Blog # 19 Dated: 09 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear,.......,

Hello. Writing a blog on my mother yesterday  put me in a sombre mood all day today. I feel I should have done more than what I did for her. But life is very complex. I was probably  constrained by events around me then that did not allow me do more for her. Writing more on the subject would hurt me. I will move on to the narration of the activities around me in the year 1964 after I joined service in All India Radio at Srinagar.

Before 1960, it was Radio Kashmir under the state government. It was then amalgamated with All India Radio and it became All India Radio Srinagar Station. At the time of amalgamation, the staff  was absorbed in parallel cadres. All the engineering operators who were at least matric pass were made Assistant Engineers. (This was an appeasement for the Kashmir staff. In the rest of the country no Matric pass was appointed as an Assistant Engineer) And then there was an Assistant Engineer who was completely uneducated. I will describe to you each and every one of the staff. I will not name them. I will call them AE-1, AE-2 and so on. I will start with the Assistant Engineer that I described in my blog dated 06 May. Let us call him AE-1. He  was a matric pass and had been recruited as a technician. He had not been trained even as a technician. He must have got the job on some recommendation. He did not have any technical knowledge but would manage to run a transmission, He would know the operational steps including system bypass that would be needed to continue the broadcast service during his shift. I could not learn anything technical from him except to operate and run the equipment. His lack of technical knowledge did not please a new boss in late 1964 and he was transferred to All Indias Radio Lucknow.  (When a staff member would be useless, he would be transferred those days)  Now let me describe AE-2. He was a graduate and was better in technical knowledge. But his attitude would be casual. He would mainly be there during maintenance shifts. If I would ask him to explain something which I did not know or understand, he would be sarcastic in responding. He would therefore not pass on his knowledge. I would avoid seeking his help because of the fear of him ridiculing me. He had a dishonesty  streak in him. He would be submitting fake vouchers for petty payments. He would take items from engineering  stores for his personal/ domestic use. This includes lamps, dry cells and wires etc. His dishonesty streak landed him in a very bad situation and ultimately affected his health. Around 1970's he was promoted to the post of Assistant Station Engineer. He was made incharge Community Listening Centre (CLS) in Srinagar. CLS was responsible for installation and maintenance of community radio centres in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. These community radio stations were called "Halka Radio" Fixed frequency tuned radio sets with a horn loudspeaker were installed in all the localities of each block called halka. The frequency was tuned for Radio Kashmir broadcasts. Such sets were installed in all towns and in Ladakh and Kargil areas also. Batteries packs were issued for locations where there would be no power supply. These dry battery packs were huge sized and very costly too. Unfortunately when the Radio Kashmir staff was integrated in All India Radio, the employees of  CLS were not integrated. The employees suffered a lot. They could not benefit from Central pay scales nor considered for revision pay scales in State pay scales. The staff was a frustrated unit. They would do lot of dishonest acts like selling battery packs to private parties and selling of spares which would normally be required for repairs of the halka radios. Now when AE-2 took over, the staff knew that he could be used to further their evil designs. In no time, some of the ring leaders among the staff asked him to change their date of births in the office records. They wanted lowering of age by five to ten years. He did not agree because he thought that he could be caught and penalised for such an act. The staff  went against him. They thought of plans to implicate him. 

They made two plans which destroyed him. First was that there was an auction of junk in the office. He got hundreds of rupees after the auction was over. He should have deposited this amount in the government accounts. He did not. After a month, a ring leader among the staff complained against him. He mentioned that he had auctioned the junk and got thousands which he had not deposited in the government accounts. AE-2 was asked by the disciplinary authority to respond. He responded by saying that he had got only Rs. 26/- as auction proceeds. He mentioned that because of an oversight he had not deposited the money. Then he sent Rs. 26/- and requested that the case be closed.. The case was not closed but it was proved beyond doubt against him.  After a prolonged enquiry he was suspended. Simultaneously another plan was for his lady steno to complain that AE-2 called her to his office chamber for taking a dictation. She said that he misbehaved with her in the chamber. AE-2 had many bad traits but he could have never done it. He had two daughters and he was most respectful to ladies. This complaint devastated him. He was suspended. I happened to see him once after this. He looked a broken man. I was shocked. A few months later I went to Delhi and pleaded his case with a senior officer who also belonged to my community. He was reinstated.  He ultimately retired as a Superintending Engineer. But he never returned to his usual self. He would keep in touch with me on telephone till he died around 2005 or 2006. I wanted to learn technical knowledge from him but I learnt two things which remained with me all my life. Number one, never to submit false vouchers and get blackmailed by staff. And number two, whenever, I would have my lady steno in the room, the door would always be open. In fact whenever a lady staff or some company representative  would come to my room, I would keep the door open. These two habits have ensured that I had an honorable position in the office alway. 

Bye for today. I shall move to AE-3 tomorrow. I am describing each one of them to show how different people are different. We should be able to judge properly and associate ourselves with people from whom we can learn and disassociate with people who are bad. If we do it correctly, it will make us and our families better persons with strength to cope with the ups and downs of life.  

Blog # 18 Dated: 08 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear..........,

Hello. It is mother's day today. So I have decided to write this blog on my Mother today. All mothers are the best. They are good, patient, loving with a tender heart. When we have mother around us, there is nothing to worry about. God created mothers to ease pressure for Himself. I know my mother who left us exactly 28 years ago, was so caring for us that we never needed to approach God directly for our welfare. In my early life, I never saw my mother sleeping or lying down. She would be up before I opened my eyes in the morning. And when it was time for me to sleep in the evening, she would be slogging in and around the kitchen cleaning up and keeping supplies ready for the next day. Whenever I would get up during the night, I would find her awake doing repairs on our torn socks or torn pheran. During the day she would never be taking any rest too. She would keep us clean and we would always wear freshly washed clothes regularly. Water was free but soap was not. She would buy cheap but effective soap for washing the clothes. The soap would have excess caustic soda as its constituent. Using this soap would cause damage to  the hands. She would use vaseline or glycerine to repair the damage on the hands. She had the habit of sleeping with kangri (fire pot) in the bed. Even when she would be fast sleep to rest the body, she would normally keep the kangri upright in the bed. However on occasions, the kangri would lose its balance and the live coals would fall on to the mattress. It would burn the bedding and smoke would cause some of us to get up and raise the alarm. Immediately, the fire would be doused with water and the sleep resumed. The bedding would then next day get repaired by filling in some new cotton and stitching a cloth  at the damaged spot. She would do it all by herself. But thanks to God that nothing serious ever happened.

Those days most families used to live as joint families. There would be parents living with their sons and daughters in law. All daughters in law would be different. Some would bend their backs to ensure that they would be their mother in law's favourite one. Such daughter in law's would work like slaves. She would get happy if the mother in law would speak well to a guest about her. Then there would be other daughters in law who would not exert. The mother in law would criticise them but they would not bother. They would hear through one ear lobe and let it out through the other ear lobe. They would just not bother. Everytime the mother in law would need any help or would like tea to be prepared for a guest, she would call her favourite daughter in law to do the needful. This would go on day after day. She would be toiling My mother as daughter in law was that type but as mother in law herself she hardly had the luxury of having all her four daughter in laws living with her and be at her beck and call

I do not know how our mother would manage with the little money that our father would earn and put it at her disposal. When I had passed my graduation, she had started having health problems. She got afflicted with moderate hypertension. This unnerved her. She got panicky and the doctors would prescribe medicines. She would never miss taking the medicines as directed by the doctors. She would take due precautions with her diet too. A big portion of my salary earned after joining my job in Radio station would go to the pharmacist for her medicines as there was no medical coverage at that point of time. But all this time, she would continue to be busy with working on domestic chores. 

After forced migration in 1990, she found her stay in Delhi most troublesome. First it was the heat that bothered her. And secondly she lost her home. We sons were living separately in Delhi and she would in turn stay with one son or the other. She therefore did not know which one of these houses was her home. She confined to me once about a year before she died that I arrange a separate room for her where she would live alone with her husband. To this, I said that I would do it but could our father be able to manage the household?  She said that it would be tough. The discussion ended there but she appears to have been uncomfortable with her living arrangement at Delhi. She would repeatedly ask me when would the situation in Kashmir become normal.. 

She was very much worried on my account because, I had no flat or house in my name in Delhi or Jammu at the time of our forced migration. I was living in the government allotted accommodation. And then my daughter had reached a marriageable age. We started looking for a boy. In a couple of months we were able to find a suitable match. Just when we were preparing for the marriage, my mother took me aside and suggested that we also perform the Yagneopavit of our son simultaneously during the marriage function dates. She knew that including the additional function would be hard on my  meagre resources. But she argued that if we delay the Yagneopavit ceremony of our son to a later date, it may be too late because my father was in poor health. (My father wanted that the Yagneopavi function of our son should be aligned with his marriage dates.) She said that she will find a way to find additional estimated expenditure of Rs. 30,000/-  to help me. I assured her that I could manage and in accordance with her wishes the Yagneopavit function was solemnized as desired.  It is ironical that she could not visualize that it would be her husband who would outlive her. Sad that she passed away six months after the marriage and Yagneopavit was solemnized. 

When she was living with us sons in Delhi, she had nothing to do. I found her meditating in the morning hours. She had never done it all her life. I asked her once what and why she was doing it. She replied that she was praying to God that when it would be time for her to die, she should have a fast and quick end and would not like to be a burden on us. God listened to her and on a day in Delhi when it was the hottest day of the season and she was with our elder brother's family, she became unconscious early at breakfast time. She was taken to the hospital nearby. I was informed immediately when I was in office. I rushed immediately. I found her on the hospital bed. She was not able to speak. It appeared she was able to see me. May be she was able to hear me too. By evening she was gone. The saddest day of our lives. Our eldest brother was away on tour and rushed to Delhi next day. God had granted her wish but for us the shock was unbearable.

A few years before her death, my father gave me some money and said that it is a deposit with me for the purpose of  his funeral expenses on his death. At that time, he told our mother to give me some money for her funeral expenses. My mother replied that she would not give it to me. She said that she had sons whose moral obligation is to manage it on their own. She added that if they do it well as per religious customs, they would be respected. If they do not care, the the municipal authorities would be called to the place where she would die. Then her body would be taken away and cremated. This would mean that society would spit on her sons. But she said that she has given proper sanskars to her sons that she would be taken care of.

I am attaching a photograph of our mother to this blog. She was a great Karamyogin and she must be resting in heaven at the lotus feet of Bhagwan Krishna. 

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare: Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare.

Bye

                

Blog # 17 Dated: 06 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear,........,

Hello. Today I will start my journey that defines major portion of my adult life. I joined All India Radio as Shift Assistant on May 07, 1964, Thursday. This date was selected as an auspicious day for joining a new job. I had stood second in the All India merit list. This job was considered good for me for the following reasons. First its salary was three times than my school salary, next it was a more respectable job than a teacher's at that point of time, again it was a Government of India Job and lastly, I was posted in Srinagar, my home town. I remember my wearing a navy coloured business suit to the office on my first day. Staff at the administration section, where I was asked to submit documents, were very helpful and happy to see a fellow kashmiri boy join the engineering wing. Next I was introduced to the Station Engineer incharge. He deputed a subordinate to take me to the studio block on the first floor of the building. I was taken around and introduced to the staff on duty there. Just then some staff members were getting ready to go to Transmitter site about ten kilometers away. I was invited to join them and make a trip with them. Everyone greeted me enthusiastically. After a journey in the office jeep lasting about half an hour, we were at the transmitter station. The transmitting station was a building housing the equipment for a 10x2 Kilowatt medium wave transmitter and a 7.5 KW shortwave transmitter.  I had a look at the field around the building where self radiating mast for medium wave transmitter and towers for the short wave antennas were located. I could not understand much. However I remember seeing some wild growth saffron plants with flowers in the field. I plucked a flower and put it in the lapel of my coat. Now it was time for the morning shift staff to leave. I left with them in the office jeep to the studio centre located in the city. After meeting a few more people, I left for home in the evening. 

There used to be three shifts at Studio Centre and another three shifts at the Transmitter Centre, every day. On an average five to six persons would be on duty for each shift. In addition there would be additional day shift for maintenance.  Each shift would be for seven hours. On an average, we would get two morning shifts a week from 06 AM to 01 PM, two day shifts from 10.00 AM to 5.00 PM, two evening shifts from 4 PM to 11.00 PM. One day a week would be an off day. There were no other holidays. We would get a compensatory holiday for working on a national holiday. There would be no overtime/ monetary compensation for working more than seven hours a day or working on holidays. However we were granted twelve days casual leave and 30 days privilege leave with no loss in pay every year.  For office duty at 06 AM, we were to make our own arrangements, for reaching the studio centre. Office would provide transport for movement of staff from studio centre to transmitter centre and back. Also both the studio centre staff and transmitter centre staff on duty in the third shift would be dropped home by office transport.

I was put on duty in the studio centre from the week day following the week in which I joined the job. My transport from home to office was my personal cycle. I would peddle to office and it would take me fifteen minutes to make the home-office commute. An assistant Engineer would be incharge shift. Myself as Shift Assistant was to assist him. There would be a Senior/junior technician to assist and a helper. Then there would be two other persons on duty with standby Diesel Generators located in a hut outside the studio block. We would be testing the equipment before transmission. The programme would be generated by having live announcements by the announcers and play back of taped programmes or vinyl records on the turntable, all done by the announcer.  The News would also be live. And then national news from Delhi would be picked up through special receivers located at Receiving Centre. The receiving centre located half a kilometer away was connected by underground Telecommunication cables to the studio centre. The studio programme signal would get passed on to the transmitter centre through phone underground cables provided  by the Telecommunication Department. In the studio centre, we had one "Collins USA Make" one kilowatt transmitter. When Radio services first stated in the town, the programmes were broadcast to the town population through this transmitter. Its coverage range was about thirty kilometers around the transmitter. When transmitter station was separately made with more powerful transmitter, the main programmes were broadcast with the new one. The old 1 KW transmitter was used for broadcast of mainly bollywood songs called "Vivid Bharati".       

I got attached to different people on different days. I noticed that everyone was different. Some knew the job well, and some more did not. Then some would be willing to teach and train yet others would do nothing like that. I noticed some good people and some mean ones. Some senior technicians felt offended to be one step lower than a newly recruited shift assistant. They would play games and ensure that I would not learn. They wanted me to be dependant on them for everything. I remember each one of the staff members. I liked some because I would learn from them and would request the duty chart framer to put me on duty with them. One of them, an Assistant Engineer was an elderly person. He lived in the same area that I lived. (His father was a saintly person and would come to our house frequently to meet my grand father. We would call him "Zoo Zoo Ram" because he would always be muttering some mantra and his lips would be moving.) This Assistant Engineer had a great quality. He would leave his home at 5 AM (in rain, snow or dry weather)  and walk for about 50 minutes to reach the studio centre. His wrist watch would be tallied with BBC and on reaching office, he would correct the studio clock system by comparing the time on his watch. Half of the other Assistant Engineers would reach the studio centre on their duty days almost just when the broadcast would start. Their assistants would be reaching early to ensure timely start of transmission. There would be days when the staff of such engineers would also get late and transmission would start at the nick of time.

More about the staff and working will follow in the next blob. Bye for now. 

Blog # 16 Dated: 05 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear,........,

Hello. I got recollection of my memory of  a period already covered but not recounted in the blog. I will type them out for the record. I told in one of my previous blogs that my academic career was not spectacular. One big reason was my eyesight. I could not clearly see what was being written on the blackboard in the classroom. It had been happening around the time when I had passed the Middle (8th Grade). I thought that was normal. My elder brother wore glasses for far vision. One day by chance I wore them and looked outside onto the neighbours house. I saw the cement design on the walls of the house first time. During that short moment, the world looked different. I mentioned this to my parents. My eyesight was tested. I needed glasses of power minus 3.5 to correct my vision. This power remained constant till about twenty years back. On check up then, I was told that my eyes have improved. The lens power required to correct the vision came down to minus 2.75. Subsequent tests revealed that every five years, the correction factor has been improving. When last checked about two years back, it had improved to minus 1.75. I have been told that with age, the far vision improves but the near vision deteriorates. In my case God has been kind. I can read and write without nearsighted glasses.    

Now back to the period when I was a teacher in S.P.School. I was doing a couple of home tutions to students in their houses to earn myself a little extra money. We had a close relative who were passing through a bad period and were tight on finances. The family was a husband and wife, two daughters one elder to me by two years or so, the next one a year younger to me and a brother about five to six years junior to me. They lived about two kilometers away on a plot of land which they owned. They were living in two sheds similar to the jhuggi that we associate with the ladies who come to the houses every day to clean dishes and houses (kaam waali bhai) The second daughter was behind me in studies by one year. My books would always be taken by her every time I would pass an exams. She failed in Fsc three times. The parents got a teacher to teach her after her third failure. But the teacher discontinued after about a week. He complained that there were too many flies around for him to be comfortable. Her mother came to our house and requested my uncle to send me to her house to help her daughter. I had to obey my uncle jee. So I started tutoring her. Here I noticed that she was great at remembering the answers. Her only problem was that she did not have a strategy. She would always complain that she did not have enough time to solve all the questions. If there would be five questions to answer, she would be able to do only two or three questions before it would be time to hand over the answer paper. I taught her only time management. She passed to the relief of everyone. Later she studied and completed her masters exams. She got employment in Auditor General Office. I did not charge a single paisa from the family. They were ever grateful to me. My uncle a great person, was very happy that we helped them. Her father was a very hard working man. Someone had cheated him because of which he had passed through a very bad time. He was a short statured person and we had a nickname for him- "Thumb Man". He passed away before the Kashmiri Pandit migration in 1990.  His wife migrated with children to Ghaziabad with children. She had expressed a wish to her daughter to see me when she was on her deathbed. Sad, I received the message too late.

I also taught their son for about a year. He lives in Indore. He married his son to a kashmiri girl living in Noida UP a few years back. He sent me an invitation. I attended the marriage. As soon as I arrived at the function - Lagan ceremony, and he saw me, he took me to the madap where his son and his bride were seated on ornamental chairs. He asked his son and bride to get up from their chairs and bow before me. They did as directed. (They almost did a "dandwat" namaskar, meaning fully prostrate before me and touched my feet.)    He spoke in glowing terms about me to them and everyone around. I felt awkward. 

There was another family which sought my help for teaching their son. This was in second week of December 1963. My uncle told him (he was his maternal cousin) that I may have to  go to Delhi for the interview. But he insisted and took out Rs. 210/- as three months wages for the tuition on the condition that I would teach him for three months. He said that the money would be mine even if I taught him for a day and then I would have to go to Delhi. My father who was also there asked him to send a bottle of Rum for him. He agreed and I started the teaching. The rum bottle was handed over on the first day itself. I taught the boy for a week when the holy relic was lost and there was widespread chaos and then I had to leave for Delhi. The boy ultimately retired as a chief engineer in Escorts Ltd. 

Bye for now. I will be here again tomorrow.     

Blog # 15 Dated: 04 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear,........,

Hello. I must have worked in S.P.School for a little more than a year. Although I was happy and content with the job, the prospects for future looked bleak. My elders at home wanted me to find a different avenue. Meanwhile an advertisement appeared in the English language news paper. The advertisement was for about 200 posts of Shift Assistant in All India Radio. The selection was to be based on successful completion of entrance test to be followed  by interview. The scale of pay was Rs. 210-470. Engineering graduates, Diploma Holders and Science Graduates were eligible for applying for the post. I studied very hard for three months and did well in the written test. They tested us on science, mathematics and general knowledge. There were about ten candidates for the test in Srinagar Centre. I waited for the results but none came. One day I met a friend of mine who had also sat for the exams with me. He informed me that he had received a letter from All India Radio informing him that he had not passed the written test. Armed with this information, I wrote a letter and sent it to All India Radio asking them to let me know the result of the test. A fortnight later I received a letter in return informing me that I had cleared the test and had been called for the interview which I had not attended.  This started a case for me. I immediately informed them that I had never received the interview letter. They conveyed the letter registration number and date on which it was sent through India Post office. I went with this information to the local India Post Head Quarter in Srinagar. They informed that the letter had not been received in their office at all. It seemed to have got lost in transit. They gave me a letter with this statement. I sent this letter to All India Radio, asking them to call me for the interview. I was informed that the interview process was over and I could not be called for the interview. I made my first trip outside Kashmir in August 1962 to pursue my case with All India Radio in New Delhi. I will detail my experience of the bus/rail journey in a separate post.

Meanwhile All India Radio issued another advertisement repeating requirement of about 200 candidates for the same post in 1963. I applied for the post again. Just before the exams date, I was informed by All India Radio that I need not sit for the exams. They informed me that I would be called for the interview with the other candidates after the exams results would be out. In mid December 1963, I got a letter by registered post calling me for the interview in Late January 1964. I started updating and preparing myself for the test. I did lot of reading and updating myself with the current affairs etc. My ill luck was creating hurdles upon hurdles in my plans to get the Central Government job. On December 27, 1963, the loss of the holy relic (Moye Muqadus) at Hazratbal Mosque in Srinagar was announced. Immediately the entire population erupted on to the roads. Everything came to standstill. No transport, no office, no shops. Srinagar and other towns in Kashmir valley got completely isolated. There would only be processions in every lane of the valley. It was rumored that the Chief Minister was responsible for the loss of the holy relic. The public went after the politicians. We Hindus got chickened out and remained confined to our houses all the time. I remained tense, because the bus service between Srinagar and Jammu got suspended. After about ten days, the state bus services started booking for Jammu but there would be no passengers. I was told that unless there would be thirty passengers, would they confirm their booking. I did not have the money to book an entire bus. At home it was decided that I could take my sister with me to Delhi. That way at least two passengers were available for the transport services. It took about a week to confirm that there were thirty passengers. My sister who is about 15 years younger to me and myself were therefore able to leave. 

We reached Delhi without any problems. We stayed with our Buva Jee. (Our father's sister) On the appointed date, I left my bua's place in the morning and took a DTC bus to All India Radio. A good omen happened. I found a pen in the bus when I was getting off. I attended the interview. There were three persons taking the interview. I did well and appeared to have impressed the panel. In the first week of May 1964, I got an offer letter. My posting was at All India Radio Srinagar. I joined at All India Radio Srinagar on 07 May 1964. The local staff was pleased. It was the first time a Kashmiri has been appointed to this post based on the All India Selection process.          

Some interesting details about the holy hair. The hair was supposed to be from the beard of the Prophet. This hair had been placed in a glass jar also holding water from a holy spring in Saudi Arabia. The jar was sealed tight. This holy relic used to be housed securely at Hazratbal Mosque in Kashmir. On two or three days a year on Prophet's birthday and other days important to the Muslims, the relic would be displayed from the balcony of the mosque and multitudes of the devotees would feel blessed. 

Immediately after the loss was reported, the Central Government sent its best intelligence personnel to Srinagar to investigate and recover the relic. Now people feared that the Government would create a fake relic and pass it on as the actual one. This was repeatedly announced by the political leaders and the public that they would not accept a fake one. They said that there were only three tests which could prove its authenticity. No: 1. That this hair in the jar dances around in the jar when muslim devotees sing songs in praise of the Prophet. No: 2. That this hair would not burn in fire. No: 3 The relic can be recognised by a local saint, who at that time was very old and almost blind. The Central Government sent Mr. Lal Bahadur Shastri to Srinagar to ensure the recovery. On 04 January 1964, it was reported that the relic had been found abandoned at some stray place in the valley. A statement by the old saint was recorded wherein he said that he had examined the relic and it was genuine. The statement was broadcast over the radio repeatedly. This announcement was cause for widespread celebration in the valley. It was rumored that after a few days, the old saint said that he was not sure about the genuineness  of the holy relic. But it was too late. The Government was thus successful in cooling the explosive situation. It was never revealed who had taken away the relic. 

Bye for today. 

Blog # 14 Dated: 03 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear,..........,

Hello. I am now moving on to my continuing journey of life in S.P.School, Srinagar.  In a couple of months I was feeling quite comfortable in the job. Gulam Rasool Dar, the principal was a tough administrator and a leader. He was in control in the school. He had a very powerful voice. He would shout a lot at both the teachers and the students. Most teachers who belonged to the city would not want to be on his wrong side because that would cause them to be transferred out to village postings. Having favourable feedback from my students and also obliging the principal by teaching his sister's son free at his home meant that he would be soft on me. However one Monday day, when we met in the school, he complained that I had not wished him when I had seen him at Habba Kadal Chowk the previous day. I told him that I had not been at Habba Kadal Chowk the previous day, he did not believe me. He insisted that he had seen me. Later I found out that he had seen my elder brother who looked almost same as me. The Principal forgot the incident and he did not cause me a problem in the school at all because of this incident. 

It was now time for final tests before winter. The boys had to be cleared for being allowed to sit for the matric board exams. In government schools almost everyone would be allowed to sit for the board exams. But here they did not clear about twenty students out of total three hundred students. Most of these twenty failed students had been failures for last two to three years. The reason that these boys were allowed in the school was that they were soccer players. There used to be annual soccer tournament for schools. The main rival for our school used to be M.P.School. These failed students would ensure winning trophy for the school. This would go on every year and the rivalry was like India-Pakistan matches. 

These twenty students formed a school section. The head of the science wing earmarked me to teach them one of the two science subjects. Another teacher, who was a few years senior to me in age and was an M.sc, was assigned to teach the other science subject. When I first entered the class, I was seriously frightened to see the boys physically. More that half of them appeared to be older than me and also taller and physically stronger than me. I had no choice but to be a strong person. I straightway told them that I would help them with their studies and ensure their success in clearing the matric. They decided to  believe me and listen to me. I taught them well and helped them get interested in studies. I taught them for about six months. They became disciplined. But they were rough with the other teachers. The students wanted them to teach the same way as I was teaching them. This caused those teachers to resent me. Later in my life, some of these students met me. Half of them had passed the Matric exams. Two of these had become clerks in the Government treasury in J&K Bank. Every time, I would go to the bank with my father to help him draw the pension, these two persons would always help in getting the payment without any hassles. One of these boys had an apple orchard. He came to my house with an apple box as a gesture of gratitude on his passing the Matric exams. 

I was there in the school, when the government sanction for the Laboratory equipment and consumables was received. Being the junior most science teacher, no one involved me in the process of procurement. The science head and the Principal sorted out something between themselves and the supplier. The result was some minimal consumable were received in the school. I did with my students in the laboratory what had been done to me when I was a student in the same school a few years back. I helped the students cook the observation and record them in the laboratory notebook. 

I liked the job. But I found that every teacher considered it a bad one. They were not happy with low pays, less respect in the society for the teachers and frequent transfers. In later years, when I was not a teacher, there would be reason for more frustration in the teaching community. Muslim staff members agitated for quota in promotions based on religion. They said that Muslims were 80% in population, so every time a promotion list was issued, 80% Muslims and only 20% for other non muslims should be there. However only 20% of teachers were Muslims and 80% non muslims. The State Government agreed with the logic of population figures and issued orders accordingly. Suddenly Muslims teachers with even less than ten years seniority in the profession were made Principals and Headmasters in schools over the head of other non muslim teachers with twenty five years and more experience. The Non Muslim teachers went to the Supreme Court and pleaded their case. The court gave them a favorable verdict after many years efforts by the suffering teachers. The state Government implemented the court order by giving the benefit but did not take it away from the Muslims. The Muslims continued to get higher pay than the other non muslim teachers. The Hindu community suffered in silence. There was only one silver lining in the teaching community. The children of most of the teachers studied well and did very well in life.

Bye for now. Hope to be there tomorrow.     

Blog # 13 Dated: 02 May 2022 (See Blog # 74 for details contained in this Blog)

 Dear, ........... ,

Hello. I voluntarily decided to have a break from posting a blog on Saturdays. And here I did not post a blog on Sunday too. The weather is slowly warming up and I am daring to go out and do some preparation for the oncoming gardening season. Last week there was a little set back with the plants that I had been growing in doors since last two months. I had taken some of these them out and placed in the makeshift greenhouse in the backyard. There occurred a mild frost and some of the plants got damaged. I had to take measures that the plants would be safe in case another frost episode happens. My Sunday blog thus did not happen.

Before I continue with my narration describing my teaching at S.P.School and related stories, I will go back to the events that happened at Mission School during the two months that I worked there. It was summer time and they had an annual Dal Cross event scheduled. Although we had rivers and lakes in Kashmir, most of us particularly from the Hindu community would never learn to swim. Thus the English teachers had essentially started training its students in swimming as an extracurricular activity. Dal Cross was an event where the children would swim from Nehru Park in Dal Lake to Voonta Kadal near Nishat Bagh. A total of about five kilometers between the two points as a crow would fly. A line about Voonta Kadal. It was an arched bridge and from a distance it looked like the hump on the camel's back. Voont in the local language is the name for a camel. Thus it was famously called Voonta Kadal. 

The school had about two dozen boats that would always remain parked at the Nehru Park, a small island near the road skirting the lake. These boats were used by the school for boat racing and also to assist during Dal Cross activities. These boats would be rowed by the students and would follow the students swimming. There would be a teacher as a leader in each of these boats. There would be dozens of baker's bread called "chochu warru" in the boat. These would be, one by one thrown to the  swimmers in the water in case they felt hungry. In case of tiredness when the swimmer would feel that he could no longer continue to swim, he would be helped onto the boat. For him, making a Dal Cross would be unsuccessful. (He would have to try next year) There would be some swimmers, who on completing the swim would have energy to return back to the starting point in Nehru Park. All those who would would do it, would be called Dal Recross. 

I was assigned to a boat. Pandit Samsar Chand who was already an old man then, was the senior most official conducting the swimming event. He would be standing in one boat with a battery powered megaphone cone in one hand. He would issue instructions and procedures. After the race had reached the mid way point, one kashmiri pandit boy that our boat was following showed signs of fatigue. He was encouraged to continue. We were following closely. The boy pleaded that he be allowed to hold the boat so that he could move along without getting out of water. This would mean breach and he would have to be hauled up. Pandit Samsar Chand was at a distance and suspected that we were helping the boy to hold the boat. He shouted in our direction. The boy disengaged from the boat. But after some time, he again held on to the boat. I was a soft minded person and continued helping him this way till he reached the end point. On reaching the end point, this boy expressed a wish to go for the recross. When I heard it, I was angry and told him that on his own he had not even done half the Dal Cross and here he was saying that he would do Dal Recross. I threatened him that I would report the fact. He had thought that I would help him. His hope having been dashed with my attitude, he did not press for Recross.   

Luck was on my side. I was a non swimmer (I continue to be a non swimmer even today. People here in Foreign countries do not believe that anyone would not be knowing how to swim) I did not have a life saving jacket. The boat did not rock nor did it turn upside down. Otherwise I would not have been here to tell you this story. Nor would I have been alive to accept a science teachers job in S.P.School.  

Bye for today. Shall move to S.P.School related stories tomorrow.