A drifter who would rather follow his inner voice, then the advice of others and yet land up doing the right thing. Most of his education was outside the State of Jammu & Kashmir, maybe that was what gave wings to this man in his mid-twenties now, to think differently. Excerpts from an interaction with Rajesh Prothi
Q. You become the first Kashmiri to get elected as the Union President of Azad Students Federation (ASF), Hyderbad. How did this happen?
The time that I had spent in Maulana Azad University was the most precious time of my life. The people were beautiful. They treated me well & supported me for my integrity and my thought process and for what I stood for. While I along with my colleagues campaigned hard, the issue we picked up were important. Like ‘women’s right and gender equality. My personal approach was to treat all my fellow students at the same level regardless of their religion, caste and the region they came from. To tell you the truth, I treated all the students the way treated our Kashmiri students studying there. I believe that if you are true, God takes care of the rest.
Q. You have been a drifter before taking on a professional job. Any particular reason?
I was a reckless teen, more of a wandering soul. Every other day, something new would catch my attention and I would give it a try. I wanted to have experience everything. My thought process was that there were so many things, which I was capable of doing so many things, but how. So I hopped around and tried my hands at all things that thrilled me!
I ventured into engineering, as it was my dad’s dream to see me as an engineer, nothing surprising if you are a Kashmiri. I gladly took it up challenging my capabilities. Then I took up interior designing which tested my creative abilities and then with management it was as if I had finally found my calling. Every single thing about it was new. Everyday there were new things to tackle, new people to meet. I was having a great time. This led me to jobs in multinationals. It was a new thing all together. There were so many people, each striving hard to make their existence felt. I was part of a larger system that was making things. I felt important. I was thrilled!
Q. What were you doing at Amazon?
I was working with ‘Fulfillment by the Amazon team’. Amazon being one of the largest Internet retailers in the world, becoming part of their system was an achievement in itself for me. In addition to the work I did there, I was also associated with the fun activities happening on floor. The icing on the cake was that I was the official hooter of the team whenever it came to celebrating our success.
Q. Why you left such a paying job at Amazon to come to Kashmir?
Work at Amazon was good and satisfactory. However, somewhere my inner self was not having a feeling of satisfaction. Something was amiss. Working with them made me realize that I wasn’t happy being an employee, although I was having a great time.
Somehow, working for someone was not my idea of work. Somewhere, I always wanted to come back home and work for our people. To have a workplace where I could challenge my capabilities and accept my own failures. At amazon, I was a part of the bigger system. I just wanted to be back and consolidate myself in Kashmir. There was an urge to contribute to our State’s economy, generate employment, and be close to the land I belong to. I think that was it.
Q. Was the transition smooth?
It was a decision of a lifetime. I had to leave back a life that I had built for myself with so much hard work and toil. But somewhere it felt right to sacrifice so much and finally be able to do something for my homeland. It is the youth today that must create opportunities for the society and I decided on just that!
Q. It is said that the foundation of days to come is laid at school. How valid is this in your case?
I started my schooling from a small private school-cum-madrasa (Rumi School) in Bandipora. Later, I shifted to Dehradun to finish my studies. To say that school days were the best days of my life would be an understatement. It was much more than that. This was one place where I made relationships of a lifetime.
Q. What were you like as a teenager?
I was a very naughty, but at the same time very active. I recall protesting in school for rugs for the students while the teachers had wooden chairs.
When it came to my mischiefs I was teachers nightmare but I use to make it up in studies.
At the boarding, I used to be quite an entertainer. Right from childhood, I have been a very supportive person, I used to help my fellow class-mates with their issues. At the same time, I used played many pranks on them too.
Q. The business bug, are you the first one in the family to have this or is there a family history and what was the reaction of your family?
I come from a very humble family from a small village, Papchan in Bandipora district. My father is a government employee. I am the first ‘risk-taker’ from the family.
Initially there were doubts within my family too about my decision to be back home and start a business. You can well understand how we Kashmiris think. Be happy and satisfied in what you have. But I wanted more; it was hard to convince them, that too at a time when I too was drifting in a pool of doubts. But the fact is that they stood by me and ensured that I always had a helping hand and someone to fall back on in times of need.
Q. What did your parents wanted you to become when you grew up?
Like every other Kashmiri parents, they wanted me to be an engineer. It was their dream and the rationale behind this was that this profession would ensure a satisfactory life in Kashmir even if it was torn by turmoil. You know how a Kashmiri thought process works, doctors and engineers are always given utmost importance!
And there I was, young and reckless. I took it up as yet another adventure at a point when I had no dreams of my own. I did what I felt was appropriate to fulfill my duties as a son. But soon I realized that it was not my calling and left the course in the fourth semester. It was kind of wasting two precious years of my life. I knew I could not go back into time and rectify my mistakes, so I left to my destiny and opted to chase my dreams. The next calling was to be an interior designer from Lovely Professional University, Punjab (Bachelors Degree)
While I listened to my inner voice, my brother But yeah, now my brother fulfilled our parents’ dream. He became one while I listened to my heart.
Q. While away from home, what was that one thing which kept you reminding of Kashmir?
I have been away from home for most part of my life. It was never too hard for me to carry Kashmir along with me in my heart and in my memories. There were nice people here and good people back home. Every place that I lived in gave me so much love that the distance from home did not seem much.
But yes, many a time it was the food back home that always lingered on my mind. I missed Kashmir the most when we were served rajma chawal (kidney beans & rice)! I mean come on, who can beat our Kashmiris rajma chawal. We have the best rajmas, those small kidney shaped glistening beans, you simply cannot find them anywhere, anywhere! I remember getting frustrated and sad when I had rajma chawal outside Kashmir, it was never up to the mark!
Other than that, I was happy. People around me were good and loved me so much. Being away from home was not a very big deal. However, my love for Kashmir was so deep that I decided on leaving a luxurious life and come back home
Q. Do you believe that with time and technology, Kashmir is losing what it always stood for?
The old Kashmir that was there was all about mystic scholars, practices of Sufism and a serene peaceful scholarly order. But with time Kashmir has certainly lost a part of what is always stood for. This degradation took place partly due to the course of time and partly with ignorance on the part of the society.
As the age of technology ushered in, we focused more on the development that happened around us and tended to forget our roots. I think we have been overwhelmed by so many things that were happening around us that we have and each day are easily let go off what our legacy had given us.
But the good news is that many of our generation have realized the importance of what we had and are making serious efforts to retrieve it back.
I certainly believe that technology is great, and it will help us to revive our identity if utilized properly.
Q. What efforts do you make to preserve the culture of Kashmir alive?
I am a true Kashmiri at heart and I love music. So at Kathi Junction, we play Kashmiri music and we speak in Kashmiri language. We only switch to other languages if there is a need.
To me Kashmir is about the beauty in its people, its language, its food, its trees, snow clad mountains, its lakes & rivers! Unfortunately, off late modernization means speaking in English or in Hindustani (an amalgamation on Hindi and Urdu)! My opinion is that if we Kashmiris stop using our language, it will eventually die!
Thus, this food joint will always welcome you with a hearty Kashmiri greeting and a warm Koshur atmosphere!
Q. What is your vision for future and your message for the young generation?
I envision a bright future not only for myself but for my society. I want a hundred more outlets all across not just owned by me, but by many women and men entrepreneurs.
It would be great to have more and more women taking up businesses across the valley. I think they have more potential and creative abilities than any of us and must be encouraged to venture into this field.
On a very regular basis, young people coming up to me with queries and doubts regarding their start-ups, and I try my best to support and encourage them so that they not only realize their dreams but create employment for other also. This is my way of contributing towards the economy of Kashmir.
Q. Kashmir always had composite culture, a mix of muslims and pundits. What is your take on this?
Kashmir, from the beginning has been about its muslims and its pundits and not to forget the Kashmiri sikhs! They together make Kashmir truly special. We belong to the same land; share the same culture, just religious differences cannot tear us apart! We are incomplete without each other, and efforts have to be put in to rekindle that harmony once again.
I would love to mention that we celebrated this Diwali at Kathi Junction with much fervor and it was appreciated by many people including muslim friends from Kashmir!
Life is about loving people and choosing to ignore differences! Walking forward hand in hand, we can build a better world!
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