Lone Bilal
More than one thousand Kashmiri students every year leaving their motherland (Kashmir) for a better future, themissionplausibly starts from Kashmir ,the paradise on earth, the valley of Sufis and saints, the sparkling rivers and buzzing waterways, sleepy lakes, the splendid gardens the magnificent Chinar trees. The beautiful flowering meadows and snow-capped peaks, and some lush green plans make Kashmir a hot tourist destination across world.However, Kashmiri students flock towards harsh and dry plains of different states.
The research institutes like Indian Association for the cultivation of science (IACS), Indian institute of Chemical Biology (IICB),Indian institution of Science Education and research (IISER), Bose Institute, Saha Institute, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics(SINP), All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI), S.N.Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences(SNBNCBS), Indian institute of social Welfare and Business Management etc. as such institutes are not available in Kashmir which actually are hub of quality education and constrains to students to verve out of Kashmir.
Despite harsh and punitive climate, students from Kashmir come over toDelhi, Kolkata, and Bangalore etc. with their ambitions and eyes set ontactical future. Students hardly manage to survive and breathe in 51Degree Celsiuswhere ACs, coolers and other cooling gadgets appear to be useless. But there is no other way out.Students who aspire to become something in life, there is no other way but to leave his paradise (Kashmir).In Kashmir education system, there is lack of ability to nourish a student for competitiveexaminations. Saying this, I don’t mean that there is no talent in Kashmir. One feels unhappy to know that there are no coaching institutes in Kashmir, which can prepare students for competitive exams like NET(JRF), IAS, IIT, NEET, AFMC, BITSAT, SAT, etc.
Thus students aspiring for sophisticated goals and objectives in lifecycle have no option left otherthan setting off for other states. Hundreds of students who arepassionate about their careers, professions are thus enforced to spend huge money at different places. Students are in fact helping them economically.On an average student spends at least 2 lakh per year out of Kashmir.Simply imagine how much money hundreds of students who left Kashmireveryyear spends. This money could have helped Kashmir’s economy,if we had qualitycoaching centres back home. It would have helped to raise the educationstandard in Kashmir.
It is difficult to live outside Jammu and Kashmir, particularly for Kashmiri’s as people can recognise them from far away perhaps because of slightlyfairand people have same prejudice against Kashmiris. Anywhere in India when you proclaim as Kashmiri, it means you are about to suffer.It feels like people right there have some reserved feelings and attitude for Kashmiri’s.Either,colleges, universities coaching institutes and railway stations, once they hear Kashmiri’sthere one could be testedproperly. When it comes to the universityhostels, Kashmiri’s must show every time hostel cards, and in a small or big matters of hostels they are not being invited or they could not be allowed and if any Kashmiri by mistake provoke to someone, without accurately observed the reason he can be called an extremist.Many places like Haryanaand Uttar Pradeshare also showing some prejudice towards Kashmiri’s students in universities. Infect many Kashmiri students has been shattered in Haryana by locals last year. In Uttar Pradesh, Kashmiri’s also been embarrassed by Meerut university students and also threatened toexpel them officially.
Such incidents, however not so thoughtful or serious, make embarrassmentto reinforce living outside Kashmir. Every passing daymakesKashmiri’s feel exasperated and infuriated. While Kashmiri’s and locals students put views differently on some incidences which take place on diverse circumstances recently cricket and political issues. Conceptualisation of perceiving the social setups totally varied.it takes huge time to get settled and to go adjusted in the cities which have been seen in the movies unlike Kashmir.
While classrooms at institutes Kashmiri’s are forwarded with discussion on unalike perspectives of subjects. But still focus needed to exposure and study habits which are week and large field alone in the education. Kashmiri’s also separates from them in ordering the discourse materials. Many courses which being taught in the institutes by the experts Kashmiri remains step ahead often.As personally I observed, because most of my close associatesbelong outside Kashmir.Mentality of people back here ought to be overhauled. They thought andperceive us as Pakistanis and believe that we dislike them, which is totally not the case actually unsubstantiated and unsupported.Truly,itis not their fault. Theyhave beenfed such things by Indian media or Bollywood.
Finally, Kashmiri students loveto represent true Kashmir and its culture across India. Kashmir can be identified hot spot owing to its amazing cultural diversity, the sheer beauty of the mighty Himalayas, and the green valley’s whose beauty has attracted a horde of migrants from West Asia and Central Asia down the ages.
Author is M.Phil., Ph.D., Applied Psychology and can be mailed at lonebilal346@gmail.com