Green Cover Declines

 

A Brother Remembers

 

AFTER CARE FOR KASHMIRI YOUTH

Hundreds of boys and girls from Kashmir Valley and other parts of J and K State study outside the State and qualify every year as Engineers, MBAs and other professions, under PMs scholarship scheme and other financing modes of GOI. Most of the qualified guys go back to valley hoping to get a govt job; which is a remote possibility. The qualified youth thus, remain unemployed indefinitely, in spite of the fact, that GOI spend considerable amount in educating them. Most of them come from rural backgrounds, they need to be guided to the right path.

Well begun is half done ! They need after care by Central / State Governments :

01) Create Pool of Qualified Unemployed Youth.

• Pay each one of them "unemployment allowance of not less than 10K per month.
• Entrust them to various Govt departments at random as " Trainees ", to pick up the fundamentals of work till they get suitable openings any where in the country.

02) Hire an HR / Head Hunter Consultants of International repute at Govt cost. should be given clear performance based mandate as:

• Open six or more centers within J and K State, manned by Specialists within easy accessibility of Qualified youth.
• Each center would conduct crash programs in continuity on Personality Development, English and computer operations.
• The Consultant would hunt for job opportunities all over India and assit the Kashmiri youth till interview stage.

03) Mr Prime Minister, your genuine concern and effort in educating the Kashmiri youth is highly appreciated, but, please ensure the end result.

My Royal Enfield Story

 

Pleased to share my Royal Enfield Story (touching or not so touching🤪).

 I started my career in 1967 and bought my first two wheeler in 1970---150cc Royal Enfield Sherpa - Registered as APS 2150 (Andhra Pradesh Srikakulam)- Visakhapatnam ShowRoom Price Rs 5500 - loan from Central Bank of India  (Silver lining: interest on loan borne by my co.+ 2w monthly allowance as per co policy.) 

A strong point for decision to buy- Petrol Rs. 1+ per ltr or so. Delivery taken excitement on: petrol price enhanced to Rs. 1.50 + per ltr. Routine use- no  GF to carry on pillion- till we got married in 1971. Naturally, I had to impress Raj and after settling down for a month or so, decided on an adventure- Raj as pillion rider and myself on command & control, a 60+ miles long drive to Visakhapatnam (Vizag in short) - on a  hot & sultry Sunday straight to Kwality at Vizag Beach, the only outlet in town to prepare fresh and delicious North Indian "Chole Pathore". Then some shopping a movie and dinner of delicious chicken biryani at Chikori (Popular Punjabi Restaurant- with hefty Bank loans in pocket one fine night the owner disappeared with no trace). We now on return 60 mile journey reaching our industrial township Shreeramnagar by midnight. This ritual continued every Alternate Sunday for a few months, till we decided that Raj would learn driving Motorcycle. As usual on our last long trip to Vizag after filling the tummy with yummy chole pathe I ventured to Teach Raj to drive the Sherpa. Unmindful of sandy beach, on the very first throttle the wheels slipped and Sherpa from Hot silence side falling on Raj giving her leg mild burns....decided no more teaching .... no shopping or movie or dinner at Vizag that day.... return home safely before Sunset. The maroon and chrome shade Sherpa served me well till I had to say farewell(don't  tell any one I was short of money for the car) to it when I bought my first car , a very well kept 1971 model Ambassador in 1974, which gave my trouble free service for 17 long years, giving it a royal treatment  by bringing it in a specially designed Railway wagon from South to North in 1980.

Those were the days .....and now these are the days....today if some one offers me a lakh of Rupees to drive a 2 Wheeler for 60 mtrs. (return 120 mtrs.) I will say a polite NO !

Lest We Forget Aga Ashraf Sahib

A Tribute to Kashmiriyat:

 20 /25 years back, a knock at my door at Chandigarh around 10 pm, I find with some surprise, a sophisticated elderly gentleman , in old style long striped night suit, introducing  himself: "I am Aga Ashraf, friend of Mr. Mathur and I am staying with him. He told me a Kashmiri Pandit family was living  here and I felt tempted to meet you." I welcomed him in.   My neighbour Mr VS Mathur was an intellectual educationist, retired Director Education Haryana, a close friend of Aga Sahib. Aga family had several names in  Education/ Administration , during our student days and the name was not a surprise. At that time Aga Ashraf was Chairman of some J&K statutory body. Terrorism  in Kashmir was on peak those days and he said in last 40 years  this was the first time that he did not move to Srinagar in summer. Repeatedly regretting the mass exodus of KPs, we discussed various aspects of Kashmir- politics, violence, development, education and all that over several cup of kahwa, till we bade goodbye to each other at 1.00 am. RIP Aga Ashraf Sahib.

Kashmir: Beautiful memories of yesteryears

I received these beautiful memories via WhatsApp. I would like to credit the person who compiled these pictures. If you are the person or know the person, please leave a comment. Thank you for rekindling such beautiful memories.

Madan Trayodashi- Valentine's Day of Kashmiri Pandits

This day is considered to be Valentine's Days for Kashmiri Pandits, dedicated to Husband Wife relationship or even Boyfriend girl friend. Male partner used to pamper their better half with sacred bath on river banks/lakes. Both used to decorate each other with flowers which was in abundance during this period in Kashmir. This was a day of celebration for unmarried people also as they used to visit river banks to look for companion and propose.

Below description is taken from Facebook post by Neeta Bambroo Bakshi

Source: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2425665374120019&id=100000297412830&sfnsn=mo