Kashmiri pandits 9

How the Defodills blossomed again

Quarter of century has  elapsed since Kashmiri pandits, the aborigines of Kashmir had to leave their birth place  because of genocide , Holocaust or ethnic cleansing  of their community by Pakistan sponsored Islamic terrorism.
It is high time for them to  have a look in  retrospect and reminisce  their achievements and failures  during this long period of   twenty five years in exile.
It was really a challenging  and herculean task for them to resettle again in alien environments and temperate zones of India. In early stages they remained confined to the areas around Jammu city only, but with the passage of time they shifted throughout   the  length and breadth of their country and even to foreign lands. They were very much successful in resettling themselves by  the dent of their hard work, intelligence and adaptive qualities. Though elders had to bear the brunt of separation of their homeland but their children experienced the exposure and enjoyed the benefits of developing economic scenario of India in the form of globalization in mid nineties. Many political parties like Shiv Sena also helped them to secure free seats of engineering in the colleges of Maharashtra.  Now most of the Kashmiri pandits have constructed their own houses in Jammu and others have purchased flats in the  metropolitan cities of their country. The people living in camps have  also shifted to two room flats constructed at Nagrota. Many people living in Nagrota flats have also constructed their own houses. However, they can not ignore the sacrifice of their elder generation who had to live in uncongenial atmosphere in high temperatures  and  desperate living conditions  with out proper civic amenities and  modern electronic gadgets like A.C''s etc. But now the position is better.  Most of the community members ,except few , are economically well off . Their children living  in various regions of India and even in foreign countries are nicely settled. However, it is the duty  of KP's now  to identify the needy, poor and old people, who have been left by their children, in their community and help them by creating a common fund contributed by all under good leadership and management.
Now about the failures of Kashmiri pandits,
Yes they have lost the paradise, which Kashmir is usually called and moreover, a homeland which they cherish to call it.  It is not only their houses and land, it is the pleasant climate, rich cultural heritage and  highly adorable pilgrimages of Kashmir which they have lost. It is the congression of their community and relations, it is the streets and lanes of Kashmir ,with which their emotions were attatched ,they have lost. It is their sweet mother tongue which they are going to loose in passage of time.
Even after twenty five years of exile  they could not create a dedicated and bold leadership which could plead their cause unanimously and address their problems promptly.
They were not able to bring social reforms in their society. They spent huge amounts in celebrating the marriage ceremonies of their children and  arranging doweries for their daughters, which could have been otherwise avoided and spent for productive purposes.
In pursuit of giving  higher education to their children and in rush of  sending them to foreign countries , they have forgotten to inculcate values and sense of responsibility in them, which will create problems to KP's when they grow old.
With the exposure of their children in connection with trainings and  employment in various parts of India , rate of intercaste marriages have also  increased.
While concluding the post I remember the first line of some  hindi songs which I would like to quote here.
Kya paya kya khoya me ne    
I.e what I have gained and what I have lost. .or
kuch pa kar khona hai , kuch kho kar pana hai
I.e In order to achieve something we have to loose something. Therefore ,I have no regrets. If we see with optimistic point of view, my community members I.e KP,s have turned every calamity into opportunity and have succeeded in establishing themselves indudually with brilliance.  But they have failed  at collective level. Moreover, successes and failures are part of life and we have to accept them equally. But there is always a scope for improvement, which justly the reasons of analysis.