It was the end of June. Srinagar was warmer than usual this year with afternoon temperatures crossing mid-thirties. The warmth in the informal meeting with several local NGOs that day was palpable. After I had talked about Vidyadhan scholarships, a question from one of our new friends hung suspended in the air, “aap pehle kyon nahin aaye?” I didn’t have an answer and mumbled something; someone else added, “aap ko pehle aana tha.” A sadness stirred and abated, as we started discussing how to reach out to more and more deserving students from J&K. A beam of bright sunlight found its way into the room filtering through a woody vine spreading outside the widow. The tea was a little too sugary but paired well with the crisp pakoras adding to the bonhomie.
Three months down the line, we have not been able to garner a lot of applications for Vidyadhan scholarships in J&K but the memory of that meeting stays, giving hope. The support and cooperation of the ASER J&K team, especially Firdous, has been immeasurable. So has been the support extended by Rizwan of ‘Greater Kashmir’ newspaper providing press coverage. At Vidyadhan we now dream of student-scholars from J&K excelling in their respective fields and bringing laurels home, emulating the J&K Ranji team.
The day we arrived (June 29) in Srinagar, we had roamed around the city in the evening – visiting the histroic Lal Chowk (Red Square) named so by Shiekh Abdullah in 1948, and the iconic Clock Tower built in 1980. The old bazaars around Lal Chowk, such as the ‘Koker Bazaar’ and ‘Makkah Market’ are also worth visiting. We had Kahwa with Bakarkhani while walking around, bought silk Salwar-suit pieces for gifting during our daughter’s wedding next year and ended the evening sharing Naan and Nadru Yakhini at Ahdoos restaurant (originally Ahdoo and Sons, started as Srinagar’s first Kashmiri bakery in 1918) on Residency Road. Have to say – Bakarkhani, Kahwa and Nadru-Yakhini occupy but a narrow band within the rich Kashmiri Wazwan spectrum.
The mountains ringing the valley were verdant in summer, the Dal shimmering in the evening sun, the Lal Chowk and Clock Tower bustling, and the Mughal gardens had a stream of visitors comprising both local residents and tourists; there were many young students in their uniforms in Shalimar that day. I thought maybe one day, a few years hence, some of them too might be part of the Vidyadhan journey. At the airport on my way back picked up Andrew Whitehead’s – ‘A Mission in Kashmir’, published by Gulshan Books – an engaging, detailed account of the tumultous times in the valley during the 1947-49 period.
The visit to the valley is now more than three months old. The interview process for J&K students has started. An image that lingers is of tall Chinars (Platanus orientalis) of the valley – they have been witness to so much history. Their leaves must be turning Amber in the Autumn sun.
***
