Blog # 36 Dated: 31 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear, ..........,

Namaskar. Welcome again. My good performance continued in All India Radio. The confidence in my performance satisfied my boss. I was now pushed into more jobs. The staff was also showing full confidence in my efforts to improve my knowledge of the system working. I was nominated for twelve weeks training in Staff Training Institute (Technical) at New Delhi. The institute was located near mall road Delhi. My younger brother was already in Delhi. Before my arrival in Delhi, my younger brother was staying with our cousin. I thought that it would be a burden on our cousin and his young wife who was working as a teacher in a school, if we stayed with them. My brother and myself jointly agreed that we should rent a place to live on our own.

We took a room on rent (subletting) from a Central Government Employee at Sarojini Nagar New Delhi. (Block D, Flat no; 23 First Floor) There were two rooms, kitchen, bathroom and toilet in that flat. The room rented to us had a small balcony. We were expected to cook our meals in the small balcony (open, without a roof) attached to the room. We were to share the bathroom and the toilet with the family. The rent was probably Rs. 55/- per month. The family was from Himachal Pradesh and they had two small children. We purchased two low cost beds called charpai and moved in. We did not have any intention of cooking our meals there. Nearby to the rented room, in the Sarojini Nagar Market there was a restaurant called Watni’s Restaurant. This restaurant would provide meals at a fixed rate. We had plans to use the services. The day after we shifted, it was Sunday. We were sleeping in the room, and early in the morning there was a tap on the door. The lady of the house was there with two cups of tea. We took it but told her that we would not need the tea from them. In the evening a young boy (the lady's son) came to our room and asked me to help him with his studies. I helped him that day. Next day morning the lady again came with the two cups of tea. We refused but she said that we should take it because we had no arrangement of our own. She persisted and we took the tea. By evening, we bought a kerosine oil stove “Primus” make for Rs. 24/- We started making our own morning tea. We would purchase half a loaf of bread and half a litter of milk packet from the market every evening and have breakfast at home every day.

We would have lunch in our respective offices. In the evening we would go to Watni restaurant for dinner. We would pay Rs. 37.50 a month. The contract was for serving as much roti and rice but with one half plate vegetable and half a plate meat. Both of us being young and having a good capacity to eat,  everyday  there we would fill our stomach to capacity. Most of the other customers were like us too and our intake was considered normal. My brother was very much addicted to Table Tennis. As soon as he would return from office, he would go straight to the community centre and play there. I would go there at dinner time to remind him that it was dinner time. We would go together for dinner. My brother would always remark that I was probably starving myself during the day to take full advantage of Watni’s open offer of as much roti and rice. (The Watani shop is there in Sarojini market even today - 50 years later, but the owners are not in restaurant business now. They have been selling garments from their shop now.) 

I would go to the training centre daily by bus. It would take me more than an hour to reach there. There were some good teachers and some bad ones too. The director was one Mr. Ram Dev. The training was very widespread and I learnt a lot there. I prepared very good notes. These notes were later taken by AIR Srinagar staff to read and improve their knowledge. As part of the training, I bought parts for a 3 band valve radio receiver in Delhi and took these all with me to Srinagar. I assembled the radio and it worked fine. It was with me for a number of years. One day a few years later when I was studying a book on Electronics by Mr. Turmen (Called that time as Bible of electronics) In one of the chapters I read that although there are nine pins in a valve, all are not connected inside the valves in the output circuit. The author suggested that we should connect the unused pins to the ground to ensure a clear and noiseless reception quality. So one Sunday, I started doing the modification as suggested. Just when I finished and before I could check the quality, the power supply to our locality got off suddenly. Later when the power supply was resumed, I switched on the radio. There was absolutely no sound. I failed to locate the fault. Next day I went to the house of one of the ace technician in our office. He spent an hour but could not restore the sound. Disheartened, after a few days, I took it to another gentleman also my colleague for help. In no time, he noticed my modification as suggested in the "Bible of Electronics". He cut the connection and the sound was restored. I asked him to explain why the disconnection helped. His reply was - "These angrezi people do not know India. These Valves made by Bharat Electronics Limited are different than similar valves made elsewhere. At other places these free pins inside the valve are disconnected but in India it is not so. Therefore the angrezi rules do not apply to Indian valves" This gentleman was and even now continues to be very close friend of mine. Afew years later I guided and helped him in preparing and successfully completing the Graduate Engineering Course. More on that later 

After twelve weeks duration completion of training, I returned to AIR Srinagar. My confidence level had increased further. Bye now.

Blog # 35 Dated: 30 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear,.........,

Namaskar. Yesterday I completed my Amarnath Yatra trip details. Today morning,  I had to attend the dentist appointment and had come over to my daughters place yesterday evening since the doctors clinic is easier to reach from her residence. Here my daughter informed me after I returned from the appointment that she has located three photos taken during my Amarnath Yatra trip. I took those photos and am reproducing them here in this blog. The first one is a group photograph. We see two persons sitting down. I am one of them. The other one is Dr. Mrs. Pandita. The lady standing nearest to me is also a Pandita family person. She left for USA later that year. The person standing on the extreme right hand side is Mr. M.L.Pandita who was at that time a Programme Executive in AIR Srinagar and was here on duty like me. (He later rose to the post of Deputy Director General All India Radio. Unfortunately he died about years ago from ill health while he was still in service. He was a very nice person. He remained close to me till his last day. He regarded me very highly. He was once the Director of All India Radio Mathura. His Station Engineer was one Mr. Gupta. This Mr. Gupta later became Chief Engineer and Engineer in Chief in Doordarshan when I was also in Doordarshan headquarter. As soon as Mr. Gupta met me first time in 1990's, he said that it was his ambition to have me working with him because Mr. Pandita had always been speaking very highly of me. I will write about Mr. Gupta in my later blogs.) His wife is on his left in this photograph. Mr. Prabhakar a duty officer in AIR Srinagar is standing near Dr. Mrs. Pandita. Rest of the four persons in the photograph were the pony owners who walked with us to handle the ponies. The husband of Dr. Mrs. Pandita has taken this photograph. The four persons from the Pandita family were related to Mr. M.L.Pandita Programme Executive and they travelled with us in their private capacity.  

The next photograph below has three of us. Myself extreme left. Mrs. Pandita (USA) in the centre and Dr. Mrs. Pandita extreme right. In the middle of the trekking with a walking stick in hand. 

The next photograph shows a long view of the Yatra moving towards the cave. It was somewhere here in this area where I encountered Shanta Jee. I have described the conversation with her in my blog of 27 May. 

 

With that I will take leave of you. I will be there again tomorrow. Bye.

Blog # 34 Dated: 29 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear,.........,

Namaskar. I am here again after a break in writing a blog yesterday. In my last blog, I described the Amarnath Cave darshan.  All types of people consisted the yatra. They came from all places in the country and abroad too. And there were sizeable number of muslims on administrative duties too. Roughly two months before the scheduled yatra day, the administration staff checks the complete route. There are lot of streams flowing on the way. And there would be wooden bridges to cross the streams. Some bridges are found missing and new ones are put into position. Some which have been damaged due to winter conditions are repaired. The road is levelled and any loose boulders cleared from the paths. Alternate bypassing routes where glaciers had covered the normal routes, were made. Then the tin sheds at each padaav were also repaired as routine. 

Simultaneously all the owners of the ponies get mobilized. Those days, this trip would mean good earning for the locals. The pony escorts, persons who would carry loads on their backs for the yatris and dandi pall bearers would all get ready for the trip. After reaching a padaav, they all would stay together and eat together. Then in the evening sing their traditional songs. I found that some of them had a great tonal quality. I enquired from some about these songs and I was told that these songs are called "saif-ul-malooq" I recorded some of these songs too and carried the recordings with me. Those days, a radio programme for gujjars would be broadcast from our Radio station. I gave these recordings to the programme producers. The songs would get broadcast frequently. There would be lot of listener request for these songs. 

For some of the owners of the horses, it would mean grief. The horses on reaching the padaav, would be left in the nearby meadow to eat grass. There would be some poisonous weeds which would cause the death of the horses. I do not know whether these deaths due to ingestion of weeds is happening these days too.

I remember noticing a foreigner probably from Poland aged around sixty years walking up as a yatri. He carried a stick to help in walking. He always wore a raincoat. He had engaged a coolie who was carrying his haversack during the yatra. During night time, he would sleep in his sleeping bag in the middle of open ground with the bag completely zipped up except for a tiny slit to allow air for his breathing. He would eat some biscuits and had a special stove with him to boil water for tea and also prepare some simple meal for himself. I met him and recorded his interview. He spoke in halting english. 

The return journey from the cave was enjoyable because it was mostly down hill. We reached Panchtarni and after a brief stop, we decided to move on to the  next stop Sheshnag. The weather was good and by dusk we were at Sheshnag. We camped there for the night. The recording equipment was all packed up. Next day morning, we started to move to Chandanwari. Pissu hill was no more to be feared. We walked down with ease. From Chandanwari we moved to Pahalgam. There were a number of Langars on the way and at each one we would be persuaded by the volunteers to come into their makeshift structures to rest our limbs and take food. There were so many of them that we could not oblige everyone. By 3 PM, we reached Pahalgam. We did not stay there. We took a bus and by late evening we were home. 

Next day I returned all equipment to the OB section. The programme staff made a 45 minute documentary out of the recorded material. The finished programme was played back on the third or fourth day after our return. The programme had a 100 percent reception by the Hindu community.

With this my trip to Amarnath was over. I made another trip (private) in the 1970's. It was from a different route. I will describe that in a subsequent blog. Bye.

Blog # 33 Dated: 27 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

Dear,.........,

Namaskar. My last blog posted yesterday, detailed the journey to Panchtarni. It took us about four hours to reach Panchtarni. We found this padaav to be a big flat ground with a river flowing nearby. We pitched the tent and prepared the lunch. Meanwhile the crowd was swelling with arrival of more yatris. Most people on arrival would take a dip in the river. I also took a dip in the river. Some time after I had returned to my tent, and was preparing to take my meals, I heard some shouting and running of the yatris after a person. They caught the person and took him to a tent outside of which was written "Camp Police Station". I went to the police station with my tape recorder to record the incident. I found a person being interrogated by the police personal. I asked the police personnel to explain the incident. I was told that this person was a thief. He had been noticed taking away the purse from the clothing of a person who was at that time taking a dip in the river. From a distance he had observed the person searching his clothes placed at a dry spot. He raised an alarm. On hearing his alarm, the yatris nearby had apprehended the person. The purse was found in his possession. In my presence the police were repeatedly asking this person to disclose whether he was a gang member and who were his accomplices. The police was not only asking the questions but also using "other" methods to make him speak the truth. As long as I was there, the person did not mention anything about being part of any gang. He happened to have come from Delhi. Later in the evening I found him handcuffed and restrained in the police tent.

I took my meals and immediately took a nap in the tent. I had a good sleep but as soon as I got up, I remembered what I had dreamt. I had dreamt that it was in the afternoon and I was returning from the cave. I saw a relative called Shanta Jee walking up towards the cave in the opposite direction. (Shanta Jee was a resident of Srinagar and lived about a kilometer away from our house. What I knew about her was that she was a patient suffering from serious back problems. At times she would get so much pain that she would not be able to even move. I had once watched her getting an attack in a market place and she had to be carried home on a stretcher.) In the dream I asked her how she is here accompanied by her brother. She replied to me that she was there because this was the wish of the Baba Jee. I narrated this dream to the programme colleague. I told him it was impossible to happen knowing the condition of the person. To which he said that nothing is impossible if it is desired by the Baba Jee. (Bhagwaan Shiva would also be called Baba Jee). 

I had visualized the cave to be a tunnel with the open face of the hill to be the entrance. I thought that there may be a fence and a door in front of the cave which would get opened when the sadhus carrying the holy mace would arrive the next day. Normally the administration  would not allow anyone to move ahead of the mace. I wanted to record the moment the sadhus with the mace would reach the gate and enter the cave. So I approached the administration and requested to be allowed to move ahead of the yatra next day early in the morning. It was granted. Next day I got up at about 2 AM, collected all my essential equipment and started to move towards the cave about 6 Kms away. At that time the sadhus were all at the river bank taking a bath. I reached the check post. I was stopped by the guardians at the check post. I told them that I had been allowed by the administration and showed them my AIR identity. I was allowed to pass. Just then some sadhu suspected that the administration was allowing the common people to move ahead of the holy mace. He alerted the others at the river bank. They hurried and started moving towards the cave. I could hear them running. I wanted to be ahead of them and responded by running too. I reached the cave and they were almost at my heels. But they suddenly stopped following me. They went to the nearby stream (Amravati) to take a dip before entering the cave. I moved into the cave. There was no gate. It was utter darkness around me. I had a torch with me. I searched for the tunnel. I roamed around inside the cave a couple of times but did not find the tunnel. By that time the sadhus came. They started setting up for the puja.  On the right side was the ice lingam which they decorated with flowers and kept the holy mace by its side. I found that water was dripping from the cave ceiling at a number of places. The droplets would change into ice at some places on the ground. Some of these ice formations on the ground were designated as Parvati, Ganesh Jee and Kartikeya Jee. They decorated all these formations with flowers. (I had unknowingly walked over all these formations when I was searching for the tunnel a few minutes earlier)

It is a commonly held belief that the ice lingam waxes and wanes depending upon the position of moon with respect to the earth. On full moon day, the lingam is at its full height and on dark moon night it is at its lowest height. So on all pooranmashi days (Twelve in a year) it is formed as high as seven to eight feet.  

I recorded the pooja, aarti and the hustle and bustle in the cave. I remained there for more than six hours. I saw not only one pair of pigeons but a number of pigeons. (It is commonly believed that on one occasion Shiv Jee was recounting to Parvati jee about the secret of the immortality. At that time a pair of pigeons was also listening to Shiv Jee. From that day, the pair of pigeons have continued to be immortal) When I had been in the cave for about two hours or so, the rest of my team joined me with extra batteries that I had packed for them to carry to the cave. Then I moved around to observe the vicinity of the cave. I was astonished to see about a dozen Naga sadhus sitting by the side of the hill just outside the cave. Before that I had not seen these Naga Sadhus. I have no idea where from these sadhus came and when.  

As I have mentioned in a para above, a stream called Amravati flows just about hundred metres away from and parallel to the cave opening. It is mentioned that anyone taking a dip in this stream gets absolved from all sin and gets moksha. I did not take a dip because I was feeling feverish on this day too.  On the other side of the stream across the face of the cave, there is a steep hill probably called Sant Singh ki pahadi. (If anyone reader can confirm the name of the place, I would be grateful)   In earlier times, sadhus would while coming from Panchtarni take a route that would take them to the top of this hill. Then they would jump to death in full view from the cave front to attain moksha. The administration later blocked the route. 

I set for my return journey from the cave in the afternoon. A miracle happened. I was going down the slope. Shanta Jee accompanied by her brother was walking up the slope. We saw each other. I asked her the same question that I had asked in the dream the previous day. She gave the same reply as in the dream. We could not stop to converse more because the path was narrow and movement of yatris was getting impeded. Just when she passed by me, she shouted to me saying that I should not mention to her mother in law that I had seen her making the pilgrimage to the holy cave.

I will stop the narration here. I will have a break tomorrow and then after thast I would be again here with a blog.

BYE.

Blog # 32 Dated: 26 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear,.........,

Namaskar. Yesterday, my narration had detailed the yatra reaching Chandanwari. Early next day, the yatra would be moving to the next resting spot, Sheshnag. The mean height of Chandanwari from sea level is 9500 feet whereas the corresponding height of Sheshnag is 11730 feet. The distance between the two places is about 12 kilometers. Therefore it is a climb. As soon as we leave Chandanwari, we have to climb a steep hill called Pissu Hill. The height of this hill is about 10700 feet. The journey up the hill to reach the top called Pissu Top is very tiring. The distance is around only two kilometers but the climb involves lot of bends and steepness of the road. I was tired too but youth was my strength. Alongside I observed the pain of the dandi bearers. Invariably the person in the chair being carried would be a fat individual. I still remember one such individual hitting the head of the bearer for being slow. (The partner of this individual was on a horse back and the individual wanted the carriers to catch up  with the horse.) We had to be very careful because the horses would be moving up and trying to outspeed the pedestrians from both right and left. People would rest their limbs very often by sitting on the stone boulders. They would be encouraged to move on. I found this climb a very tough one. It probably took me about an hour to reach the top of the hill. In between I took out my recorder to record the effects of the yatra moving up. Also a few people were asked for reactions on the climb. I was building up material for the radio report.

After a very short rest, I moved on to next intermediate location - Zoji bal. It is a four kilometer distance. On the way we saw birch trees. (Birch bark was the paper in ancient times. We find a good number of ancient texts written on the birch bark layers smoothened horizontally.) The journey was comparatively smooth except at some places the road was striven with stones and the paths were narrow and steep. Naga Koti was the next place we encountered on the way. The journey continued and we could see blue waters of the lake at a distance. We slogged on and reached the camp site, a big flat area adjacent to the lake. It would take fifteen minutes to walk down to reach the lake. Majority of yatris were seen  going down the slopes to take a dip in the lake. I didn't do it because I was too tired and feeling a little feverish. For a moment I thought that having come on a pilgrimage, I should take a dip but the prospect of having to climb back from the lake level to camp ground would sap my energy further and would cause me problems next day. 

Sheshnag means king of snakes. It is said the the snake king dug this lake and took residence here. Some yatris claim that they have seen a big snake in the lake. I looked at the lake and gazed on the surface for a long time but did not see the snake. 

We camped similarly at this location (also called padaav in the local language). The tent was pitched up, meals prepared and eaten. Before hitting the sack, I found a couple of Bhajan singing groups to record them. Mercifully no rains, although it had become cloudy. Everyone seemed to be praying for clear weather. Next day early in the morning we started for the next padaav - Panchtarni, about ten kilometers away.  The sadhus escorting the holy mace had taken a bath in the holy Sheshnag lake at about 3 AM and then moved on to the next stop. They were already away when I started for the day. The first place we reached was called Warbal. The path was almost a level ground and reasonably a wide one. At that place we encountered a low incline clay soil hill. This hill is known as Mahagunus. The climb up is very tiring too. Once it rains on this hill, the water causes the soil to become spongy and it is very difficult to walk and make progress. Most times the shoes get stuck in the spongy soil. In my last blog, I have mentioned that no one could reach the cave on a couple of seasons. The continuing rainfall during the yatra had caused the path treacherous. And then it was followed by early season snowfall. There were lot of deaths of yatris. Most of the sadhus are sparsely clothed and they consider it a good karma to die on this yatra. The administration decided to call off the yatra to save lives.  

After reaching the top of the hill, we reach a place called poshe-pathir. This is a level ground with lot of wildflowers in bloom. The height of this place is 12730 feet. There is paucity of oxygen here because the air density is low. There is a tendency for pilgrims to rest here after having been tired coming up the hill. But the paucity of oxygen tends to cause fainting. Thus pilgrims are constantly advised by the volunteers to move on. I found a couple of tents with oxygen facility at Poshe-pathir to help pilgrims showing symptoms of breathlessness. The journey to next padaav for overnight halt would be another five kilometers. It is mostly down hill (very light slope) and the soil is more firm. The journey is a cakewalk in comparison  to the earlier journey up the hill. 

I will describe next part of the trip tomorrow. Bye for now.   

on a couple of occasions had caused the  The 

Blog # 31 Dated: 25 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear,.........,

Namaskar. I will continue my story about Amarnath Cave and the yatra today. The procession of the sadhus carrying the holy mace starts from the centre of the Srinagar city from the temple located at Lal Chowk. The sadhus do not walk but run. They have four or five overnight stops to reach Pahalgam from Srinagar. The distance between the two places is around 96 Kms. Rest of the public desiring to make the pilgrimage to Amarnath cave reach Pahalgam directly by car or bus. It takes four days to reach the cave. Before I describe the journey, it would be worthwhile to apprise you of the history behind the yatra. 

It is widely known that a shepherd Buta Malik from Aishmuqam (a small town on the way to Pahalgam - about 20 Kms short of Pahalgam) was grazing his cattle on the meadows near the cave. It would be usual for the shepherds to take a flock of sheep high into the mountain ranges during summer months. They would camp there for the complete season and return just before the first snowfall around last week of August. On that particular day in the year 1850, a sadhu approached him while he was tending his sheep on the meadow. The sadhu is reported to have given him a bag full of coal. He was asked to take it home. When he reached home, he opened the bag and he was surprised to see the coal transformed into gold coins. He went back to the mountain range to find out the sadhu and thank him for making him rich. He reached the meadow and started going in the direction which the sadhu had taken after their first meeting. He came across the cave and saw a sadhu there. The sadhu told him to arrange a pilgrimage every year. He returned home and broke the story to the administration. Next year he lead the pilgrims to the cave. There they did not find a sadhu but an ice Lingam  inside the cave. Since then there has been a yatra every year except two or three times when the weather turned so bad that most yatris perished on the way and the rest turned back. 

Every year the total donations received at the cave would get equally divided into three equal parts. One part would be given to the Malik family, the second one to the pandits of Mattan (a small town on way from Anantnag to Pahalgam) and the third one to the Mahant family in whose custody the Silver mace would be stored all year in the temple in Srinagar. (In 2008 a trust board was made for the shrine. One time payment was offered to all the three parties. Two parties took it while the third party - Malik family refused the one time payment of Rs. 1.5 Crore. Since then the trust maintains and improves the facilities for the pilgrims with the donation money.)

Now I will start with details of the yatra starting from Pahalgam. On the first day, the yatra walks from Pahalgam early in the morning for the next camping overnight halt at Chandanwari a total distance of about 16 Kms. When I made the trip in 1960's the administration was in the process of widening and levelling the road to enable jeepable road to Chandanwari. Most pilgrims walk the distance while some take horses and yet some more take what is called a dandi or palki. (A dandi is a chair in which the pilgrim sits. This chair had two poles nailed under the seat. Four persons support the poles on their shoulders and then move along the road. Two additional persons are available to carry the palki and relieve the others by rotation.) There are also pack ponies that carry loads like tents, clothing, essentials, utensils and food items. While we are on this road, water gushes down in the form of a stream from some mountain lake all along on the right side. Every few kilometers we would find langars (Free Kitchens) where free food would be provided to the pilgrims. These langars would be managed by some philanthropists from rest of the country. It would take about an four to five hours for an average young healthy to complete the journey to reach Chandanwari. We would immediately start erecting the tent. Some of us would set up a temporary kitchen and start preparing meals. There were also government owned tin sheds where some pilgrims without a tent would be able to stay overnight. Then some of the camping agencies also would keep tents erected at the spot and rent them out on daily basis. There were also some makeshift dhabas where some pilgrims would take their meals from. As long as it is dry weather, it is manageable and less difficult than if it rains. We would be so tired at the end of the day that there would be no interest in looking around and appreciate the beauty of nature. Since we were on a mission to record for the radio station, we found several group of Bhajan parties busy singing in praise of Bhagwaan Shiva as soon as it started getting dark. We recorded some portions of the programmes. 

Bye today. I will move my narration description from Chandanwari tomorrow.        

 

Blog # 30 Dated: 24 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear,.........,

Namaskar. I posted my last blog on Friday - 20 May. I was to resume posting a new blog on Sunday, May 22. However due to a three day outing to Niagara Falls on Saturday evening, my schedule got upset and caused me to miss posting a blog on Sunday and Monday. Now having returned to home and gone back to my groove, I am here with the blog.

The trip to Niagara Falls was very enjoyable. Thanks to my children, we stayed at Embassy Suites on the 21st Floor from where we were able to have a fantastic view of the falls. I am attaching a photograph of the view of the Falls in this blog, as they were seen from our room window.

Last time, I had narrated how my Station Engineer forced me to have hard drinks - first time in my life. But after this incident, my Station Engineer appeared to be very sad over the incident. It appears that he narrated the incident to his wife after he returned home. We had a landline telephone at our house. The Station Engineer, called the number late in the evening and his wife talked to me. (She had never met me nor ever talked to me before this occasion.) She profusely apologized to me for the incident. From next day, I noticed that my Station Engineer was more soft and favourable with me. He gave me more challenging jobs. One such occasion happened soon after. There was going to be a three day National Integration Council meeting in Srinagar. We were required to record all the deliberations and send the tapes to Delhi. The meeting would start at 9 AM and continue till 8 PM with one break of about 90 minutes for lunch every day. First day, I set up the equipment and recorded without any issues. Next day, the first session was held at the conference hall at Tourist Reception Centre. The lunch was served in the lawns. The post lunch session was to be held in Dal Lake area in a hotel. The recording machine which weighed about twenty kilograms had to be shifted to the new place. There was no help available. I carried the recorder on my shoulders from the first floor to the parking lot about ten minutes walk away. Then I took all the equipment to the new place and set it up for recording. When the session started after lunch, I was in position to record in full. My Station Engineer saw me running with the machine on my shoulders. I missed the lunch. He got me a cup of tea. The three days recording was done without missing even one word. The Radio Station got a appreciation letter from the authorities in Delhi for our efforts. I was recommended for a commendation by the Station Engineer. That year, my annual report was rated as extra ordinary. 

I was nominated for going on an assignment to record the Yatra to Amarnath Cave. There were two more staff members from the programme side. I carried two portable recorders and enough batteries and tapes and other tools and necessary items to ensure that the recording would be done properly. That was the time when the cassette recording had not come to AIR. The recorders had to work on batteries only because there was no electricity on the yatra route. I was provided one horse for riding from Pahalgam to the cave and back to pahalgam. In addition I was provided one horse to carry equipment and my personal clothing, utensils and supplies for the trip.  I decided to walk and did not avail the horse for my personal use. 

The Amarnath Yatra used to be an annual pilgrimage for at least two hundred years since the Ice Lingam representing Bhagwan Shiva was discovered. The Yatra would be undertaken under the supervision of the local Dharmarth trust. My grandfather was also in Dharmarth Trust. He told me once that he had gone with the yatra for eighteen years as part of his duty to take care of the Yatris. The Yatra would fall in the month of August. On Raksha Bandhan day, the Yatra would reach the cave where the Ice Lingam would be seen and worshipped. Sadhu's from all over the country would reach Srinagar by late July or beginning of August every year. Then about two weeks ahead of the Raksha Bandhan day, a large group of sadhus would carry a sacred silver mace to all the major temples in Srinagar. They would walk in a procession. Lot of public would line the streets to welcome and watch the carrying of the sacred mace. Then about ten days prior to the main event, the sadhus would start their journey on foot towards the sacred cave. All of them would be walking. We at the AIR Transmitter site about seven kilometers outside the Srinagar city on way to Pampore town, would make arrangements for the convenience of the yatris because they would pass on the road by our Transmitter. The effort would be totally private with contribution from the staff - both Hindus and Muslims. 

More of the yatra tomorrow. Bye then 

Blog # 29 Dated: 20 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear,......,

Namaskar. I have changed from Hello to Namaskar today. I wanted to say namaskar from day one of starting the blog. I avoided it because times have changed to such an extent that I thought any one - a reader of my blog, a so called secular or liberal would feel offended. Now that I know most of you out there are not bothering to have a look at what I am posting, I decided to change Hello to Namaskar. For those who are interested to know, Namaskar means that there is recognition of Param atma in me as Atma to the Param atma in you as your atma. And I am wishing and expressing the interconnectivity that exists between us both being a form of Param Atma. 

Now going back to 1960's in AIR Srinagar. In a previous blog I had mentioned about the two station engineers. Around 1967, a gentleman by the name, Mr. N.Krishnamurthy joined as Station Engineer. He was probably from Hyderabad. As soon as he joined in Srinagar, he seemed to be keeping track of my progress in the understanding of the engineering aspect of a Radio station. It appeared that he had met my first station engineer in Delhi and he seems to have given him some feedback about me. Everyday he would be observing me and my performance. He would load me with more and more responsibility. I was enjoying and learning. One day he called me to his office chamber. He asked me whether I had ever travelled by air. I said no. Then he said that he would be sending me to Jammu. I had to meet the station engineer at AIR Jammu. He would give me a portable audio tape recorder that I had to carry back with me to Srinagar. Next day, I came to office and then from there to the airport. My flight was scheduled to leave for Jammu at about 1 PM. Those days, they would give the passengers free lunch at the airport before boarding the 1 PM Flight. I had already taken my lunch at home but did not want to miss the free lunch. Main course was rice and meat. I sat with other passengers on the long dining table and the meals were served. A person came and put rice on the plate. Another person came and put meat plus curry on the rice. We started to eat. I encountered some bones with the meat served to me. I did not know what to do to dispose off the bone when seated on a dinner table. I did not see any plate on the table where bare bones pieces could be deposited. I thought that it would be uncivil if I would leave the bone on the plate. So I put it in my mouth and swallowed it. Thank God it was a small one and it did not stick in my throat. Anyway I reached Jammu and straightway landed myself in the station engineer's office. As soon as I introduced myself, he replied that the recorder could not be spared. He informed me that my station engineer had already been informed. I talked to my station engineer from there and I was told to return next day as per schedule.

Next day, I reached AIR Srinagar and reported to the station engineer. The station engineer told me that he had received the call from Jammu Station Engineer the previous day when I was at the airport. He told me that there was an option to inform me and ask me not to travel to Jammu. But then he remembered that it was first time that I would be flying. He did not want me to be disappointed by preventing me from flying that day. He appeared to have a soft corner in his mind for me.

Same year, there was going to be an army function in Tanghdar, Titwal sector in the valley. This place is a border town on the side of a river. (Kishenganga perhaps) On the other side of the river, it was the part of Kashmir under the occupation of Pakistan. It was so near that we could see busses plying on the road. We would also see people on that side. There was an army regiment posted there in Titwal. Retired General P.S.Bhagat who at that time was the only living Victoria Cross recipient in India was to visit the regiment. It was a two days celebration. Our Station Engineer had also been invited and it was desired that the events at the celebration be recorded for later broadcast in the programme for the Armed Forces. One programme officer was also deputed. I was deputed to do the recording. It was very tough reaching there. It took us almost six hours to reach the spot. Immediately lunch was served. Hard drinks were being served like water. I was the only one not taking the hard drinks. The commanding officer shouted at his staff to know why I was not offered the drinks. When they informed him that I had refused, he still wanted me to have drinks. I again refused. Then he asked his staff to give me orange juice. He wanted every one to have a glass in his hand. The drinks continued for two to three hours. The lunch was one of the best I have ever tasted. There was a white meat type dish which I relished immensely. An hour before dinner, the programme officer told me that the meat dish that I had liked best was pork. Something happened to me after hearing it and I vomited out immediately. I could not attend the dinner. I opted to sleep instead. The commanding officer noticed my absence during the dinner. He sent officers couple of times to my room to call me for dinner. 

Next day there were more events. My station engineer drank too but it appeared that after a few drinks some of it went to his head. I was drinking the orange juice. He came near me and forced me to drink. When I initially refused to drink, he said "I will get a funnel put it into your mouth and force the drinks down into you" I was really scared. I took half a (chota) peg. We returned to our base after two days. The Station Engineer was silent all the way. He appeared to be feeling guilty about forcing me to drink. 

More of the story on Sunday, tomorrow being a break from posting a blog. Bye.

 

Blog # 28 Dated: 19 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear,......,

Hello. Hope you enjoyed the blog post sent yesterday. So much happened in these years in the second half of the sixties that it will take me quite some times to narrate each one of them. Some of these events were very tragic. I will narrate one of those sad events today. I have already mentioned that my mother had a brother. We would call him mama jee. I remember him for a number of special things. He had good looks and he looked very smart.  One he had a brand new cycle with lot of colourful accessories. He had to meet someone at the court premises. He put the cycle on the stand and went off for less than a minute. He returned and found the cycle missing. That was the end of it. (It is ironical that most thefts occur around the court and police premises.) Next was his handwriting. It would be very clean and pleasing. He was not educated much and could not stick to one job. He seems to have tried so many avenues but failed every where. For two years he got attached to a Handicraft merchant and would travel to Kanpur with him during two winters. They would hire a place to sell the goods that they had carried from Srinagar. Our mama jee was a salesman with the merchant. One day he received a message that his father was seriously ill in Srinagar. He was asked to return to Srinagar. He took leave from his boss and reached Jammu. Those days, the road between Jammu and Srinagar would remain closed for three months in winter. It was so because the  Banihal mountain pass separating Kashmir region from Jammu region would get very heavy snowfall. (Later a tunnel was bored in the mountain to allow one way travel between Srinagar and Jammu. Much later another tunnel called Jawahar tunnel was bored to allow two way simultaneous travel in all seasons.) Only easy way to travel between Srinagar and Jammu would be by air. There would be lot of rush of people for the tickets. People would book well in advance. However the Government would keep a quota of few seats in each flight for enabling seats for high officials to travel between the two cities. There would be occasions when the Government quota seats would get released to the general public when there was no official requirement for the seats. 

When our mama jee reached Jammu he arranged to contact the quota office. He was lucky to get a ticket. As per my mama jee, he was seated in the aircraft when the airlines staff told him to deplane because the Director of Education had to travel. He did not have an option. The plane left and crashed in Shopian area of Kashmir in an area called "Hoon Heng.". All the passengers and the crew died. So my mama jee was saved thanks to God. But he had to reach Srinagar. Those days the bus would go from Jammu to Banihal. On the other side of the mountain, the bus service from Qazigund to Srinagar was available. People would walk up the snowy mountain and then would slide down on reaching the top. There would be locals who would assist. It would take a day and night to climb up. Then the locals would help the novices like my mama jee to position himself on a shovel. The local would also stand on the shovel blade and use the handle to slow down the descent. My mama jee travelled this way. The helper took my mama jee to  his home and took good care of him. (He was lucky because there would be lot of looting of novices by the locals after they would be helped to descend the slope.) It took my mama jee about a week to travel from Jammu to Srinagar. It took him a lot of time to recover from the tiredness. 

Mamajee was again without a job. One day his mother in law sent him a message, asking him to come over on a particular day because a pious man was coming over to her house on that day. She was sure that the pious man would bless him and his bad days would be over. My mama jee was desperate for a job. Therefore he went to the house on the appointed day. When he reached the house, the pious man was already there. My mama jee was taken to the room where the pious man was already seated at the head of the room. As soon as my mama jee entered the room and the pious man looked at him, and then asked mama jee to come and sit besides him. My mama jee immediately recognised the pious man. The pious man was one like him and had also been a salesman at Kanpur the previous season when he was also there. The pious man had also recognised him. The pious man whispered into his ear and requested him not to disclose his real identity. He did not and the pious man spared no efforts to keep my mama jee in good humor. This story was told to me by mama jee himself. My mama jee later got a clerical job in the Arts Emporium a government enterprise. 

My mama jee had a stomach ailment. On occasions he would suffer from severe pain in the stomach. It was diagnosed to be duodenal ulcer. He got operated upon and affected portion of duodenal intestine removed. A few years later he suffered from blocked urine channel. The inefficiency of the doctors in the government hospital caused his death. He could have been saved if the doctor could have been a little careful. He had left a vein unstitched inside his body. He was too young to die at that age. His death devastated the family. My mother's condition became miserable she would faint more than ten times a day during the mourning period. The fainting fits continued for my mother for many years later although the frequency came down every year.

It was decided that I would carry his ashes with me to Haridwar and have them immersed there.  A day was decided and I booked my tickets for Jammu. It was estimated that I would reach Haridwar next day around noon. I was told that I would be on fast till the ashes get immersed. I was given some "Shakar Paar " (cookies made from singeda ka aata and sugar fried in ghee) which I could consume on the way. I was given strict instructions not to put the container with ashes on the ground at any time. I left early in the morning by bus reaching Jammu at 7 PM. I booked a hotel room at the bus stop itself. I enquired about how to reach Haridwar. I was told to take early morning bus to Saharanpur. From there I would get a number of buses plying every half an hour for Haridwar. Being hungry all day, I could not sleep properly. Early in the morning at 4.30, I heard shouts for passengers wanting to travel to Saharanpur. I came down from the hotel and took the bus. In a few hours the bus reached its destination. This bus would stop at random places to pick up and drop passengers. It stopped in between to allow us to take breakfast. Sad I had to miss it because I was fasting. At destination, I took a bus for Haridwar. This bus was driven by a Sikh gentleman. First time ever I saw him a sardar jee smoking in public. This bus would also stop and start to drop and pickup passengers innumerable times during the journey to Haridwar. 

As soon as I reached Haridwar bus station, I hired a cycle rickshaw and asked him to take me to the ghat where I could do the emersion. As soon as I got down from the rickshaw, I was surrounded by about twenty persons each offering to help me with the process for the emersion of the ashes. I asked the amount that I would have to pay them. The first one said Rs. 10,000/- I had a budget of less than Rs. 100/- When I said that I did not have that much money, more amounts were quoted to me. On each occasion, I did not agree because I told them that it was too high. After 15 minutes most went away to hunt for more such people arriving at the ghat. At last one person remained and he offered to do the process for Rs. 100/-. Emboldened by making them climb down from Rs. 10,000/- to  Rs. 100/- I told them that I would be immersing the ashes without due process, the person came forward with an amount of Rs. 26/- I agreed. It took him half an hour and the ashes were emersed in a normal way. Having done it, I first had a good lunch. I took a passenger train for Delhi leaving at 1 PM. This train would also stop at almost all stations. At 9 PM  the train reached Delhi but I was so tired that I did not have energy to reach the house in New Delhi where I was to stay. Instead I went to an ordinary hotel nearby booked a room and had a good sleep. I got up late in the morning, took a bath and a breakfast outside on the road and left for my destination.  

Bye for today. 

Blog # 27 Dated: 18 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear,..........,

Hello. I touched on history in last two blogs. Today I will go back to my narrative on my AIR days. I described all my seniors during the initial period there in AIR. I can not move ahead without describing two interesting characters. They were senior technicians and both of them were about ten years senior in age to me. Both of them were always trying to boss me. They were in junior post than mine and they could not bear to see me as their senior. But they were cross with each other too. They were always at daggers drawn against each other. Each one of them was trying to influence me to side with him and his way of thinking. And I was always trying to avoid both of them without letting them know that I was doing that. One of them tried to educate me with management of my finances. He lectured me about devaluation of money and absurdity of saving for future. He brainwashed me to such an extent that I fought with the Accounts staff. There is a mandatory requirement of putting a minimum percentage of salary in General Provident fund. My minimum amount worked to some Rs. 38/- per month.The Accounts person told me to deposit Rs. 50/- a round figure. I argued with him against paying a higher amount than mandated. Ultimately I remember that it was Rs. 40/- to which I agreed.  At the end of every financial year we were issued with a statement detailing total investment and interest earned on the deposit. This continued for about three years. Then by chance my colleague who had joined six months later than me in the same post as mine, showed me his statement. I was surprised to see that his balance in the account was about four times than mine. I told him the "devaluation" story of the senior technician. He laughed at me and said that both of us were fools. Then without further discussion with my initial advisor, I increased my contribution to the fund. I was on a path to looking at better balance every year. In times of need I would withdraw a percentage of the deposit to help me during financial tough situations. 

We had a peon in the section. He was a very interesting character. He was blind in one eye. He was named Gulam Bhat. He was a Tonga driver by profession initially. He owned a couple of horses and a Tonga carriage. He lived at Rainawari. I was told a story about the manner he got a peon's job in Radio Kashmir. It so happened that there was some minor work in the Radio Station. The Installation officer needed to have a casual labourer for two weeks. He would be paid two or three rupees a day. At the end of two weeks, he was paid the full amount as final settlement. He went home. Next day early in the morning he took his wife and three children with him in his tonga. He also carried his ration card with him. He reached the Chief Ministers residence. The Chief Minister would hold a public meeting once a week at his official residence.  When his turn came, he walked to the Chief Minister seated in his chair. His wife and three children were following him. He handed over his ration card to the Chief Minister and walked away leaving his wife and children to stay with the Chief Minister. While walking away, he told that Chief Minister that in his government poor people like him have only one alternative and that is to commit suicide. Then he said that he would be drowning himself in the river. He asked the CM to take care of his family. The CM was taken aback. He called him but he continued walking away without evening looking back. The CM shouted to an officer and asked him to physically stop him and bring him back.  Gulam Bhat was brought back. The CM asked him to explain his problem. In reply he told him that he had been working in Radio Kashmir and yesterday he was paid his dues and asked not to come to office from the next day. The secretary to the CM took all the details. The ration card was returned to Gulam Bhat and he was told to take his family back to home. He was assured that justice would be done to him.

The CM's secretary contacted the Director of Radio Kashmir. He was a Kashmiri Muslim too. His name was Mohd. Yusuf. (Incidentally he happened to be GMD's brother. - Remember GMD? If not see my 15th May Blog) The secretary asked him why Gulam Bhat had been terminated. The Director knew nothing. He checked with the administration. They did not know too. The Installation Officer had come from Delhi and he worked independent of the local system. The IO had finished the job work and was readying to leave for Delhi. The Director called the Chief Minister's office and conveyed the  facts. The CM was informed. The CM (Bakshi Gulam Mohd) was a very strong autocratic type of a ruler. He told the Director that Gulam Bhat has to be given a job otherwise he (Gulam Bhat) would rock his (CM's) chair. Radio Kashmir had a vacancy of a peon and Gulam Bhat was appointed to that post same week. I checked this story with Gulam Bhat and he confirmed that it was so.

Gulam Bhat was put on shift duty. One late evening there was some transport problem in the office. Gulam Bhat was relieved earlier and asked to go home on his own. He is reported to have left without registering a protest. Next day he came to office riding a horse. He tied the horse to a tree in the office front lawn. The leash was loose enough for the horse to munch grass from the lawn. The director came to office and was surprised to see the horse in the front lawn. Gulam Bhat was summoned to present himself before the Director. He was asked "What is this? To this Gulam Bhat replied that he had not been provided transport on the previous evening. Then he said that people have cars and bikes to reach office. He said that he does not have a car nor a bike. He has a horse. Then he said that everyone parks his vehicle inside the premises and he has also done the same. Gulam Bhat was asked to go. He was promised that he would not be given evening shifts. Everyone in office would be scared of him. No body could guess what he would do next to put them on the wrong foot. 

His two sons, Bashir Ahmed and Mehrajudin also were employed to Grade D jobs in AIR Srinagar. But their employment happened without any tricks by Gulam Bhat.        

Bye today. 

Blog # 26 Dated: 17 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

Dear,......,

Hello. I hope my last blog post forced you to look back and understand how and what happened to our ancestors. Two years back, I had posted similar analysis in a whatsApp group. One of the group members who is a very serious student of history, reacted and sent back his comments. I am reproducing what he wrote.  

"What I read someplace, the economic persecution of Kashmiris continued under the rule of Ranjit Singh of Punjab when they fought against Muslims....and thereafter under the dogras as well.....I don't know if the portrayal has a political notation, but it was claimed that Kashmiris did better when British control was established....but it may be a false narrative spread by the colonials... This was mostly in the form of heavy taxes… even if they were Hindu rulers… that”s also the time the culture of the plains as well as religious practices were established in Kashmir… some 150-200 years ago…. May be I  am mistaken. It is interesting to note that Kashmiri civilization dates back some 5000 years… where did we evolve from or where did this civilization arrive from to settle in Kashmir…? Do we have some awareness of when and how Kashmir Shaivism was established? There are records of great works delivered around 900 AD by Shri Utpaldeva and Abinav Gupta. but this must be predating their times… it will be fascinating to understand where our culture has evolved from…"

I wrote back and my response is was below.

"Dear Sir, thanks for joining the conversation. There are two different subjects here. The first one is regarding the condition of Kashmiri Pandits. They have faced different types of persecution all the time. They did not seem to be under control and dictating the issues. They had one type of problem when invaders had not come. When the Muslims came, they were crushed, converted, and persecuted. They were able to survive by engaging themselves mainly by involving themselves in reading, writing, and teaching. They did not engage in trade or businesses etc. During Sikh/Dogra rule, although there was no Jazia Tax to be paid and there was no pressure for conversion, jobs which were mostly held by Hindus were now shared by the outsiders imported by these rulers from outside. This caused the Hindus serious problems because their bread and butter were taken away from them. There was an attempt to force them to join the military and this was another torture because they were not used to this type of life. It was these Hindus who agitated and pressured the rulers to impose restrictions on giving jobs to outsiders. (This was which we called Article 370 Later.) As mentioned earlier, we Hindus would all get educated and seek jobs in the system. With time, they learned to be scholars of the language of the court and administration. Thus we find them, master, in Sanskrit, Sharada, Persian, and then English. When Englishmen came, they needed men for police and administration. Bhatta's easily filled the gap for the clerical posts. This naturally helped the community. The community appears to be happier during their rule. When Englishmen started Mission School, it was the Bhattas joining in hordes. They needed to learn English Language. Subsequently, they became teachers when more schools were opened by the administration. The issues listed gave them the means to subsistence. This is a very big and complex subject and probably beyond the scope of the conversation in this group. I had to touch on this subject, in brief, to attempt to draw a picture of the times our ancestors lived so that when we narrate their story we keep the perspective in mind. I do not want them to be ridiculed.  Regarding the evolution of the Kashmiri Civilization and dating it to beyond 5000 years is a much deeper subject. I leave it there. If you individually are interested in this subject, I would suggest a book - Kashmir Its Aborigines and their exodusÈ written by Colonel Tej K Tikoo, Ph.D.  Thanks and God bless you."

I have read a good number of books on Kashmir and its politics. If anyone of the readers is interested to know more, he would be welcomed by me. I would share with him/her all that I have read. I can suggest reading material. However I will continue to post interesting political blogs as we move on.  For sure, I shall not loan my books. My recent experience is that it takes a lot of efforts and energy to get the books back. That distracts me from my normal working. Bye till tomorrow.

Blog # 25 Dated: 16 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 

Dear,......,

Hello. Yesterday I mentioned that the events in 1967 in Kashmir meant a setback for us the Hindu community in the valley. I am tempted to  give you a very brief background about the history of Kashmir from Hindu perspective. I have a feeling that even with my best expression, I may not be able to get you to visualize the true picture of the events then. But I will summarize it in such a manner that most of you shall understand the times and circumstances that existed then. I would like to apprise of the situation that existed for our community for around the last 150 years when our grandparents, parents, and ourselves lived. But before that, we have to have some idea of how their ancestors lived and what circumstances they had to endure.  As all of us know, the history of habitation in Kashmir is reported to be at least 5000 years. The recorded history says that initially, we had only Aryans/Hindus living in Kashmir. Subsequently, Buddhism took roots in Kashmir and then reverted back to Hinduism. Around 600 years ago, Muslim invaders came, took advantage of the warring local Hindu rulers, and then took over the job of governance. It may surprise most of you to know, that a Hindu faction in Kashmir invited an Afghani Muslim to take over as ruler so that they could settle scores with another Hindu faction. That was the first-ever Muslim ruler in Kashmir. (So our Hindu fighting Hindu is not a present-day story only. We have been doing it ever since). An arti was performed, a teeka applied on his forehead, and then made the king and rule the public. Then successive invaders came, fought with each other but continued to rule over the Hindu population. Untold misery was piled upon the local population. For most, it was beyond tolerance, they converted to Islam. You must have heard about Jazia Tax. This was a tax levied upon only Hindus. Unfortunately, two to three famines lasting a couple of years in a lifetime each further ravished the community. Then the Muslim priest class (Known as Syeds and Naqsbandhs) accompanied a new horde of invaders and they started more conversions after preaching.  Every day the population of real inhabitants who still maintained their Hindu religion got reduced. Very interesting to note here, one Kashmiri Pandit, Saha Bhat got converted to Islam after it was getting very difficult to survive the tough repression. He took a new name, Salahuddin. He was ruthless against Hindus and piled unspeakable misery on them. He started the first major conversion of Hindus to Islam. Only today, I was reading about "Leeja Bhatta" (They were a group of about 50 Kashmiri Hindu families who would prepare their meals in earthenware utensils early in the morning, hiding the same under shrubs and all-day and then dress and behave as if they were Muslims. When the pressure on Hindus subsided, this group stopped this practice and reverted back to the Hindu religion. But due to the rigidness of the Hindu priest class, these people were not allowed back. Some of them became Muslims and some of them observed the Hindu religion but were boycotted by the Hindus who had not converted to Islam. This one became a distinct group and they would marry within their own group only. We still have some of these Hindus in our society today but with the passing of times, people do not recognize their history and there are marriages between them and the other Hindu groups now.

 Here I would again like to bring to your notice that around 300 years back when there was another major pressure/atrocities on Hindus from the Muslims, a big group of Hindus were forced to convert. They would be Muslims during the day and at nightfall, they would put Muslim texts under their seats and then do puja of Hindu Gods. In the morning they would go to the Mosque and start reciting Bhajans in praise of the Muslim Prophet. The Muslim Mullah class forbade them from this because it was not acceptable in their religion, but they continued to do it. Ultimately the local Mullah had no choice but to allow this. This type of recitation is known as "manqabat" and is still recited in the mosques in Kashmir. Nowhere else in the Muslim world is Manqabat recitation done in the mosques. Anyway, after a generation, when the situation eased, they returned back to the Hindu fold but here again the priest class did not accept them. This class became another group now called Purbee Hindus in Kashmir. There used to be no intermarriage and inter-dining between this group and the other Hindus. It is only with the advent of Arya Samaj during Sikh/Dogra regime in Kashmir that the Orthodox Hindu hold on the community got eased to some extent, but the Hindu population although vastly dwindled, continued to be very poor.  

It has been sad recounting our history. But it is necessary that we should know our history.  Bye. 

Blog # 24 Dated: 15 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear,.......,

Hello. I am here again with my narrative after the weekly break. Last time I narrated the story of my tough time with my boss.  Then I described Boss No: 2 too. I gave you details of six Assistant Engineers. I heard about a seventh one too but he had been posted to AIR Lucknow. He was called GMD - short name for Gulam Mohi Din. He was a completely uneducated person. He did not know to read and write any language. He would just speak kashmiri and could also converse in urdu intermixed with kashmiri. He would somehow communicate with non-Kashmiri speaking persons. He would sign in english language as G.M.D. I was told that he was a good workman and would have innovative methods to solve mechanical problems. Some day, he seemed to have impressed a senior officer and he had recommended him to be promoted as Assistant Engineer from the post of technician. I met him face to face in 1981 when he was posted to the same office where I was already working. I will describe him in detail when my narrative would progress to the year 1981. Right now I am in the 1960's. . 

Kashmir was a place where we would find unrest and agitations touching various issues at least two to three times a year. It so happened that there started one around June/July 1967.  That year the first super store started in Kashmir valley. It was called Super Bazar. This was the first time that different items were available under one roof. The items were cheaper than in the general market. The store was under the ownership of the government. Young boys and girls of all section of the society were working as salesmen and sales ladies there. One day there was a rumor that one Muslim boy and one Hindu girl working in the store had married in the court, a stones throw throw distant from the store. The two had gone to the boy's house from the court. The atmosphere got charged in the city. The administration was alarmed and took control immediately. Both the boy and the girl were detained at the local police station at Maharaj Gunj near the place of residence of the boy.  The girl named Parmeshwari was a resident of Rainawari area and was living with her mother. Her father had deceased some years earlier. 

At the Police station, both the boy and the girl said that both of them were adults and they had taken the decision to marry on their own. the police checked their educational documents etc. and it was clear to the police that they could not keep them detained at the police station. The documents clearly mentioned their adult status. Even then, the police got her checked at the local hospital where they also confirmed that she was an adult. The administration, called the Hindu leadership and put forth all the facts at their disposal. But the Hindu leadership had been under pressure to solve their other problems like encroachments on their temple lands etc. thought this to be an opportunity to start with this as an issue. Then leadership wanted the girl to be reunited with her mother. It was later known that the boy had been regularly going to their home at Rainawari for months and her mother knew the boy too. It was also known later that the Hindu leadership was allowed to meet the girl at the police station and talk to her but she did not agree to go to her mother. Unfortunately the Hindu leadership did not tell the public all this. Next day, they announced an agitation. Every day, there would be a demonstration at 4 PM. There would be speeches and seven young people would court arrest. No place of demonstration would get announced in advance but it would take place at random places and there would be seven young men who would be arrested everyday. And all this was happening with curfew in the city. The administration was at their wits end. They made efforts to unravel the agitation control center and the leadership behind the agitation. Some of the local Hindu informants were rewarded for clues to the agitation leadership. The leaders were caught and jailed. The agitation died down after about two weeks of unrest. During the agitation, the leadership raised other issues too that had been affecting the community. There would be fierce speeches. A number of young people got killed during firing by police on the demonstrations. The administration opened a dialogue with the Hindu leadership and it was agreed to appoint a commission to address the issues raised by them. The government announced a commission under Mr. Gajandergadkar a Supreme court judge to look into the grievances of the Hindu community. The commision took some time and the report was submitted to the government. The Hindu leadership had complained about jobs, promotions and admission in professional institutions as main issues. The commission announced in its report that Hindus were already getting more than its dues in all the spheres. As a result of this report, we Hindus lost and suffering got enhanced.

Meanwhile, the Muslim community got a kick to their fortunes and their spirits soared after the report. Muslims at that point of time would not be getting educated generally and most of them were into business. They would not be in government. But the commission changed all that. Parmeshwari became Parmeshwari Akhtar. The celebrations in her household continued for moths. There would be a mela outside their house everyday. Muslim ladies would visit her and gift her with gold sovereigns. This was the usual ritual with Muslims in those times to gift the bride with gold sovereigns. And more and more Muslims got educated. They started going for the jobs which they had never thought of ever imagining.  

 I was able to go to office during the agitation. We the shift staff would be issued with curfew passes. We would be allowed by the patrolling police to move freely. 

Bye for today. Shall be there again tomorrow with a new blog.    

Blog # 23 Dated: 13 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

Dear,.......,

Hello. Yesterday, I narrated Din Mohamed story. Today, I will go back to All India Radio. Four AE's have been covered. It is now the turn of AE-5. He belonged to some village in Kashmir and stayed with his family in his family home there. He would stay alone in some rented accomodation in the valley and would request for duties in such a way that he would be able to go to his village home and return only after spending a couple of days every week there. It was said that he did not have arrangements for cooking at his rented place. Since there was not a proper canteen in our office, he would be almost starving himself everyday. He would just take tea and some kashmiri bread. His colleagues would tell me that he was a miser and would save most of his salary. He would buy orchards. This was his ambition to become a big orchard owner. As soon as I joined service, he fell ill and the doctors diagnosed it to be some stomach related ailment. It was told to him that the problem had been created due to his frequent starving and irregular food habits. He got operated upon. He was told that he should be careful and adopt regular eating schedule. He joined back and resumed his duties. He was a changed person now. He tried to compensate for his earlier habit of starving into overeating.  Within a month he was ill again and passed away. Doctors diagnosed his death to have been caused by overeating. It was ironical that someone from his home appealed for financial contribution from us colleagues after his death. Only Rs. 30/- was collected. Everyone counselled the family to sell some of the orchard land instead of begging from us. 

AE-6 was a different type of person. He would doubt that everyone was conspiring against him. He would be extra careful and tense during his duty period. I performed some of my shift duties with him. Even small problems during transmission, would make him very nervous. He lacked confidence. I could not learn anything from him. I would hate to be on duty with him. 

Our boss - the station engineer was a gentleman from Tamilnadu. In short he was a Madrassi. He seemed to me a very knowledgeable person. I was scared of him. He was keeping an eye on me. My interaction with him would prove to him that I was a technically incompetent person. He would put lot of pressure on me. I would usually run away from having to face him. If he would be in control room and I needed to go there, I would avoid going there. I would go to control room only after he had left. But there were occasions that I would be caught unawares when he would come to the control room unannounced and find me there. On one such occasion, I was on the sound mixing console controlling audio levels when a record was being played from the adjacent playback booth. The quality of the record played back was not good. He asked me why the quality was not good. I had no answer. He said that even a lay person would be able to tell that. He asked me to call his wife on the telephone and even she could explain it to me. I got shamed. I did not call her wife.  After a few minutes he returned back to the control room and asked me what had his wife told me. I just mumbled and flushed. He made me call his wife there and then. She told me that the playback fault was called wow and flutter. This was the first time that I had heard that definition. Before leaving the control room, he asked me to meet him in his office the next day. Next day was my weekly off day. I did not dare tell him this. I feared him so much that next day I came to office to meet him. He was there in his office  chamber. He told me that I needed to work hard and learn. He told me to study one section of the one kilowatt transmitter circuit and come back to him after a week to discuss it with him. I worked very hard to learn and presented myself in his room after one week. He examined me and found that my knowledge was poor. But he appeared to be satisfied with my attempt to learn.

At the end of my first year, he had to sign my probation clearance papers. One day I was called by his secretary. He gave me a sheet of paper. He asked me to acknowledge receipt of this paper. It was an extract from my Probation Clearance report. The extract was adverse. It mentioned that I lacked the technical knowledge and I needed to improve it to clear the probation. I read it in the presence of the secretary. I became nervous and my hands were trembling. I thought that this was the end of my job. I enquired from the secretary what it meant. He told me that my job was not gone. This was an advice for me to work harder. I did not show it to anyone. I worked harder and learn from people already working there. Someone advised me to get a book on electronics by Turmen. I got the book - a fat one but could not understand much. My basic knowledge was minimal and this book was too advanced for me to follow. Someone asked me to assemble a radio set from parts to learn electronics practically. I purchased loose parts and assembled a three band valve radio set. A Technician in the office guided me whenever I needed any help. 

Next year, the station engineer got transferred. I was relieved. A new station engineer again from Tamilnadu took over. He was a high profile one and did not have time to keep an eye on me. Before he completed one year in this posting, he was transferred out. My probation was cleared in his period of posting. I was relieved  to get the probation clearance verdict.  I stayed on in the job.

Bye now. Tomorrow would be a break for the blog. I would be there again on 15th.

Blog # 22 Dated: 12 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear,........,

Hello. Yesterday, I mentioned that Pakistan planned the embedding of their nationals in Kashmiri homes in early 1965. And then luckily the administration also came to know by accident that there was infiltration. Here in an interesting account of how they came to know of it. 

It was probably the month of August 1965. The month also coincided with Muslim fasting called Ramzan. Those days, we in All India Radio Srinagar, would have a special Sehri Programme early in the morning for Muslim devotees. We used to have an overnight shift at Transmitter and Studio center. The shift would be from 5 PM to the next day at 11 AM. That was two day's duty. I had finished my duty at the transmitter station and just happened to pass through the Studio Centre control room. Just then I found a couple of programme and engineering staff packing recording equipment for taking out for recording. I asked them about the details of the recording just out of curiosity. I was told that the security forces had caught a terrorist and they were going to record him. I decided to go with them to see how a terrorist looked.

All of us next herded into the office jeep and were taken to a house on the banks of the Dal Lake (Called Boulevard Road). The place was a short distance away from Nehru Park. It was the residence of the then Chief Minister Shri G.M.Sadiq. There we found that a shamiana had been erected on the lawn outside the house. A stage had been erected under the shamiana (tent) and about fifty chairs arranged in rows in front of the stage. We noticed that there were a good number of News correspondents including from the Foreign Press seated on these chairs. At that point, we could understand that this was something like a press conference. Near the stage, we noticed one, around 40-year-old Gujar with the typical dress and headdress. We thought that probably he was the terrorist but he was neither hand-cuffed nor chained. Next to him was another man looking like a normal non-Kashmiri person with red blood eyes (he appeared to be drunk at that time). A little distance away we saw a Kashmiri person around 30 years old looking like a gentleman sitting on a chair. We put our mikes etc. on the stands and connected the equipment for recording. Everyone was waiting and looking at the Chief Minister's house doors for him to appear for the press conference.  

Wait over, the Chief Minister followed by a crowd of officers came out of the door. He was made to sit on the stage. Simultaneously one typed sheet of paper was handed over to each of the correspondents. We also got a sheet. The sheet contained a story. One officer got up and read the story from the paper. The story went like this. "There was one Din Mahmud who was a shepherd. (He pointed to the gujjar) He was grazing his sheep on the high reaches in an area near the town of Kangan. Just then, some four people all loaded up with big bags came from nowhere and approached him. They wanted cigarettes from him. He did not have any. They abused him and kicked him to make him fear them. Then he was given Rs. 100/- INR. He was asked to go down to the town and buy cigarettes for them. He came down the slopes and reached the town shop.  He informed the shopkeeper that there were some intruders and he needed to inform the authorities.  An Intelligence office person in plain clothes happened to be near the shop at that moment. The shopkeeper called him and then made the shepherd repeat the story to him.  He questioned him and got all the details (He pointed to the drunk looking person seated on the chair as the intelligence office person)  The intelligence office person informed his boss a DSP in District headquarters though telephone. (He pointed to the 30 year old gentleman sitting on a chair on the dias as DSP) This DSP informed the army. The army organized a raid and engaged the four intruders by evening same day. The raiders happened to be terrorists from Pakistan." As per this introduction, the shepherd had on his own given the information to the intelligence office person.

After the narration was over, the three persons, Shepherd, Intelligence person and the DSP were introduced to the media.  The correspondents questioned all three. When Din Mahmud the gujjar was asked about the incident, he corrected the above story thus. He said that when he reached the town and went to the shop, he handed over the 100 rupees note to the shopkeeper and asked for cigarettes. The shopkeeper asked him for the cigarette brand that he wanted to purchase. He replied to him that he did not know. Near the shop, the CID inspector happened to be there by chance. He also heard the exchange between the two. He suspected something unusual. He questioned the gujjar and the story unfolded. The fact that he had not given the information voluntarily to the intelligence man was apparent in his statement before the press.  

In the evening, the Radio station made a hero out of the Gujjar. It was made up that Din Mahmud was a staunch nationalist, who sought out the CID inspector and told him the story. This Din Mahmud was given a Padam Shri on 26 January 1996. He was accorded an honour at Town Hall in Delhi. The CID Inspector and DSP were both promoted.

 A year later in August 1966, I came on duty in Radio Control Room. I passed the VIP studio. There I found a tall man with a Jawahar Jacket, Long Muslim Kurta, Pajama and a karakuli cap on his head seated on a chair. He was waiting for the Director of Radio station Mr. N.L.Chowla to interview him. (Normally Director would interview only very important people. I, therefore thought that he must be some VIP)  When I looked at him, I felt that I had seen him somewhere, but was not able to recollect.  Just then the recording started. I heard his voice on the recording machine speaker. He was addressed in the interview as Jenab Din Mahmud Padam Shri. The interviewer asked him to narrate what had happened on that day. He in response told the government story word by word like a parrot.

This person lived like an aristocrat after this. It was only in 1990, that the Pakistani Terrorists barged into his house at the start of the insurgency and shot at him point-blank causing his instant death. He was probably the first Muslim who had spoken in favour of India, killed at the start of insurgency. 

Fate is an important issue of life. Right person at the right time/wrong time and wrong person at wrong time/ right time can define the future for any person. The above true story proves that.

I mentioned karakuli cap in the above narration. This type of cap used to be worn only by very rich and moneyed people. It used to cost hundreds of rupees in 1960's when my three months salary would have to be spent to buy me one. The fur for that type of cap is got from a sheep baby cut open from the womb of its mother. The fur is curly. Usually, all political leaders used to wear such caps in Kashmir.  

Bye for today.