Dreams Shattered

 

                        Dreams Shattered

After discharge from the Army in February 1988, I had requested a transfer to Srinagar to settle my family. I had thought I could spend five to six years there without any interruption. During this period, my children would complete their school education and, possibly thereafter, go to professional colleges outside the state. Getting admission for them in the Burn Hall School, the number one school of the valley, was a boon, which was not beyond my imagination.

I had purchased a piece of land at Bagh-e-Mehtab in Chadora district on the outskirts of Srinagar. I entrusted the job of walling the land to one of my friends, who, however, did not take proper care to check that the cementing of the wall was properly done, and water was sufficiently sprinkled on the wall from time to time for a few days. This was not done.

We had a neighbour, A R Mir, an Accounts Officer in the State Finance Department, who lived nearby across the main road. He suggested building a house and told me that he had a very sincere mason known to him who could be entrusted with the job. I made the outline drawing of the house myself, but as a precaution, I showed it to the departmental architect who had fortunately come to Srinagar. He approved the drawing but suggested a change in bathroom design, which was incorporated. The mason was entrusted with the job while the carpenter was available next door. The mason was a master of many related jobs, and he, along with his team, did the work very well. Materials like stones, sand and cement were arranged. A part of the front wall was built with chiselled green stones costing Rs 100/- per stone. This proved quite expensive, but there was no way to escape subsequently. The work went on till the winter fall when it was stopped at the slab level of the first storey. During the winter, we performed the house entry puja and gave a feast to many relatives who were invited. The next job of covering the first storey with a roof of CGI sheets and making some additional rooms underneath the said roof was postponed to next spring.

In the ensuing winter itself, an uprising in Kashmir prevented any further additions or alterations to the house. In fact, I was targeted by the militants because I was an Officer in the Postal department, and therefore, I could not go and see the half-constructed house. The whole work was stalled for several years. 

The house remained unprotected and unguarded for almost a decade since I was posted far away from Srinagar. Meanwhile, I had made enquiries through my departmental officials to find a buyer for the same. The militants had forbidden any Muslim to purchase the houses of Kashmiri Pandits. This plunged the prices of Kashmiri Pandit property.  However, the locals found methods to purchase such property on a power of attorney. I got the first quote of two lakhs rupees which gradually increased to four lakhs. During my next tenure as PMG, I entered into a deal with a buyer introduced to me by my close friend for six lakh rupees in 1998, though I had spent the same amount on the construction of the house about ten years back. It was a distress sale. Nevertheless, I thought it better to go in for a stop-loss sale rather than wait indefinitely. I had also inherited an ancestral house, which I handed over to my youngest sister, who preferred to stay put in Srinagar permanently.

The other area where destiny played its part was the education of the children. Schools and colleges remained closed, and it was dangerous to send children to school. The Hindu staff of the school and the Hindu children too migrated out of the valley. I also asked my wife to go to Shimla, but she returned. By the time a branch of Burn Hall was opened as St Peter's Higher Secondary School, Jammu and my children joined the same and later shifted to Kendriya Vidyalaya. This arrangement did not last too long as I was deputed to join a year-long in-service course in the National Defence College, New Delhi. My family joined me as soon as I got government accommodation in Kaka Nagar, Delhi.

Though my tenure in J&K came to an end with the start of 1992, even after that, I was posted twice to the circle, firstly, as PMG, and lastly, as CPMG. (to be continued)