new career and a new opportunity, a career for those who want a job, a growth oriented one and an opportunity for those who want to give jobs and make maximum profit and success out of it. Today we will talk about Retail sector; the opportunities and challenges that lie within this sector, especially in context with our state vis-a-vis with Indian Markets.

The retailing Industry can be divided into two major categories or sub-sectors, organized and un-organized. Trading activities undertaken by licensed retailers, that is, those who are registered for sales tax, income tax, etc come under the organized Sector. These include the corporate-backed hypermarkets and retail chains, and also the privately owned large retail businesses. On the other hand, the traditional formats of low-cost retailing, for example, the local kirana shops, owner manned general stores, paan/beedi shops, convenience stores, hand cart and pavement vendors, etc. form the unorganized sector. Now, as far our State is concerned unorganized sector has almost 95% market share, which means almost no big player of retail industry has set its feet in the valley.

Now what does it signify for a Kashmiri young entrepreneur or a student who wants to take a leap forward in this sector. To me it signifies an opportunity, a golden opportunity. An entrepreneur can think in terms of starting his own brand new retail chain. Because there is almost no competition, he can easily survive and grow. Take example of Vijaya Stores, started with few shops todays it symbolises a respected name in Indian Retail Industry. Now that sooner or later India will allow the FDI in Retail sector it again may prove beneficial to already existing Retail chains. Think in terms of joint ventures and partnerships with the big retail giants. They will provide you expertise and stock and if your roots are deep enough you can provide them customers.  The biggest challenge in the whole scenario will be to build a brand image. Hatric has done wonders infood industry; similarly local businessmen need to think in terms of retail chains rather than stores or local shops.

Now for those who want to work in this sector, opportunities are limitless. In Kashmir also once the players like Bharti-Wallmart, Reliance, Big-Bazar, Pantaloons, Provouge and Tata`s enter the state it will be a different story.  Bharti-Wallmart has already started its operations in Jammu, V-Mart is there in the city and many more are ecpected to open stores this year. Now if you are thinking to work outside the state then Indian markets need you, in fact they are already searching for you out there.

Retailing sector in India, though a late entrant, is emerging as a major industry and is also poised to bring another boom in job market. To cater to the manpower needs of the industry various retail management courses are being launched by several business schools in India. As the sector is booming in India, a career in retail sector promises good wages and growth potential for the ambitious youngsters. Retail management is associated with retailing business of departmentalstores and shopping malls. Jobs in the retail sector can bring handsome remuneration and good opportunity to move up the career ladder fast. The retail sector in India is dominated by the companies like Reliance India, RPG Group, Westside, Titan, Pantaloons, Raymonds, Food World, Barista, Café Coffee Day, Bata, Trent, Crossword etc. They offer large employment opportunities forthe qualified retail management professionals. The multinational companies such as Pizza Hut, Adidas, Nike, Dominos, Kodak, Benetton, Sony, Sharp and Levis are also recruiting the skilled professionals making a career in retail sector lucrative.

With rapidly expanding departmental stores and huge shopping malls, plenty of job opportunities are opening all over India. An estimated growth rate in retail sector in India has been about 30-40% with establishment of more than 200 shopping malls. It is estimated that the retail sector will create over 13 million jobs throughout the country by end of 2012. More than 60% of these jobs will be available in the rural areas. It is also auspicious to hear that about 60 per cent of these job vacancies will be in the rural India. The trend means that states like J&K are likely to be the new markets for the big retail giants and will provide a huge opportunity to the local youth. The latest visit of Mr Ambani seems to be a right move to take the retail market in Kashmir forward.

  When the efforts of police were to bring drug addiction to its doom in Kashmir another type of addiction took over the youth of Kashmir. The banning of SMS services brought a new kind of habituation called as “net-addiction” some call it “Facebook-addiction”. While many people in Kashmir especially parents are annoyed with this kind of addiction yet one should not forget the old saying “every coin has two sides” only if one chooses not to  mint one that Amitabh had in Sholey.

On one side we can see children spending more time on internet than on their studies on the other hand we can see the positives it can or has brought in. Unlimited knowledge hub of Wikipedia, a click away Google-uncle, access to latest research material from round the globe and millions of free e-books have helped Kashmiri students to be at par with the students of rest of world. I remember the incident, when a top businessman from Mumbai asked my friends that how they manage to roam around a city like Mumbai without being lost…..and if they had taken some maps with them. My friends replied, "Sir, each of us has a GPS & GPRS enabled phone that never lets us to get lost in this huge city." At this the man remained stunned as he thought of Kashmiris like people from medieval times. One should accept that internet has positives and after all it is not something that controls man, it is up to us how we use it. As I was saying about the addiction it helped the economic growth of the valley…the growing demand for GPRS enabled phones, modems, broadband connections, more data cards, PCs, Notebooks meant more engagement of people in this business and decrease in un-employment. Not only sale but repairing shops also saw a flood of people visiting their shops because machines are meant to break down.  Increased competition between network providers meant decrease in tariff charges and betterment of services. Thus to a major extend it has provided opportunity to seekers.

While this whole scenario was taking place, my attention was diverted towards a new kind of business. I will say that the internet boom that took place in Kashmir was not only restricted to Facebook but many other things popped out. I observed a new pattern of consumer behaviour in my friends and close ones. Most of my friends who are brand conscious started to order things from e-shops. If anyone is not familiar with this term let me give you an idea; e-shops are shops on internet where one can purchase products with a click of mouse and get the same delivered to his/her doorsteps within hours eg. myntra.com, homeshop18.com, ebay etc. Now the question is, can these e-shops be started in Kashmir? If yes how and what to sell and where to set the shop? I am not a business expert yet I, as per my vision, see e-shops in Kashmir as a big hit.

To me yes e-shops can be started in Kashmir, “how?” Just start a website, list your products, give some ads and there you go. “What” to sell? You can sell anything from clothing to electronics; from households to handicrafts everything that is sell-able can be sold. “Where” to set the shop? Now this is a relief you don’t need to have a physical shop at all. You can sell products from your house that means you are saving lakhs of rupees on rent of the shop per year. The concept of e-shops not only will provide employment to the owner of the shop but local courier service men, shopkeepers, photographers and web-designers also.

So, after all “How does an e-shop work?” You must be thinking. The answer is simple like a simple traditional physical shop. You show different products to your customers with different prices and different brands and of course other features like colour, size etc. and let the customer to choose what he likes. Hey don’t worry if you are thinking that “how is he going to pay for what he has purchased” the modern day banking has already made sure that you receive your payment before the product leaves your hand. One can also go for "cash on delivery system" which has proven to be a more successful idea than the previous one, to attract customers. The customers feel safer about the assurance of quality and delivery of the products by the cash on delivery system.  You might be thinking that does it necessarily mean that one has to keep a bulk of products to run an e-shop. The answer again is "No" and to one’s amazement you can choose not to keep any product with you at all!! "Shop without products!" Yes an e-shop can really exist without products believe me!! What one needs to do is to ensure a partnership with certain dealers, shopkeepers or wholesalers. Whenever an order is received about a particular product the e-shop owner just has to convey the same to the shopkeeper who will courier the product to the customer. So what does an e-shopkeeper earn here? Don’t panic Mr e-shopkeeper, you have given a shopkeeper a customer, he will give you an already accepted amount per sale. That means you earn without having the trouble to store the products. In other words, you are again saving yourself from inventory and handling costs.

Now if you are thinking that yes this business is tailor-made for you, then don’t be fooled. This is not everybody’s cup of tea. Running an e-shop needs creativity, honesty, above all capacity to compete and foresee the demand. All e-shops don’t turn into minting machines, those never who show an elephant and deliver a rat. Quality always has been issue for success or failure of any businesses round the globe. In e-shops its importance increases exponentially because your customer trusts you more and purchases things even without having a physical feel of them. Delivery part also magnifies if one fails to deliver products at a reasonable time he is out of the race. Thus to make one e-shop a success story one has to remember these points:

• Choose a portfolio of products from superior and known brands with high quality and demand.
• Provide customers reasonable and competitive prices than other merchants.
• Deliver exact products and never compromise on quality.
• Make a colourful and easy to run website (e-shop) with ease to      access and choose products and     take payments for same.
• Always use a high resolution camera to film the products for your shop.
• Make a tie-up with local and national retailers and wholesalers to provide the products.
• Ensure that products are delivered within a reasonable time to the customers.

Even though business pundits will give you hundreds of points for success but to me these ones are crucial for the success of e-shops. With growing number of professional IT students in Kashmir I believe that e-shop business is going to be a hit in next couple of years. And to me it is only these e-shops that can revive the fortune for handicrafts, saffron, apples and all local industries in Kashmir.

I was recently going through an article by Josh Lerner and William Sahlman titled "Reviving Entrepreneurship" and I was amazed to see how these men cogitate of their country and its tradition of producing great entrepreneurs. They entitle the whole glory, growth and stability of their nation to the entrepreneurs that America has produced over the period of time. This made me to think over the current economic position of our state with respect to the number of entrepreneurs operating in the state. To be fair our land has failed to produce good and quality entrepreneurs in quantity over the years. It is not that the people in the state lack talent, innovation, creativity, knowledge or ideas that are the basics for a person to be an entrepreneur. The basic problem here is that people don’t know how, when and where to channel their efforts, time and off course money.

There are a lot of institutions that have been set up by the government and lots of schemes to help and propel the budding entrepreneurs. Institutions like MSME and CII have helped many people start their business but still I feel that either people are not being made aware properly or they are not being inspired to start their ventures and turn their talent, ideas and dreams into reality. There can be many problems that are enshrouding the growth of entrepreneurship in the state but I have tried to highlight a few.

As I said earlier that people here don’t know how, when and where to channel their efforts, this to me is the basic reason that why we fail to produce entrepreneurs in a quantity. Young and budding entrepreneurs are not properly educated and lack knowledge about entrepreneurship. I am strongly of this opinion that if any nation has to survive in this competitive world its economic setup and stability is important. And for economic setup and stability the nation needs to have young and budding entrepreneurs to take the nation ahead. My suggestion to help the growth in quality and quantity of young entrepreneurs is to introduce a subject on "Entrepreneurial Development" in our colleges. This subject should be made compulsory to all like "Environmental Studies", because it not only environment that needs to be sustained but the growth of a state or a nation should also be sustained. If we fail to produce a good number of entrepreneurs in future then we are going to be what we are "consumers". And the point is till how more time can we Kashmiris be importers and consumers and why can't we be exporters and producers.

Age between 17 to 25 is crucial for the growth of any individual. It is during this period one starts to understand the complex world around and starts to make plans about the future. This is the age to groom, incite and polish these young minds and make them cognizant of the prevailing world situation. We all know what the current situation is, government jobs are like treasured diamonds, hard to find and jobs in private sector come with a certificate of "NO JOB SECURITY," this has made our young generation insecure and they feel perplexed about their future. Exactly this is the time to induce the concept of entrepreneurship in their minds and once this seed is sown then properly taken care with providing sunshine (opportunities), fertilizers (loans) and water (tax benefits and subsidies) it will grow into a tree that will bear fruits for years altogether. But in our case we expect fruits without sowing seeds. A course on "Entrepreneurial Development" will help these young people to infer why we need more entrepreneurs in today's world and why job givers are better than job seekers and more importantly how to be a one. This course will ignite their minds and propel out their ideas, creativity and innovation and help them turn their dreams into reality.

In this paper not only ways to start new ventures should be discussed but students shall be made aware of the various schemes, avenues, opportunities and the different institutions that the government has setup to help the new entrepreneurs' start their business. Apart from this government shall also start an aggressive approach for the various awareness programmes. The banks and various institutions formed to help these entrepreneurs should also facilitate these young men rather than creating more confusion and dissatisfaction. There may be many other causes and solutions but to me these are the basic ones. 

Kashmir has been considered as the paradise on earth from centuries altogether. The beauty of Kashmir has attracted people from round the globe. Many great authors have praised the beauty of Kashmir in their writings. Whenever there is a talk about Kashmir, people think of snow laden mountains, open grasslands and meadows, green forests, beautiful lakes and multi-coloured flower gardens. Yes the fact remains that if few years back the talk of Kashmir had happened one more thing would have come into minds of people, “Kashmiri Arts and handicrafts”. The question is why Kashmiri arts and handicrafts lost their charm and demand? Why Craftsmen which once were so busy in their work are now sitting idle looking for work? Why this industry lost ground and is almost dead now? And finally can life be rebreathed in this industry and if yes how?

Kashmir was also called as “Small Iran”, it is because not only Kashmiri culture was affected and influenced by Persians but the handicrafts work was also gifted to Kashmir by Persia. Kashmiri handicrafts include a variety of products that reflect the creative and pure art of Kashmiri craftsmen. These products include Carpets, Namdas, Papier-mâché, Shawls, Chain Stitch, Crewel Furnishings, Saffron, Walnuts, Almonds, Honey, Silks, Tweeds, Pherans, Basketry, walnut wood works, Copper and Silverware works. This art has been practised in Kashmir since centuries now and these products remained a symbol of lavishness till some bad practises marred these crafts.

Kashmiri handicrafts lost the ground in market because of bad marketing practices. Every single bit of marketing was wrongly done, be it pricing, channels of distribution, packaging, or the people involved, branding was nowhere and channels of communication were disturbed. These are the main factors why Kashmiri handicrafts were thrown out of market and today nobody seems to be buying these products. Talking about pricing every vendor used to price products according to his own choice and the standard of the buyer and still this practice is going on. Channels of distribution and people involved were totally amiss. Usually these people were not honest in their dealings and once their stock was over they sold sub-standard material to buyers at super normal profits. These factors were predominantly responsible for heightening the lack of trust among buyer towards seller. As the time passed people started doubting the quality of these products plus the price was too high. There was one more problem which the buyer faced this was a serious one. Once the buyer realized that he or she was cheated by the seller he/ she couldn’t find the seller as he had no permanent shop or address. The lack of branded products made it difficult for the buyers to believe in the claims of the salesman. Slowly people realised why to buy a shawl or anything made from Kashmir at a high price without knowing that whether the product would render the services as promised by the sales man and that too without a warranty and guaranty. These were the main reasons why the profits of this industry started to decline in late nineties. Later the problem aggrieved and the profits turned into losses and now the situation is that this industry is almost dead in Kashmir. Although Govt. has been trying to revive these arts and handicrafts in Kashmir but the work done so far is almost negligible. Thus it has come to the shoulders of young entrepreneurs to breathe a new life to this industry.  Many of the young men who belong to these families and have grown up watching their father and relatives making these products can take this up as a business line and believe me one doesn’t need an MBA degree to be a good businessman. Now let’s discuss some of the many points that can help these handicrafts to be world famous once again.

The first thing that comes to my mind is branding. Branding helps the buyer to differentiate the products with respect to their quality and manufacturer. Kanwal has done a fabulous job in branding Kashmiri spices. It is through their efforts Kashmiri Spices are now being shipped to Gulf Nations. Likewise if we can brand our Kashmiri handicrafts and even each product separately that would help in building customer loyalty.

Second thing that needs to be mended is the channels of communication and channels of distribution. To me door to door selling and too aggressive selling mar the image of these handicrafts. As far I`m concerned Kashmiri traders should turn to internet as a channel of communication and channels of distribution should be shortened to direct or zero level. This will ensure a better control of the businessman on the quality and price of the product that reaches the customer. Opening of e-shopping sites has been a trend in India for last one year or so and it has done wonders to many companies and many handicrafts across states in India. This is also a way forward for Kashmiri Handicrafts, online sites will not only ensure that maximum customers can reach to the seller but it also ensures that a seller and buyers won`t be doing too much dickering for the product. It also ensures a global reach to the seller and will facilitate the reckoning of these arts throughout the globe. Online banking has facilitated the job as transactions can be done instantaneously and seller can get the money deposited in his account within minutes. These e-sites will also ensure that a buyer has an address to reach out if he finds that the product he has got is not up to expectations. This will enhance a trust between the buyer and seller and once the buyer gets good and quality products he can turn to the seller again and again. On the sellers part it will ensure that quality and honesty is strictly followed because almost 90% of dissatisfied never turn back to the seller again and not only that they ensure that others won`t also.

Packaging is also an issue; we can see the results by declining sales of Kashmiri Apples. In this competitive world quality product is not enough; it should be properly packed also. Pricing should be fair and reliable. Fair and reliable pricing ensure that customers not only buy for themselves but provide an impetus to others interested in buying. At last but not least the quality and durability of the product should never be compromised in any case. Surely if one follows the points discussed above with honesty and integrity he can not only revive these arts but earn a hefty amount of profit. These are only few of the many important issues that if corrected and followed properly will breathe a new life in Kashmiri art and handicrafts.

March is around and the whole valley is looking forward to a beautiful spring season. Winter is ready to go and the cool breeze of spring is waiting to blow fresh life in the surroundings. This is the season where every person in the valley hopes to start afresh. As winter stops almost all the work in Kashmir, from educational institutes to daily working labourers, the season of spring gives a new start to the year. The tradesmen are ready to start their trade; farmers return to their lands, students bring back life to the schools, construction works start and above all the nature starts to rejuvenate. For a student this period proves to be of a vital importance, especially for those who have recently graduated from various colleges throughout the valley. As the month of March is coming nearer and once the university opens its gates for admissions, students will start flocking towards Hazratbal. This is the peak season when most number of students visit the University campus. Lines are seen from Rumi Gate itself as students wait for their turn to get copy of University prospectus. Everybody seems to be in rush and those who are aspiring to study in University often take circles around their future departments in order to familiarise themselves with the environment.

This scenario has been taking place year after year in the University, yet I see many of the deserving students actually end up either not getting the admission or getting admitted in a course not of their choice. Here one should not point fingers towards the University administration; I am talking about students who deserve but due to their negligence or improper counselling mess up their educational career. Thus I felt a need to write these lines for those students who are not sure what to do or don’t know how to crack the University exams.

The first point that a freshly graduated student should take into consideration is that the level of competition would be high due to the limited number of seats. Thus a student should be prepared to face this challenge. Many of these students think that reading those books which claim to be a mantra for cracking a seat in the University. But in reality if ones concepts are not clear and one hasn’t put efforts in college days it becomes hard for him to clear these test. Thus this exam is not really a one shot go, one should have a clear understanding of the basic concept of the subjects he is going to appear in. Thus I will suggest going through all references and books of the whole graduation period will help a lot. The second biggest mistake students make is that they apply to a many courses in University. Everyone seems to fill almost all four forms in the prospects many even double the number. They think of these exams as a lottery game, the more you apply in many courses the more the chances of getting admitted in the university. This is the basic reason why many of the students either give up their degree after a semester or never pass one. One should be clear about the area of his /her competence. After all it is not a one night stay in a hotel where one can say “koi bhikamrachalega”, it is the matter of one’s whole career. This is the time to ripen the fruit that has been taken care for almost fifteen years or so. It is a crucial time and if one ends up in a wrong department one will curse oneself for the rest of the life. So one should not haste in this race, so better take a leap of faith and appear only in the subjects in which one has hold on. Many of the students interested in science end up doing LLB or MLIS on the other hand those interested in law end up in history or psychology. It is not that these subjects are inferior or non-competent, but it is the matter of choice and love. If one is not good at remembering dates and names he can’t be a good historian and one who gets confused easily can’t be a good lawyer. Thus a student who lands in this trouble not only cheats himself but the whole society. So, I will better say only appear in the subjects of your core competence rather than trying your luck everywhere. Yet there are also those students who will be joining University just after their 10+2 exams, these students really need someone to counsel them otherwise due to deficiency of decision making they run into courses which are never meant for them. This is the main reason why we don’t have a greater number of researchers in engineering or medicine in Kashmir.

Again many students which are well prepared and have a good hold in their respective subjects fail to secure a seat. The reason is that many of these students haste in completing the exam. Many students get into the race to complete the paper before any other does. One should take full advantage of the time allotted for a particular paper and should not hurry in writing answers. Being calm, quite but concentrative will surely help, better to concentrate in exam hall than to say “Arayyaaryeh to mujheaatatha…par…” Again it is better to attempt fewer questions than doing all with wrong answers. Attempt only those questions that you are confident about, rather guessing and messing around. The more you guess the more you mess your chances to get admission in the University because of the negative marking system. And after exams please compare your answers with the keys published and uploaded by University on its website, it will not only give you a clear idea about where you stand but also gives one chance raise questions later if one thinks justice is not done. Thus a well prepared and better focused student is a frontrunner to secure a seat than those who rely on guess and lottery things.

All I can say is best of luck to all aspiring students who are ready to knock the sacred gates of wisdom and knowledge and a warm welcome to those who will knock out others to get an entry to the University.

Wise people say “Youth is the backbone of a nation.” But don’t be fooled it is not about all of the young men and women around. It is about those who are educated; thus the education system is the real backbone of every nation. If one looks around the world to see the most developed countries or the fastest developing nations one will find one thing common in them, a well-structured education system. It is a well-developed ad well-structured education system that produces youth who are ready to take the nation forward in this competitive world.

No one will disagree to this fact that Kashmiri youths have got fertile minds. If you will ask psychologists or anthropologists they will say Kashmiris are quick learners and most intelligent people around. Yes this is what we all believe, but then what is wrong with the youth of this land, why are we not notching up at least 50 odd seats in UPSC exams every year? If your mind is fooling you by communicating that it is we who topped in the same exam a year ago, then my dear don’t let your mind fool you. Nations need young people who show constant performance not like Bangladeshi Cricket team which on one day will beat Australia with ten wickets and two days later will lose to Kenya by 100 odd runs. Why are Kashmiris not seen at top corporate positions? Why can’t we name a few scientists this land has produced?  Why there are no good engineers? Why are the people reluctant to consult the new generation of doctors? Why our IT students fail to secure good jobs? Why our arts students either end up as M.Rs? Why our science graduates end up teaching A,B,C in primary schools?  Why our “a few” mathematics students don’t know how to use mathematics in practice? Why our business students fail in business? Why our law students join MBA later? Why is this all happening, something somewhere is wrong and we have never paid attention to it.  To me it is because of our messed up education system. But don’t haste to conclusions when I talk of the system, as it doesn’t only consist of the policy makers or the educational institutes it rather involves all i.e;

• ·         Students
• ·         Parents
• ·         Educational Institutes
• ·         Policy makers.

Now all those parents and students who are reading this might be saying Mr Author has gone crazy “How come we are responsible?” But dear parents and students I warned you before, don’t haste to conclusions.

To me if not everyone but most of the parents in Kashmir are like Viru-Sahstrabhude of 3-Idiots. They decide the fate of their children before their birth. Yet another class of parents flow with the river, "if neighbours son is doing MBBS, my son should go for the same". Yes from past couple of years the degree has been replaced by MBA. Now take a look in any mohala you are bound to see MBAs around. Mr Faisal started a new trend now; every parent wants his son or daughter to be an IAS or KAS. I am not against it nor am I saying that it is bad. But there is no fun of having doctors who don’t know what ECG stands for, or an MBA who doesn’t know the spelling of business itself, an engineer who thinks of soil testing as some complex chemistry term or an administrator who is incapable of taking decisions. But I won’t blame the students here, how is one supposed to be good in batting if he loves to bowl, how can you ask Tendulkar to sing or Rashid Hafiz to play soccer, no you can`t. And even if you will you will get the same results as mentioned above.

Dear student don’t be felicitous that I have not put the blame game onto you in above case, you are equally responsible. You either spent most of time Face-booking , Cricketing or talking on phone, if still there is time then sleeping is an option and if yet there is an hour left then your mirror is your best friend, “keep on setting your style.” The classes of 11^th and 12^th which are considered most important in student’s life to shape concepts vanish in the streets of Parraypora or corridors or poaching centres, oops sorry coaching centres. Then half of college life is spent at home and the rest half in the parks, playgrounds and canteens. When finally some lucky ones enter the University gate they find themselves lost in the racks of Allama Iqbal Library, they suddenly feel if they have entered a hostile environment. As a result they are more conscious to leave the gate than to stay longer in the hub of knowledge.

Now talking about policy makers and educational institutes, yes of course they have played major role to debacle this system. In Kashmir we have this problem that we all tend to be all-rounders, a graduate of history will teach geography, a chemistry teacher teaches mathematics and the one with science background will be giving lessons on business. Thus the real essence of knowledge sharing dies within the class room itself. The second thing that has damaged our educational setup is that in our class rooms there is only one way traffic of communication. From the front wall towards the desks, students act like if they are born dumb and if they don't act like that then their report cards will show a negative growth. The policy makers have never bothered to breathe a new life in the curriculum of the students or strengthening this system. Have you ever wondered why all universities in Bangalore, Punjab, NOIDA, Delhi and Hyderabad have more students from Kashmir than from any other state? My dear friends if you are producing an army of graduates from your colleges and then declaring that only chosen 40 odd can enter the sanctified gates of the two or odd universities what is the option left to them. And when these students come with flying colours from other universities they are left embezzled when told “we don’t recognise your institute.” What is the fate of these thousands of students, either decrease the intake capacity of colleges or increase intake capacity of universities or start a fresh ones. But dear policy makers are still sleeping in the warmth of their cozy beds. It is because of these policy makers that a Kashmiri student never thinks of attaining 80% or above once he passes 12^th class. They show dreams to students by giving 500 out of 500 in the school days but later make them feel that no matter what they do 80% is the mark they can`t cross. They will make you feel like you are an adopted child if you are doing a course through distance mode. They will make you wait for a year before declaring your results and issuing a qualification certificate. Dear students please never mind the language or don’t be fumed if you happen to enter their administrative sections. Dear students again don’t be disheartened if you are not allowed in a seminar on education because of security reasons. And above all my dear readers please don’t interpret that our education system is totally a rotten one we have best of the best teachers and best of the students, even if their number is just a few. It is just a matter of time when our education system is going to be overhauled and renewed because this is Kashmir, here things happen pretty fast!!!

If you think there will be a talk about politics here you are wrong, you better flip the first page of any local daily or turn to any Indian news channel where Arunabh and fellows are talking politics all day. Who is eating Kashmir? This question needs not a political answer. If you go to a doctor he will tell you that there are two main classifications of diseases “External and Internal.” The ones that are damaging the external body and others inflict pain in the interior of it. Now review the literature of any religion in the world you will again come across two diseases. First one is external known as diseases of worldly body and the other one interior known as diseases of soul. Every doctor, priest or a preacher of his religion will agree that later diseases i.e. internal diseases (whether interior to body or diseases of soul) are dangerous than external ones. Reason is that these diseases are hard to diagnose and difficult to treat and pose more danger than external diseases. Same is the case with the land of Kashmir, we all have easily found and diagnosed the external diseases and pathogens and try to treat them in our own ways but we are yet to diagnose those pathogens that are eating Kashmir from inside. Eating the heart and soul of this land and are yet untraceable and untreatable.

These pathogens can be seen in everywhere in the world but the land of Kashmir has proven to be more friendly host. These pathogens are roaming free in the air of this land contaminating everything that comes their way. These pathogens look no different than me and you; they belong to the same species and class of animal kingdom “Homo-Sapiens” as we do. They can be found at the gates of big offices, at roadsides, on chairs inside the big offices, at construction sites, wearing white or blue, with ties and without ties, in jeans or in kurta paijamas, in Maruti or Ambassador cars, giving long but meaningless speeches, tweeting dopey messages, making and breaking promises, in short where ever you go, you can trace these eating bugs. Now f you are thinking how you can identify these bugs let me say in Kashmir it is easy, these bugs have grown fat and are easily seen there. Go to any office you will see a bug taking a packet below his table. I was in a bus where one elderly person almost frustrated with his pension release orders was shouting “He asked me to give him the money quickly, as he was getting late for prayers” and guess it was the Holy month of Ramadan. You can also find them at construction sites building bridges without iron rods, drains without cement, painting with expired paint and macadamising roads without tar, building bunds of sand and clay and constructing buildings that don’t exist. But one cannot blame them, and how I can after all what will happen to their families if these things they build don’t need to be mended or repaired year after year. Ah!! the most common type of these bugs is present at gates; they won’t let you pass the gate till you pass a buck to their pocket. Yet there is another class of these pathogens, called as high class bugs. They eat fresh but big yet due to their manners they are clean and most respected. They hold high positions and make way for their children to reach there even if they can’t even a pass 10^th standard exam themself. Talking of exam there is another type of bug helping people to get educated. You must be thinking if one is helping someone to get educated how come he be a bug then? My dear in Kashmir qualification of literacy determines how educated you are. These bugs help to qualify these tests and terms of education system. These are found in most of the educational institutes across the valley. If you now think that this bug is a dangerous one, no my dear there is another one right in classroom. He is talking education but is not educated himself; he talks economics but doesn’t even know “e” of it. He might be taking mathematics classes what if he is an arts graduate. He may be teaching history even if he failed ten times in the same subject. This is Kashmir and these bugs are all-rounders they can teach something of everything. The list doesn`t conclude here there is another species driving vehicles of all types. If driving a govt. one then a local petrol and diesel seller is a friend and if it is the own one of the bug, thanks to the banks, then beware while crossing the roads. They think of roads like a race-course and please never mind their language. Hey there is a white bug also, yes wearing white dress. Now what does this one do? He either gives you long list of drugs from sub-standard companies or will make you to go for ECG at another bugs lab if you consult him for a headache. Now if you go looking for them in hospitals you won`t find one!! Dear how can you it is clinic time. Now there is a bug everybody knows very well, this one wears uniform. This one is found everywhere in the land. Because these are known ones, people try to avoid them because their bite takes time to heal, if you don’t believe go ask the driving bugs. The list is so long that one will run out of classifications but these bugs won’t. In short where ever you look you got to see not one but many.

These bugs and pathogens have been eating Kashmir silently and internally, hard to diagnose difficult to treat. These pathogens are real cause, hampering the economic growth and social well-being of the land, degrading the morality of Kashmiri people. How can one expect growth of a land if there are thousands of eaters? These pathogens not only eat but make sure that those who follow them are also cannibals. They make sure an army is ready to take them over. I believe that till these pathogens are not cured and treated there will be no fruit obtained in curing the wounds and scars that this land has got externally.

Now the question remains how to treat these pathogens. My dear friend the answer lies within every pathogen himself. It is only he who can treat himself, no matter how many times you spray anti-pathogenic drugs over him. No matter if you talk religion to him, no matter if you talk of Kashmiriyat to him. My dear friend this pathogen is really a hard one, only when he chooses to be RBC of this nation he will seize to be a pathogen. But the question remains.. Will he? and if yes then when will he?…..

خدا نے آج  تک اس قوم کی حالت نہیں بدلی 

 نہ ہو جس کو خیال  اپنےحالت  کے بدلنے  کا

Although I was too young to remember things but I still have memories of those golden days. The all crowded houses and known faces; mirth in voices; spark on the faces and merriment all around. The echoing of continued prayers and the buzz of the visiting pilgrims. The late night market lights and the flocking of people made it sure that life awoke till midnight. The lightened up streets which otherwise were congested because of their narrowness provided us a lot of space to play. And how can I forget the long waited weekends when all children used to play together games and sing aloud songs of joy.  It would have been same I guess but the incident of 1995 turned it around.

Life has come all way since then, the per-capita income of families has gone up; poverty line declined; more vehicles on roads; DTH antennas on the roof of every house; the talk of modems and data cards and not to forget the small box in everybody’s hand. For me also everything seemed to be heading in the right direction. When I used to compare my land with other nearby areas or other non-urban areas I always felt proud about having good roads, power supply, water supply and among other things a good literacy rate. I was happy in my own way but with the passing time I realized that nothing was good at all. Age and books bring knowledge and wisdom, I believe. A peeping look in the history revealed facts that were hidden to me. I realised that the land has not only a religious importance but historical also. Even though the fact remains that the history of Charar-I-Sharief doesn’t date back to about 2000 Years or more as the history of Srinagar, yet one should admit the fact that Charar-I-Sharief had its inhabitants even before the coming of Hazrat Sheikh (RA) This makes Charar-I-Sharief a historically important Sub-Urb area. Charar-I-Sharief as an area got blessed, when Hazrat Sheikh (RA) chose it as his final resting place. No one can deny the fact the “Chaar-waen” would never had become “Charar-I-Sharief” if Hazrat Sheikh (RA) had chosen any other area.

I don’t think there is any need to introduce Hazrat Sheikh`s <sup>(RA)</sup> here. Every Kashmiri believes that Hazrat (RA) was a blessing of Allah unto the people of Kashmir. He is Taj-ul-Awliyai Kashmir (Crown of Kashmiri Saints), Alamdar-I-Kashmir (Flag bearer of the people of Kashmir), Shiekh-Ul-Alam, Noor-Ud-Din, Nund-Reshi and what not. He taught Islam in its purest and simplest way to the people of Kashmir. My elders always remarked that on the day of judgement when Allah will ask Kashmiri “Why haven’t you done what I ordered you in THE QURAN?” They will say, “We couldn`t read Quran as it was in Arabic”. Allah will say “You are making an excuse; I had sent a saint unto you who translated my book in your locale to make it easy for you to understand”. It will take me a volume of books to write about the introduction of this Saint of God. Nonetheless one should not forget that his presence in the area of Charar-I-Sharief made it a centre of excellence and an important religious destination even in the life of Hazrat Sheikh (RA)^.

            Thus we come to a fact that Charar-I-Sharief has got both historical and religious importance. Yet a visit to this land will give you a different flavour. I am not a propounder of regionalism yet one has to feel for such an important land which was supposed to be the “Model Town” in Kashmir as promised by Mr Jagmohan. I as a resident of Charar-I-Sharief don’t want any special favours but at least I should get what I deserve. I have witnessed people who say that there was nothing in Charar-I-Sharief before 1995. But the history tells a different tale. Hazrat Sheikh ^(RA) in his life time made Charar-I-Sharief a centre of his activities where he would assign duties to different saints asking them to visit different places to preach Islam. Khanqah-e-Faizfanah was established in the times of Hazrat Sheikh ^(RA). Charar-I-Sharief had the first Higher Secondary School in the whole Budgam district. Students as far as from Chanapora were rolled in this institution. It remained a centre of education for decades all together. Due to its Religious importance Charar-I-Sharief remains a centre of attraction for millions of people round the year. Not only Muslims, Hindus and people from other religions came to pay their homage to this great saint.

But since 1995 when the whole world has been developing at a fast pace and India at a faster pace Charar-I-Sharief seemed to have taken a reverse gear. The higher secondary remained the same when primary schools of other areas where graded up to colleges. The hospital has the same capacity for decades all together. The accident prone road remained a single way even though every year we hear the same phrase of “Road Widening.”  To add to its trouble the road which connects Charar-I-Sharief with Srinagar is often closed because the bridge is not ready or there is strike on water supply or there is a quarrel between two families or a hen was crushed by a lorry! The power supply is something not to be talked about. What is the fun of providing a 24x7 line for the shrine when the people living nearby don’t even get 7x7. The streets which once where lightened up are dark and fearful. The drainage system is in drains and the local municipal committee is busy in collecting money from the buses and cars. The public transportation (SRTC) which once was a major means of transportation for the people of Charar-I-Sharief, ply ones in a day and that too when a bus is available, when at hundreds students are going to their colleges daily. This has resulted in a kind of monopoly of Sumo drivers, the people are helpless to board these Sumos and pay triple fare as compared to the bus services to reach their destinations. Though the number of vehicles in the bus stand has gone up exponentially yet the bus stand remains the same. To add to its problems the vehicles don`t have a permanent bus stop at Srinagar (Even when an area around Iqbal Park is still remembered as Chaar-Ada), this makes the passengers to run for the vehicles at Iqbal Park Srinagar and due to this problem the sumo drivers are reluctant to visit Srinagar after the dusk leaving hundreds of people stranded in the city each day.

Leave the facilities to the locals aside, people who visit the town face difficulties. The open spaces are no places to stay in winters. No proper arrangement of washrooms and rest rooms add to the headache. There is not a single hotel in Charar-I-Sharief, whereas if one goes to Ajmer or Mata Vishnu Devi there are hotels and many hotels around. I should say the Government has failed to portray Charar-I-Sharief as a religious-tourism site. These are the reasons that to me are enough to answer the question of declining pilgrims to the land. If you can’t make a local pilgrim happy so that he can have happy memories about the place why do you think of foreigners to visit the land again?

I don’t know the reason behind this. They say change is necessary and the land hasn`t changed. May be the caretaker of the land wasn’t changed as and when required. May be giving a person more than 30 years for caretaking, without results, was a reason. May be the people of the land themselves are the reason for the pathetic plight of their homeland as they never demanded their rights and never raised their voices. But he question still remains unanswered and the blessed land is longing for the rain of renewal that can bring back its lost charm.

اپنے اجڑے آشیاں کی داستاں ہم نے کہی 

     پھر گلا کرنا نہ ہم  سےکہ تم وقت پہ بولے نہیں.....