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Thus Flows The Vitasta By Maharaj Shah


THUS FLOWS THE VITASTA
     BY
MAHARAJ KRISHAN SHAH

THUS FLOWS THE VITASTA
PrefaceVibrations
First published 2017

© Maharaj Krishan Shah

All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior permission of the authors and the publisher.



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MAHARAJ KRISHAN SHAH

The original is written in Hindi and translated into English by Prof. Shafi  Shauq.

Cover Design by Sandeep and Shraya




BOOK REVIEW: And Thus Flows the Vitasta

Title: And Thus Flows the Vitasta

ISBN: 9789352682980

Writer:- Maharaj Krishan Shah


Translator:-Prof. Shafi Shauq

Publisher: Sangarmall Foundation

Place of Publication: New Delhi

For many, the brutal, unforgiving forge of a contentious geopolitical flashpoint – that has occupied centre-stage in South Asian politics for more than a few decades now – is the last place imaginable to harbor the blossoming flower of human creativity, the mighty tree-trunk of unflinching human will, and the milk of human kindness. Yet, the people of Jammu and Kashmir have, on multiple occasions, exhibited a valiant tendency to rise above the storms of violence, the tides of parochialism and the cyclones of hatred, and manifested a divine consciousness, a steely determination and a tolerant, syncretic outlook that represent the best humanity has to offer. Ashok Jailkhani is one such name.

It has been a pleasure – and an eye opening experience – reviewing Prof. Shafi Shauq’s English translation of Thus Flows the Vitasta, a text originally written in Hindi by Maharaj Krishan Shah. This translation is “neither a sketch of life, nor a work of fiction, but a combination of the two”, as Dr. GS Raina succinctly states in the preface. And Thus Flows the Vitasta provides vignettes and insights into the life of Ashok Jailkhani – and the times which contoured him. The ‘biography’ is detailed, meticulously researched, and written in a cogent, fast-paced manner that manages to keep the reader interested. The narrative – which begins with Ashok Jailkhani’s khandaan (and the independence of India in 1947), and ends with his postings at the apex levels of Doordarshan – not only traces the personal and professional growth of an individual, but also how the wheel of time shapes the things to come, and how individuals in turn affect the passage of time.

And Thus Flows the Vitasta makes the readers flow with the arts and culture scene in Srinagar, touching upon variegated themes such as communal harmony, extremism, dramatics, the rise of theatre companies (such as Vasant Theatre, with which Jailkhani himself was associated), and Kashmiri life, in general. Specific episodes from the life of Ashok Jailkhani, the historicity of such politicized times, and interviews with people associated with him over the course of his life lend further credence to the authenticity of the biography.

The text creates a lattice framework comprising history, aesthetics and politics of a particular age, perhaps even its sociology, and places the life and times of one individual within this rubric. What emerges isn’t only the achievements of one single man, but also the times in which these accolades were made possible, and the historicity of a region that usually has different, darker connotations in contemporary popular imagination.

While the book, like any other, has its faults, such as a slight imbalance between the specific and the general vis-à-vis the narrative techniques, and a compressed, almost rushed ending, however, these minute technicalities apart, it manages to deliver its message, and the aim of this book strikes home. Chronicling the history of a free-spirited, passionate and talented actor, producer, director, isn’t as easy task, one who, despite adverse circumstances, climbed the pinnacle of his field through sheer will, competence and hard work. Maharaj Krishan Shah has done a commendable job in tying multiple strands of Ashok Jailkhani’s life into a Gestalt, where the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts, and Prof. Shafi Shauq has succeeded in translating the text from Hindi to English in an efficient and effective manner.

All in all, And Thus Flows the Vitasta is recommended for all those who not only want to read about the life and times of Ashok Jailkhani, but also who might be interested in how Ashok Jailkhani was influenced by the times, and how he, in turn, through the dint of sheer hard work and brilliance, shaped the things to come – whether via acting, programme administration, production or just through being a good human being.

About the reviewer: Dr. Sami Ahmad Khan is an award-winning novelist, academic and documentary producer. He has taught at IIT Delhi, JNU, JGU and Iowa (USA), and presently teaches at GGS Indraprastha University, New Delhi. He is the author of ‘Red Jihad’ and ‘Aliens in Delhi’. 
 


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About Writer

Maharaj Krishan Shah is well noted and well decorated Hindi/English writer. Has won accolades for writing Hindi poetry, prose and many articles. He has contributed many articles in many leading English online Journals. Born in Kashmir at Mattan (Martand) a very known pilgrim place of Hindus all over world, known for famous Martand (temple) ruins, Maharaj Krishan Shah completed his formal education as Post Graduate in Hindi from Kashmir University. From the days of his student career he had well established himself as Hindi Writer from a Non Hindi State.
Besides being a noted writer from J&K, Maharaj Krishan Shah has been very active in field of Theatre and Television Programme Productions. He has worked as Actor, Writer, Director and Producer of many TV programmes for Doordarshan India.
Maharaj Shah worked in ETV Rajasthan as Programming Head for nearly a year and half and was actively involved in its launching process. In 2001 he formed his own TV Programme Production house by the name of India News Feature which was empaneled for making Doordarshan Commissioned Programs.
From 2011 to 2014 Maharaj Krishan Shah worked as regular faculty in IP University affiliated college “MAIMS” of Delhi. Since then he is active in academic field too.
Maharaj Shah (Maharaj Krishan Shah) is awarded Bhartendu Harishchandera award in the year 2008 by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for excellence in Journalism and Mass Communication for his book Television Programme Production and Journalism. Hindi Sansthan Lucknow bestowed him with "Suhard Saman" in 2015 for excellence in creative Hindi Writing.  Sant Tugdoge Academic Society Pune, Martand Sanman Kashmir, is also earned by him.

CONTENTS

Foreword by Gowri Shanker Raina Thus Flows the Vitasta

The Beginning

Period of Crisis
The Era of Modernization
The New Path

Mistrust or Truth?

The Era of Transformation

At the Threshold of Theatre

Treason Defeated and Fraternity Wins The Journey Towards Within Towards the Theatre

Experiments in Theatre Advent of Spring
New Horizons

Kashmiri Theatre Federation Common Roof

The Bell of Alarm The Gory Vista
7 11 13 21 25 47 63 71 77 85 95 105 117 131 141 159 163 193 197
Vibrations
PREFACE
Life is a symphony; recording its rhythm and music is not an easy task. To write about a person who has risen high to touch the colours of a rainbow is all the more a hazardous task. Nevertheless, when association with such a person is abiding, and is known and tested in many trying situations, it becomes a little easy to write about him.
And Thus Flows the Vitasta is neither a sketch of life nor a work of ction, but a combination of the two. As many tributaries of a river meet, so do various disciplines like history, tradition, values and streams of humanism coalesce to ow together.; side by side with the Vitasta.
The story of course begins with the Jailkhani family, known for high values of life and education; but how Ashok Jailkhani born in that family contributed to the legacy of this dynasty is the subject of this book.

Kashmir was passing through turbulent political conditions, but depersonalisation had not started then. During the times trials, a mother on the basis of her courage, desires to see her son like a newly risen bright star. The history takes unexpected turns, but those who have the resolution to live meaningfully, make their own history. This is how the story of a self-sufficient and independent person comes into being.

The strength of theatre is undeniable. Since Ashok as a child embraced this world of emotions and feelings, he never thought of turning back. He whole heartedly got engrossed in the art of colours and action and with the advent of his youth became known as a highly talented actor and director; all were taken aback. Having shown extraordinary talent in representing emotions of a variety of emotions, Ashok got wide recognition and in the capacity of a director, too, he showed remarkable success in communicating with the audience through a wide spectrum of actors. He established a new trend of theatre by presenting such successful performances as “Evam Indrajit”, “Panchi Aise Aate Hain”,“Kisi Ek Phool Ka Naam Lo”, “Chinar”, “Gidhade” and many other plays.

During that time, in the decade of seventies, the theatre groups of Srinagar presented mostly plays in Kashmiri and were the theatrical versions of popular plays broadcast from Radio;“teentykor”, “ropyinad”, “chapaath” “machama” are examples. In such circumstances, presenting a play like “Evam Indrajit” was an adventurous enterprise. But the director of the time undertook this enterprise, and exhibited his talent. For such plays that were off the rut, a new type of audience was created. The actors and actresses of those days were not ready to play roles in such plays. It was therefore essential to train actors for this kind of theatre; not in any school of theatre or university but at the level of individual exercise. They were taught, for instance, how to use the movements of face and body in acting. It was also necessary to teach them how to include subtle gestures so that the audiences were involved and moved both at the level of physical presentation and deeper in nuances.

The responsibility of a committed director is the most arduous job. In order to bring the nuances of dialogues to the surface and helping the spectators to appreciate it, one has to work endlessly to get mastery. He has to determine the movements and make the actors deliver their dialogues. He performs all these functions in the capacity of a critic so that there is no incongruity. How to resolve the issues regarding the stage design of the play, what should be the costume, and how to make all other arrangements for the performance, he has to be totally involved in all these activities. The youthful stage director then became a celebrated personality of the world of television. He carved a special niche in the field of presenting dramas through the medium of television. Within a few years after joining television, he started a tele- serial which was produced from the Doordarshan Kendra of Srinagar; this happened even before the telecast of the tele- serial Hum Log. This was followed by series of very popular TV serials. After this significant production he worked in various other television centres in various capacities. How he could accomplish all these responsibilities? The answer lies in Maharaj Krishan Shah’s book “Thus Flows the Vitasta”

The pages of this book not only present the life story of a famous person, but simultaneously the times in which he lived. There are many dark, and bright terrains in the heart of time, and a threshold is needed to enter it.
Dr. Gouri Shanker Raina

CHAPTER 1
THUS FLOWS THE VITASTA

The country achieved freedom. In 1947, the British left India. The conditions in Kashmir were however uncertain. The dilemma of Maharaja Hari Singh was intense, but more intense was the dilemma of over seven and a half lakh Hindus living in Kashmir; they are called Kashmiri Pandits. At the time of the division of India, the princely state had the right to choose either India or Pakistan for accession. The Maharaja’s relations with Pakistan were in a state of stand still, yet Pakistan imposed ban on the export of food items, salt, and petrol to Kashmir. There was a sort of famine in Kashmir. To add to the misery of the people Pakistan sent war-mongering tribal invaders, and her army to launch a full-scale aggression on Kashmir. The aggressors, initially in civil dress, carrying sophisticated weapons in entered into Kashmir through the mountainous routes of Ponch, Rankoat, and Sialkot. They set Mohara power station on fire, and Srinagar city was drowned in darkness. Muzaffarabad, Kupwara, Gurez, and Baramullah were invaded.

 Pakistan had sent tribal invaders to vanquish Kashmir, the helpless king of a Muslim dominated state signed the document of accession with India. Kashmiri Pandits heaved a sigh of relief. But Pakistan had till then usurped a considerable area of the State. The sacred shrine of Sharda was taken away, but Srinagar, Baramullah, Kupwarah, and Gurez were saved.

Mount Baton was approached by the Maharaja in unequivocal terms that he wanted to appoint Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah as his Prime Minister. This means that the government would be essentially in the hands of the Maharajah until free elections were held. However, soon after signing the treaty of Accession, the Maharaja was side-lined, and his son Karan Singh was nominated as the Governor of Kashmir. Maharaja Hari Singh remained aggrieved with his son till he breathed his last.

CHAPTER 2

THE BEGINNING
In 1951-52, Kashmir was again in a state of turmoil. Sher-I Kashmir passed a resolution in the Legislative Assembly to abolish landlord system in Kashmir and handed over the possession of the agricultural land to the tillers; the Sheikh was inspired by the revolutions in France and Russia. He, at the same time, was inspired by American democracy. In the very first session of the Assembly, he put Kashmiri Pandits into insecurity. Most of the Pandits living in Srinagar city were engaged in the management of the land estates of agricultural land. Most of them possessed huge estates, and their livelihood depended on it. Since feudalism was abolished, the educated Kashmiri Pandits preferred to join government jobs. All those who were against getting their daughters educated and work in offices, had to face many hardships in life. This resulted in one desire for government jobs and a sense of pride of being government employees began to spread among them. Education became the first priority for them, and Kashmiri Pandits saw the hope of an honourable living only in reading and writing. They understood the necessity of the time, and all the social reformers emphasised that they should work hard to make their progeny attain high education. --- Kunti Jailkhani and Mohan Lal Jailkhani became one of the champions of this new campaign.

The constant rivalry between the former Maharaja, Hari Singh, and Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, made the Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru diminish the authority of Maharaja Hari Singh. The Maharajah knew that it was he who had signed the Agreement of Accession, and as such he was still the sole authority. On the other hand the Sheikh asserted that autocracy had ended in Kashmir, and democratic government had replaced it. Sheikh Abdullah was the only individual who, being the sole elected representative of the people of the state was the right person to function as the Prime Minister of the State. This antagonism forced Maharajah Hari Singh to leave the State. His queen went back to her maternal house in Kangrah; their son in his early youth was made the Sadri Riyast or the President and later Governor of the State. The former Maharaja of the state had no option but to live in despondence as a lonely person in his bungalow at Peddar Road of Mumbai. All these happenings left a profound impact on the politics of Kashmir. Kashmir became a battleground of political conspiracies and a new era of hooliganism, treason, and turmoil started. The Kashmiri Pandits  were now mainly concerned with the safety of their lives. The traditional feuds between the “Shers” and “Bakras” was rampant everywhere.

This deplorable political scenario was seen in its crescent form in the mohalla of the city where the family of the Jailkhanis lived. Many types of daily disputes encircled the Mohalla of the city. All the members of the family used to assemble in their courtyards and discuss the political events and the changed conditions in Kashmir. Inspite of this, there was no visible kind of bias or friction against Kashmiri Pandits. In addition to Jailkhani Mohalla, the Pandits, Muslims and Sikhs of Nawa Kadal, Nawhatta, Jama Masjid, and the fort of Hari Parbat, the shrine at the bottom of the hill, Chatti Padshahi of the Sikhs, and the Sharika temple at the top of the hill, used to visit even barefooted from every street of the city. The spiritual chants of Aarti, Nimaz, Daruud and Akhand path got intermingled like the seven tunes of music, and filled the soul with umpteen devotional feelings. People’s love for God, faith in the absolute reality got manifested by this sacred symphony. The morning-time prayers were such a situation as cannot be described in words. All were deeply interested in each other’s joys and sorrow, enquired about each other’s well- being bowed to their God and prayed for the happiness of all. Thus the atmosphere was replete with the feelings of fraternity. In comparison to this fraternity, all the political propaganda was insignificant and meaningless. The folks even castigated their politicians and made fun of them.

Srinagar is a city that is found on both banks of the Jhelum; it is an old and historical city which was founded by a king named Praversenna in the sixth century AD. The city stands witness to all those numerous calamities, rise and fall, construction and destruction, tyranny, suppression in which humanity nourished, persevered with an amazing resilience. On the river Jhelum there are seven bridges which includes Ali Kadal were at dynasty comprising of 10 to 12 families called Jailkhanis lived in a lane called Budgair. Most of the Pandits of this colony are well-read, and appointed on various major and minor position in Government service. Mohanlal Jailkhani had got married over one and a half years ago. His younger brother Chunilal is a school teacher in a government school, and is respected as one of the best teachers of English Language. He has deep interest in English literature. The spouse of Mohanlal Jailkhani is still in her early teens. Mohanlal Jailkhani is himself quite young and has passed his twelfth standard. His wife Kunti is educated up to the ninth class and aspires for further studies. But the times are hard; the father’s point of view is quite progressive, but helpless, for he has three more daughters to marry. So he is eager to settle his responsibilities as soon as he can. He has two sons also and has to manage their upbringing and education. Kunti's father named Dinnanath Kaul is well read and had passed his graduation from Lahore University, thus he has very progressive views and wants that all his daughters should be well educated. Though in those times girl education was still a taboo. Despite his best intentions he had decided to get his daughters married at earliest because of financial constraints

After his marriage with Kunti, Mohanlal ji left the valley to seek his future in mainland India. Having lived there from 1941 to 1951, as he returned home, he found that Kunti had devoted all her time and energy in completing her education. She stayed back with her parents for over eight years after her marriage. She got tutored by teachers like Prof. P.N. Ganjoo, and Prof. Fida Hussain and Prof. P.N.Gurtu and succeeded in qualifying B.A.B.T and eventually got appointed as a teacher.

Mohanlal Jailkhani got employed in the central office  of the Accountant General and his wife got the job of a teacher. Thus second generation of Jailkhani family was educated and appointed in government service. There was a feeling of financial ease in the family, yet there was a lot to be done. They not only had to preserve what they had acquired, but also to rise up the stairs of progress. Mohanlal Jailkhani’s wife Kunti Devi is exceedingly pretty and cultured. This is the time when the women have almost no share in education and employment. People are satis ed in getting their daughters married at an early age and send them away to their in-laws. It is in this atmosphere that Kunti Jailkhani is working as a school teacher. The families living in the locality consider it the means of attaining happiness. They are getting inspiration from her, yet most of the women are following the traditional way of life. They think that Mohanlalji’s mother was unfortunate for she is not lucky to have the joys of having a daughter-in-law in her house to serve her as she is to go from one village to another in connection with her job. “See, what a weird times we are living in!” They thus jibe. “She does not hesitate in working outdoors while rubbing her shoulders with men folk. She is unabashed.” But jibes like these do not discourage Kunti Devi. She knows it well that what sort of family life and personal life she has chosen for herself.

Mohan Lal’s mother is apprehensive about the education of her daughter-in-law. Some of the women make strange enactment of happenings how an educated daughter-in-law gets up late in the morning and she has to serve her tea and attend to all the chores of the household. “Are you to keep serving her for all your life? Are you not in your proper wits? Is a serving daughter-in-law to serve you or serve in her office? Mohanlal ji is ill-fated. He shall keep pining for moments of bliss in his house. “All such taunts apart, there were gossips about moral demeanour of a working lady. These comments did not affect Mohanlal ji as he was very emancipated with modern ideas. Similarly Mohanlal ji’s brother Chunnilal had very modern views about woman’s education and their rights. He also convinced his mother that she should get an educated daughter in law.

Kashmiri masses too were deeply in influenced by Indian Freedom Struggle, particularly in the sphere of culture. Amidst a silent revolutionary struggle in Kashmir the theatre activists and folk artists started organising themselves. Under the in influence of All India People’s Theatre Association or IPTA many young men established a theatre in the city; the theatre was initially under the in influence of Parsi Theatre, and then started performances on various social issues.

Many intellectuals of the time remained associated with this theatre group. Thus a new movement of social reforms or social transformation ensued. Master Zinda Koul, Dinanath Nadim and others supported education for Kashmiri women and their working as government employees. Moreover, they propagated it for the enlightenment of Kashmiri people.

Mohanlal Jailkhani’s marriage was one of the exemplary marriages in milieu of social reformation and transformations- --it was a fresh resolve to embrace the changing times. Today when we impart education to our children even at the age of 30-32 years and see them settled in life as late as the age of 40, the story was quite different in those days: parents got worried about the marriage of their daughter even before their menstrual stage started, and explored possibilities of nding proper matches for them, and even got them wedded. It was a time when daughters were kept hidden under veils. When an unmarried girl attained youth, her parents lost all peace of mind. It was a time when many girls remained un-married for their whole life. Thus a new wave of social transformation started among the Hindu community of Kashmir. The revolution taught them shacking off the age old shackles for acquiring education and getting independent in life. This very time at the political level a slogan for “Naya Kashmir” was given.

This period of transition from the 19th century milieu to that of the 20th century assumed the shape of a radical revolution. On the basis of this revolution, the resolve for going forward got strengthened--- Azad, Mehjoor and Rasool Mir’s poetry had sown seeds of introspection and change and the masses rendered their songs into music. The gnosis of Saints and Su s of the valley had already emphasised appreciation of the meaning of life, but the confusing political programs made life complicated instead of supporting the ideas of change. However, in the beginning Sheikh Abdullah had presented a glorious image of Naya Kashmir, and Jawaharlal Nehru had further strengthened it; the vision of Naya Kashmir was gradually getting covered by dark clouds.

CHAPTER 3
THE PERIOD OF CRISIS
The strength of Sheikh Abdullah and his tremendous popularity became his enemy. Yuvraj Karan Singh also was getting perturbed by the anxieties that had irked Maharajah Hari Singh. But Jawaharlal was supporting Karan Singh quite efficiently, and the latter started understanding the mind of Sheikh Abdullah. A section of politicians was much agitated to see their leader Sheikh Sahib working as a dictator. He had no consideration for for even the central government of Nehru. Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad, D.P.Dhar, Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq and many other leaders supported progressive ideas and were against Sheikh Abdullah. The candidates selected by Sheikh Abdullah for election were generally declared elected without any contest and the application forms of the opposition were rejected. This type of autocratic demeanour of Sheikh Sahib was an alarming bell for the Central Government. However, the way Sheikh Sahib’s legislative Assembly ended the autocratic rule, and the way he explained in his maiden speech why they preferred accession with India, rather than Pakistan in spite of being a Muslim majority state, his position was not dubious. In his speech he unequivocally said that for defeating the slavery of several centuries, inequality and poverty it was inevitable that the masses had to stand free from the fetter of religious prejudices, and embrace the programme of secularism, socialism and democracy. It was in the same speech he, however, made a proclamation that aggrieved the Pandit community when he abolished feudalism and landlordism and distributed land to the tillers. August 9, 1953 was a terrific and consequential day in the history of Kashmir: Sheikh Sahib was imprisoned and the whole city felt as if a devastating thunderbolt had hit them. There were large scale feuds. ...He was arrested for hatching conspiracy of sedition. Eventually a section of the political party under the leadership of Prime Minister Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad assumed power. The cabinet of Sheikh Abdullah was removed from power by passing no confedence vote against them. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was not given opportunity to prove his majority in the Assembly and he was detained for sedition against the sovereignty of the nation. As soon as this news spread, the whole of Kashmir was overtaken by agitation and turmoil by the supporters of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, thus the state was in complete chaos. Nevertheless, Bakhshi Sahib seemed to be already prepared for dealing with this kind of situation. He immediately ordered the government machinery and his supporters to deal with the crises with full force and bring the state under control. But people did not behave as Sheikh Sahib had envisaged, no people’s movement started and the masses began living their routine life.

Never the less, the popularity of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah did not abate even after this event. The Muslim section of Kashmir society that earlier supported the policies of Muslim Conference, had a grudge against the Sheikh and began to question him. The mainstream political elements that were known for their pro-India stance, claimed to unveil the hidden agenda of the Sheikh. Sheikh Abdullah, who claimed to be the hero of secularism and democracy, aspired to be an unchallenged autocrat of a Muslim country; he did not even have a remote connection with the ideas of secularism, democracy and socialism, but tried to mislead his people by such slogans. On the other hand, in order to expose such arguments, Sheikh Abdullah’s flamboyant speeches were amazing even the common masses. They could not understand that who till yesterday was not tired of enumerating the advantages of joining Indian union, why all of a sudden, within one night he changed and started advocating for right of self-determination, plebiscite or Rajshumari, Islamic society that suited Pakistan.

Thus the politics of Kashmir suffered a very deep wound, which is yet to heal up. At the surface everything seemed to be tranquil, but under the surface everything was getting shaken because of the commotion under the layers. Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad succeeded in turning all the hooligans, mischief mongers, and looters in his favour. By keeping their mouths shut, the turmoil seemed to abate. The masses got absorbed in their day-to-day work, while Bakshi, having obtained assistance from the Centre, propagated his idea of Naya Kashmir (New Kashmir). In order to give boost to his popularity, Bakhsi began to strengthen his image of being a public leader. He made a wide show of his being lesser- educated but being just like a common man. He tried to gain support of the folk artists, artisans, peasants, and labourers by behaving as they behaved. It appeared that all Kashmiris all of a sudden had forgotten Sheikh Abdullah.

In 1953, Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad was appointed as the Prime Minister of the State and soon started an extended programme of economic reforms, and progressive programmes. This programme included free education from the primary level up to the university level in all the educational institutions; this innovative step turned to be an important milestone in the development of Kashmiri people. The end of feudalism and taxing agriculture also was in fact started by Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad. He also provided electricity, transport, water supply, rations on very cheap rates to the public. A programme of spreading a huge network of roads, and electricity in the rural areas was also started. All these programmes augmented great fervour among the common masses. Kashmiri youth especially participated with zeal and zest in all these programmes of modernisation. Bakhshi Sahib also infused new vitality in the cultural life of the people. The measures re-invigorated the sections of society associated with folk entertainment, music and theatre. Radio Kashmir Srinagar, which was started in Polo Ground by erecting a few temporary booths, was then established at a very romantic site near the Zero Bridge. A large section comprising artists and intellectuals got associated with Radio Kashmir and thus it emerged as an integral part of public life. Since the rural people could not afford to purchase radio sets, radio sets were allotted to the Panchayats which became the centres for enjoying the programmes broadcast from Radio Kashmir. All these measures played a signi cant role in modernising Kashmiri society and ushering in a revolutionary transformation.

CHAPTER 4
THE ERA OF MODERNIZATION
And then in August 1953, God blessed Mohanlal Jailkhani and Kunti Jailkhani with a son. His name was suggested by their family Guru, namely, Pandit Radha- Krishan who lived at Ali Kadal on the ninth day on the occasion of ‘Kahnyethar’. On behalf of Kunti’s parental house, all her kin like her parents, brothers and sisters, thronged in and there was much festivity in the house. Sweets were distributed in the locality and the house was visited by relatives and family friends. It was widely talked about that a son is born to the family and many names were suggested. Uncle, Chuni Lal, nally suggested in one sentence, “Ashok”. What do you think of Ashok Guru Maharaj?” The Guru and the kith and kin approved of the name. The horoscope of the child“Ashoka the Great’ was already prepared by the Guru. He called Mohan Lal and told him, “You are very fortunate that by the blessing of Bhagwaan Shiva, a very talented baby is born to you. Yes, of course he shall not shine much during early schooling, but there is no need to worry, he shall keep progressing on a post in Government service, and remember, he shall be much fond of pictures and meditation and re ection.”
“Guruji, is he going to be a painter?” Mohan Lal said in reply. “Then what is wrong in being a painter?” Chuni Lal was there to make his brother understand. Guruji! In fact my brother wants to know if his son is going to shine in life.”

The Guru smiled and said, “He is the master of Prabal Grahas/ He shall never let you know when he completes his education and nd out his own path. Yes I advise you not to take him away from his family for the first 10 to 12 years. He can of course enjoy staying with his grandparents. Mohanji, be happy. He is going to precede his brothers only.”

Chuni Lal smiled, which annoyed Radha Krishen. “Why don’t you trust me? If this foretelling of mine does not prove true, I shall be ready to do whatever you suggest me to do.” This staunch belief of Panditji was not easy to understand. Chunni Lal was an emancipated person. He had a rational mind and had a lot of worldly experience. He knew it well that the nature rather than the predictions of a Pundit, determine the gender of the offspring. But in order to make the Pandit happy, he said to him, “How can we ordinary people have this much of knowledge? You have the knowledge to know the past as well as the future of a person.”

“Mohanji, keep it written as a record. This is Radhakrishan’s proclamation. Your next issue too will be a male child.” Chunni Lal was a little annoyed, “Maharaj, what if I have a daughter rather than a son?” “Who says there is anything wrong in having daughters?” Said Radhakrishen. “A family in which Saraswati or Lakashmi is not born is no happy family. Without a daughter, there is no peace and joy even if you have abundance of gold and silver. Body and soul are integral. If this foundation is not there, a family is no family.”

“Chuni Lal said, “Now it is alright. I too am a disciple of yours henceforth.” “There shall be no decrease in my weight even if you are not. But be sure, you would certainly lose something. Life is an ongoing circle my son, it is there in whatever way you like to look at it. If you have thirst, water is elixir for you. Or if you like to get drowned in it, there shall be a calamity. Om Namah Shivaya!...”

All of a sudden there was complete silence; the Guruji made the atmosphere very grim. Discerning the quiet, he started chanting mantras, and kindled a lame in the replace. Thus the ritual of kahnethar began. When the women of the house started singing, there was a festival-like ambience in the house; all participated in Mohanlal’s joy. MohanLal is god-fearing ; he never talks to anyone in loud voice. He respects the elders and loves the young ones. It is for these qualities that all his colleagues in the of office are his admirers. His wife Kunti Devi, too, is much amiable. She has maintained relations with her seniors and juniors according to the values of the family. Most of her time passes in the school and then at her in-laws. Nevertheless, an anxiety always burdened her mind: in view of the scarcity of female teachers, the available teachers are transferred to the far- flung villages. Sooner or later, Kunti Devi too shall have her turn. If this happens, what shall she do of Ashok?Ashok is now fondly being called Kaka by all, and Kaka is really being a very handsome lad. He bears close resemblance both to his mother and father. However, his eyes are much like that of his mother, and his nose like that of his father. Kaka might be four or five, but there is no one to understand his mother’s apprehensions. He could be sent to some boarding school, but there is none. Mohanlal is absolutely unaware of his wife’s anxieties; he has his tidily arrayed world. He has his parents, brother, and then his office people; all these people are around him all the time. He foots the distance from his home to his office; he covers the distance from Ali Kadal to his office in no time. Sometimes he goes to Gawkadal or Habba Kadal by a horse driven tanga and then returns on foot to his house. He exchanges greetings with all while walking through alleys. His in-laws’ house is on the way to his office, but there was no question of his visiting them without being invited; he did not go there even when his wife was there. He knew it well that she would be back within a day or two.

When Kaka was born, the husband and wife were always absorbed in the thoughts of imparting their child good education. They decided not to send their child to a government school because teaching started very late there. And then the ways of teaching were traditional. They knew that teaching of English started only after the sixth standard in the government schools. The teachers too were not hardworking. The children too came from a variety of backgrounds. They thought that their loving child might incur some bad habits. Thus after much reaction, both his parents were of the opinion to send their child to the best English medium school of the city, namely, Tyndale Biscoe School.
There was a guy called Badrinath who lived in the locality of the Jailkhani’s, he worked as a teacher at Tyndale Biscoe School. Mohanji knew him well, for he was in his kinship, though remotely. But Badrinath was a very stern man, and lived a disciplined life much like the English men. Mohanlal never visited Badrinath’s house to get information about method of admission and fees in the school; there was no need to do so. He would occasionally have a chat with Badrinath when he met him some shop, or while going to the ghat.

It was Sunday. Mohanji never got any of ce work to his home. Thus without informing anybody he paid a visit to Bandrinath’s house. While talking randomly on various routine issues, he acquired much information about the famous school.

Badrinath’s house had two doors; and in both the doors Badrinath’s family lived. He had four sons and a daughter. Badrinath was sharp enough to understand the purpose of Mohanji’s visit, and gave faint smile. He wondered why he was so eager for the admission as the child could remain happy with his childhood pranks for five to six years. It would have been proper for him to go to the school after he was physically strong enough. In this respect too Mohanji was much like the English. “Catch them young.” Badrinath was engrossed in hearing what Mohanji said to him, but inwardly he was in some deep commotion. He thought that Mohanji as well as his wife worked as government employees, while he himself had to share the burden of his children single handedly and could never think of getting his children admitted to such a costly school.

“Mohanji ... Yes it is a good idea... this is what being a prudent person means...It is good that one thinks of future well ahead... Tyndale Biscoe School is not only an established school but it is a complete organisation... Children get ample opportunities to excel there... Beside education, there are ample avenues of shining in games also ... How amazing is children’s bringing up there! We cannot even think of this! Children of the lucky families have the chance to study there. Yes we must think like that. Only the rich and the affluent bureaucrats can afford to send their children there. Our poor children generally develop sense of deprivation there. This might lead them to bad results instead of excellence. However, our Government schools are not bad. Government spends so much of money on education which is free right from the primary level to the University degrees. You are not to spend even a rupee of your own. How can I explain it to you, for you know well. There are two teachers in your own house. ...Did you seek counsel from Chunilal on this issue? ...He is himself a government teacher...”

“Yes. He too is of the opinion that one should send kids to the “Convent” only... Since what you said that a child might develop sense of inferiority there...I am in a dilemma. However, there is suf cient time still to go...I came here only to seek information from you. Let it be an excuse to have met.”
Badrinath’s wife was there with tea and bakirkhani (bread), while pouring tea into the khos (old Kashmiri cup), she greeted the guest for having a child. She told him not to pay any attention to what her husband said. “Kunti is quite wise and intelligent. You should do what she says. ...You might not be knowing, I have been her classmate up to the fifth grade...Then all of a sudden my parents thought that I was too big to go to the school, and thus I was deprived of schooling. All is determined by God, Yet I advise you not to do what he asks you to do.”

Mohan Lal saw for the first time that a wife could criticise her husband in his presence. He felt pity on his friend Badrinath. “Is Badrinath’s spouse having no respect for her husband!” He thought. But in a Kashmiri Pundit society, though very meticulous in matters of modesty and values, could not remain unaffected by the ideas of women’s freedom. In an orthodox family the standard of individual demeanour was like that, and Badrinath’s wife had imbibed the idea that one should not be scared in speaking the truth. Badrinath knew it well, and in fact he admired her merely for this undaunted nature in truthfulness. In order to respect Mohanji’s sentiments, Badrinath thought it better to support what his wife said.

“Shobha” is perfectly right. This is the advantage of having a wise spouse as your advisor. You must leave the decision to your wife and your brother. ...Shoba is nevertheless right, but one must have a thorough assessment of one’s limited income before sending ones children to such expensive schools. Your case is quite different; you belong to the double-income group of people. Remember when your son attains the age of going to school, I shall let you meet the Principal of the school. Yes, you should remember that a child once admitted to the school has to take a test, and he should pass the test. So when your son is three year old, he should be thoroughly prepared so that he ‘coups up’ easily in the school.”

Kashyap Bandhu, Premnath Bazaz and other Kashmiri Pundits supported Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, and played their role in convincing the Maharaja that independence of Kashmir was the best option. They had also played their role in making education compulsory and free for all and in establishing a progressive society in Kashmir. These social reformers had infuenced Kashmiri Pundits. They also supported the idea of ending dowry system and extravagance in weeding ceremonies.

Among the young generation of the time, Chunilal Jailkhani and Mohanlal Jailkhani of the family were profoundly influenced by the modern ideas of social reform. They had made such ideas the leading principles of their life. Thus progressive ideology found a solid basis in the family. In spite of various impediments, this family remained engaged in the hard struggle of life. Kunti Jailkhani had made it the purpose of her life that all women be imparted education and she worked towards the fulfilment of this ideal. This was essentially a unique way of disseminating modernity in the society. Thus paying visits to the schools in numerous villages started. By providing the common masses with the avenues of progress, the basic idea was to relieve the people from the centuries’ old slavery, ignorance and poverty, and encourage them to send their children to schools for modern education.

Thus by partaking in various revolutionary programmes, while understanding her role, Kunti Devi began to be the role-model of many household women. She was shocked to have rst-hand observation of the widespread poverty, haplessness and exploitation of the women folk. She was convinced that education was the only effective weapon to ght away the social backwardness, and redeem women from ignorance, misery, and exploitation.

Chunilal Jailkhani devoted his entire life to the education department. He was an ardent reader of daily newspaper, various magazine and literature. He was profoundly interested in understanding the situation of his country and the contemporary world. He reaected on various subtle issues of Kashmir and whatever he saw or understood, he scribed in his diaries so that he could avail himself of this knowledge. He knew that only after understanding his environment and traditions could he do something worthwhile to augur changes in society. He respected the courage of his sister-in- law, Kunti Devi. He brought up her son with much love and care. Thus Ashok Jailakhani’s upbringing took place more under the guidance of his uncle than his own father.

The city of Srinagar is visible from the summit of the Shankeracharya Mountain. The whole city looks like a bowl. There we have ascents as well as descents. At many places we observe depths. The people have preferred to dwell on the raised mounds above the level of the Vitasta River. The river flows through the middle of the city as its life- line. There are numerous houseboats near its banks. The house boats are the houses of those people who provide the inhabitants of the city with all kinds of daily essentials. The boats are used to get the things or take the things. Thus the river is no less than the wind-pipe of the city. They have access to every ghat of the Vyath ‘Vitasta’. They connect the people of the two halves of the city on the two banks. The time of motor-vehicles, that we have today, is yet to come. People rely mainly on boats and barges to move from one place to another. In order to go from Jailkhani Mohalla to Bhana Mohalla, one prefers to have a boat trip. The boat owners’ families too live in the same floating houses in the Vyath. They have their own traditions and way of life; they respect the thoughts and beliefs of Kashmiri Pandits. There is a world of difference between the two sections of the people, nevertheless neither of them can think of having life without the other. Their mutual understanding and trust has stood every test in every era. They keep all the necessities of life readily available at the door-steps of Kashmiri Pandits, while the pandits in return provide them the other necessary things needed by them. Both have their well-defined boundaries, value system and texture of faith. In the town stretching from Nowhatta to the downtown life is thriving on a daily struggle. All the artisans, labourers, and craftsmen have their small or large colonies. The artefact of the artisans of this area have reached all other people of the world, the Mughals, the English, the Germans, and made them the admirers of Kashmiri craft. The showrooms in the main markets at Amirakadal and the Residency Road are replete with the charming handicraft goods of Kashmiri artisans. All the main shops are still owned and run by Kashmiri Pandits. However, in spite of the unparalleled beauty of the goods made by Kashmiri artisans, their life is still languishing in a never-ending cycle of exploitation. The exploitation is the root cause of the misery, hunger and abject poverty of Kashmiri skilled class including embroiders, wood-carving artisans, shawl makers, carpet-weavers and other artisans. They work day in and day out but do not prosper because the middlemen, traders, and factory owners have kept them under their claws. Concealed in their seemingly tranquil life, there is a pent up revolt against oppression. However, their religious faith keeps the heat of their revolt tampered and as such they are contented with their lot. However, some of their youngsters, having had schooling upto the eighth or tenth class have joined government service as teachers, clerks, and orderlies. Chunilal Jailkhani is also employed as a teacher of English. He has close association with Ghulam Muhammad of Nwakadal. Ghulam Mohammad having passed his eighth class examination, tried his best to be a teacher, but the school had xed tenth class as the minimum qualification for the post of teacher. Before passing the tenth class examination it was wise to work at least as an orderly in the school, he thought. It could at least save him from the hardships of carpet weaving. He thought that the carpets woven by the artisans decorated the houses of the rich, but they ll the life of the artisan with gloom. He considered his family vocation of carpet weaving wastage of time. He has the fervour to get educated like his idol Sheikh Abdullah and lead his people. He gradually unveils his ambitions to Chunilal Jailkhani who had an entirely different vision and concept of life. He never reacted to how many women have used their delicate fingers and energy to give shape to those artefacts. He knew that the workers were being exploited, and there was no change in their lot. Ghulam Mohammad took him several times to his locality, and showed him the household factories. Having had such a close observation of exploitation, Chunilal’s mind was filled with deep pain and sorrow. He wrote in his diary, “Should this misery continue even after freedom? Was transfer of ownership of land the only social issue? Is there no way to end this social exploitation? If this is not stopped, the unemployment shall go on increasing among the Muslim population. They are sure to give some other form to their sense of deprivation; perhaps that form might not be in their interest.” Away from such worries every Kashmiri during Bakhshi’s rule was trying to take advantage of Bakhshi’s benevolence and trying to evince that he was perfect in his profession and skill. The ministers and the police gave birth to such a vicious circle as was based on complete surrender, sycophancy, and corruption. Thus people still having faith in traditional values grew disillusioned and their minds were filled with dismay. They grew anxious that the social and economic factors might once again lead the people to slavery and subjugation.

Chunilal Jailkhani believed that the solution of these problems lay in change in the character of the individual and the value system. He was convinced that if every individual is resolute, all the social and economic problems could be solved. All the reforms have to start from within. Honesty depends upon the moral integration of the individual human being. Chunilal Jailkhani was deeply infuenced by the thoughts of Swami Vivekananda. On the one hand he opposed the orthodox religious beliefs, and on the other emphasised the religious integrity of the individual. He considered truthfulness of the individual the road to salvation. He had thoroughly read the works of the Swami and the story of his life. He made it the fundamental principle to visit Nitya Ashram, perform Yoga, and teach Yoga. After making a comparative study of all the right-wing and left-wing ideas, he had reached the conclusion that man by nature was a violent animal, and only religion and culture could make him a human being. Social life deprives the individual of many forms of freedom, but at the same time bestows completion of individuality on him. Freedom that was essentially self- destructive was of no avail. Man acquires self-confidence and power by nature; such qualities should get expression both at the individual and social level. ...All these ideas and values of Chunilal Jailkhani had an indelible impact on the character of Ashok. These ideals were more effective than the teachings imparted by his mother and father to him. His father was all the time busy in the office work at The Accountant General’s office.

Ghulam Mohammad admired Chunilal for his individual traits, but he was of the firm belief that one’s character and also was determined both by the individual’s character, but also by the social system, place of birth, education and training and surroundings. He often used to say to Chunilal, “A seed attains the stature of a fruitful tree only when it gets proper soil, manure and climate, but a similar seed, deprived of all such favourable condition, does not thrive.” Chunilal on the contrary wished to make seeds thrive in stony soil, forests, and deserts so that they yielded delicious fruit, and luxuriant foliage, which was in the hands of nature only. This discussion would continue for hours, but each of them was adamant about his conviction. Without bothering about results, this intellectual exercise gave them much joy.

Time was drifting, and like the waters of the Vyath; many a time it swelled and then receded. The Vyath is not just the life line of the city but the symbol of the continuity of culture of the Valley. The river functions as a necklace to unite various sections of Kashmiri society like the Hindus, the Muslims and the Sikhs. Today Ashok has to visits his maternal house and as such he is adorned and well-attired. He is to be escorted in a boat, and this is his first acquaintance with the Vyath. Yesterday it was Ashok’s birthday, and today Kuntiji’s parents have invited him to their house. Mohanji is not with him today, as he does not want to take leave from his office unless there is some emergency. In the evening when the office is closed as usual, he too shall join them there. It shall be for the first time that he shall have dinner at his in-law’s; he might stay there for the night. Tomorrow is Sunday and he shall have rest at his home.

Kuntuji’s family is a traditional highly respected Pundit family. Her father Dinanath Koul is double-graduate from the Punjab University of Lahore. He has thorough knowledge of English and Persian and this is the reason that he educated his five daughters and two sons to the level of graduation. This looks quite a trivial matter now, but we must remember that in those times these were opportunities of development, and the Government spends billions of rupees on expansion of education, such opportunities were limited in the days of the Maharaja’s rule; girls’ education was not so popular as it is now. Dinanath Koul and his wife Aranadati’s life might have been very hard and trying. They brought up their ve daughters with such love and care as enabled all of them to attain high positions, and they too in their turn made it their ideal to get their offsprings educated in the best possible way. They are truly the replicas of their parents and they have the adequate strength to face all manner of hardships in their lives. Ashok is a precocious child. He has given up his mother’s lap even being just one year old; crawls on the ground and moves on his own strength. The boat is moving at the centre of the river. There are many other boats moving to and fro in the river. 

The spring is in its full swing in Kashmir. After many months of chill, the folks have ventured to open the windows of their houses and, sitting at the window sills, all are watching with joy the ceaseless movement of all types of boats in the river. The cold wind of the spring season is not very harsh, and it has to arouse the world from its slumber and fill it with vivacity. Among the natives there are many tourists seen enjoying trips in the boats. A foreign couple is keenly watching Kuntiji and her little baby. They get their boat nearer, take out their camera and asked in English “can we take the baby’s picture Yes Of course” Kuntiji replied, “You can have the picture If you like the baby”. Hearing a Kashmiri women speaking in fluent English, the tourists were filled with joy. They took pictures of both the child and the mother. They also arranged to have their own pictures beside them. They noted the address of Kuntiji, and when they were back to London, they sent the pictures to her through post.
The boat stops in front of the ghat at Bana Muhalla. Kuntiji for the rst time is to enter her parents’ house along with her darling child. Her sister, brothers, and parents have been waiting for them since morning. Dinanathji, Kuntis father, paid many visits to the ghat to see if his darling daughter has come. Then he advised Gaffara the boatman to inform him as soon as she arrives. The moment Gaffara saw Kuntiji andher baby approaching the ghat, he went running to her parents’ house to herald her coming. He romped like a calf as he himself was ecstatic to see her after a long time. And Dinanathji also walked fast toward the ghat to receive his daughter and her baby. Dinanath Koul held the baby close to his breast, and he was out of bounds with joy. He warmly welcomed his daughter and led her to the house. All were eagerly waiting to see her and her child. The whole house was filled with festivity and rapture. Each of the members of the house had already made preparations for this auspicious moment. The aunts of Kaka (Ashok) were especially in ecstasy and they showed their respect to her sister. Her two brothers, though younger than her, were thrilled to see their little nephew. Both were in their early boyhood; the younger one, Indu Bhushan, fondly called Indu was just two to three years older than Kaka.

Dinanath Koul, Kaka’s grandfather, is a well-read man and possesses an awe-inspiring personality. In a house there is usually every type of formality and customs observed according to the values of the family. The family is enjoying all joys of life. The moment Kuntiji entered the house, the house was filled with rapture and all were eager to take Kaka in their hands and love him. It is difficult to say if the event has left any imprint on Kaka’s mind, but this is abundantly clear that the child received overwhelming love at his maternal house. Pandit Dinanath and his wife Aranadhati never let their love for the little Kaka lessen. Kaka’s grandmother’s brother Pt. Satlal Sapru was a celebrity in the Community. He was the head of a local police station and was known for his honesty and strictness. All lawbreakers in their vicinity were mortally afraid of him. But at heart he was very soft and showered all love and affection on the child. He along with his wife had also come to receive them and he gave many toys to the young Ashok.

Kunti was much tired. The festivity in the house-continued for the whole day. In the evening she desired to return to her own house, but her wearied body did not permit her even walk a step. But she had told his husband that she would be back in the evening before the sunset.She sought permission to leave from her sisters, brothers, aunts and everyone there. He mother was annoyed and said, “Then why did you think it necessary to come here? Is this the way of visiting your parents? We are yet to see Kaka closely and you start going back...”

Chuniji, Kunti’s younger sister, too was much angry with her insistence of going back. “We know that a girl once married,” she said, “is a stranger to her own people. But you can afford to stay with your parents for a day or two after every six months or a year.”

Dinanath, however, silenced all. Lifting Kunti’s bag, he said to her, “Let us walk away, my dear. If you have promised your people to be back by the evening, then it is getting late. You can get their permission again and stay here for a week or so next time.” All kept quiet. His word is always the final word in the house. No one can dare to argue with him. Lifting her little Kaka in her arms, Kunti started leaving.

Dinanath said to Kunti, “Remember, next time you must get your husband along. He does not come anywhere even when invited. Is he so busy?”
“No father,” Kunti said, “if you send him an invitation, he shall certainly come. He however, does not believe in formalities.”
“He is a little obstinate, but who knows why he does not come here?” Dinanath said further.
“It is not true father. He is always ready to come here, I in fact advise him that a married man must not visit his in-laws unless invited. One must savour good dishes at the hovur (in-laws house) only after a proper invitation.”
“I think he is always following your word of advice.”
“Why not?” Kunti said with a smile on her lips. “I too follow every word of his. “
“That is nice of you, daughter.” Dinanath said. “I know all of my daughters are quite wise. This is what a father needs. The daughters must always respect their father’s turban.”

Kashmiri Pandits, even in the changed times, were wary about the honour of their turban. Time is very quick to change. Till yesterday, Jammu and Kashmir was ruled by a Hindu king. In spite of the fact that the valley of Kashmir was Muslim dominated, the Hindus felt secure for the state had a special status. They always gave the credit of this safety to their Muslim brethren. The Muslims of the Valley knew that only a hundred years ago their ancestors were Hindus; they believed in leading a peaceful and honest life and always distance away from religious frenzy. But the politics of using religion as a shield or as a weapon had started in 1931 when the Muslims demanded that the Maharaja should abdicate his kingship. Since then Kashmiri Hindus were inwardly sceptic about the political changes after the arrest of Sheikh Sahib as the fundamentalists and communal forces had overwhelmed all aspects of life. They continued stoking the ire of communal hatred. The whole Kashmir was buzzing with rumours. Though Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad had silenced the voices of the people by using coercion as well as cleverness, but Sheikh Abdullah was roaring like a real lion for he had tremendous popularity. 

The Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru was much worried as to how keep to keep Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah behind the bars without having any solid evidence against him. India claimed to be an independent, democratic and secular country, keeping Sheikh Sahib behind the bars was having adverse reaction both at the national and international level.

In a situation like this, mistrust, scepticism, and fears in the Hindu community were natural. They could no more dare to visit Hariparbat temple all alone. Some Muslim youth even enjoyed hurling taunts and abuses on the Hindu devotees who visited the temple. They could hear slangs and teasing remarks, and they felt tormented. They deliberately talked loud about the prosperity of the Muslims of Pakistan. They also exaggerated the baseless news broadcast from Azad Kashmir Radio. (POK)

Some distinguished Pandits complained about their grievance to Bakhshi Sahib and as a result of this Bakhsi Sahib summoned various influential Muslims, Moulvis and representatives of Muslims. He entrusted the responsibility of maintaining peace and security of the minority Hindus to them. All the Muslims in unison convinced Bakhshi Sahib of their full support and promised him that they would curb all anti-social elements without any discrimination of political allegiance. Peace Committees and Hindu-Muslim Coordination Committees were established. They succeeded in curtailing all those elements who for various reasons used to create lawlessness in the state. This measure proved much effective in strengthening communal harmony. But the real problem was the poison of communalism which was encouraged on the excuse of the imprisonment of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.

Amid the dramatic changes in the politics of Kashmir, the common masses continued living their routine life. Whenever, there was any Hindu festival, Muslims generally participated in them and waited eagerly for their advent. On Shivratri in particular, a potter (Muslim) would get all the earthenware anew; they included vessels used for cooking and big pitchers to contain water. The potter used to carry all the delicate earthen vessels in huge baskets that they carried piggyback. The Hindus would welcome him in their traditional way and showed him Aalath (welcome ceremony) . It was only after the performance of the ritual that he would enter the house to keep the pots there. He was adequately compensated for his labour in terms of cash, rice, ghee and salt. On the occasion of Shivratri, the Bhands (roaming street theatre groups comprising mostly Muslim artists) would come from some distant village and the whole city would resound with the melody of the Shahnai (reed ute) and drums. Shivratri was generally celebrated in late February or the first or second week of March, and thus it would augur end of winter and beginning of spring. Snowfall was considered essential for the full pleasure of this festival. In every Hindu Family worship of ‘Shiva’ continued till late night. The vials brought by the potter were divided into two types: the bigger ones for Shiva and the smaller ones for Parvati. A small bowl was meant for Nakhshtra God, and one broad-mouthed open vial was meant for Bhairava. One small pot was used to worship Sivlinga, the worship started in day light and continued till late hours in the night. The houses reverberated with the blowing sounds of conches. People thronged in the temples in early hours of morning. This was especially meant for the un-married women. They had to cleanse the house and give it a pure mud-wash. They did it with merriment for it was a way to celebrate the anniversary of Siva’s marriage. The parents of the married women sent very special dishes on the fith day after Shivratri to the in-laws of their daughters; the dishes included walnuts, baked bread, and sometimes cooked meat. This festival usually coincided with the end of winter vacations and reopening of the schools. Kunti was posted in National Girls School of Nawakadal, and she used to foot the distance in about ten minutes, but the household chores had made her tired and she wished that the winter vacations lasted longer. On the contrary, Chunilal was getting bored to have con ned himself to the four walls of his house. He desired that the schools were reopened as early as possible. He in fact loved his profession and was fond of children. He did not attach any serious importance to any aspect of life, not even marriages, except teaching and reading books. He had resolved to live the life of celibacy for whole life. He devoted all his time to yoga, social work, and religious books. He spent most of his time in reading Vivekananda’ books. Nevertheless, he remained closely associated with society, but he did not let himself get swayed by any particular ideology. He loved to watch all aspects of life while sitting on a fence. May the cause of his dispassionate attitude was the fast change in his life. He thought how he was brought up by his maternal uncle and how he was made to believe that he was his real son. Chunilal thus became Chunilal Jailkhani. He generally contemplated on such issues. Behind the façade of life he could discern a triangle, and then circle and also a square; and there were moments when he saw an in nitely long straight line; it was not possible to know whether it was drawn from the left to the right or the right to the left.

Mohanlalji, on the contrary was much like a common man. God had bestowed all that upon him that he had not even conceived of--- a position in government service, pretty and highly educated wife, and a ower-like pretty child. While coming or going to his of ce he would always stop a while at Ganpatyar Temple to salute Bhagwan Gnaesha. And pray for just one thing that he should never fail in his duty and responsibilities and that he lived a carefree life. His highest ideal in life was to serve his parents and keep his family happy.

Though a few month beforeAshok’s birth, and after that the sky of Kashmir was overcast by dark clouds of disturbances and uncertainty, but this situation assumed frightful proportion only after some political mishap made the Hindu minority bear the brunt. This situation obtained in Kashmir around the time when Ashok was born.When on August 16, Jawaharlal Nehru, after several parleys with the Prime Minister of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah issued a detailed statement, all were taken aback in Kashmir and drowned the Pundit community in despondence. Baksh Sahib felt that all his efforts and all the social and economic reforms washed away. Being annoyed, he kept protesting against Nehruji’s dilemma. ‘If plebiscite was to be held in the State, then why was Sheikh Sahib kept behind the bars. What shall people think of me?’ He used to say. And Kashmiri Pundits knew that their future was ruined. They knew that the result of plebiscite was sure to be Pakistan. What does Nehruji think of this? India had, however, emphasised that the two countries should resolve all the unresolved issues mutually without any interference. But time went on, neither that mutual understanding was ever arrived at, nor was there any intention of doing so. On the contrary Pakistan, signed a treaty with America, which opened the eyes of Nehruji, and then he did not trust Pakistani anymore.

CHAPTER 5
THE NEW PATH
In the meantime Bakhshi Ghulam Muhammad took steps to integrate the state of Jammu and Kashmir with India. On May 14, 1954, the President of India promulgated other legislations on Jammu and Kashmir. And here in Kashmir the peace loving people felt re- assured and enlivened. Bakshi Sahib initiated a series of festivals celebrating the day of victory. Delegates from both the country and foreign countries visited Kashmir to hold conferences. On December 21-22, 1955, Russian president Bulgarian and later Khrushchev visited Kashmir and declared Kashmir as an integral part of India. The conditions were to a large extent stable. Common masses were busy in their routine work, and every Kashmiri desired to get educated and employed in government service.

Education got the central importance. Every village was provided with a school. A network of dispensaries, hospitals and embroidery centres was established. Whosoever had education of eight to ten classes, was provided with some kind of government job. Keeping this in view every Kashmiri welcomed free education. Jawaharlal Nehru continued to be worried about Sheikh Abdullah as he did not want to send any wrong message to the world. How long could he keep Sheikh Abdullah incarcerated that too without any solid evidence against him?

In order to set him free, he succeeded in persuading Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, and Sheikh Abdullah was freed from the prison. On stepping out from the prison Sheikh Sahib found that all the programmes of his ideal of Naya Kashmir were eroded by Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad. He bore a deep-seated grudge against Bakhshi’s dishonesty in politics. As soon as he was released, he began to spew venom against Bakhshi and Indian government. Kashmiri Pundits once again felt restlessness and uncertain. They considered the future of Kashmir and Kashmiri Pundits unsafe.

Like Chunilal, Mohanlal and and others living in Jailkhani mohalla, all the Pundits in other parts of Srinagar were day by day becoming apprehensive. Pundits in Sheetalnath, Ganpatyar, and Rainawari developed close liaises and utilised their in uence among their Muslim brothers and assessed the situation. In spite of spewing venom against India, and instigating religious sentiments in various congregations at Hazratbal, Sheikh Abdullah advised his followers that the people of the minority communities like the Hindus, the Buddhists, and the Sikhs or of any other faith should never be harmed. Soon after his release from jail, people of Srinagar, Anantnag and other parts of the valley thronged in large numbers to listen to his speeches. Not only the state but also Indian Parliament became anxious about this popularity of Sheikh Abdullah. Bakhshi’s political acumen once again proved effective. On hearing that Sheikh Abdullah is planning to proceed for the Hajj, he planned to re-arrest him, but Nehru did not allow him and granted him permission to go for the Hajj. But during his pilgrimage, Sheikh Abdullah committed such a blunder as was never conceived by Nehru: Sheikh Abdullah met the leaders of the enemy countries, they included Chu-an-Lai of China and made them hostile to Indian administration. This provided an excuse to the Government of India and the Sheikh was again arrested on the charges of sedition.

Uncertainty again overtook the State. At many places in Srinagar, the demonstrators looted the shops of various Hindus and pelted stones on their houses. The Jailkhani Mohalla too was stricken with fear. Are the Pundits at Habbakadal more secure or those in Ganpatyar--- They thought. They planned their safety variously. Most of them thought of shifting to Shivepora near Badambagh and live under the security of the Indian forces. ‘All of us must reside at one place.This was the general feeling. Chunilal fearlessly listened to news bulletins of Radio. He was of rm belief that the present cyclone too would end like many other cyclones of the past. Whatever was to happen, the government ordered that all the schools and colleges should remain closed for inde nite period. This provided Chunilal and Kuntiji with an opportunity to spend some time together. Chunilal got absorbed in his own meditation and Kuntiji spent most of her time to teach various subjects to Ashok. Ashok was already three and entered his fourth year. He had already started using English words while talking in his mother tongue, this he acquired through his lessons from his mother. He started using English names of various organs of his body like the head, eyes, hands, nose and legs. He was acquainted with English words also through drawings and pictures. With every movement and every step, he learnt something new. Ashok was provided with a lot of children’s magazines which were full of pictures. Ashok used to show more interest in pictures rather than words. The comic cartoons especially appealed his imagination; such cartoons reached their house everyday with the newspapers. Initially Ashok used to tear the cartoon papers, but gradually he started showing some kind of acquaintance with every cartoon. Was it a coincidence

or something that prognosticated his future life that Ashok showed his deep interest in cartoons when he was only three or four years old? Chunilalji noticed his unusual interest in cartoons and he contrived of using them as a medium of education. It was his dream to prepare Ashok mentally for the test to get admission in Biscoe School. Chunilalji, like Mohanlalji was not con ned to his routine works of his office and house. He used to watch the world with a broad vision, yet he was not the one to get lost in the worldly cares, but was always thinking of some higher level of living. He thought that supreme bliss of mind was possible only when man lived the level of routine life with full consciousness. It is better to have healthy conditions of life rather than create confrontations. One must keep the world around him neat and tidy as we do in keeping ours house. He never wished that a thing as delicate as a mirror should get scratched. Man must follow the same principle in living his social life. One must remain engaged in continuous strife of life without any disturbance of mind and soul. Ashok had made a niche in Chunilal’s heart. And then he was free from the responsibilities of marriage and children. He lived a sort of life of reclusion in his own house. He was paying full attention to Ashok’s upbringing. Maternal love is a part of woman’s nature, but even a man can inculcate maternal feelings in him. A mother is introduced to such feelings nine months before the birth of her child, she first nurses the child in the womb, then by holding the child close to her bosom. But man imparts compassion to the child, unlimited compassion. However, the callous world has taught man to use remedies. Making an exhibition of love is considered timidity. He therefore learns to make concealing his compassion a part of his nature. Ashok, however, found the blessings and care of such a man who was miles away from worldly show off.

He had learnt the art of living with purity of soul. This was perhaps the principal factor that Ashok made it a part of his behaviour to remain close to actual life.

Ashok possessed an insatiable interest in different types of pictures, but in actual life one has to work in many other corners with colours, and there are spots which are to be left empty. Life is a strategy which necessitates knowledge, science, politics, meaning, lust, freedom, religious truth---all merged together. Chunilal desired that Ashok should grow up as quickly as possible, so that he could talk to him about such serious issues. But Kuntiji was still striving to resolve an issue, though quite ordinary one: Ashok’s admission to Biscoe School might not be quite easy, and the child needs to be kept ready with much hard work. Ashok was too small to understand why all his nears and dears were talking about this issue.He had observed how his neighbour’s kids left their home early in the morning and returned from their school in the evening. He watched them everyday yet no one needed any special preparations for doing so. The children wore sky- blue shirts, and brown nickers; they carried bags  filled with books hanging from their shoulders. The girls wore white shilwars, and sky-blue frocks. But where are they sending him to?—Ashok wondered. He enquired it from Kishni who was one and half years older than Ashok and was his distant cousin. They lived in the same mohalla. Although Ashok was not having the freedom to play with the children of the mohalla. But Kishni was a girl of good demeanour, and was very fond of Ashok. She had started knowing Ashok. “You are very fortunate that you are being sent to the biggest and the best school of Kashmir for studies. Do you know you have English women teachers there to teach? Everything is done in English, speaking, writing reading, playing and even food is of English style.”
“What then? Calling your naak (nose) the nose does not make any difference.” Ashok said to Kishni.
“Oh, there is a lot of difference. Once you call the nose, the nose, your nose rises up and is seen conspicuously. You just hold my nose and say “nose” and see you have the feel of the nose.”
“I am not the one to hold your dirty nose in my fingers!”
“Then you are not able to read English, In case you are interested in learning English, you shall have to hold my nose in your finngers and then say...nose.” Kishni teased him.
“I shall not do so!” Saying this, Ashok ran indoors and Kishni continued watching him from behind. “He is really an owl like creature! How can he learn English? But why should I bother? He is still very young. When he grows a little older, he might learn to hold my nose in his finger. If I asked him to hold my nose, he might have held it. But Mummy always holds my nose in her fingers and then says ‘Nose’. Whatever thing she names in English that she makes feel with hands: nose, eye, hands, finnger, thumb, teeth, head, ear...I know all these things without going to Biscoe School. But what sort of school might be this Biscoe of the English? Why can’t I go there?” Kishni reacted.

What is wisdom? What is knowledge? Who gives us all this? Wherefrom did we come? Why did we come? What is our aim of being? Why is there so much of warfare in this world? ... Questions like these are countless. While capering and frolicking after and around Chunilal, children’s reading and writing and realizing ones personality, gave answer to many such questions. It looked like festooned with garlands of owers which are culled in autumn and threaded and then left hanging under the eaves of the houses. When one is engaged in the matters of house hold goods like victuals, all such solemn questions loose significance. One is involved in the complexities of identity. Then one day, man being wearied and exhausted, puts an end to all such questions. But Chunilalji was not the one to accept this defeat so easily. He has decided to live amidst people of all sorts. He started making study of the Vedas, the Puranas, and many other books of China and Europe. Most of the things, ordinary as well as extraordinary, we leave for being directly determined by the will of God and we show our helplessness before them. But Chunilalji tried to explore the hidden secret of everything and used all the faculties of his mind to do that. Today some questions were persistently haunting him: How does mankind get his intelligence and knowledge? Where does the boundary of a learner’s comprehension lie? How does he conceive his limitations?

Chunilalji tried to seek satisfactory answers of the questions from authentic books. In the books, he knew, that numerous thinkers have used various methods to comprehend one kernel concept that earlier people used to think that wisdom and intelligence emanates from the individual’s inner propensities which are awakened by God’s will to make his development of mind possible. For instance in a child’s mind all these faculties are there but in a state of dormancy. With the passage of time and attaining maturity, consciousness arises from its dormancy, and the individual uses his developed consciousness to acquire knowledge. The first step in this process is the knowledge of the Self. One can consider oneself in two forms: one is the physical existence that is visible in the sensory world, and the second existence of the self is known to the self itself and is not visible to others. My sensory organs the nose, the eyes, the ears, the palate, and the skin make me aware of numerous physical phenomena. But conscious is already present in the human soul, but in a latent form. 

Man activates the facultiesand give them vent and are recognised externally. However, knowing and recognisingare two disparate faculties. This secret of individual’s development has been explicated by the scholars of later times. The signi cance of an object is less or much than we actually are familiar with. My world is nite, but actually the world is in nite. But if we try to understand it holistically, and take time out of our nite being, there are neither distances, nor any limitations which we know because of our nite existence. How can a child be helped to understand his worldly responsibilities? Is it possible to make him call his ‘nose’ by an equivalent from another tongue? Or we need to do something else in helping the child to get involved in the process of knowing? According to Kuntiji’s faith, Ashok was to be trained to take the test for admission to the nursery class of an English school. In order to achieve success in this goal, he was to be familiarised with English alphabet, utter words and sentences, and a little knowledge of numbers, addition, subtraction and division and memorising tables. Chunilalji was of the opinion that this type of knowledge was insufficient. He thought that the very first quality in Ashok was to help him take care of himself. He must be able to do all his work of himself when he wakes up in the morning. Brushing his teeth, having bath, polishing his shoes, wearing his uniform, going for an evening stroll, and of course do some reading and writing as well. He should first of all learn discipline and rules. Both were right in their individual ways, and therefore both worked in collaboration to have infleuence on Ashok’s character. Ashok did not understand much of what necessitated special preparations. He of course felt that there was something quite tedious that irked both his uncle and his mother. His father was quite calm and used to say that Ashok would learn all of his own strife.

Ashok thought, there are so many children going to school. Are all of them being trained like that? Ashok’s curiosity started increasing. Kishni had already instilled an image of Biscoe School in his mind. He wholeheartedly cooperated with his uncle and mummy in their efforts.

Finally the day came. Ashok was aroused from sleep early in the morning, as decided already the past evening. He was made to brush his teeth, have a thorough bath, wear new bush-shirt and half pent, pink neck-tie. His shirt was white and his half-pent was brown. His socks were also brown, and his shoes were new. It was the time in Kashmir when people used to wear wooden slippers in their houses, and they could walk outdoors wearing the same wooden slippers. The Hindus took out their leather shoes before entering their houses and washed their feet with soap or clay. The new uniform of the school really behoved Ashok. He was really a charming child. And all loved to look at him. All preparations were complete.

Tyndale Biscoe School is the oldest mission school, of the city.The school is established as a missionary school by Mr. Tydale Biscoe at Fatehkadal. The school was praised not only by Kashmiri historians but also by Walter Lawrence in his book The Valley of Kashmir (London:1895). The school was the most prestigious school in the state of Jammu and Kashmir for its best facilities and standard of teaching. The school was now shifted to Amira Kadal near Lal Chowk. Now the school was quite far from Ali Kadal and people used to go there by the horse-driven tongas.
On the day of Basant of 1959 spring is in its full swing. In Badamawari there is the festival of almond owers. The whole atmosphere is charged with merriment, joy and festivity. Ashok’s father Mohanlalji and his mother escort their darling son to the Biscoe School at Amirakadal in a tonga. 

The Principal of the school Mr Errick Biscoe, who succeeded his father Tyndale Biscoe is busy in enjoying his introduction with a group of children. After some time Ashok and his parents took their seat on wooden bench placed in the large hall. He looked at the ceiling of the hall which he felt was very high. All the walls were as white as pure milk. There was an eerie relation between the great full-size pictures hung of the walls. The portraits were of the great thinkers, scientists, and other eminent persons of the world; most of them were Europeans. Ashok was mainly interested in individual features of each of the faces. On one of the walls there was the picture of a wounded person hung on a cross. And then there was the picture of a compassionate mother holding her child in the lap. He could read a frighteningly painful tale in the picture of the wounded person on the cross, yet there were no signs of pain in his face; only his neck was tilted to one side. The man bore a beard on his face. He looked so familiar and contented. Ashok asked his father who the person was. “Christ. He is that great human being who bore many cruelties for the sake of his religion. He sacrificed himself for the sake of humanity and to immortality. He is the God for the Christians as we have Krishna as our God.”

Ashok ventured to walk to the door of the hall. He saw boys playing football in the wide sunny eld. All the boys were running after the football and kicking it up in the air. Ashok was fascinated to see this. “This is really a very pleasant place.” He thought. Some of the children were enjoying swing to one side of the eld. “Yes there is really a lot of merriment.” In the meantime the Principal called him. Ashok accompanied his parents and entered the Principal’s room. The principal was sitting behind a large table in the Principal’s chair. There lay many things on the table, pens, ink pots, calendar, some papers, and a diary. The decoration of the room was attractive. He saw the photos of many other eminent people there too. Biscoe cast a glance at Ashok, and asked him his name.
“My name is Ashok Jailkhani, son of Mr. Mohanlal Jailkhani and Kunti Jailkhani. I live at Ali Kadal Srinagar.”
“Oh Good! So you have come here with full preparation. Good...!” The Principal then said to Ashok’s parents. “You are teachers.You know what the responsibilities of having a child are. But children have to do a lot here... Besides good English, a child has to have good mathematics also.... We grant Ashok admission, but the actual decision will be taken after three months when he shall have to take a test. If he performs in accordance with our standards, then it is alright, otherwise you shall have to consider some other option for him”
“I take this responsibility. He will not disappoint you in the test. I shall teach him a lot.
“Okay, okay! That is what is needed.”
On the day of admission, Ashok saw another boy coming there. He too was accompanied by his parents. They talked freely with his parents, particularly between the two mothers. He is a renowned broadcaster of our Kashmir, Pran Kishore...You always desired to see him, so here he is.
Pranji lifted Ashok in his arms and caressed him, kissed him, and made him shake his hands with his son. Thus this event became a moment of history. Ashok was much impressed by Pranji, and the event became a cause of the meeting between the two children which continued for their whole life. Whenever one talks about Ashok with Pranji, he shows much respect, admiration and love for him and his wife Shantaji. ---The issue shall receive further attention in the pages to come.

Ashok got admission to the school, but the special test was still to come. Ashok’s admission to the school coincided with yet another good news: Mohanlal was to be father of another child. The news made the whole family jubilant. Ashok too was told that there would be another child in the house to play with him. This was such a news as is understood by a child within his limited reasoning. He knew that the next child was being nourished in his mother’s womb: the idea kindled many questions in his mind. It is obvious that a child gets acquainted with the outer world in this naïve way. A child knows about worldly facts like this with much curiosity and impatience. It was the day of Sonth in the month of Vasant. This festival is very special for children. The children of the rural areas always keep waiting impatiently for this day. They collect all the used and disposable things of winter. Put them in a bag and burn them at some place outside the precincts of their village. And then they sow a chosen walnut at the spot of the bon re. After a month or so they visit the place to see a young plant of walnut tree spreading its root there. They fence the little plant all around. Within a few years they watch the same little sapling become a fruit-giving tree. They think that the tree was the result of good deeds in life. The fruit of the tree is not meant for any one person, but the whole community. The fruit of the same walnut tree is sent as gift to the house of a family’s daughter. Thus the fruit is not merely an eatable fruit, but a thread of emotions of love which binds them with the society. Kuntiji’s father has come to her in-laws’ house getting the same fruit as a gift.

Kuntiji’s father has also got new clothes for Ashok and a basketful of fruits for his own daughter.He is not ready to sip even water at their house. He has to visit his other three daughters with similar gifts. He has booked a tonga for the whole day. Today he is out of bounds with joy. He nds all his daughters quite happy at their respective homes. They are leading their lives following all values bequeathed from ancestry. Before leaving for the errand Dinanath Koulji visited the seat of Mother Goddess at Parvat, bowed his head their and prayed a lot. He nally prayed that the goddess might save all his kith and kin from all evil and calamities. While returning from the shrine, he paid his salam to the Pir Sahib, and wished good on the advent of the Spring to all those who met him in the way.

A different anxiety in Kuntiji’s mind annoyed her that she might not fail in giving full attention to Ashok’s upbringing as she was pregnant. And then he had to take the test after a few months. In the meantime they received a letter from the school through post. The letter conveyed to them they should immediately meet the Principal of the school. Thecontents of the letter made Kuntiji, Chunilal very apprehensive about Ashok’s schooling. ‘What could be the reason of this urgency?’ They thought. The next day both his father and mother were present at the school. Erick Biscoe received them with a smile on his face. “You seem to have got scared unnecessarily. The issue, nevertheless, is not less significant as it is related to the child’s admission in the school.”The Principal said.
“What is the issue, Sir? ” The vexed mother asked him immediately.
“Nothing is to happen...you are a little forgetful. This will not work. The child is not showing the progress that I was expecting of him... Both of you are quite educated. I shall be really regretful if after three months his performance is not as good as that of other children selected for admission. There are only three months... Remember.”
“I promise you that I shall make him better equipped

than other children.”
This is what I expected from you.”

Kuntiji assured the Principal, but how could she do this? She, on the one hand, was expecting, and had to attend her duty, on the other. And then the conditions in the Valley were still wrapped in the mist of uncertainty. Many tasks are yet to be done. She felt as if a war was announced for her to plunge in, and she was resolute to win in the war. This was the time to keep courage rm, and she was to prepare Ashok to face the test for victory.

On reaching home, she called Ashok, caressed him and then said, “What is there that you like? Do you want to be remain illiterate and keep getting pushed down for your whole life by those who are educated? Do you want to keep serving others or attain some respectable position and fame in life through education? ”

Ashok could not make out what this admonition meant, but one thing was quite clear to him that his mother wanted him to do something special.
“Don’t remain mum like this. Tell me are you ready to do what I ask you to do?”
“Yes mother, I shall surely do that.”
“Then listen. From today onwards you shall get up with me at 4 o’clock in the morning. I shall set the clock on alarm at 4 o’clock. This shall wake us up. The moment the alarm rings, you shall be out of your bed, wash yourself, and then start your studies. Remember, this is the only way to success, nothing else. Understand this.”

The obedient child followed his mother’s words as orders, did all that his mother wanted him to do. Though getting up from sleep so early in the wee hours was a challenge for even the great brave men, but Ashok made his mother’s advice a word from divinity and did exactly what his mother wanted him to do. Thus Ashok started leading a disciplined life. And he was rewarded adequately for this. Just after three months he took the test and surprised Biscoe Sahib by his performance. He continued to show amazing performance according to the standards of the school. In studies as well as communicative skills, he was excelling many others. Then after some time, the family again received a letter from the Principal; the letter communicated his admiration for Ashok as well as his parents and had expressed his hope that his progress shall continue unabated. Like a true hermit, Ashok had almost renounced his sound sleep, lethargy and inaction and adopted rigorous way of life for a certain goal. He succeeded in showing wonderful results in all aspects of schooling. He had took it home that there was no alternative to hard work in the struggle for survival. In case, he knew, one wished to make all around you happy, and be happy, then one has to be true to others’ expectations. He might not have understood the philosophy of this principle quite thoroughly, but the basis of success in Ashok’s life was this very principle. It left an indelible impression on his future life. The truth of this fact of his life also proves another aspect of life: even if two persons are living in the same set of social and economic situation and possess the same sort of opportunities, their development is never the same. Therefore after accepting variations in human nature as the undeniable fact of life, all human beings demand equitable social justice, and the same rights. This essential quality in human life maintains balance in society. Equality never means that all should possess the same faculties, competence, respect, and individual status; equality on the contrary means filling in the unevenness, and building just and rightful social conditions. The limitations of a new born should not become the basis of discrimination with him.

CHAPTER 6
MISTRUST OR TRUTH?
Pakistan’s intentions and adventurism were not defeated and it did not abandon her intrigues. In the name of religion and Islamic brotherhood, Pakistan increased her efforts to seduce Kashmiri Muslims. General Ayoob Khan took the government in his own hands. Using all the propaganda means he was spewing venom against India among the Muslims of Kashmir and Islamic countries of the world. And on the other hand America too supported the Pakistan’s military rule. They installed a high power transmission centre in Pakistan administered Kashmir and called it Azad Kashmir, when the fact is that the territory was occupied by Pakistan through military force. The Radio station was used to broadcast such programmes as aimed at expressing prejudice, anger, and communal hatred. All these programmes were anti-India and hostile to the Hindus. Not only this, the programmes broadcast from the Radio were aimed at inciting hatred against Hindu India and love for Muslim Pakistan. In order to tamper the infuence of this poison, and providing the masses of Kashmir to express their truth, Radio Kashmir Srinagar too geared itself up. However Radio Kashmir did not spew poison against Pakistan as did Radio Azad Kashmir. Radio Kashmir Srinagar on the contrary became the centre of millennia-old communal harmony, and culture. It played a significant and historic role.

In order to strengthen human values through compassion, there were such eminent persons as Mir Ghulam Rasool Nazki, Pran Kishore, Kidar Sharma, Pushker Bhan, Somnath Sadhu, Bashir Bhat, Moti Lal Saqi, Mohan Nirash, Ghulam Mohammad Saznawaz. Tibat Baqal, Naseem Akhter, Raj Begum, Mohan Lal Aima, ; they worked day in day out to provide Kashmiri masses with such a platform as became an integral part of their social life. The Station gave a healthy direction to thought, understanding, emotions, and language; this has been its chief contribution. The station proved to be a boundless ocean of social awareness, development, and entertainment. A wholesome stream of thought emerged from Radio Kashmir Srinagar in which all the celebrated singers, musicians, writers, playwrights, and poets of various voices played their individual role. The actors and dramatists of Kashmir presented their Radio plays through Radio Kashmir. It was the popularity of the radio drama that all Kashmiris started purchasing their own radio sets. The Radio Station on air through medium wave and short wave, was received in every nook and corner of the State and become an inalienable part of their daily life. 

Kashmiri songs and music, dramas, news, film songs, programmes for army-men, programmes for rural populace, programmes for women, programmes for youth, and programmes for children, and various literary programmes infused new life in all aspects of Kashmiri society , and occupied a special place in everyman’s heart. The propaganda of Pakistani falsehood was no more palatable for Kashmiri masses, but the new bulletins broadcast from Radio Kashmir too, for various reasons, had not the desired impact. Among the youth, it was a matter of pride that one could participate in Radio programmes and also to listen them. Boys and girls, even from the respected families were showing enthusiasm in taking part in Radio programmes. Pran Kishore’s wife Shanta Koul, was much admired for the way she presented the programme “Apki Farmaish” (Songs of your Choice). Sudhamaji Koul, Brij Kishore, Bashir Bhat, Uma Khosla, Manohar Parohit, Trilok Das, Makhan Lal Saraf, Asha Jaroo, Bharti Zaroo, Nabla Begum, Naseem Begam, and many other artists working in the Radio were much loved in every family of Kashmir. Every Kashmiri was familiar with their names, and their radio acting and voices possessed irresistible attraction. The duo of Somnath Sadhu and Pushker Bhan that participated in programmes like Zoona Dab, Machama, was tremendously popular, and eventually they were awarded Padamshhri. In singing, Naseem Akhter, Raj Begam Ghulam Ahmad Qaleenbaf, Tibet Baqal, Dolwal, Ghulam Ahmad Su and other achieved unprecedented popularity. All these artists were employed in Bakhshi Sahib’s Jashn-e Kashmir programmes and presented shows of music and drama in various villages which attracted floods of people.

Behind all these activities, very intricate politics played a role. Neither within, nor without all aspects of life were full of crises. The external enemies were visible, but those within the society continued with their over or covert attacks. Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad’s political stature had certainly increased, but evils of nepotism, corruption, and hooliganism had made life miserable. The way the sun plays hide and seek behind dispersing clouds, the same way was seen in the minds of Kashmir Pandits. They now felt that all was secure and then, the next moment, they felt themselves in the mouth of a lion. Some Kashmiri Muslims, too, here and there, were facing the same kind of uncertainty. The enemy’s propaganda had succeeded in making them sceptic about India. Their leader, who always talked loud of his secularism, and having made an indelible imprint on Kashmir’s tryst with India, was behind the bars in India itself. It was no less than a dilemma.

In the meantime Ghulam Mohammad once put Chunnilalji into amazement when he said to him, suppose Indian forces start unleashing tyranny on Kashmiri Muslims, and Hindus of India are made to settle in Kashmir, then how could our security be guaranteed? In case a situation like that arises, and all Muslims feel unsafe, then is there any way in your religion that would make us get converted to Hinduism?”

Chunilalji’s forehead perspired. He too was pondering on parallel issues a little while ago. “If the political conditions in Kashmir are let go from bad to worse, and Indian government showed a little negligence, all the Kashmiri Pundits’ life would be jeopardised.” The attitudes of communal Muslims were getting more and more aggressive. Those who possessed louder voice had accumulated considerable wealth. In the election held in March 1957, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad declared 43 members of his party successful. After occupying 43 seats out of 75 member assembly, Bakhshi possessed unlimited power. His sway was so overwhelming that in Jammu, a party like Prajaparishad had got just five seats. In view of this political development, the intelligentsia of Kashmir got disillusioned with democracy and also rebellious. They thought that the Central government would never let real politics have a place in Kashmir, and that probably it was in consonance with what India wanted. There was one more person much concerned about this sad situation; being a member of Bakshi Gulam Mohammad’s cabinet, he, a young man, represented the left-wing political thought. His name was Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq. He was not alone, but was having the support of a group of like- minded members of the cabinet; Mir Qasim and Durgha Prasad Dhar were the most noted persons among this group. Mir Qasim belonged to Brang region of Anantnag district, and was an intelligent young man from a Peasant Maulvi family. The cousins of Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad were openly exhibiting their power. They amassed huge wealth and tried to keep the city under their control. The people of Kashmir complained of this hooliganism to the first Regent, and then called Sadririyasat, who was soon to be declared the Governor of Kashmir, who had already developed close liaison with the Central Government. Karan Singh was still considered the real descendent of Raja Hari Singh the king of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. However, Karan Singh was a realist and knew it well that the days of kingship have ended. He did not want to dither from performing the duties that were expected of him for his position. He communicated all the facts of the corrupt ways of Bakhshi’s dynasty to the Centre. Karan Singh immediately advised the Centre about the means of addressing the outcry of the oppressed masses against the tyranny of the cousins of Bakhshi.

Now the problem was not merely that Pakistan was instigating Kashmiri masses on the basis of religion and covertly tried to usurp Kashmir, but also the fact that common people were getting disillusioned with democracy, and the policies of people’s government. People’s loved leader was kept imprisoned, and in view of this people had given up faith in freedom and democracy. In the city this new thinking was very deep rooted in the society while in the villages it was creating deep fissures of communal hatred. It is a different story that they did not venture to express such feelings quite openly, and honoured mutual relations, but the fact remains that the hostile forces had succeeded in instilling the feeling of divisive antagonism in their minds; thus the uncertain political situation in Kashmir was acquiring depth.

In 1952, Sheikh Sahib had made an effort to give a Constitution to the people of Kashmir, but by passing a resolution, the United Nations, on March 30, 1951, rejected it and this time only the Soviet Union opposed this resolution. As such on January 25, 1957, the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly passed new constitution for the State and abrogated the old one. A new incident took place in the meantime: Banihal Tunnel joined the state of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country in the real sense of the word. It is said that the German Engineer who supervised the construction of the tunnel got the tunnel dug from both the opposite ends and the made the two ends meet at the centre. It was not much surprising that the two ends had to meet at the centre, but he had placed a loaded pistol under his pillow that if it did not happen, he would kill himself. Biscoe Sahib, too, escorted a team of students of his school to see this wonder of human feat, which otherwise was heard only in the books of fantasy. But a human being planned and burrowed though a huge mountain at a height of 7200 feet, and thus paved a way that was not less amazing than a miracle. The group of children under the leadership of Biscoe Sahib was granted permission to cross the tunnel. Such a long cave that makes it possible to drive large number of vehicles of all sizes to run through it and then towards the sides paths for the pedestrians. The tunnel was illuminated thoroughly with electric bulbs. The children walked a long distance, and then were carried in a bus to the other side of the mountain. And then they were transported back to the end towards the Valley. Some children felt terrified, but Ashok had never experienced such an adventure before that. Whenever he crosses the tunnel in his adulthood, he envisions that first experience of amazement.

Maharajah Hari Singh had a very competent military general named Zorawar Singh. He had led military campaings in Dras, Kargil, Askardoo and Tibet and annexed many areas with Jammu and Kashmir State. It was during these campaigns that he laid down his life. If you nd any court paper of Hari Singh’s time, you will surely nd it written on it “Jammu,Kashmir, Tibet and other Regions.” Heterogeneous territories, ethnic groups, cultures, languages, civilisations and religions, are found in this mountainous terrain. But this vast territory was facing a very complicated problem even when Karan Singh was the prince, Maharaja Hari Singh decided to not to accede the State neither with Pakistan nor with India, and accordingly sent proposal to each of the countries. Apparently Pakistan approved of this proposal of the Maharaja to let Jammu and Kashmir State have full autonomy, but India did not send any reply to him. According to this situation, sceptic Pakistan blocked the trade route through Jammu and Kashmir that opened in Lahore. Soon after that the country provided tribal fighters with arms and launched aggression with the active support of Pakistani army. In Mirpur thousands of Hindus were massacred. In Jammu, Ponch and Rajouri they unleashed terror. The limited army of the Jammu and Kashmir princely state was not able to resist the massive aggression. Being terri ed by this attack, the Maharajah approached and requested Indian government for help and also presented his proposal for the accession of the State with India. Thus the whole of the terrain of the state, called Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh, Askardu and other regions was practically merged with India like many other princely states. However, in the United Nations the attacking Pakistan and defensive India were treated at par which revealed the doubtful intentions of European countries, particularly Britain, and America. Since then this discord has been playing havoc in India, Pakistan and particularly in Kashmir, as the discord became the cause of many wars and terrorism. China took the advantage of this political situation, and interfered in Tibet in 1954 which made the problem more complicated. India’s response was limited to defensive policies. The Panchsheel Agreement further encouraged China, and seeing India’s unpreparedness, they launched a full scale war on India in 1962 in which India faced a humiliating defeat. As a result of this defeat, China occupied considerable territory of Ladakh. China had already received 500 square miles of the Jammu and Kashmir territory as a gift from Pakistan. The war of 1962 jolted India’s security concerns and made her conscious of the weakness in military preparedness. Among the military rulers of Pakistan, Ayub Khan, in particular, made plans of using armed aggression to usurp Kashmir, and his plans seemed effective. He gave practical shape to the same plan and started sending armed infiltrators into Kashmir.

CHAPTER 7
THE ERA OF TRANSFORMATION
The common masses, deeply affected by the political event in the region, but still apparently keeping distance from them, were engaged in the political, economic, social transformation, and trying to fend a secure space for themselves. In the countryside, people showed much interest in sending their children, both boys and girls, to schools. The government appointed education officers to supervise educational facilities at the primary, middle and matriculation level of education. Schools were established for all villagers, and the children belonging to the peasantry started going with fervour to the schools. They even went to the school barefooted and scantly clothed.They believed that schooling was more essential than anything else. The 8th or 10th class educated girls were employed as teachers and involved in this huge campaign. Initially they were paid monthly stipend and gradually all of them were employed as regular employees. In order to train the teachers, numerous training institutions were also opened. Since education was given unprecedented expansion, Kunti Jailkhani had to bear additional burden of being responsible for training the male as well as female teachers. Some institutions of social work instituted some cultural centres for the Hindus. Bharat Sevak Samaj, headed by none other than Jawahar Lal Nehru, encouraged young boys and girls to participate in the revolutionary cultural awakening. Kashyap Bindhu gave a new direction and new horizon to the Hindus of Kashmir. People of the younger generation were encouraged to end reactionary and orthodox ideas. Folk plays, operas, and many other media of folk entertainment were used as the media of social transformation.

Kuntiji was among the forerunners in this campaign. She was made president of many district level organisations, and her work was widely admired. Nevertheless, she never wanted to get distracted and neglect Ashok’s education for she always feared that her son might show any regression. She desired that he should not only maintain his position, but also show better performance. And at the same time the baby in her womb was now starting showing its presence. She always wished to give birth to the second child at her home. The motive was not to save the expenditure of any private hospital or nursing home, but she only wanted that Ashok should always remain under her supervision. She always reminded Mohanji that Ashok’s schooling at Biscoe School was to be made certain in any case. Without asking, Chunilalji was devoting all his time to Ashok’s upbringing; he even sometimes forgot his meals.

And in the meantime, early spring changed into summer, and summer changed into autumn. The leaves of the trees grew pale, and the snowy wind made them quiver and fall. The crops of the peasants had not even started ripening that there was a heavy snowfall. The whole of Kashmir was thus stricken with the terror of Nature. The month of August was yet to end that the weather looked like that of October. The peasants were in a miserable condition. The whole of Kashmir was drowned in wailing. The rural populace still remembered how in such a calamity, famines took heavy toll of lives. They knew that there would be mourning all around and poverty would trample the folks. But, the whole population were amazed when the government made all preparations of providing food and other essentials to the people on nominal prices. The felt that the world had really changed a lot. The entire Kashmir valley was resounding with slogans like “Hindustan Zindabad!” and “Bakhshi Sahib Zindabad!” It was in this type of social situation that Kunti Jailkhani gave birth to her second son.

Ashok was sent to his Matamal, that is his mother’s maternal home. He got the information that his mother has delivered her second child. The little heart of Ashok grew restive to see the little baby, but in Biscoe School he had already learnt to control emotions. He was eagerly waiting for his grandmother. He and she would certainly go to see the baby. He could not afford to remain absent from school for many days.

On reaching his home, he knew that his mother was shifted to the hospital just a while before his arrival, and that she was there in a room beside her little baby. He again grew impatient to see his younger brother.

After the birth of a younger one, the elder brother or elder sister naturally begins to feel that he or she is being ignored. All the family members pay more attention to the new baby. They deliberately try to let him tumble from the bed or even beat him, but Ashok loved his younger brother from day one. He was thrilled to look at him, kiss his forehead. This kind of behaviour in early childhood has a deep impact on one’s future life. Ashok and Diwaker, his younger brother, were bonded together with love, affection and care, and it helped their parents in their task of nurturing them successfully.
Ashok’s education was again continuing as per routine. In the school, there was much emphasis on extra-curricular activities like games, and Ashok showed much interest in all these activities of the school. Some of his childhood interests like playing foot-ball, swimming, acting and music are still


persisting in his nature.

Once having acquired speed in education at Biscoe, Ashok never showed any slowness. In spite of his profound interest in swimming, Ashok could never succeed in swimming from Nehru Park to Nishat Garden and from Nishat Garden back to Nehru Park; the distance to and fro measured about seven kilometres. He could exceed swimming one kilometre in going and one kilometre in swimming back; the lapse is still irking his mind. Before getting admission in Biscoe, had already completed his Nursery and first standard at the girls school where his mother worked. This training had given him the idea of school discipline and qualities of being a good student. However, at Biscoe education was entirely different from what he had learnt, which caused him a little hindrance initially. But to overcome all hindrances was in his nature by birth. Mutual love and cooperation remain unabated in Ashok and his brother to date. Today whenever Ashok looks back at his past, his life apparently divisible into several phases is full of interesting episodes. Several related incidents emerge from his memory. He remembers how education was integrally related with cultural activities. Drama was the most important aspect of all such activities. From the very beginning Ashok had an insatiable desire to participate in dramas at various levels. Certainly there might have been many factors for this interest, but Ashok thinks that he got inspired by the small addendum of cartoons attached in the weekly editions of the newspapers that Chunilal Jailkhani ordered for himself. While reading the stories related to those cartoons, Ashok visualised the events through the cartoons that gave him the semblance of reality. Nowadays, children get direct entertainment from the cartoon networks, but in Ashok’s childhood, children had to use their imagination to derive pleasure from the stories. Children of those days therefore had abundant imaginative faculty. Gradually and imperceptibly all such realities around him found a permanent imprint on Ashok’s personality. His tendencies towards various activities regarding drama and theatre continued getting stronger. He expressed his desire to take part in a play to his house teacher, namely, Satlal Razdan who has been a renowned teacher. The books written by Satalal Razdan were included in the syllabus of the school and he had acquired much reputation as a science teacher. Satlal Razdan eventually allowed Ashok to take part in a drama. But he was not selected to play the role he wanted. On the contrary, Ajay Koul, who had the honour of being the son of a reputed drama personality Pran Kishore, was selected for the role as perhaps the administration thought that Ajay Koul might be possessing natural talent for drama acquired from his father. Ashok was much annoyed by this discrimination. They did not believe in his natural passion for the art of drama. When the drama was presented on the stage, the organising committee felt that the role was not properly portrayed. They understood that the traits of a father are not necessarily present in his child. Ajay is now an established and successful engineer, and happens to be Ashok’s bosom friend.

CHAPTER 8
AT THE THRESHOLD OF THEATRE
In the history of the culture of Kashmir, the years between 1950 and 1987 shall be remembered as the golden period. In spite of the political upheavals, the cultural life also witnessed a surge. Many such young men associated with theatre, gave a new direction to theatre, and were successful in their efforts. Some of them devoted their whole life to the art of theatre; Radha Krishan Braru was one of them. In collaboration with his friends he founded Kashmir National Theatre, and then he experimented in staging some plays in the open in the precinct of Sheetalnath Temple. The place thus became a centre for theatrical activities. Many religious plays like Naldamayanti, Krishnasudhama, Satich Kahvet were staged there which became tremendously popular.

Gradually all those persons who had a passion for theatre became af liated with it and an era of revolution in Kashmiri theatre started. Boys and girls of the upper class Pundit families did not feel any inhibition in participating in theatrical activities. Before this revolution, Kashmir theatre was kept alive only by Kashmiri folk artists, called Bhands, who lived in certain villages of the valley. They were Muslims but secular in their approach. Each Bhand repertory possessed at least one folk dancer, who was called a Bacha. The package of a Bhand repertory used to consist of shahnais (reed pipes), drums of various kinds, and cymbals.

The Bhands roamed from village to village, presented their art and provided entertainment to the rustic folk. They were adequately remunerated for this job through donations in kind like rice, clothes, oil, salt and spices. They would mimic the lives of all sections of people from kings and queens to the common men in various profession. However, each of their performance used to be full of social messages. They unravelled the truth of political, social, and economic aspects of Kashmiri people. The Bhands used humour and satire to influence the minds of the common masses. They used very subtle ways to reveal the essence of Kashmiri character.

The theatre of Kashmiri Pundits also got transformed to affect social reform in all aspects of life. But the boys and girls of the theatre groups were largely influenced by the Progressive theatre movement of India, particularly IPTA, or Indian People’s Theatre Association of Mumbai. Parsi Theatre, too, was very popular throughout the sub-continent as it presented a unique style of theatre with the purpose of social reforms. Kashmiri Pundits, being influenced by such activities, also presented plays with the motive of social reforms. Ashok was sixteen or seventeen, or we may say the year was 1968-69, and Kashmiri theatre had also gained very solid basis in the cultural life of the people. However, the more vigorous theatre activities became, political and social tensions also increased. Kashmiri Pundits who were already deprived of their land-estates, were gradually being marginalised in commercial sector too. Agriculture, government jobs, contracts, and other sources of income were vividly in favour of a certain section of Kashmiri Muslims who acquired sufficient influence and strength. The Hindus of Kashmir were mainly engaged in safeguarding their limited social and economic status. Being persistently vexed by the thought of their uncertain future, their restlessness increased.

They were gradually getting deprived of opportunities from state as well as private sector. In Jammu the Dogras, and in Kashmir the Muslims were being used as pawns in the games of politics. The educated youth and intelligent people among the Pundits could perceive vivid discrimination in employment avenues which caused them suffocation and frustration. With the advent of technical education, Kashmiri Pundits faced neglect even after having acquired excellent marks in the entrance tests for engineering and medical training. Similarly they witnessed rampant discrimination in promotions in government service. All this injustice prompted them to move to other parts of the country. A large section of Kashmiri Muslims also thought of migrating to other parts of the country, but the fear of ‘Hindu Bharat’ stopped them. Those Muslims who considered the common people of their own Muslim fraternity as big an obstacle as Kashmir Pundits, and did not like to make them share their prosperity, started their intrigues.

Ashok was still naïve to think about such issues. His close Muslim friend, namely Rafiq Bazaz would often take him to his house. Rafiq Bazaz belonged to a middle- class family. His mother was compassionate and friendly, and valued his son’s friendship with Ashok. She never let him leave her house without making him have meals. It was because of this friendship with a Muslim young man that Ashok could have an intimate understanding of social, cultural and moral life of Kashmiri Muslims. Ra q too frequented Ashok’s house. The two enjoyed playing as well as studying together. Ashok could never find any rationale of Hindu-Muslim discrimination. At every level of humanity, like love, compassion, and feelings, he could not approve of any difference on the basis of religion. Despite differences in certain religious rites and customs, they all are essentially the same human beings at the level of existence--- he understood. Birth, death, old age, disease, and other truths of life are the same in the people of the two communities. Then why any communal hatred? He could not find any justification for discrimination between human beings at the level of religion. Probably this is the reason that Ashok is not easily irked even today by any such thought. His world was entirely different from others. Although his uncle Chunilalji’s religious beliefs might have certainly influenced him, but this did not call for any sort of blind faith. Perhaps whosoever get influenced by the thoughts of Swami Vivekananda, keeps windows of his or her mind and heart always open for fresh air. Rafeeq’s association abided with him even after completing schooling at Biscoe. They used to visit such places of Kashmir as were not prominent in the tourists’ maps, but were extremely charming and romantic. Whenever they visited such places they did all their daily chores like cooking, washing, and maintaining the place without anybody’s help. This self- help habit in early childhood strengthens one’s self-reliance, which is otherwise taught to children. Undertaking rigorous and arduous tasks and struggling for overcoming obstacles fortifies child’s self-confidence. This practice in tender age proved very fruitful in Ashok’s life.

Kashmir’s politics continued showing sudden upheavals and complexities, and at every step facing ever new problems while confronting them the people moved ahead. It swiftly carried people’s social life into new situations. On the one hand one could easily discern people’s happiness and contentment for the fact that old hunger and unbridled exploitation was a matter of the past, but on the other hand people given to serious thought felt alarmed to see a new class of the neo-rich emerging in the era of independence, and as such the signs of discontent and deprivation were quite visible. The people of older generation were cynical of the openness and intoxication of the younger generation. They were horrified to see the old values based on faith crumbling in the new social order. While alcohol and wining and dining were considered a privilege of the privileged class, they were perturbed to see younger people of the middle class taking to drinking. Like other parents, Kuntiji too remained much worried about her son. She had come to know through some informers that she was being transferred to Poonch, and that she had to join the new posting very soon. Such occasions are common in government service, and one has to remain away from one’s home and hearth. But seeing that her son was about to enter his teenage and he needed constant attention by his mother, made her anxious. Kuntiji had never felt this hurdle for herself, nor had she ever thought about it. Her school was at a walking distance from her house, and she had been working at the same school for about nine to ten years. No one is ready to forego the chances of promotion in service, but the helplessness and discomfort associated with this promotion was very perturbing. Promotion, or no promotion, she had to go to Poonch---the District Officer used very harsh words to tell her that. Now the sole hope of Kuntiji rested on Chunilalji-Ashok’s uncle. She knew it well that Ashok’s father treated him with exceeding liberty, and had not learnt to keep him under control. Chunilal was affectionate while being strict, and Ashok had imbibed much from him. Thus she left Ashok in Chunilalji’s care, Kuntiji made up her mind to go to Poonch which was hundreds of miles away from Srinagar in Jammu province. The town was very signi cant in Kashmir history. It was from this town that Pakistan launched three big aggressions on India: in 1947, in 1965, and in 1971. But the predominantly muslim population of the area gave stiff resistance to Pakistani aggressions.

It would have been very good for Kuntiji had she got the promotion after some more years(1967-68). She many a time made up her mind to take Ashok along to the new place of work. Her maternal love always urged her that she should not leave her tender child alone, but she could not defy her duty. Taking Ashok along meant that Ashok had to get discharged from Biscoe School, and this she would never think of. Kuntiji was resolute in attaining her goal. She could not deprive her child of such a good school and let him keep wandering in unknown areas along with her. “How long could he remain relying on his mother’s help? I must bear the pain of separation, and keep maternal feeling curbed.” She thought. Thus Kuntiji nally decided to move away from her child, her house and hearth and go to Poonch.

After joining as Tehsil Education Officer (TEO) at Poonch, Kuntiji made a thorough analysis of the educational problems in the town. She came to understand that the area was much far behind than any of the educationally backward areas of Kashmir. She decided to exert more energy in motivating the women of the area to embrace education. She undertook this new responsibility in a planned manner. She got the schools renovated, went from village to village to bring home the importance of education to the women folk. She imparted training to the teachers, and also did many more things as a part of her new venture.

The manner in which Kuntiji devoted herself to serving people, left a deep imprint on Ashok and this proved very helpful for Ashok in his later life as a respected administrator. After Ashok’s younger brother, Diwakar, Kuntiji gave birth to a flower-like girl child; Ashok was about six or seven at that time. Thus Ashok got a company of a younger brother and a younger sister; the three children of Mohanlal Jailkhani and Kuntiji thus came to the world to continue their progeny.

Sister (Dolly), too, was brought up with much care and love. To start with Mohanlalji and Kuntiji imparted education to the two children at their home. Neither of the two children was sent to any school for quite a long time. When they attained the age of schooling, both children got education at various schools wherever Kuntiji was posted.

In the era of Bakhshi Sahib’s rule, the image of Kashmir in the outer world emerged as a veritable paradise. Large number of tourists from other parts of the country and other countries visited the valley to enjoy the natural beauty of the valley. Dozens of lm-makers of Mumbai came here for shooting their lms. Many lm songs were picturised here. People would ignore their day to day work and visit the shooting sites to enjoy watching the movies being shot. Nishat, Chashma Shahi, Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Kokarnag, Achabal and many other places were the choicest places of lm stars. ‘Kashmir ki Kali’ of Shammi Kapoor and Sharmela Tagore, and later ‘Jab Jab Phool Khiley’ of Shashi Kapoor and then ‘Arzoo’ of Rajender Kumar and Sadhana were picturized at many places of the Valley that were familiar to the masses and they got thrilled when they watched the lm and the Kashmiri youth, felt these stars to be very intimate to them. They, therefore, tried to imbibe their life-style, way of speech, and dress habits. In extreme cases many young boys and girls tried to be replicas of various heroes or heroines. Some of the young men were so much influenced by the films that they aspired to work as actors in them. Many of them even reached Mumbai to try their luck there and finally returned home in despondence and without any success. They time and again narrated the ordeals that they underwent in Mumbai. Many a time some Kashmiris came to Kashmir along with various lm units that included extras, technicians, and other members of the crew. Seeing keen interest in any young man of Kashmir, the lm units sometimes seduced them and after exploiting them in Mumbai, left them in lurch. This was the general lot of those people who did not know even the alphabet of lm city of Mumbai, Those who went to Mumbai on the basis of their acquaintance in Mumbai, and struggled much for entry into the lm world, succeeded to some extent, but the number of such fortunate men was very limited. Then there were a few who had left Kashmir in their childhood, stayed in Mumbai for a very long time, and underwent remarkable transformation in their character and etiquette, and finally succeeded in finding space in the lm world; A,K. Hangal, Rajkumar, Saproo, Jeevan and a few more are some of the well- known artists who succeeded remarkably. In the days to come, this deprivation was to be compensated by the establishment of television centre (Doordarshan) in the state.

CHAPTER 9
TREASON DEFEATED AND FRATERNITY WINS
Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad’s era is considered the golden period in post-1947 Kashmir. However, like the sun that rises every day only to set, Bakshi regime also had its downfall. Bakhshi Rashid (Bakhshi’s brother) had created many trenches in the path of Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad who possessed an overwhelming love for his brothers. The day shall be remembered as the onset of a dismal night when Jawahar Lal Nehru found some fault in Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad and forced him to resign from his position and placed him in the same prison in which Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad had imprisoned Sheikh Sahib.

Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad was left without any option except to hand over power either to Sadiq, or to any of his brothers. Since Bakhshi Rashid was notoriously known for his corrupt ways, he did not show courage to claim power, he tactfully supported a member of the cabinet, namely Shamsud Din to be the Prime Minister.This way he remained in power though in background.

However, God decided something else. On December 28, 1963, the sacred hair of Hazrat Mohammad preserved as a sacred relic for over three hundred years at Hazratbal mosque, shrine was found missing from its assigned place. The whole of Kashmir was drowned in mourning, anger, and revolt. There was total chaos. Men, women, elderly, young and children, clad in dark dresses, flooded all the roads, streets and lamented while beating their breasts and raised uproar of religious slogans. The crises reached the critical point. Seeing this deep mourning and anger, people of all minorities like the Hindus, the Sikhs, Christians, and Buddhists, particularly Kashmiri Pundits were terrified and prayed to God for their safety. They apprehended that even a slight baseless rumour that some Hindu was involved in this heinous act would infuriate the mobs and that no Hindu could survive.

The Muslims, particularly the intellectual and educated deserve great appreciation for their prudence that the frenzy was kept under control. The Muslims sagaciously guarded their love for peace and harmony from getting tainted by any communal incident. All demanded that the ‘Asli Chor’ (the real thief) be apprehended and unveiled and urged that the Sacred Hair be restored to its original position. Not only Kashmir, but even the Central Government quivered to see the surging spate of irate people. Jawaharlal Nehru eventually sent a confidential team under the leadership of Karan Singh. After four days, Karan Singh, accompanied by some common people, drove his car, which did not bear any official flag, up to the gate of Hazratbal, where he was surrounded by a huge crowd that had been staying there on guard without ever going to their homes. All of a sudden a wave of bliss appeared on the faces of the thousands of people when they saw that their ‘real king’ (Karan Singh) would certainly come to partake in their grief. People, young and old, raised him up in their arms and kissed his hands.

Karan Singh consulted various senior and respectable citizens, and bureaucrats. The security forces posted around the mosque were removed. It was announced that whosoever had displaced the Sacred Hair from its position should get it and place it at its assigned place. This strategy worked, and the Relic was found at its assigned place. Then the authenticity of the Relic was verified, and the situation started returning to normal.

In the meantime Pakistan broadcast a lot of propaganda and tried to provoke Kashmiri Muslims to give vent to communal hatred, but the Action Committee constituted in the City which was headed by a very respectable and experienced scholar Maulana Mas’udi, constituted a sub- committee which included Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Maulana Farooq, Mufti Jalal-ud Din, Maulana Mohammad Yaseen, Mohammad Abbas and Ghulam Rasool helped in keeping the calm.

Far from this turmoil, and distanced from the machinations on the basis of religion and politics, Ashok and Rafiq were busy in preparing themselves for the forthcoming examination at the house of Ra q. It occurred to his friend that Ashok had been away from his home for quite a long time, and the whole city was gravely tense, and as such, his parents might be much worried about their son. The two pals were so much engrossed in their studies that they hardly found time to know what was happening in the city. Ashok knew only one thing that Ra q’s parents and other family members prayed to God for restoration of peace and tranquillity. They prayed that no innocent person be harmed, and the culprit who had committed the grave crime be identified, apprehended and punished. All the Hindus of Kashmir shared the grief and anguish of the Muslims. When the Sacred Hair was identified by a reputed elder namely Mirakshah, all grew emotional and thanked God. The whole valley resonated with slogans like ‘Allah-u Akbar’, ‘Har Har Mahadev!’ ‘Sat Sri Akal!’The religious tolerance evinced common ancestry of Kashmiris. Many conspiracies were hatched by the enemies of peace to disturb communal harmony, but the friendship and mutual love of Ashok and Ra q was never affected. It was God’s grace that lovers of God like Mirak Shah Sahib were still in the society. Pirs, Faqirs, and well-wishers of people like Mirak Shah see mankind without any discrimination. There was no political or communal malice in their minds. It is because of the presence of such holy people that Kashmir has survived numerous calamities.

Jailkhani family were extremely worried. Ashok’s uncle has escorted him to Rafiq’s house and since then there was nothing known about his whereabouts. The conditions in the city had improved to a large extent, and the markets were open after many weeks. The common folks celebrated restoration of the Sacred Hair and thus embraced each other. They still cried Allahu Akber to exhibit their joy. Even Hindus hugged their Muslim brothers to show their happiness. Nevertheless, the era of political uncertainty was not over; all were eager to see what happened next. All were keenly watching how Shamas-ud Din’s government falls. It was only four in the afternoon that it looked evening. The Dal was frozen because of extreme chill. Jailkhanis realized that they should not have allowed Ashok to go outdoors in such a condition. Kuntiji, in particular, was highly perturbed for having committed such a blunder.

All of sudden a question occurred to Ashok. His little mind was full of strange complexities. He reflected whether he should ask such a question to his pal, Rafiq. He was not sure if it was feasible to ask Rafiq that question and if the latter would be able to give any answer to it. He mustered all his courage and decided that he should put this question first to his uncle Chunilal. Ra q said to him, “Do you know, Anwar uncle told me your uncle shall be late in coming. You have to stay here with us for the night.”

Ashok was perturbed about his uncle. “I do not know why he is so late. He had told me that he would be here at 3. Now it is already 5. Oh Bhagwan! Is my uncle alright?”
Ashok was in such fearful thoughts when he heard his uncle’s voice. Everybody was relieved of the tension. All felt a fresh lease of life when they saw Chunlal. Chunilal was quite sharp to discern the anxiety in the faces of all. “You look very nervous. The blood in our veins has not thinned so much that anyone should have killed me. We belong to a place where people are always ready to sacri ce their lives for even the strangers. But no one dares to kill any innocent person without any reason. You think Khwajah Sahib, if this episode had taken place in any other place, God only knows what terrifying consequences would have been experienced.”

Khwaja Sahib, with his eyes fixed at his face, said with conscious confidence, “Astag rullah! (O God pardon our sins!) God is merciful. What would I have to say to Jailkhani Sahib to explain? How could I have the cheek to face him again? O God shower your mercy on all of us! Now it is getting very late, you better stay for the night here.”
“No, no.” said Chunilal. “We could certainly stay here but all might be perplexed there as you were here. Now I must take Kaka home.”

Khwaja Sahib ordered his driver to drop Chunilal and Ashok at their home. Thus both were home quite safely. All felt relieved to see them back. Chunilal realised that he should have not been late in his routine work and he had caused so much of worry to his family members. Yet no one dared to ask him the reason for his being late. All repeatedly said that God was kind that they were safe in being home. Once again darood khani was heard in all mosques, arti in the temples, and akhand path in Gurudwars. The atmosphere of tension and strain in the locality had dissipated. The whole


of the valley was once again in its normal state.

There were rumours that Shamasud Din was being removed from his office and power was to be restored to Bakhshi Sahib. Had this happened it would surely have caused another upheaval as most of the people of the state held Bakhshi Rashid responsible for pilfering the Sacred Hair. God gave wisdom to our rulers and such a thing did not happen. A very intelligent and well-read person, having allegiance with the left ideology, in the National Conference, namely Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq was unanimously chosen for the position of the ‘Prime Minister’the nomenclature which was later changed to ‘Chief Minister’. The nomenclature of ‘Sadri Riyasat’ was changed to ‘Governor.’

Ashok was still wrangling with his unexpressed question. “I should ask my Chachaji for an answer. Yes. Rafiq is a Musalman, and I am a Hindu...Rafiq’s parents worship God in the mosque while my parents worship Him in the temple. Why are people being designated as the Hindus and the Muslims? What is the cause of the fright in the heart’s of the Hindus for the Musalmans? Why is it so...? Ra q’s parents are all love for me, and my parents shower so much of love on Ra q. Then why is it said that a person like Ra q could slay a Hindu like Ashok? How could one murder him? Why is Pakistan Radio never tired of instigating the Muslims of Kashmir?...” But the very next moment, Ashok dispelled such scary doubts from his mind and avoided all such queries himself. He thought that it was more important to make sure that he passes the examination with good marks. “My mind should remain concentrated on my studies. I should never let such question enter my mind. It is more important to know what causes changes in the seasons. I have to put more labour in knowing mathematics. I must focus all my attention on my studies.” He was engrossed in such thoughts that one more question raised its head and caused much disturbance. All are so much anxious about God, but does God really exist? If God exists, where does he exist? Is He visible to anyone? .. Oh no. No more question for now.” While going to or returning from the school Ashok observed people talking about and praying to Khuda, Bhaqwan, Gods, Goddesses, Pirs, and Faquirs. Every sensitive human being naturally gets interested in seeing people engaged in such religious activities. And then in Kashmir, religion plays its role in every aspect of life, and it is the most important and integral element in everyone’s thought.
However, in Ashok’s family no member of his family possessed any malice or prejudice against the people of other religions. The atmosphere was of openness and liberal thought. In his family, it was man’s action that was the nucleus of religion. This liberal family situation left an indelible imprint on Ashok’s mind in his early childhood and he never let any malice or bias against any religion sneak into his mind. He thought that his friend Ra q too might be having the same attitude to life. It is extremely important that the elders of a family should never use religious sentiment as a camouflage to hide their selfishness and let their children be swayed by obscurantism and blind faith. Those who did so had to repent. Kashmir is a living example of this mistake.

Ashok has divided his time proportionately for school, play and studies. He is coming out of the stage of a helpless child and advancing towards a responsible way of life. His mother has taken Diwakar with her to her place of work. Dolly is too young and as such it is natural that she remains always with her mother. Ashok at times cries when he misses his mother. But his mother has made him understand the harsh realities of life. He has brought it home to him that sooner or later he shall have to leave the hand of his mother and lead an independent life all by himself. Ashok is at the same time proud of his mother’s position and authority. But soon he is saddened to think that it is harsh on the part of the government to send women of one region to work in some other region. ‘Is the government never sensitive to the fact that how a mother’s absence shatters her family?’ Whenever Ashok remembers his younger brother and little sister, he tends to cry aloud. Seeing all other children romping about in the compound, he deeply longs to be with his brother and sister. But his mother has told him that it will be a long separation, and he shall have to spend this long time only with his uncle, grandfather, and his father. There is only one woman in the house, his grandmother. She is physically too feeble to shoulder the responsibilities of the house, nevertheless this is not the age to work. Mohanlal and Chunilal do half of the chores themselves, but the grandmother always nds faults in their work.If, for instance, they make the bed, she says that the blanket is not spread in the right way, and calmly spreads it anew. Ashok’s paternal aunts generally come to help the family.
This is the time when one is not conscious of the drift of the time, but when the same time is seen in retrospection, one realises how long the time was. Whenever Ashok recounts his childhood memories, he finds his biographical events and events of history intertwined. Many a time the events in our surroundings are beyond our control, yet they influence our lives so deeply.

In Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq’s period such an incident took place that within no time left Ashok in a fast moving spate, but it was either God’s mercy or the result of his upbringing that that this innocent child had a narrow escape, and now we have him as a re ned and mature person. It happened that a Hindu girl of Rainawari was seduced into crush by a Muslim boy, or we may say that a Hindu girl fell in love with a Muslim boy. Both of them belonged to a normal middle class family and as such they were always under public gaze. It was said that that they had violated the values of Kashmiri society, but when the same act is done by the people of the upper classes, nobody bothers about it. Thus the incident provided the right-wing Hindus and right-wing Muslims with a potent spice for creating trouble for Sadiq’s government; it worked as a powerful bomb. The Pundits opposed this relation and launched a full campaign against it. The trivial issue became an event of great magnitude. The campaign assumed the shape of a movement in which some people of vested interest exploited the young Hindu boys and girls. Ashok barely escaped falling into the vicious circle of sentiments. This was the occasion when Kashmiri Pundits who had lost on every front, instigated boys and girls of or below Ashok’s age to try their last dice in the ‘war’. But alas! It was not a war but a cry of distress of an emaciated people that was finally silenced by sweets or batters for all times. Kashmiri Hindus could never unite for the assertion of their rights after this event. Ashok was 10-11 year old, and the event caused a deep crisis in his mind. He saw the Hindus of Kashmir parleying on the issue that Kashmiri Muslims were engaged in suppressing the rights of the Hindus, and they have no future. The issue was as irrational as Kashmiri Muslims were worried about their future after their accession with India. This kind of antagonism works as a poison for society as it constrained the younger generation to adopt a different policy. In order to save Ashok from the adverse effects of such ideas, Chunilal always contrived newer ways to keep Ashok engrossed in books and games. It was his faith that religion was not the basis of social disparity but that centuries’ old under-cover mechanism of exploitation in which a few individuals succeed in usurping all the opportunities of prosperity and keep the teeming millions controlled as slaves. In order to hide their misdeeds, they engage people in religious feuds, hostility and hatred. It is only right kind of education and knowledge that could help people to get to the real truth. Chunilal thought that it was essential that Ashok be helped to delve deep to know the deeper levels of social truth by guiding him towards a faultless education; Ashok got it largely in his education at Biscoe School.

CHAPTER 10
THE JOURNEY TOWARDS WITHIN
The progressive society revolted against the nefarious designs of dividing humanity on the basis of religion and caste. But at the level of politics, progressive ideology was manipulated to use common masses as blind cattle for the selfish ends to win their votes. However, in the sphere of culture and civilisation the progressive writers, poets, playwrights and social workers played a meaningful role. The movement of theatre that had started from the precincts of Sheetalnath Temple achieved much development under the aegis of the government. Radio had already established a large number of artists, and many among the audience came forward for their interest in acting and singing and appeared for auditions. Thus the art of acting and singing attained its identity as an art. Meanwhile with the establishment of Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, the artists of all the three regions of the state, Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh, received encouragement. In Kashmir numerous theatre groups and repertories were seen enthusiastically involved in presenting plays. In schools and colleges also theatre and cultural activities received great impetus. Ashok, too, was feeling irresistible interest towards cinema, theatre, and radio dramas. He especially felt interested in listening to various plays broadcast from radio. He recognised and admired the voices of Pran Kishore, Pushker Bhan, Somnath Sadhu, Uma Khosla, Manohar Parohiti, Bashir Bhat and others. The stalwarts of radio-drama were tremendously popular among the masses and inspired the people of younger generation. Ashok was feeling restive to complete his education and plunge into this eld of great expectation and excitement. But he had yet to have an opportunity of watching a drama played on the stage, except the plays staged in the school. He did not divulge this longing to anyone, not even his uncle. He silently waited for the opportunity to get a chance to act on stage. He decided to study plays of Ibsen, Bernard Shaw, Shakespeare and others. Thus he started borrowing books of drama from the school library and reading them. The more he studied drama, the more intense grew his interest in drama and theatre. There was just one hurdle that he could not express his yearning. He thought that he was perhaps too young for this vocation of mature people. But now he had already passed his tenth standard examination. If he is not able to reveal his desire now, then it might be late. Thus one day, while conversing with his uncle, he asked him who was a greater writer, Shakespeare or Kalidas.

For a moment his uncle felt silent to understand the question at a deeper level. ‘Why after all did this question arise in the boy’s mind?’ Chunilalji had good command over English literature and he had also read Hindi translation of Shakuntlam. But without having read the play in its original form he could not decide whether Shakespeare was great or Kalidasa. Yet he did not disappoint Ashok, and said, “If we say that Kalidasa is the Shakespeare of India, we shall not be wrong.” Ashok got the answer that Kalidasa is Kalidasa and Shakespeare is Shakespeare. After having passed his matriculation, he had appeared in the annual test of the 11th class and was waiting for the school result. This intervening time was normally meant for wandering and having fun. It was the time of coming out of his childhood and moving gradually into manhood; mind often remains unstable in this critical period. Partially because of biological changes and partly because of the surroundings, and the individual introspects and desires development both in mind and action. He is keen to come from within to the outside. Until then man remains always at the receiving end, now he yearns to give out something to others. He wants to venture out from the limited circle around him and thus this is the period that determines individual’s future. Ashok’s propensity towards art and literature drew him towards those people and places which were known for such activities. Soon after ascending the slope of Gavkadal, there lies Premnath Chattoo’s Prem Sangeet Niketan. When he observed groups of boys and girls coming out of this institute of music, he got interested in their mirth and nimbleness. Busy roads and alleys, fast moving people on the footpaths, motor cars, and tempos, and blooming and decorated markets on both sides of the road, and amidst this vivacity he sees the signboard of the music centre. He has been seeing it for many years while passing that site. He also saw many a famous and eminent artists of the valley coming and leaving that centre. Many a time he yearned to meet these eminent artists, but he showed restraint and control and moved back. He saw Makhan Lal Saraf, a very famous actor coming out of a building opposite the music centre. He always longed to have a word with him and tell him that he too wanted to take part in dramas. But two things held him back: one, his parents wanted to see him as a doctor or engineer and no one in the family talked about acting, and two, his education was not complete. He knew that his family would not approve of this idea of leaving his studies and wasting his time in a vain activity like acting in dramas. Those parents who favoured discipline and hard work would never let their children have addiction of acting. No doubt the work of artists was much admired but their life-style did not have social approval that it deserved. Ashok could not muster his courage to reveal to anyone what he desired to do in future.

His family was still facing many vexations as his mother, who was transferred from Poonch, was transferred within a few years to Baramullah and then to Anantnag. Her constant absence from her home caused him much anxiety. Ashok was then in a very delicate period of life, and he had to be kept engrossed in his studies all the time. Seeing Ashok’s alacrity and restiveness, Ashok’s mother remained highly worried that her son should not be driven towards some unwanted passion and get deviated from his path. However, in order to let Ashok have a direct experience of rural life, she got him to Anantnag during his summer vacations. No doubt Ashok had already visited many famous places of the valley, but going on a school picnic or trekking was much different from living in a village along with his mother, his younger brother and sister for over a month. Ashok was overwhelmed with joy and curiosity. He thought that this shall provide him with a chance to see all those places that he had visited during his school years. Achhabal, Pahalgam, Kukernag, and Daksum were the famous places which had fascinated his mind. Thus in a state of ecstasy he set out for Anantnag to be with his mother.

Although life in Anantnag was much simple and wanting in the hustle and bustle of the city, but he was delighted to see people from various areas coming to meet his mother. She too paid visits to various schools and often took Ashok along. When vacations in Ashok’s school ended, the vacations of the Government run schools started. This made Kuntiji spend her vacations at her house. She saw this golden chance of being intimate with her son. In moving from village to village and observing people showing deference to his mother, made Ashok feel proud of his mother. Since Kuntiji most of the times visited only the girls’ schools this made Ashok reluctant. He often felt shy of talking to lady teachers and girl students, and as such preferred to roam about in the village. At Anatnag he was amazed to see village Muhirpur which was inhabited by folk artists of Kashmir. He somehow came to know that the artists were going to present a paethir (theatre show) somewhere in the vicinity. Ashok, accompanied his new friend Rakeshji, and they went to see the paethir of the Bhands. A celebrated folk artist, namely, Subhan Bhagat was leading his theatre group to present a show in the open.

Ashok was profoundly influenced by the acting, presentation and style of communicating story by the folk artists. Keeping huge crowd spell bound by their performance, that too without sets, lights or musical effects; they could make them laugh and weep. The play highlighted how the peasants using their wit and wisdom could defeat the exploiters. The play was much appreciated by the common folk. Seeing the popularity of the theatre and the art of its presentation, Ashok was amazed and inspired. He could understand the essential aspects of theatre that how the synthesis of story and acting could make a presentation effective. If the theme and the scenes too are strong, a theatre becomes vivacious. What mattered most was the nature of the audience and their thought and mind. When he reached home, he lost no time in scribing his feelings and then never forgot this experience.
At Anantanag all his friends and routine visitors to his mother loved him passionately. In the meantime, an undesired episode took place: Ashok had a new feeling which every human being has to have sooner or later and anywhere in his life. He had accompanied his mother to a wedding and there he had the experience for the first time.

The people at the marriage ceremony were close acquaintances of Kuntiji and they also happened to be relatives, though remotely. It was their son’s wedding. The house was thronged by guests. Ashok was thrilled to see himself amidst this crowd. He was clad in a pant, shirt and a V-neck sweater of All-Wool Company. The sapphire coloured sweater made him quite conspicuous. He stood in the balcony watching people of all sorts busy in a variety of activities. Someone calmly sneaked in from behind. He looked behind him and felt as if all of a sudden someone had captured his heart and held it in a closed st. To his amazement he saw the ‘prettiest girl’ in the whole world looking piercingly at him. Ashok felt as if the whole balcony was replete with moonlight and he was having a bath in it. The girl gave out a big guffaw. She hid her eyes with her hands and then vanished. This is how the bell of amour sounded in his heart for the first time. He felt in the grip of such a bewildering experience that he had never thought of till then. He grew restless to have another glimpse of that girl and see her time and again. Now he was pacing through the crowd to find her again before his eyes. But in order to escape his searching eyes, the girl had left the wedding festivity and gone to her home. She was continuously haunted by that eerie situation. The restlessness did not let her have some ease even for a moment. But she knew that Ashok was far away from her, and having such dreams was futile. 

The more she wanted to set her soul free from that spell, the more restless she grew. Then she resolved to join the wedding, and never let him see her again. He must believe, that nothing had happened, she thought. Why should I deprive myself of the joy of joining the wedding ceremony and be home?” The girl in fact tried to make her restive soul realise that there was no harm of seeing him again. Ashok desired to have a chat with someone about this new experience. But he could not nd anyone worth relying upon. ---The wedding was over. All the guests left for their homes. Ashok was all alone desperate to see that charming girl again, but without any notion of her whereabouts it was not possible. When after some more days he reached Srinagar, the pang continued to lacerate him for many days. This was Ashok’s first crush. Most people forget the experience as a case of infatuation.
All of a sudden many questions engrossed Ashok. “What happened to me so abruptly that keeps me so restless? Is it what is called love? So am I a grown up person now and also able to love? Oh! What is it all about?” ... The questions continued growing more and more intense. “What is that makes a human being human and not an ape? What is the meaning of being in this world?” Questions like these were numerous and time was limited. One has either to dispel all these questions and nd out a path ahead. Once involved in searching for the answers of these questions, life elapses quickly. But living always engrossed in so many questions is a strange and strenuous task___particularly this relentless craving for a girl.

The city is much different from a village. Man is different from another man. Yet all say there is hardly any difference. All are equal. All are the creation of one God. But in spite of being the creation of one God there is in nite difference. Why are there so many wars and hostilities? But why should I think all this? I need not be a part of it. May be this world is nothing but a big festival of the Bhands. Yes. It is truly like that. The drama looks so real, but essentially it is all imitation, crammed up, and hackneyed. But this way of thinking is dangerous. Let it be a drama and I too shall play my role in it, ably and cleverly.” He continued musing.

This is the stage of life when an individual needs to develop relations with others. After getting admission in S.P.College Ashok observed transformation in his behaviour and in his needs. It was an irresistible craving to be an artist. “Yes there is someone within me who wants to find some way out.” He felt. But it needed a suitable condition. Whatever little cultural activities he found in the college, it was not an easy task to enter into such activities. Meanwhile Ashok found some such companions as Ashok always desired to have.

Zahid, who lived at Barbarshah, was the foremost among them. His family then shifted to Harwan, one of the most beautiful places in the Valley. Zahid was enthusiastic, vivacious, focussed, and much skilled and intelligent. Despite being a Shi’a Muslim, he was crazily interested in literature, drama and cultural activities. He had come much closer to Ashok. One day he told him that they were going to stage a play at Tagore Hall. Ashok felt it much eerie that in spite of being a resident of the city and having so intense interest in drama, he did not know that there was a place in Srinagar, called Tagore Hall, not much away from S.P.College, and that the Hall has a stage for presenting dramas. All the famous dramatists, artists and actors assemble there. He came to know that Tagore Hall was a big centre of theatrical activities. One could see the most popular actors acting live on the stage, and one could also meet them. Tej Tikoo and Ashok Zafrani were Zahid’s friends.Tej Tickoo was a student of Gandhi College and often came to meet his friends at S.P. College. Ashok Zafrani was a senior student of his college, and planned to do M.A. in Hindi literature after completing his college education. Thus all the four friends where directly or indirectly interested in literature and drama.

The famous Coffee House at the Residency Road was an important centre where all the intellectuals and artists met. People of older and that of the younger generation could have free dialogue there. It was here that one could feel the pulse of the political and cultural life of the city. The quick movement of the attendants, bouts of coffee, never-ending discussions__ all this made the Coffee House a buzzing place like a beehive. People, donned meticulously, came to the Coffee House only to assert their opinion and prove their metal. This was a lively place in the Residency Road Market. It was the pride as well as the craze of the city. The nearby cinema theatres and the pretty girls of the Women’s College made it a place like Paris of Kashmir. How charming! How enlivening! The place always showed a festival like hubbub of youth. While passing through the market, one could never imagine that behind this fascinating façade there was a cancerous growth thriving so quietly and on prowl to make Kashmir a veritable hell.

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CHAPTER 11
TOWARDS THE THEATRE
Ashok and his pals used to assemble there at the Coffee House at Residency Road. Zahid belonged to an affluent family; he was one among the whole company of friends to own a scooter. Initially all these friends made Coffee House their rendezvous, but it did not look nice to see Zahid alone spending his money on entertaining his friends. Thus they decided to pool their money for the evening coffee. Thus they managed to enjoy staying at the hub for some more time. It was the place where all the events of the city, the country and the world were discussed. Ashok and his friends were however more interested in the discourse on the world of drama and art.

Ashok’s mind was not yet free from the mad desire for the girl he had seen at Anantnag, yet he did not share this beautiful feeling with his friends. Each of the friends narrated his true or imagined love-story, and hoped to hear a similar tale from Ashok, but he never disclosed this dear secret to anyone. Envisioning that captivating moment of that seeing girl with two little hands on her smiling eyes kept Ashok mesmerised for hours; he rather tried to live that feeling. He hardly thought if she too ever thought about him. She could, or could not. And then she might have found her life companion...

Ashok Zafrani was one or two classes ahead of Ashok Jailkhani and in age also there was the same difference. He therefore behaved like an elder brother to Ashok Jailkhani. He like a big brother was always anxious that he should not get astray because of his innocence, simplicity and gentleness; he like true guard always stood beside Ashok. The interest in theatre in Zafrani’s family was because of his uncle, named Hradaynath Gurutu who was an established stage and radio actor. It was therefore quite natural that he frequented Tagore Hall to see theatrical shows there. Not only that, Zafrani enjoyed a free and liberal atmosphere at his home and no one interfered in his personal activities or imposed any restriction. His father though feared that his son Ashok Zafrani, nicknamed Kuka, might not fall into any bad company. Yet the ease of freedom and independence had a very useful impact on the personality of Ashok Zafrani. This in a way helped him evince his maturity.

People parleying at Coffee House could easily be dubbed as idling people, but the Coffee House, also called India Coffee House, was the only centre of meeting each other. Every educated person and intellectual was somehow connected to this centre.

The angered and defeated in the eld of politics would become frenzied on reaching here. Those who dabbled in literature but failed to achieve anything would spew all their venom against the accomplished and successful people. All this notwithstanding a constant fact of life was quite visible in this charged ambience: all was not well in Kashmir, particularly in the sphere of politics.

Nepotism, corruption, and exploitation helped a certain class of people to amass wealth. Official contracts and embezzlements were used as stratagem to loot money. Cultivation of hashish and its business were thriving. There . was no restraint. This sudden change resulted in speedy disintegration of values, both at the level of families and the society at large. All this resulted in joblessness and restlessness among the educated youth.

Zahid, Kuka (Ashok Zafrani), Tej Tikkoo and Kaka (Ashok Jailkhani) were also among them.
After the demise of Sadiq, Mir Qasim was appointed as the Chief Minister of the State. At the Centre the government was in the hands of the Indian National Congress under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, and the Congress ruled in the State as well. Indira Gandhi was on her official visit to Kashmir. Like her father she too loved to have boat trip in the Jhelum River and see the city. A hazy memory overtook Ashok. He remembered how he, in the arms of his aunt, amidst a large crowd waited to have a glimpse of Jawaharlal Nehru, and then how the boat of Nehru passed so close to the bank of the river. Ashok waved his hand to Nehruji and Nehruji for a moment caressed him at his cheeks.

Memories of his childhood accumulated layer over layer in his mind got stirred. He recollected how in the sixties political unrest had subsided and peace and tranquillity were vividly seem all around. It appeared that the pro- Pakistan section of Kashmiri Muslim community had sunk somewhere deep. In spite of the dominance of the rich and the powerful, there were many policies of the government that were people-friendly and had caused optimism. The times of drought and famine were part of the past memory. The educated young men belonging to the lower middle class were attaining high positions in the government service.

Nevertheless the cult of man-worship, referred to by Walter Lawrence, was still there in the psyche of the masses. It was their habit to assess democracy by the measuring rod of the success of power. Jawaharlal Nehru understood this nature of the common people, and as such, was always in search of such individuals who could be efficiently harnessed to drive the chariot. But probably this very policy was going to prove suicidal. Jawaharji’s mind was always irked by the by the guilt of having kept Sheikh Sahib behind the bars for so many years and that too without any serious charges. In order to keep his conscience free from the sense of guilt, he once provided a chance to Sheikh Sahib; he was set free to move as a free man. He visited Pakistan where he was given warm reception. He desired to resolve the political problem of Kashmir once for all. But perhaps divinity decided otherwise: Jawaharji died on May 27, 1965 and all came to a standstill.

Indira Gandhi was time and again reminded of her father’s desire by Jai Prakash Narayan. He believed that after 1971, Sheikh Abdullah had undergone radical change. Bangladesh was now a reality. A country established on the basis of religion was now divided on the basis of region and culture. The mind of the Sheikh was really changed. Jai Prakash Narayan helped Indira’s accord with the Sheikh. Ignoring Pakistan, Sheikh-Indira Accord was on the anvil. The war of 1971 had strengthened India’s position; Pakistan had suffered a humiliating defeat. Pakistani General Niazi along with his army surrendered before Indian General Harbaksh Singh. More than 90 thousand prisoners of war were in the jails of India. Pro-Pakistan people of Kashmir had gone into hiding. The people of Kashmir for the first time heaved a sigh of freedom and the whole of Kashmir was filled with fragrance of relief. One could see floods of tourists all around. Ashok’s mind was growing restless to do something remarkable. The victory in the war instilled confidence in the youth of Kashmir. Expression was gaining momentum and thus remaining silent was considered a crime. Ashok and his company of friends once decided to watch a cultural show at Tagore Hall. Who knew that this very ordinary incident would cause a big change in Ashok’s life that would became a permanent distinction of his personality? After meeting at the Coffee House, all the four friends decided to watch the show of Makhanlal Saraf. This was firrst experience of sitting in audience in a theatre to watch a Kashmiri show. “Show kitni deir chalega?” (How long shall the Show Run?) all of a sudden he said to Zafrani, “Let’s leave. Let’s go home.” Zafranai gave him a blunt reply, “Why?”“Have you not sought permission from your parents?” Zahid too asked him but with much patience. Ashok felt that he should have not said so for his friends would understand that he was still holding the finger of his elders. But he at the same time knew that if he was a little late, his father and grandmother would get worried. His uncle knew that he spent some time in the Coffee House with his friends; he had seen him many a time with Zahid and other friends savouring coffee there. Ashok did not give any reply to Zahid, and sat still and waited for the show to start. After a little while, all the lights of the hall were put off and the hall was filled with pitch darkness. 

Gradually a huge black curtain started moving apart from both sides of the stage and the play started. Ashok then started concentrating on every aspect of what was going on the stage. He felt that the show was much compact in terms of story and action as compared to the play presented by the Bhands at Anantnag. There was an attempt to produce a feel of the reality of life in a methodical way. Ashok thought that the method was similar to that of the traditional Parsi Theatre that he used to watch along with his maternal uncle, Indu Bhushan, at Shivala Mandir. Suddenly the lights of the stage revealed to him that Indu Bhushanji too was there in the hall sitting in the rows nearer to the stage. Indu Bhushan was just two years older than Ashok. He was the person who passed on valuable information about stage to him; He was fervently interested in theatre and music. He had also bought a banjo for himself. He could play many lm tunes on his banjo. On seeing him there Ashok fell reassured that he had not erred in coming to the Hall. He could at least have something to convince his people at home that he was not alone there, but Indu Mamaji was also with him. Thus the performance of the play left a very fruitful impact on Ashok’s mind: he decided to join the theatre repertory of Makhanlal Saraf. He asked his friends that they too should consider this idea. Thus all the four friends decided to join theatre. There were already many artists working in this repertory, Makhan Lal Saraf, Bansi Mattoo, Jawahar Wanchu, Bansi Raina, Asok Zalpuri, Shibban, Manjoo, Bihari Kak, Rattanlal Raina, Brij Kishori --- all of them were established artists. Brij Kishori was one female artist who inspired many women to join stage drama and Radio drama. Although quite before her there was a very revolutionary female broadcaster Shanta Koul who had raised the gun in her own way to defeat the aggression of the tribal people and had associated herself with the theatre with the same fervour. Her voice proved very effective in encouraging a number of women to join theatre and radio drama. A new generation, including two sisters Asha Zaroo and Bharti Zaroo, was ready to carry on this movement. Bharti Zaroo proved herself as a talented and beautiful actress. She was already on the stage when Ashok Jailkhani, Zafrani and Tej stood at the threshold. The three friends had never thought that an extremely charming and bold girl shall be there to welcome them. Until then nobody knew her as a actress; she too was like then trying to seek entry in the eld of theatre.

“What a butter-like tender person are you! I think I generally see you while coming and going.” This was Brij Kishori trying to probe into Ashok’s mind whether he was really desirous of being an actor or was it his momentary impulse. “I know you and your family”.
“Yes obviously, for it is a small city”, Ashok replied. Then Ashok introduced his friends to her. All the persons present there also introduced themselves to them one by one. Ashok told them that he and his friends had watched their show and admired it. Although Ashok held a different opinion, but this was not the opportune time to reveal it. He was yet to step into this eld. If he dared to express his opinion, nobody would take him seriously. He had quite a distinct opinion about drama, and the actors present would get displeased to know about it. In the meantime, Makhan Lal Saraf, too, joined and enquired about the presence of the three boys there. He took out a register and detached three one-page typed forms from it. The forms had been got cyclostyled from some shop in the market. The price of each form and membership fees amounted to five rupees. Saraf Sahib got the forms filled in and allowed them to pay the membership fees in two instalments. Ashok and his friends were much excited to have submitted their membership forms. Now they started waiting for participation in the next stage performance. They hoped that each of them would get a chance to play some role. But this was not so easy. They had to attend the drama club for the whole year, and then they could perhaps nd some opportunity and get some role. All the four friends were getting impatient attending the daily meetings of the theatre. However this helped them to have a wider circle of friends. Each member was talented in his/her own way and as such, the four friends had to be contented as the ‘Junior Artists’ and were assigned superficial work.

Any of the senior artist would keep them on their tiptoes to do various errands.Whether it was to wash the unwashed tea cups, or getting pan, cigarettes or nadiry mwanji (fried pakodas of lotus stalk) from the bazar. Doing this kind of drudgery made Zahid feel fed up. He was there only to please his friends. When the evening set, they would enjoy beer or whisky while chewingnadirymwanji.
Asok’s Mamajiji Indu Bhushan somehow came to know that Ashok had started going to the Rangmanch (drama club). He was worried lest his nephew should contract some perversion. However, he never considered theatre and association with theatre wrong. Now it was actually the time when Ashok had to explain his position to his family. He was suggested many alibis for being late to home in the evening. But when his uncle Chunilal asked him abruptly whether he whiled away his time in the theatre group, Ashok gave reply without wasting any time, “Yes...” “Who else is with you there?”“Me, Zahid, Ashok Zafrani, and many actors. They are going to stage the popular radio drama, Grand Rehearsal written by Pushker Bhan and Somnath Sadhu, and I shall get some role in it.”
“That is you want to be an actor!” After a short silence, Ashok said, “There is nothing wrong in being an actor.”
“It is not the issue of acting being good or bad, the question is that whether you have decided to be an actor or is it that you have joined the theatre for hobby.”
Ashok had so far never pondered on this issue till then. The only thing he knew that he was getting attracted towards the theatre without any conscious thought. He was fascinated by theatre as his mind was fascinated by that unknown girl of Anantnag. Getting transformed into the character of persons of the drama was his desire that drew him towards the stage.

He understood that there was suf cient potential in him to be an actor. But the question that he faced at that moment was being put to him with much gravity, and he was required to answer that question not through his heart but through his brain and reason.
“It is my hobby as yet, but I think one could make it ones career even.” This answer seemed to have satis ed his uncle to some extent. “Then it is alright. But keep it always in your mind that that whatever you want do in your life, do it with full wisdom, honesty, and hard work, and dedication, only then can you do that in better way. Success in any venture finally depends on the person who is involved in it. Never forget that this counsel. So whatever you decide to do, do it after thorough reflection.”

Ashok felt that the matter was getting more and more serious. It was no more a matter of recreation or hobby, but a job demanding full responsibility. He continued reflecting on the issue till late night. --- What makes him driven to drama? This idea started gaining roots. He realized that this was not to while away his time, nor was it just to enjoy with his friends. This was an issue that was intimately connected with his future life. It concerned his total being. This was not a venture that could be left on the condition of availability of facilities; one has to arrange for the favourable condition on one’s own.

His uncle’s words stirred many multidirectional thoughts and that too simultaneously. He grew eager to share this issue with Zahid.
Zahid belonged to a well off family and was the son of an officer in the government. He was already leading a sufficiently stable life. He was Assistant Manager at Kashmir Arts Emporium and as such his career was quite certain.

And Zaifrani was doing M.A. in the University, Zalpuri was also a government employee.And I...?Ashok was lost in rumination. “I am the only person in the friend circle who is entirely uncertain about his future. Why?” This is because “my education was not complete. There are two years yet to go for my graduation. It is not good for me to be worried about this issue yet.” Thus Ashok started thinking about the origin and development of theatre in the world. He borrowed books from his friends, the library and his uncle, and from all other sources and read them intently. He knew that like India, other countries like Greece, France, Russia and the European countries have their own theatre tradition.

The play was soon to be presented by Rangmunch on the stage; the play was being directed by Makhan Lal Saraf. The play chosen was “Grand Rehearsal”. Zahid, being a government employee and belonging to a well off family, did not bother to be worried about what he should do and when. Ashok and Zahid were having intimate friendship and as the latter was full of wisdom and knowledge. And never talked anything meaningless. The play was written by two eminent personalities, namely, Pushker Bhan and Somnath Sadhu, The plays was about contemporary young generation, and as such it needed a number of young actors. Makhan Lal Saraf was playing the role of the Professor, and Brijkishori played the role of the Professor’s wife. The four friends had to pass through all the stages, from various rehearsals to its nal presentation. It was no less strenuous than an examination. They had to bear bad temper of the seniors on trivial issues, and had to run many errands to please them. The seniors tried to make them realize that they had to abide by their orders and only then could they expect a significant role in some drama.

A considerable audience was there in the hall to watch the play on the stage. Many famous writers, playwrights, theatre personalities and even the writers of the play, Pushker Bhan and Somnath Sadhu were among the audience. Ashok saw Pran Kishore and his wife Mrs. Shanta Koul among the audience. This was his very first experience of exhibiting his art of acting in presence of such eminent people. “But is there anyone in the audience to notice my work?” He thought. He was playing the role of a young man among a host of other young actors involved in the play.

Ashok and many other artists played successfully their roles. All the audience repeatedly applauded their roles. However, Ashok was being irked by the idea that they were constrained to deliver excessive dialogues which were not commensurate with the action. They had taken support of over-acting and exaggeration. Zahid did not play any role in the play. He shouldered the responsibilities of back-stage. But then he was suddenly removed from the backstage and as such he took a seat in the audience to assess the roles played by his friends. His opinion was much similar to that of Ashok. There should not have been any artificiality in the drama and it should have been real-to-life.
There was still much time to understand all these nuances of drama.

CHAPTER 12
EXPERIMENTS IN THEATRE
Makhan Lala Saraf was among the artists who belonged to old tradition of Parsi Theatre and the transitional period. Ashok Jailkhani and his friends, on the contrary, stood just at the doorsteps of contemporary theatre and were eager to seek entry. They felt the need of removing all kind of superficiality from the stage acting. Ashok believed that the audiences are initially influenced by the very first sight of the nature of the sets, but the play through the medium of the dialogues and the inter-connectivity of the roles of the actors attains full swing, the physical items comprising the set actually vanish from the mind of the audience. This makes the art of the actors more important. They get involved in the actions and gestures of the actors, the nature of the characters, and their speech. They stop to worry about whether the king is sitting in his throne or is standing. They are interested in his actions and speech rather than his physical position on the stage. Within no time the decoration of the stage vanishes from the mind of the audience. Thus what is the need of embellishing the stage? This question appeared dazzling in Ashok’s mind. He thus pondered on this. He recollected the folk plays of the Bhands which are presented in the open among the crowds of people. Thus Ashok was getting more and more interested in the transformation of theatre in Jammu and Kashmir, both in terms of direction, style and purpose. He was not actually conscious of his mental engagement, but then it finally took an actual shape. A young boy was planning bringing about a cataclysmic change in the theatre of Jammu and Kashmir. He thought creating a new mechanism of influencing the audience and keeping them engaged.

While playing a role on the stage, we can certainly create the feel of time and space through a proper use of lights and sounds. In order to create a desired locale we generally use the external paraphernalia like curtains, props and costumes, but all could easily be done away with. We can directly have rapport with the pre-existing thoughts and emotions in the minds of the audience by giving more expression to them and integrate them with the drama itself. It was really a momentous task. There was hardly anyone with whom he could discuss such experiments. However, Ashok possessed un-vacillating faith in latent memory, and he was sure that all this was possible. He took his friends into confidence and started preparation of staging a play according to his conceived technique. This is in fact was the very foundation of Vasant Theatre.

Ashok says, “We started Vasant Theatre by staging a play Mungu; Zahid and Ashok even directed the play. I was in the lead role also. The play was well received and everybody appreciated our effort. Till that time I had not read anything about stage crafe. However after the staging of this play Pran Kishorji gifted me a book titled “The technique of play production”.
“I came to know that even without any knowledge of the technique till that point,I had successfully used my independent understanding in implementing many of the techniques. It really emboldened me. Zafrani had already identified many books of plays in Hindi and Marathi (in Hindi translation) for me to read for our future productions. Dr. Ramesh Kumar Sharma, Head of the Department of
Hindi, had made him prepare a long list of such books. He lent many of the books to Ashok for study. If mind is subject- centred, it never deviates from the subject.”

The political scenario of Jammu and Kashmir was fast changing. After Sadiq’s government, Mir Qasim was elected the Chief Minister by Indian National Congress. Qasim Sahib hailed from a distant village. His political understanding was much seasoned. Being himself a villager, he gave much emphasis to the well-being, prosperity and development of peasants, labourers and common people. It was for the first time in his tenure that the village people felt that their voice too mattered. However the elite class of the city did not like Mir Qasim’s being the CM. They felt that Qasim Sahib was more concerned with the rural people rather than the urban people. But in reality it was nothing more than a meaningless prattle. In Kashmir politics, all kind of political intrigues against each other is a permanent feature true in all ages. Divides like rural versus urban, Hindu versus Muslim, India versus Pakistan, or even divides on the basis of dialects have always dominated Kashmiri society. Politics even uses dynastic conflicts as stratagems. All this results in undercover corruption, black money, smuggling of hashish and many social crimes.

Ashok could never ignore all the daily incidents of this nature that happened around him. He was being influenced by the underlying drama in the society. Many of his friends whiled away their time in Regal Chowk watching flood of pretty girls clad in white uniforms going to or coming from the Girls College. When flocks of pretty girls came out from the gate of the College, one would feel as if a fount of pure white water erupted. Unparalleled in beauty, the boys and girls always kept a certain distance from one another, but roamed freely on the main road and in the bye lanes. Many a time, girls accompanied by their boyfriends sat in the back seats of Regal Cinema and enjoyed romantic intimacy. Ashok’s mind was nonchalant to all this and was engaged in exploring for solving some serious questions of life. “What ultimately is the purpose of life? What is the purpose of our being in the world?” Questions like these sooner or later raise their heads in the mind of every young man. “If we exist, why do we exist? Kashmir has always been blessed by saints, sages, Rishis who have tried to unknot such riddles and consequently a humanistic thought of unity took birth here. Buddhism, Shaivism, Islam and other faiths have assimilated this humanistic thought of Kashmir and tried to guide our life. In many trying situations this syncretic thought had enabled Kashmiri people to have an intimate understanding of the truth of life. They could have a better understanding of the many colours, shapes and forms of life. They were thus able to have the feel of real pleasure of being in the world and get the supreme position to the attainment of this kind of pleasure. But unfortunately the more Kashmiri people tried to simplify the ways of life, the more ferocious was the tyranny unleashed on them by internal as well as external forces. The result was that they had to encounter numerous calamities and upheavals in various times.

Ashok was more fascinated in the dreams of luminous future rather than epochs of history. He was interested in choosing his own way of life, and see himself successful in leading that way of life. In being effective in bringing out some radical transformation, he considered theatre as the best and most viable medium. He thought that in adopting the medium of acting he could prove his potential and assert his individuality. He had already realized that his sole ambition in life was to be a successful and efficient actor. He identified numerous flaws in the dramas presented by various institutes of theatre in the city. All these presentations were dominated by presentation of story, long dialogues, and sentimental scenes; all these flaws had come from the tradition of Parsi Theatre.

The Kashmiri Section of Radio Kashmir seemed to have influenced deeply the psychology of the masses. The duo of Pushkar Bhan and Somnath Sadhu played an epoch- making revolutionary role through arranging and executing various programmes; they also as such contributed to enriching the beauty of art. Parallel to this the ‘drama section’ under the guidance of Pran Kishore produced many dramas significant at national as well as international level. Mohan Nirash also presented very  efficiently many such dramas in Kashmiri and Hindi. Radio adaptation of the masterpiece of Charles Dickens “A Tale of Two Cities” stimulated Kashmiri youth to study English literature. Radio drama like ‘Haivadan’ motivated talent associated with Kashmiri theatre to introduce innovations in presentation of dramas on the stage. Mohan Nirash succeeded in adapting non-native plays in such a ways as made them appear original Kashmiri plays. They never appeared to be of any other language or any other society. The fact is that the era was undoubtedly the Golden Era of Kashmiri literature, art, and broadcasting. Marrium Begam, and Umaji brought about revolutionary changes in the women folk of Kashmir through their ‘Women’s Programmes’. The programme had a direct feel of the pulse of Kashmiri women in society. Programmes like ‘Machama’ and ‘Zoona Dab’ became very popular. There was hardly any family of Kashmir who possessed a radio set and yet did not listen to these radio programmes. ‘Zoona Dab’ was a feature programme in which the government was represented by the character of an officer, and the family members and their servant represented the common masses. Agha Sahib, the head of the family, who worked as a government officer somewhere in the valley, represented the life of an honest and upright of cer, while his spouse ‘Agha Baay’ represented the image of a moderately educated young Kashmiri Muslim woman. They had two little kids, Nani Kur and Nikalala in their family, and as such visualised the day-to-day life of an ordinary middle class family. Agha Saeb was shown all the time confronted with some problem of routine public life, and he usually talked about the problems with his family servant, named, Mama. The beauty of this feature was that it was directly and very intimately concerned with the normal life of common people. All the events in rural or urban life were somehow or other related to it. This was the reason that the feature adequately depicted the aspirations, conflicts, and issues of real life. It ran for sixteen years without any break and was thus the programme of the longest life, and as such all the principal characters in the programme---Agha Sahib (Somanath Sadhoo), Mama (Pushker Bhan) Agha Bai (Mariam Begam) were honoured with Padam ShriAward. This was the ambience, and such were the inspiring factors amongst which Ashok Jailkhani in his later career assumed the leadership of theatre in Kashmir. Fortunately the Five Year Plan of both the State and Central Government were strengthened in this very particular period. The State Cultural Academy would organise Annual Drama Festivals at Tagore Hall and all the theatre repertories of the state, registered with Cultural Academy, participated in it. The Academy also provided financial assistance on yearly basis to the theatre groups. The assistance, though meagre, and got through a tedious process, certainly encouraged the talents in performing arts to adopt theatre as their hobby. Ashok Jailkhani, Ashok Zafrani, Zahid, Vijay Dhar, Kulbhushan Wantoo, and other friends who had founded Vasant Theatre,
decided to develop it further. Mangu Play staged by Vasant Theatre in 1970, was also much earlier staged by a very old drama group- Kala Kendra. Ashok decided to present this drama once again with a new approach. His experiment proved to be a great success. The play written by Baba Dikky, was directed jointly by Ashok Jailkhani and Zahid. This drama was an attempt to free the art of theatre from traditional style and the experiment was quite successful. It influenced a wider audience, but at the same time it inspired one of the most popular and experienced and talented personality, namely, Pran Kishore. He said it without any reservation, “A new leader in Theatre is born.”Being very happy with Ashok’s work, he gifted a very important book, titled “The technique of play production” by A.K Boyd to Ashok. Any young person of present times can easily understand the significance of the fact when a senior artist encourages an emerging artist. Ashok always recollects this episode of his life with gratitude in his eyes. Even today the recollection of this event of his life makes him remember Pran Kishore with unabated devotion and his mind over flows with respect for Pran Kishore. He always says that if at all there is any ideal in the sphere of art, he is certainly Pran Kishore. The book given to him by Pran Kishore provided him with the opportunity of getting connected with world theatre. He says that he had conceived most of the ideas about modern theatre in his mind even before reading that book. He was amazed as well as delighted to find that the book gave confirmation to the techniques of contemporary theatre which he had imagined without reading it. It would not be impertinent to mention here that vision of Pran Kishorji and assessment worked as a strong impetus to a new talent, and Pran Kishore said to Ashok, “ I am proud of you.”

In 1972, Doordarshan was founded in Srinagar. Ashok perhaps did not know or could not even imagine that the major portion of his life would pass in this very organisation. Ashok was all the time obsessed by one single idea that he had to prove his potential. He wanted to undertake such a vocation that would give him fame, satisfaction, and make him intimate to life. Books helped him a lot in this venture. The books alone were a medium available to him that augmented his interest in theatre and essence of life. In the meantime many trivial as well as significant happenings continued happening around him. On October 14, a cycle race from Srinagar to Amritsar was organised. Happenings like these proved very effective in strengthening a positive attitude to life among young generation. In the 20-Point Programme for Youth launched by Indira Gandhi Radio Kashmir ran a regular programme for youth and then an independent service, named Yuva Vani was started. This channel gave a big platform to the young talent. Young actors, playwrights, performing artists, singers, writers and talented people of all crafts found a new medium of expression. The result of this activity was immediate: new talent was discovered, people like Ghulam Nabi Sheikh, Vijay Malla, Arti Tikkoo, Kailash Mehra, Shanti Lal Sidh, Santosh Sidh, Maharaj Krishan Shah, and scores of other artists came to the forefront. Maharaj Shah (M.K. Shah) of Mattan Village of Anantnag district was also kindled with similar enthusiasm. He played the lead role in a famous play of Opinder Nath Ishk, titled ‘Jonk’,under the direction of Dr. Rattan Lal Shant. He had also passed the audition test of Radio, and had also established a small centre of music and theatre, called ‘Amar Dramatic Club’ in his own village. Mattan was a place which had a long history of theatre activities even in the past. A Forester, named Radha Krishan founded a new drama club at Mattan and plays like“Krishan Sudhama”,


“Raja Harish Chandra”, “Nal Damyanti”were staged.Ram Lila and Krishn Lila were regularly staged and interestingly Muslim spectators always outnumbered Hindu spectators. People from all the nearby and remote villages thronged in to enjoy these performances. The Leelas were well-organised and executed with craft and perfection. Amidst a flood of spectators, Shri Prathvinath Sher used to make a recitation of Ramayana and announce the names of the contributors on the microphone. This resembled the ‘commercial break’ of contemporary TV shows. The businessmen found an excellent opportunity of advertising their shops and their goods. The young men got their names announced in code words. The advertisements were full of sharp humour and spicy words. And on the whole the whole ambience of that region was much like a festival. The festival started during the end of September and start of November every year. This was the time when the peasants were free from their agricultural work, and sought full entertainment in the live programmes on the stage. ‘I (Maharaj Shah) have been brought up in this type of environment. I have myself played the role of Shri Ram and Shri Krishan in these Leelas. In the devotional performances to God, the Hindu people were fervently devoted; I am always amazed to remember that. Even the elders came forth to touch my feet, and prayed for the fulfilment of their desires. There was a person who had no child even after ten years of married life. He was himself a deeply religious person. He made a hefty contribution for the success of the programmes of Leelas. He also donated a Public Address System to the club. The day when I had to break the bow and do ‘Sayamvar’ of Seeta, the person fell prostrate at my feet and wept. He said, “O God, give me a promise that we are blessed with a son whom we would get to lay at your feet at next year’s Ramleela.” I instantaneously replied, “I promise, I shall see that it happens.” The person, with eyes brimming with emotions looked at me, laid some owers at my feet and left. Tears owed from my eyes. I had seen his wife many a time weeping on the day of Diwali. I do not know how it happened, but verily he along with his wife came carrying a baby in his arms on the event of Ramleela of the next year. He worshipped me and then laid the baby at my feet. I deliberately kept it in my mind that the faith and devotion might be the basis of our faith in God. I should have shown some respect for this belief, but with the passage of time my belief in such plays and leelas vanished. On the contrary I could envision the uglier aspects of society. In my town, I tried to stage dramas with a new style. While the themes of the earlier plays were religious, my new plays were based on realistic depiction of the issues of contemporary society and decided to write about the normal life in a family. The title of the play too was ‘Faisla’ (Decision); the play was written by Ramesh Mehta. The play was dealing with the harshness that people mete out to a widow in a family. The audience belonging to the young generation appreciated the play much, but the elders were so annoyed with me that they stopped talking to me. They could not bear to see an actor known for playing the role of god Ram, transformed into a tyrant mother-in- law. I did not know that people were so much submerged in religious faith. I was much dejected when an elderly person took me to a corner of Nagabal Garden and scourged me, “What a sublime image of you was there in our minds, but you destroyed that image in no time. You should never have played that role.” I kept mum. I in vain tried to make him understand that this was all drama and arti cial. They too understood this, but...”

From all such happenings, I could easily derive a conclusion the best medium of expression was acting, stage and broadcasting. I realised that the broadcasting media could really bring out changes in people’s thinking. People’s ignorance and their illiteracy could be decreased to a large extent. Thus I resolved that if there was anything really serious to do, I shall pursue this very vocation, whatever the repercussions. There in Srinagar too there were perhaps many young men having identical thinking. Ashok was certainly the most resolute and serious person in this direction.”

In 1971, the political situation in Kashmir was again briskly changing. Sheikh Sahib, Beg Sahib, Shah Sahib, and many other eminent leaders were again put behind the bars. A new militant organisation, name ‘Al-Fateh’ was dismantled for being responsible for spreading lawlessness in the valley In the meantime on January 30, 1971, a plane of Indian Airlines was hijacked to Lahore city of Pakistan. Such incidents were connected with the political turmoil of later times. Being lenient to the people of Al-Fateh, handing over the government to the National Conference of Sheikh Sahib under Delhi-Accord, hanging of Maqbool Bhat and releasing his companions, proved historical blunders. Sadiq Sahib pleaded the permanent accession of Jammu and Kashmir with India, and his efforts in this direction were being continued by Mir Qasim. After the humiliating defeat of Pakistan in Bangladesh war, the Kashmir issue was forgotten and went into cold a storage. On December 12, 1972, when Mir Qasim assumed the charge of Chief Minister after Sadiq, he had to relinquish his chair to Sheikh Sahib just after three years. This change marginalised National Congress. It was no less than a herculean task for the Congress to fight a gigantic figure, erected by their own hands, and return to power. 

The activists of the Congress, who had almost a licence to swindle money and enjoyed of financial patronage, had to remain subservient to the people of the National Conference. The divisive force in the valley would have not gained so much of power as is seen in the current situation there. They had be excommunicated, but now the reign of power was in their hands and all the supporters felt that they had been reduced to non-entity, and as such they wandered from pillar to post to seek some kind of props. However, Congress was enjoying strong position at the Centre and as such some of the Congress leaders had a strong clout in central institutions. The political scenario in the State had undergone a radical change. The workers and supporters of National Conference played a key role in all the programmes of development, political decisions, and new employment avenues. Jam’at-I Islami had been waiting for this type of situation for a very long time. They were happy to find the Congress people helpless and powerless.

It was in this kind of political situation that Doordarshan Srinagar started its telecasts. Ashok received an interview call for the post of Floor-Manager. The interviewers found in him a highly talented artist of 18-19 years age. He had achieved much reputation both in acting and direction at such a young age. He had also received many prizes and awards. Thus Ashok got the position of Floor Manager which enabled him to get associated with an entirely new medium. The work was much identical to lms, and Doordarshan was gaining much popularity in the Valley. As compared to the stage, this medium had the potential of having access to thousands of people. It did not take him much time to understand the function of a Floor Manager. It happened in the same period that is in 1972-73 that Ashok was deputed to Delhi for training in television production. During his training, he not only understood the essentials of Television programmes, he also developed close friendship with many talents working there in several fields of television; this friendship proved of immense significance in his future career.

One day Ashok entered a bookshop in Delhi and tried to rummage the shelves to find Hindi translations of Marathi plays. He selected books like “Evam Indrajit”, “Konark”, “Panchi Aise Aate Hain”, and “Kisi Ek Phool Ka Naam Lo”. After studying these plays, Ashok’s mind was filled with fresh enthusiasm. He was eager to be back to Kashmir and start staging these plays with the support of his theatre group. His spirits were high because only some time ago Vasant Theatre had staged Moti Lal Keemu’s drama “Mangay” which had won them the highest prize in the Youth Festival. The play was directed by Ashok. Soon after that Ashok had got a job in television. Now he had acquired vast knowledge of the fundamentals of television plays and stage plays and the difference between the two. He had also understood the limitations of the status of theatre in Kashmir. Now he was sure that he was fully equipped with knowledge and experience to experiment in theatre. He desired to share his knowledge about Production techniques, stage acting, and music with his friends in Kashmir and utilise all this in revitalizing theatre in Kashmir. During his training Ashok came to know about the experiments of Russian actor and director Stanislavsky in stage performances. He knew how an actor undergoes transformation both at the physical and psychological level. How one could coordinate scene and the tempo through proper use of lights and sounds and coordinate the actions and gestures of the individual actors performing on the stage. Having achieved thorough acquaintance with all such things, he was eager to reach Kashmir where he could put all this into practice with the help of his friends there.

CHAPTER 12
ADVENT OF SPRING
There is a proverb that spring makes its preparation of advent in the winter; thus Dar Building too (where Vasant Theatre was lodged), indifferent to outside chill, was much warm with hectic activities of various theatre groups. With the advent of spring each year theatre activities rejuvenated as owners bloom in this season. This was the most proper time for staging the dramas because the students, who had worked very hard, were free from their examinations and then had to wait for the results; they spent their free time in some other hobby. In Srinagar, many youths were almost addicted to watching theatre. Many of the actors and other artists associated with the stage used to sell the tickets of their seniors so that they could find occasion to learn more about stage. Ashok Jailakhani’s team, namely, Vasant Theatre, urged the college and university students, and even the passers-by to watch their shows.They had to work quite strenuously for this.

The Jammu and Kashmir Cultural Academy had started registering all the clubs and literary centres so that they could be developed further; Vasant Theatre too was a registered club. The Academy paid some nancial assistance to all the clubs for facilitating purchase of various costumes and equipment. This assistance certainly helped the clubs. However, in order to pay the rent for the room in Dar Building, the members of Vasant Theatre made contributions out of the their own pockets. Sangarmal, Natrang, Abhinava Bharti, Alankar and some more clubs were housed in Dar Building. With the onset of evening, the building became a busy centre of activities as all assembled there. There was hardly any room that was not busy with one or the other rehearsal, and thus many boys and girls met there. The happiest thing about this centre was that Muslim boys and girls, too, had joined the theatre groups. Experienced writers and playwrights like Sajood Sailani and Ali Mohammad Lone were also associated with this activity and their plays were being staged. However, all this was made possible only when Ashok Jailkhani augmented a revolutionary change in staging plays.

After completing his training in Television Production in Delhi, he went to Mumbai along with his friends. Among his associates Ravi Bhushan Mishra was much in influenced by Ashok Jailkhani. This friend invited him to visit Mumbai. He had a good clout in the lm industry of Mumbai, and he was sure that once Ashok gets a break in the industry, he would achieve much success. Ashok was introduced to some successful lm directors and actors by Mishra. Eventually he even got an offer from a lm director provided that he gave up his government service. This decision was not possible for Ashok Jailkhani unless he got permission from his parents. And on his return he actually placed the idea before, his parents, but Kuntiji, Ashok’s mother told him bluntly that she would never allow him to be away from her eyes. ‘Television is a new medium, and may be you get more success in it than films. You cannot leave Kashmir.” All fell silent with this verdict.Ashok, his mother’s loyal son, silently joined his duties at the television centre.

Among the plays he had procured from Delhi, he read Badal Sircar’s Evam Indrajit more intently. He felt a strange restlessness for the reason that the play actually suited the political changes taking place in Kashmir. In the month of November 1974, ParthaSarthi and Afzal Beig signed an accord between Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister, and Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah; the accord is now known as Delhi Accord. The basis of the Accord was in fact in the historical defeat of Pakistan in the war launched by Pakistan on December 3, 1972. With the death of Sadiq Sahib on December 3, 1972, Qasim Sahib was appointed as the Chief Minister of the state. But under the Delhi Accord, power was handed over to Shaikh Sahib.

Before staging ‘Evam Indrajit’, no such play had been ever staged in Srinagar. It worked as a sort of announcement of Youth Revolution. After Kashmir-Delhi Accord, Sheikh Sahib became the Chief Minister of the state, people felt satis ed that their future life would be free from turmoil. A fresh hope of peace and prosperity was seen in everybody’s mind. The episode, among other things, provided the people with an opportunity to show serious interest in various cultural activities. The Cultural Academy increased its functioning to develop Kashmiri culture and culture of other regions of the state. Radio Kashmir and Song and Drama Division extended their activities to every district and every village. Thus the avenues of expression were available to the artists who were hidden among the common masses. As a result of this, Badgam, Anantnag, Tral, Sopore, Baramullah, and other towns produced many artists who achieved considerable popularity by participating in radio programmes. Thus a new atmosphere, marked by fervent cultural activities was seen in every direction. The newly founded Television Centre also proved a great impetus to such activities. Staging the play ‘Evam Indrajit’ proved an epoch-making event. The performance was watched by some members of "National School of Drama" of Delhi who were in Kashmir. They were in Kashmir in connection with some training camp, and were imparting training to Kashmiri boys and girls for a fortnight. Being very happy with the presentation of ‘Evam Indrajit’, they informed their students about the success of the show. They told them how newly inspired and newly trained young people of Kashmir were giving new life to theatre. A young actor, namely Virender Razdan, who belonged to Kashmir was present there in the NSD. Having heard the appreciation from his teachers, he felt proud; he later came to Kashmir and met Ashok Jailkhani, and congratulated him for his success. Virender Razdan also achieved remarkable fame for displaying his talent later in both theatre and cinema.

The second or third show of the play ‘Evam Indrajit’ was also watched by an established theatre personality M.K.Raina. He had already occupied the headlines of many newspapers for his outstanding performances, and much like other students of NSD particularly Nasir-ud Din Shah and Om Puri, he too was known for his success. We can understand how deeply was Mr. Raina inspired by stage- performance of ‘Evam Indrajit’ by the following incident: M.K.Raina had come to Srinagar so that he could carry his precious collection of books, which included important books in literature and dramaturgy, from his ancestral house in Srinagar to his Delhi residence.However, when he watched Ashok Jailkhani’s drama, a new idea occurred to him; the two were not having any formal introduction, yet they knew each other quite closely. As soon as Ashok Jailkhani knew that M.K.Raina wanted to meet him, he was thrilled. The latter had already moved from Kashmir to Delhi and had achieved national recognition for his contribution to theatre. In the meeting between the two, many aspects of theatre and contemporary situation were discussed in the meeting. Ashok Jailkhani observed that M.K. Raina was carrying a huge bag lled with manuscripts and books.Ashok thought that M.K. Raina might be carrying these books to his residence in Delhi. But when the meeting was about to conclude, M.K. Raina said quite thoughtfully to Ashok Jailkhani, “I intended carrying all these books from my Srinagar house to my Delhi residence, but when I saw your show yesterday, I came to understand that the books could be more purposeful here rather in Delhi. Would you please accept the books as a gift? You know there is a particular purpose attached to these books.”

Ashok Jailkhani felt as if he was being offered a treasure full of gems and pearls. He thought that he was being persuaded that it was now his responsibility to make the best use of that wealth in the interest of the art. His mind was full of rapture and pleasure, he bowed his forehead in admiration to his elder. Thus he accepted the gift with heartfelt gratitude. This episode gave a great lesson to Ashok Jailkhani which he never forgot in his future life: the lesson was that knowledge has meaning only when it is doled out to others, only then does it enrich further. There has been a long tradition of imbibing influence and inspiration by the young from the old in Kashmir. The tradition has strengthened our social commitment and social responsibilities. The people working on the stage still follow the tradition with full dedication, they respect it and it makes them different from selfish individualism of today. Egoistic individualism makes one push out others and thus pave path for oneself. On the contrary social commitment makes us find our interests in the interests of others; people with social commitment shoulder the onus of easing ways of all and making the future of others shine. When most of the people are being benefitted by the contribution of the committed people, but there are certainly many who try to usurp the rights of the majority; it is this tendency that creates cynicism and unrest in the world. In contemporary times we see it happening all around us.

The successful staging of “Evam Indrajit” and availability of modern techniques gave Ashok Jailkhani recognition and his talent as a gifted artist was widely acclaimed in his youthful age. The merit of this drama was that it was for the first time on the stage of Tagore Hall that the effects of light, sound and coordination of actors was used in such a way that in two hour long presentation the curtain was drawn just once. A more significant quality of the presentation was that the audiences were so much under the influence of the proper use of light, sound and action that they could hardly feel that the sets were not being changed. A young actress in the play performed so brilliantly that she was recognised as one of the most talented artists of Kashmir. Her name is Bharti Zaroo and is admired by the elite class as well as the common audience. It was her first performance in a Hindi play. She and her sister, Asha Zaroo, have won wide popularity both as stage, radio and television actresses. Asha Zaroo is now working with Song and Drama Division, while Bharti is a freelancer. Both the sisters are full of admiration for Ashok Jailkhani. During a chat, Bharti said, “I almost worship this man for his exceptional talent, temperament and innate genius. He has been our most loving and affectionate companion. One can learn respect for women from him. The girls always felt safe in his company, and the way he strengthened the self-confidence among them helped them work independently with full aplomb. He never got irritated even if we teased him or made irking comments about him. It was because of him that girls fervently worked in the theatre and also handled many responsibilities in addition to their acting. Our room was in the topmost floor of Dar Building. It was there that every evening we lit our kerosene stove and made tea for all. All cherished tea in the accompaniment of fried and spiced lotus stalk nuggets, called nadiri monji in Kashmiri. 

The artists had to fetch water for tea from the ground floor, four floors down. Each actor fetched a bucket of water everyday by turns so that we could wash the cups and the utensils. But the girls were exempted from this errand. All boys did this duty without any hesitation. Even Ashok Jailkhani who was now our group leader, a highly talented artist and moreover an officer, performed this routine job. All were treated equal, and worked joyfully in perfect cooperation. All understood their duties, rights, and responsibilities. During working hours Ashok Jailkhani would suddenly change into a strict and austere person and never showed any kind of leniency to anyone. Strict discipline was the first principle of his work and he was never ready for any compromise in this. He often repeated this famous saying of Mao Ze Dung ‘Don’t mix pleasure with the business!”And when the work was over and all the girls left, they opened their bottles and enjoyed their drinks. Whatever was done in the homes of the middle class families behind the curtains, was permissible in our centre. We felt much curious to see what the men-folk of our Centre did in our absence. And one day we deliberately left something in the theatre room and came back to get it, I was amazed to see that whole building was empty of people; it was all hush there. All the rooms were found locked from outside. After inquiring about the guys from the backer in the neighbourhood, I came to know that all had gone to watch some movie in the cinema. I felt very sorry. The next day I came to know that all of them had gone to watch a movie ‘Papillon’ All very crazy about Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen, and this was a film about freedom of the individual that we heartily desired. I have learned so much from him that I am ready anytime to sacrifice my life a thousand times for him...”. During this chat with Bhartji I knew that she was holding the memory of those moments and events as the most precious part of her life. Her eyes were sparkling with tears. When I asked about the reason, she said, “I think all those joyful days are sunk in the abyss of oblivion. Or perhaps we have turned old, or it may be that being forced to quit Kashmir we have such a feeling.”

Darkness dispels with the coming of light and one is able to see the world vividly. Nevertheless, there are some who think that their betterment lies in keeping others in the dark. They never wish that the world of hard facts that is visible in broad daylight is revealed to others; thus such people make the world a veritable hell for all.

No one could even have a remote idea that all the activities of life, colour, forms and passions and evil were being driven to the periphery. There were forces that surreptitiously remained engaged in eroding the earth under our feet. However those who are endowed with vision can always foresee the coming events. We were feeling and assessing the ferocity of the enclosing gloom.

Sohan Lal Koul was doing his M.A. in Urdu in the University. He was an extremely bright, hardworking and intelligent boy, and the Urdu Department of the University prided in having such a bright student. The pretty-faced young man, nobody knows why, did not shave his face. Thick black hair, bright face, charming form and gait an average height, characterised his personality. Having watched “Evam Indrajit” he became such an ardent admirer of Ashok Jailkhani that he used to keep waiting on the Residency Road to have a glimpse of him. But he could not muster his courage to have a handshake with him or exchange a word. He felt that no ordinary conversation was suitable to have an introduction with his idol. He desired to share many things with him, but having no introduction, it was not possible. One full year elapsed like that. Ashok Jailkhani got his promotion and he was now a Producer. In view of the fame of Ashok Jailkhani as an actor in dramas, the Station Director of that time Shailender Shankerallotted him the drama section, which was a challenging job. The job of organizing and producing television dramas is generally assigned to the most experienced and talented director. All raised their fingers on the decision of the Station Director for having appointed a young and inexperienced person. Some employees of the Centre in fact started passing their gibes. However, Ashok Jailkhani took this order as an opportunity to put into practice his experience in the theatre and his knowledge that he had gained during his training in Delhi.

CHAPTER 14
NEW HORIZONS
Hari Krishen Koul is one of the established short story writers in Hindi and Kashmiri; many of his radio plays were much popular among the masses. His name was quite known at the national level as his stories were published in the leading journals. He was a college professor. He enlivened his writings with light humour and satire. Thus Ashok decided to adapt one of his plays for television; the play was titled ‘Dastaar’(the turban). First TV form was tremendously popular. In the cast of the play there was an exceptionally pretty, charming, young girl also- Rita Jalali, who later emerged as one of the most experienced actor in radio, television as well as stage; she dominated the media for over a decade. The girl was known by each and every Kashmiri but with a strange name, that is “Ram  Lagay Chaanyi leelayi” which was initially suggested by a television employee after seeing the show. The name suited mob-psychology of the masses. In the play an elderly employee working in some of office, seeing this girl as a young stenographer in the office dreams to be youthful again. He soon removes the turban from his head and dyes his sparsely hair left on his head. He tries all possible ways to look young and also assumes arrogance of a senior officer in the office; he does all this only to impress the girl. The girl comprehends this strange behaviour of the officer and finds it easy to befool him. With the help of two young employees working in the same office she one day exposes him. The play was thus a hilarious kind of comedy. The audiences also admired the show for an artistic and creative merger of acting, shorts and scenes, background music and skilful sound effects. After watching the play in the evening, there was extensive discussion almost in all the families of Kashmir. The principal actors in the play were Hradaynath Gurtoo, (as the elderly of cer) Tej Tikoo Ashok Zalpuri (clerk) and Reeta Jalali (as stenographer); all of them became stars overnight. The people talked about the play in every house, every street, and market for months together; the pet phrase, “Rami Lagay Chaanyi leelayi” uttered by Gurtoo Sahib (the elderly employee) became a pet phrase of every Kashmiri. In reality whenever Gurtoo saw Reeta in any play, she was welcomed by the same name: “Rami Lagay Chaanyi leelayi” and then when she was not with them in the scene, the same phrase was repeated and thus became a ‘Punch Word’. The audience also called her by the same phrase “Rami Lagay Chaanyi leelayi” and urged Gurtoo Sahib that he should again raise his hands up look towards the sky and say “Rami Lagay Chaanyi leelayi” meaning O Rama I lay my life as sacrifice for your doings!

The success of the play established Ashok Jailkhani as an efficient director. Those who called him a ‘Gimmick Master’ after seeing his stage dramas, and said that stage is not a place to surprise the audience, were now in agreement that there was some extraordinary merit in this person. ...This was the quality that was attracting the university student of Urdu literature, namely Sohan Lal. His mind too grew restless to do something like that. In order to fulfil his desire, he decided to visit the television station and meet his idol there. Whenever the University bus crossed Zero Bridge, it stopped and Sohan Lal crossed the fence of Doordarshan Kendra and reached the door of Ashok Jailkhani’s office room. He repeated this act as a ritual on daily basis. He would remove a corner of the door curtain, peep into the room and then leave. He would find Ashok busy either with some script, or engaged in a rehearsal with other artists. Thus without revealing his desire, he would leave the place. Ashok somehow came to know that this young man pays visit to his office almost daily, has a glimpse of him and leaves. ‘There must be some secret in this action of the young man.’ He thought.

One day Ashok was standing along with his friends and artists on the Residency Road, he all of a sudden noticed that Sohan Lal was standing on the opposite side of the road. He gestured to him with his hand to come near.
“I think I have seen you at Doordarshan several times. What do you do?” Ashok asked the young man.
“I am a student. My name is Sohan Lal Koul. I want to meet you.” Without wasting any time Sohan Lal replied.
“Of course you can. What stops you? You come to my office and then talk to me. What is your qualification?”
“I am doing my M.A. in Urdu at the University.” Sohan Lal replied.
Ashok said to him, “You come to see me between four and five o’clock there. If you have written something, get it along.”
Sohan Lal with a brightened face, could hardly believe that it was so easy to meet him.
In fact about one year before this incident, Sohan Lal had written a play, ‘Gradh’ in Kashmiri, which means a vulture. He got the play along and entered Ashok’s office. He handed over the play to Ashok and left. For over a month there was no word from Ashok Jailkhani. Many strange questions appeared in Sohan Lal’s mind: it might be that he did not like the play and thus there is no response. Or it might be that he did not find time to go through the play. There might be many scripts written by established writers in queue. And then I do not have the claim to go to his office and inquire about the script. I would surely tell him that he would make more attempts to write. Sohan Lal argued with himself.

It was after a month or so that Sohan Lal by coincidence happened to meet Ashok Jailkhani near the KMD Bus Stand. The bus stand used to be behind Lal Chowk on the road leading to Budshah Bridge. While coming down from the University bus, Sohan Lal chanced to see Ashok Jailkhani who was having a chat with his friend while enjoying long puffs of cigarette. In the meantime, Ashok Jailkhani also saw him there. He gestured with the sign of his hand to him to come near him. After a brief hand shake he told him that he read his script. Then he discussed each and every aspect of the script with Sohan Lal. The latter was flabbergasted that Ashok Jailkhani read scripts so minutely and critically. After this incident, the two developed close relation and even friendship. Sohan Lal was astounded to see brilliant acting of Ashok Jailkhani on the stage. Sohan Lal was in the hall along with his Univerity friends to watch a show of “Panchi Aise Aate Hain” (Birds arrive like this).There was a long soliloquy in the play that revealed the narrative so beautifully that all the spectators in the hall were spell bound. The play was directed by Ashok Jailkhani and he did the main role. The next day the performance was not only discussed by the spectators, but was applauded in all the major newspapers of the time. There was hardly any spot left in India Coffee House where the same play was not discussed. Sohan Lal Koul,accompanied by his friends, was there in the Coffee House and looked amazed to see this popularity of the show. He was deeply inspired by the acting as well as direction of Ashok Jailkhani. All admired the admirable work of the group. It shall not be out of place to mention here that the majority of the audience was that of Muslim boys and girls. A Muslim actress had performed brilliantly in the play. ... At the level of political life of the Jammu and Kashmir, there was feel of tranquillity. Soon after becoming the Chief Minister of the State, Shaikh Sahib had passed the ordinance that all the land owners who did not manage their land were dispossessed of their estates. Thus all the remaining Hindu land-owners lost the right of their land property and the land became the property of those who tilled it; all of them were Muslims. In Jammu, the government established Jammu University and a supper-fast train was started between Jammu and Mumbai. Jammu that was relatively under-developed till then started developing fast. Abhinav Theatre was established in Jammu under the auspices of Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages. This created a lot of enthusiasm among the artists of Jammu region. The theatre fully equipped with modern equipments of sound and light. TheAcademy started separate drama festivals there. This certainly augmented a new era of theatre in Jammu. Sheikh Sahib made the emoluments of the state government employees equal to that of the Central government employees, and equalising DA also equal was on the anvil.However soon after the emergency Indira Gandhi lost in the elections and Morarji Desai, the leader of the Janta Party, was elected as the Prime Minister. This major change had its impact on the political situation in Kashmir. The Congress that had agreed to the accord, seemed to be isolated in the State.The workers of the Congress who had enjoyed power for 20-25 years were getting distanced from the masses.

The activists of National Congress were seeking chance to avenge their wrath on the activists of National Conference. The Congress workers hailing from the poorer classes, whose livelihood depended on the Congress, were feeling destitute. National Conference workers did not consider even marital relations with the Muslim workers of Congress. Congressmen Muslims were now anxious about seeking good matches for their sons and daughters so that they could regain their social domination.
The Congress was deprived of power in Delhi, and as such were deprived of their status in the political system of the State. The Congressmen then started getting inclined towards the Jamaat-e-Islami; they developed close liaises with the workers of the Jamaat; one major section of the Congress actually changed into the Jamaat. This fraction started new intrigues in the political scenario of Kashmir.

There was a sudden increase in the literary and cultural activities that were aimed at developing the regional languages; numerous articles were published and broadcast on this issue and a debate was initiated. A fresh discussion ensued on the centuries’ old cultural heritage of Kashmir.
On June 30, 1977, National Conference won the state elections with absolute majority. This pushed the Congress to the margin. In the same year on June 25, Morarji Desai paid his first visit to Srinagar. On October 7, 1978, the president of the World Bank, Robert McNamara came to Srinagar. The world was made to believe that the accession of Jammu Kashmir with India was absolute and there was no scope of questioning this decision.

In the meantime delegations of folk artists, musicians and singers of the valley were sent to various countries of the world, and performed in various capital cities. Song and Drama Division, Radio, Doordarshan and the state government Cultural Academy and the information department made a coordinated effort to develop the arts of Jammu and Kashmir. In Srinagar, women, children, elderly people and particularly the youth started enjoying their time in wandering in a carefree mood. The songs sung by popular singers broadcast from Radio became an integral part of the life of the masses. Among the singers of the younger generation, Vijay Malla, Ghulam Nabi Sheikh, Rahmatullah Khan, Shamima Dev (who became Shamima Azad) Kailash Mehra, Arti Tikkoo achieved resounding popularity; new voices accompanied by modern music created an atmosphere of jubilation. The artists gave voice to a distinct identity and distinct cultural legacy of Kashmir. The songs were given immortal tunes by the talented music personality like Bhajan Sopori. Bhajan Sopori is now known not only in India but throughout the world and is considered one of the most eminent musicians. Nasaraullah Khan, Virender Mohan too have their unforgettable contribution to this resurgence of music.

Many of their musical shows were organised in Tagore Hall and Abhinav Theatre. They also appeared in various TV shows and achieved tremendous popularity among the masses. It was in this period of rebirth of fine arts that our drama too was getting a new life and had transgressed the limitations of language. On the one hand Piare Raina adapted manyEnglish, Russian, French plays in Hindi as well as Kashmiri, and on the other hand Ashok Jailkhani brought several Bengali, Oriya, Kannada, Hindi and Marathi plays for the stage. The social and cultural condition of Kashmir was thus revealed to the rest of the world through drama. It makes it further significant that that the younger generation of Kashmir was coming out of the narrow confinements and trying to have a contact with the whole of the world. In augmenting this strife Ashok Jailkhani played a significant role. But all this was possible only when there was a mature audience already present in Kashmir. This section of society was basically more inclined towards literature and was quite familiar with realistic writings. The audience as well as the performers were deeply conscious of the ways of overcoming the obstacles in poetic depiction. In this direction Ashok Jailkhani possessed the best competence. He always kept in mind that he has to keep the interest of the audience steadfast throughout the performances and he knew all the elements entailed for this. He most of the times changed lengthy and boring dialogues, and frigid narration.

Sohan Lal Koul who was a student of Urdu literature but possessed an ardent passion for drama; he therefore, studied many English, Hindi, and Marathi plays. He was well acquainted with the writings of the best story writers of the world. He wrote a number of plays subsequently which were approved by Ashok Jailkhani and produced by him for Doordarshan. He also wrote a play in Urdu titled ‘Rahen’ (paths) which was directed by him for Doordarshan and Ashok Jailkhani played the main role in that play. The play was a hit. Sohan Lal Koul had by now got a job in Doordarshan for which Ashok had motivated and helped him. However,Sohan Lal says “I should not have worked in Doordarshan. I had my doctorate degree in Urdu, and as such I ruined my career there.”
This comment of Sohan Lal Koul is much saddening, yet it might be a truth which Ashok Jailkhani made him feel. If we judge his position at the surface, we are made to believe that all is going well. But Ashok Jailkhani would never have expressed this opinion without having his personal experience. When creative talent is made subservient to rule- oriented bureaucracy, the artist is bound to feel suffocated.

He often fails to make his officer understand the creative demands of his creative urge. The of cial point of view of the officers too encroaches upon the freedom of creativity. The talent remains wrangling with the complicacies of the rules of the administration. There is hardly any moment when Ashok let the administrative exigencies become hurdles in his creative activity, but once the bureaucratic noose tightens around ones neck there is no freedom. One has no choice but to do what one is ordered to do. It shall not be impertinent to say here that a very talented director Bashir Badgami produced an unparalleled television lm “Habba Khatoon” in Kashmiri, but this success made him suffer many repercussions.

While Indira Gandhi was losing her popularity during the Emergency, she had to force all official media for the propagation of the policies of the Congress. Once a news feed came from New Delhi to Srinagar and it was ordered that the feed be included in the evening news bulletin. When the feed was previewed it was found that Congress workers were listening to Indira Gandhi’s lecture. It is generally the rue that there is resounding clapping after the slogan “Jai Hind”. But it was found in the news feed that Indira Gandhi utters “Jai Hind” and people show no response, and when she completes her speech, people do not even clap. On the outer case of the tape which had come from Delhi, Ashok Jailkhani found a slip glued to it and it was written on the slip: “Please, add clapping at the end of the speech.” It was obvious that during that time people were not happy with the policies of Shrimati Gandhi and yet the government controlled media was ordered to create an artificial ‘popularity’ for the leader.

Another incident is connected with the ‘Lion’ of the valley. Sheri Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah arrived at Srinagar studio to address the people. It was perhaps in connection with1978-elections. His address to the people was recorded. He left along with his staff after the recording. Ashok Jailkhani found that Sheikh Sahib had forgotten his spectacles on the dais He showed the spectacles to his staff, who started kissing the spectacles. And some of them even said to him that he should not return it to the leader so that it will remains a priceless relic with him.This was the charisma of Sheikh Sahib then. There are not many who agree with the opinion of the subordinates. But Ashok Jailkhani had not learnt the habit of opposing anyone. His values and education were altogether different from others. He always believed in showing respect to his seniors and love his juniors. He never thought it during his career that he is adept in dramas and as such should always make drama in actual life too. He was assigned the responsibilities of a programme executive. Whatever the programme was, he had to execute it to the best of his ability. He believed that he has to be truthful whether he made a drama, produce a music programmes, or programmes about games, children, reply to the letters and the rest, as he produced all kinds of programmes for television.
There were many who were jealous of his success and it was this jealousy of people around him that once put him in a major trouble. There was an actress, who was in no ways comparable with him in terms of personality and recognition. She complained to the Director of Doordarshan that Ashok passed some obscene remarks about her and used rude language with her. This statement of that lady was not believable. The Director silently listened to her complaint and decided to explore the basis of it. He made no mention of this complaint either to Ashok Jailkhani or any other person but at the same time he advised the lady artist not to mention this to anybody else. The lady was basically instigated by some disgruntled actors and had been given the promise of some bene t by them. They were unhappy with Ashok as he did not book them for any programmes. Ashok Jailkhani knew nothing about the whole episode. One day he received script of a play for which he thought that the same female artist would t as the main lead. He summoned that actress for this role. Later while playing this role the lady understood the real nature of Ashok and revealed to him the whole conspiracy of those disgruntled actors. She even touched Ashok’s feet and begged for forgiveness. It was then that Ashok came to know of the whole conspiracy and was surprised to realise that even the station director had not mentioned to him anything about it. The female artist was Shrimati Prana Shangloo. The director of the station in the meantime had also inquired in the matter and had found out that the whole complaint was false. The director later wanted Ashok to blacklist all those disgruntled artists who were a part of this conspiracy but Ashok Jailkhani pleaded with the director for forgiveness on their behalf.

According to Sohan Lal Koul’s point of view this trait of Ashok Jailkhani is a faw in his personality. He says that he is gentle to the extent of reproach. He never stops anyone and silently bears the harm done by others. Consequently many of his creative faculties lie suppressed.
Another well known actor of the state Romi Sharma says “The field of acting and silver screen is bigger than action, full of virtual heroes and phoney characters. And finding a real hero with firm grounding and unblemished character is rear. However I was really fortunate to meet him (Ashok Jailkhani Sir) for a short span of time – but that short period left unfathomable effect on me. This great person is alma of direction, acting and what not- an institution in himself. He is a thorough professional who nurtures and protects new talent; he is a bacon of inspiration- and such a gem of a person. God bless him always. Looking forward to meet him again and again in my life.”

A gazetted officer of the Central Government, very handsome with huge fame at the age of 24 or so, one can understand how many families might have approached his parents with marriage proposals. The girls who did not succeed in Doordarshan used to blame every other actor and actress for their moral laxity. It was natural that many a girls after seeing Ashok Jailkhani would aspire to get married and tales would start getting fabricated. But Ashok Jailkhani loved nothing but television and theatre, and was in a sense inalienably wedded to his work.He never payed any attention to such things. His family would also inform all those who would come with proposals that their son was not ready for marriage. In the meantime there was a certain girl who was resolute in her decision that come what may she would make this Vishvamitra of the time renounce his celibacy. She developed intimacy with his family and succeeded in winning faith of his parents and his uncle. Then she started developing nearness with Ashok Jailkhani. She visited various temples and prayed there for the fulfilment of her wish. She had inwardly accepted Ashok Jailkhani as her husband, but the latter did not encourage her. Then she approached a famous Pir Baba who belonged to Shangas Village of Anantnag. After a short stay there, she inwardly questioned the Pir Baba if her marriage with Ashok Jailkhani was possible. The Pir Baba generally did not answers any question of his devotees and used nonsensical words and his devotees would derive some answer to their questions out of that waf e. But he directly said to that girl, “Never let this thought enter your mind. Have you ever seen a lion getting married to a cat?” On hearing this, the girl tremor with fear and felt as if she was plundered of all her possessions. She was overwhelmed with amazement and dejection. She thought that she should not have visited that place. She should not have revealed her inmost desire to anyone. She could rather directly approach Ashok Jailkhani. She was sure that it was impossible to persuade him after that incident. She cursed her wisdom and destiny and forced her mind to give up her desire for Ashok. On knowing about this dejected emotion of that girl, Ashok felt very sad. He had never thought that the girl intended to get married to him. He might have distanced himself from her as he did with many other girls. After that incident Ashok started being more careful in his relations with girls. He never wanted to hurt the sentiments of any girl. But it was not entirely within his conscious control. Almost every girl associated with stage and the screen and working under his direction considered him closest to her. And perhaps there were some girls who loved him exceedingly.
Wherever we find youth and beauty, love is a natural emotion. However, Ashok quite fastidiously restricted this type of emotion to propriety and values. He never deceived anybody nor used any kind of caprice against anyone. He never let any immorality taint his simple and honest life.
This is perhaps the reason that all women artists even today mention his name with utmost respect and veneration. There is no measure of his piousness and humanism and all those who have worked with him adore him as their icon. They always look at him with some hope in their eyes.
Theatre not only gave Ashok Jailkhani a disciplined life- style, but also gave him some addiction for alcohol, and in taking alcohol he never showed any control. When it was five in the evening, he grew restless and he spent the rest of the evening hours in some pub where the friends met and drowned themselves in inebriation and talked about all manner of things of the world. Even after doing all this, he showed an amazing demeanour that he could easily, at his will, live without touching the bottle. He never let himself become a slave of his addiction. One might learn self-control from Ashok Jailkhani!

I met Ashok Jailkhani for the rst time during a programme of Doordarshan. I was asked to do on-screen live narration of a documentary; Ashok Jailkhani was a Floor Manager at that time. I simply admired the beautiful young man who was directing on the floor. He made me comfortable and explained his method of direction. Although I had already anchored such programmes, but he was simply performing his duty. When the programme was over, we shook hands, and then I received a cheque of fity rupees and came out of the duty room. It was at that time that he came near me and asked me my name, and thus I introduced myself to him. In the duty room Mr. Piyare Raina was present at that time; he eventually added his appreciation of my work to my introduction. The producer of the programme even offered me the chance to continue with that programme and make it a weekly event. I was thrilled. I had in fact come to Srinagar to continue my post-graduation in the University. In order to meet my daily expenses I used to do some or the other kind of work in both the Radio and the Television. It was however my heartfelt desire to work as actor in dramas.
While my studies in the University I somehow came to know about the dramas presented in Tagore Hall. In the meantime Mr Piyare Raina invited me to join his dramatic club called Sangarmal. The club was being looked after by a NSD pass out young man, named Chandershekher who had done his diploma in drama. I thought it my good luck that I had got the opportunity of working with Chandershekher.

Sometime before that incident Shri Motilal Kemu had advised me to join drama institute, but because of some of my domestic worries I could not do so. I had to join my M.A. in 1973, and it was because of those worries that I joined the M.A. one year late. My intention was to establish myself as an actor and then work in Radio and Television. I also participated in various musical and literary programmes.

In order to work in dramas, I took rehearsal of a drama directed by Chandershekhar. Being from the countryside, we resided in a rented room; some of my friends were also with me there. When I was late in reaching to my rented room because of my participation in the rehearsals, they got annoyed. ‘If all are late, who is there to cook for us?’ They shouted. In spite of all these hardships when it took me several months to complete the rehearsals, and even then drama could not be staged, I started altercating with Chandershekhar. The fact is that Chandershekhar was less interested in the rehearsal but was more interested in watching a girl of the neighbourhood through the window of the rehearsal room; he finally got married to that girl. Even before that a strange incident took place. While we were busy with the rehearsal, Ashok Jailkhani, Zafrani, and Kulbhushan Wantoo entered our room. The stayed there for a while and then left. Before they left, Ashok Zafrani asked me to come to the room of Vasant Theatre that was in the upper oor of the building. When they were gone, Chandershekhar was furious with anger and prohibited me from going there. But that did not stop me from going there. They were busy with the rehearsal of ‘Pagla Ghoda’ play I went in and Ashok Zafrani told me that he knew all my teachers and that he had completed his M.A.in Hindi. This gladdened me. “Are you willing to take a role?”
“But I am already doing one.” I replied,
“If that drama were ever to get completed it would have been completed till now. You are wasting your time there.” I thought that there was some substance in what Ashok Zafrani said. I, thus said ‘yes’ to him, and I was allotted the role of Kartik in the drama.

In the valley there was a circle of writers and poets, though small, who wrote in Hindi. All of them were teachers and students and at the same time doing creative work in Hindi. They made several attempts to establish a society of writers, and eventually succeeded. But most of those societies were short lived. I do not know why they could never keep united. If there was anything that really united them it was their participation in Radio and TV programmes. They visited the two stations to get their talks, plays, and other creative writings approved for inclusion in the programmes. This provided them with opportunity to meet one another. Whenever they met, they soon got involved in hot discussion on various aspects of literature. One day there was such a discussion on Ashok Jailkhani’s drama ‘Evam Indrajit” that was staged. A well-known writer of Kashmir was full of admiration for the drama. He could hardly believe his eyes that a young director of Kashmir could direct such a beautiful drama so efficiently. The writer was Shashishekhar Toshakhani. He passed on this information to another eminent Kashmiri writer, Hraday Koul Bharti. The latter was not ready to accept the idea that a young man of Kashmir could succeed in presenting “Evam Indrajit”on the stage. Yet Bhartiji went to see the drama in its second and third show; he was was ecstatic to have watched the show. Nevertheless, Bhartiji was not one to change his opinion so easily. ‘Okay, one attempt of this young man succeeded.’ He thought. But when Bhartiji saw many other stage dramas of that young director one after another, each better than earlier, he became his ‘fan’. He became his ‘fan’ to the extent of calling Ashok Jailkhani his younger brother. Hraday Koul Bharti is not only an outstanding short story writer and critic of the state, but also has a deep understanding of cinema and television. While residing in Delhi, he had thoroughly studied cinema and besides he worked in various forms of media like films division and radio. He considers Ashok Jailkhani a very ingenious stage-artist, and a very gifted TV producer, and a resourceful director. It is his conviction that once one enters the bureaucratic set up of television, creativity is relegated to a thing of the past birth. However, Pran Kishore is never ready to agree with this idea. Pranji has know Ashok Jailkhani since his early childhood. His son, Ajay, and Ashok Jailkhani were class-mates. They used to visit each others houses. Parnji says, “A plump, boy with large eyes, exceptionally bright, used to come to his house. Whenever, I happened to be there I felt happy.” Pranji, all of a sudden recounts a happening that occurred some fty or fty- ve years ago. Ashok, accompanied by Pranji’s son Ajay, came to his house for the rst time. Pranji remembers that there was an enthralling effect in the large and attractive eyes of that young handsome boy; that charm attracted all those who saw him. Ashok Jailkhani and Ajay studied in the same class of Biscoe Memorial School. Then Pranji watched the two friends grow into their youth; he always considers him his son. Whenever Pranji is requested to say something about Ashok Jailkhani, he says that although he treats Ashok like his son, yet both are associated with the same passion- theatre and lms. In this respect both of them are involved in the same enterprise; one enjoys the status of the Guru, and the other that of a disciple. The latter has achieved great success in theatre and television which is exceptionally admirable. Pranji says, “When I assess the personality and work of Ashok Jailkhani without any emotion or love, I immediately recall those days when he and my son Ajay collaborated in founding Vasant Theatre. It was the time when there were only two to four theatre groups in Srinagar city like Kalakendra, Rangmanch, and Nav Rang. It was in that scenario that Vasant Theatre started functioning under the direction of Ashok Jailkhani. Some other talented creative people of that period were Ashok Zafrani, Ashok Zalpuri, Tej Tikkoo and others.”

CHAPTER 15
KASHMIRI THEATRE FEDERATION
Pranji has supported our point of view that in the seventies and eighties lies the golden period of our theatre. This was the period when Kashmiri theatre thrived in every village and town. Thus the period gave new life to theatre. Not only were various selected dramas of other regional languages staged in Srinagar, but, being inspired by these drama, many original Kashmiri dramas were written and staged; all this led to a new revolution to theatre. Ashok Jailkhani played a vital and signi cant role in this theatre revolution. He gave a new direction to the art of theatre. A very beautiful characteristic of his directed plays was discovered by Pran Kishore in 1971 for the rst time when he found time to watch a show of Lalit Sehgal’s Hindi drama, titled “Hatya ek akar ki” (A Murder of a image). Pranji says he watched the play quite minutely and analytically. He felt that the child who grew up to maturity before his eyes was certainly an eminent artist material. Thus the veteran dramatist Pranji resolved to watch all the plays directed by Ashok Jailkhani; there is hardly any one play that he might have watched.

Pranji says further he had watched some of the plays in original in Delhi and Kolkata. He had experienced that the treatment of Ashok Jailkhani to those very plays was in no way inferior to their original productions. Pranji’s opinion is that with the passage of time, the presentation of dramas

on stage under the direction of Ashok Jailkhani acquired more and more depth, variety and dimensions, the quality remained moving towards perfection with each attempt. Pranji was convinced that the seedling of experimentation in theatre that he had planted many years ago by taking theatre out of the traditional con nes, was ourishing in the hands of Ashok Jailkhani; this conviction gave Pranji great pleasure. The way Pranji describes his appreciation of the dramas of Ashok Jailkhani proves it beyond any doubt that those dramas left an indelible mark on the development of theatre in Kashmir. In this connection Pranji recollects the success of such plays of Ashok Jailkhani as: ‘Konark’ by J. C. Mathur, ‘ Evam Indrajit’ by Badal Sircar, ‘Kisi Ek Phool Ka Naam Lo’ by Madhu Rye, ‘Chinar’ by Ali Mohammad Lone, ‘Gidhade’ and ‘Panchi Aise Aate Hain’ by Vijay Tendulkar, ‘Saari Raat’ by Badal Sircar. ‘Surya Ki Antim Kiran’ by Surendra Verma, ‘Santola’ by Mudhura Rakhsas, and ‘Pagla Ghoda’ by Badal Sircar. All these plays as mentioned by Pranji were presented under the banner of Vasant Theatre and were directed by Ashok Jailkhani. One of the plays that is Surendra Verma’s ‘Surya Ki Antim KiranSeSurya Ki Pahli Kiran Tak’ was presented by Alankar Theatre as well.

In all these plays, Maharaj Shah also played a central role and he also assisted Ashok Jailkhani.
Pranji further expatiates on Ashok Jailkhani’s work: “In 1974, all the theatre repertories of Kashmir came closer to each other for the development of theatre and their collaboration resulted in the establishment of a federation, namely ‘Kashmir Theatre Federation’. It was under the auspices of this federation that many new dramas were made accessible to thousands of spectators, and introduced the significance of theatre activity in the transformation of society. The success of the Federation proved that if all the theatre activists and actors cooperate with each other they could work a revolution even without any official patronage.” In fact the federation worked under the efficient guidance of very creative directors and writers like Pran Kishore and thus such a platform was made available to the theatre workers as was acutely needed in Kashmir. The Federation organised drama festivals. Common people much eagerly waited for those festivals. It was in the very first festival that Badal Sircar’s play ‘Evam Indrajit’ directed by Ashok Jailkhani bagged the Best Play Award.

In this connection Pranji made a mention of a very important thing. He said that when he was in Kolkata in connection with feature lm ‘Mehjoor’ he saw that Badal Sircar’s play ‘Evam Indrajit’ was being staged in Bangla language there for about one year. The play was being staged under the supervision of its author Badal Sircar. Here in Kashmir Ashok Jailkhani was presenting the same drama in Hindi. Pranji’s mind was still not free from the influence of Bangla culture, and when he in the meantime found opportunity to watch Ashok Jailkhani’s presentation of the same play, he did not found it deficient in any aspect to what it was in Bangla. He was extremely happy that Ashok Jailkhani had ventured to direct a difficult play and succeeded in matching the original Bangla production.

In almost every festival of the above mentioned Federation, Ashok Jailkhani got an award every year. In 1975, he got the award for his direction of Madhu Rye’s play ‘Kisi Ek Phool Ka Naam Lo!’ 1n 1976, he got the award for his direction of Ali Mohammad Lone’s play ‘Chinar’.He received these awardsat the hands of the then Chief Ministers namely Syed Mir Qasim and Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.

CHAPTER 16
COMMON ROOF
Ashok Jailkhani gave successful direction not only to plays in Hindi, but also to Moti Lal Keemu’s Kashmiri play ‘Maangay’ which proved it abundantly that he possessed tremendous faculty of leading Kashmiri theatre to new horizons. Pranji, too, had provided him several opportunities of actingin radio dramas. But this journey remained short because it was during this period that he got appointed in Doordarshan. The most outstanding personality of radio drama, named Pran Kishore Koul, and sometimes fondly called Pranji, mentions an interesting event in this connection. After his long service in Radio, he got associated with the Mumbai lms and television. In Mumbai he wrote the scripts and screen plays of many popular TV serials like ‘Gul, Gulshan, Gulfam’, which was a tremendous success. In spite of Pranji’s busy schedule in this new enterprise, the relations and communication between him and Ashok Jailkhani never got effected. The veteran constantly watched the broadcasting journey of his younger contemporary. He says that he always keeps watch on all such young men who he saw growing and making some distinct and solid contribution to the society. Since Pranji is adept in writing for television and directing programmes for it, it was quite natural for him to be in contact with Ashok Jailkhani. But it was not just a professional connection, but also at the level of creativity and art that the two had an intimate liaises.

Pranji concedes that despite their being at different levels of age, his creative relationship with Ashok Jailkhani finally changed into friendship. The grasp that Ashok Jailkhani has over every aspect of the art of theatre, in all its forms, certificates his serious commitment to his art.Once a TV serial producer urged Pranji to adapt a lm script for a television serial. He tried his best to make him understand that the script was essentially meant for a lm and it was not proper to change this into a TV serial, but the writer was obstinate and got the work done. The writer finally approached Ashok Jailkhani. On his very cursory perusal of the serial he raised the objection that the script was meant for a feature lm, and it was not suitable for a TV serial. This incident shows how discerning Ashok Jailkhani is in various forms of media. There were many incidents and turns in his life when Ashok Jailkhani exhibited his sharp judgement and creative appreciation, and thus amazed his contemporaries.

Ashok Jailkhani’s theatre group included several boys and girls, and among all of them there was an exceptionally pretty and polite girl, her name was Raj Kiran. Before joining Vasant Theatre she had worked in a couple of productions of Sangarmal Theatre and then went to National School of Drama to do her graduation there; she is therefore the rst female NSD graduate of the valley. Soon after returning to Srinagar, some of her friends advised her to join Vasant Theatre. Yet some of her friends dissuaded her on the reason that she might not be able to cope up with the arrogant young man working there that was Ashok Jailkhani. Since Raj Kiran was quite away from the theatre scene of the valley, she could not judge for herself what was right for her; she really considered Ashok Jailkhani a conceited person. When she watched his production ‘Evam Indrajit’, she could not remain unaffected by Ashok Jailkhani’s talent. She grew much curious to know the person who was not only an admirable actor but had also proved himself as a very talented director. She saw that there was hardly anyone in the city who did not talk high of Ashok Jailkhani. There were many who talked about his merits, yet there were some who gossiped about his faults. Amidst this controversy, Raj Kiran was unable to have her own opinion about Ashok Jailkhani. “Perhaps Ashok Jailkhani too came to hear about me from some quarters.” Raj Kiran says. “Thus I started receiving messages from many guys who were working in his repertory. So I could no more stop myself; without bothering about the repercussions, I joined Vasant Theatre.” Raj Kiran is now in a foreign country. She mailed all the narrative of all the events to me, which reveal many interesting aspects of the personality of Ashok Jailkhani that how the great personality could inspire his contemporary youth.

Raj Kiran says that it was after long time that she showed her willingness to join Vasant Theatre. “The very rst play which I worked in was ‘Panchi Aise Aate Hain’, which proved to be a hit production. It was during that time that I happened to meet Ashok Jailkhani at the TV centre. I felt that Ashok Jailkhani was not among such persons as had no knowledge about oneself and the people around. He is extremely focussed and knows how to execute his work to its perfection. He has always a predetermined objective in his mind and in order to achieve that objective, he remains working steadfastly without any slackness. He discussed his programmes and proposals without any reservation and with complete commitment and always behaved as an experienced person; he explained every bit so minutely that one could easily assess his alacrity of mind and deep understanding. He expatiated upon every minute detail of every programme.”

Raj Kiran got opportunity to work in some of the TV programmes of Ashok Jailkhani and a Kashmiri serial. The title of that TV serial was ‘Harud’ (Autumn) which was the rst long TV serial in Kashmiri and has left an indelible imprint on the minds of the audience. Raj Kiran played the role of the protagonist woman Naila. She had been included in the cast by the writer of that serial, namely, Amin Shakir, but Ashok Jailkhani was not keen on casting her. Ashok Jailkhani thought that she had got her upbringing in a different social background, and moreover, she had spent much of her life away from the valley, it was not possible for her to perform the role of a Kashmiri Muslim lady. But his opinion was for the first time proved wrong by Raj Kiran. She performed the role so ably and efficiently that the character is still fresh in the memory of the masses. However, the brilliant success of Raj Kiran in the play was made possible by the support of Ashok Jailkhani, Amin Shakir and other actors in the play. All of them quickly made her understand what her role in the serial was and what the director of the serial expected from her. It has been a distinguishing feature of Ashok Jailkhani’s work that he let every actor, every technician, and all the members of the crew, even the spot boy feel that he or she is an integral component of the production and a significant member of the team. Once Raj Kiran was chosen for playing the role of Naila in the serial she never felt that Ashok Jailkhani had earlier objected to her selection. One day, because of some negligence on the part of Raj Kiran the whole shooting of the day was spoiled; Ashokji was not on the set on that day. The Assistant of Ashok Jailkhani could not stop Raj Kiran from making a mistake. When in the evening the preview was held, there was visible anger and perplexity on the face of Ashok Jailkhani. “What do you think of yourself? Do you know what a beautiful scene you have ruined and now we have to change this into slow motion? The reason is that you could not run as required nor could you evince the emotions through your facial gestures.” This denunciation made Raj Kiran dejected. She had become mother of a baby only some months ago and as such would get tired soon and lacked sufficient energy. Her attention was focussed mostly on the new-born baby, and she would bring her baby along to the set.Understanding her situation the director, cast and the crew were supportive of her. However, Kiran had to work harder to play the role assigned to her.

Kiran worked in many plays alongside Ashok Jailkhani, and was sometimes his co-star; the duo worked well. About this experience Kiran said, “We had not even done any rehearsal of the dialogue-lines until shooting, yet we never felt hampered on the set while we worked together. A wonderful chemistry worked in our mutual ventures. I feel pride that I have worked beside this priceless diamond of Kashmir in the eld of drama. And then I thought I was very near to him and knew it well that I had succeeded in understanding him, I mustered courage, and presented my project of a stage drama. He smiled and said, ‘You have to learn a lot as yet.’ Then he was again absorbed in his own work. Ashok Jailkhani is an artist who has brought television closer to theatre. He trained stage actors to work in television plays. Yet he made all understand the fundamental difference between the two media. This is the reason whenever any of the actors or actresses of his group was booked by any other group, he felt honoured. Nobody could find any kind of fault in the competence and art of any of his actors or actresses.”___The comments of Raj Kiran on Ashok Jailkhani’s personality and work convey a solid fact. Ashraf Shawl, Gul Javid, G.M.Wani, Prana Shangloo, Bharti Zaroo, Rita Jalali, Kamal Razdan, Vijay Dhar, AnilSingh, Shahnaz, Ashok Zalpuri, Ashok Zafrani, Idris Haider, Babloo, Tariq Javed, Parveen Akhter, Maharaj Shah, Mohan Shah, Ayash Arif, almost all of them are now established artists of Kashmir. All of them have their own productions to their credit, and have earned much name in their respective fields. If we make a complete list of these actors, that would need a separate book.

Raj Kiran is proud that when people looked down upon actors and actresses, and called them ‘Bhand’ to show their contempt for them, Ashok Jailkhani elevated this profession to such a height that people started respecting it. When girls were feeling shy of appearing on the stage, Piare Lal Raina, Makhan Lal Saraf and Ashok Jailkhani worked hard and and as a result of their constant strife, girls and women from very respected families showed their willingness to perform on the stage. Kiran remembers it distinctly that how the members of Vasant Theatre made contribution out of their pockets to keep its functioning going. She recalls the times when Kashmiri girls were not even allowed to work, and her wallet used to contain just a few coins or hardly a note. In order to tease her, Zafrani would empty her purse of those coins even, but Kiran never stopped him because all had to contribute something for their light refreshments. It was Ashok Jailkhani who asked others to return Kiran’s money to her; never was any girl compelled to contribute money for refreshments. She does not remember anytime Jailkhani Sahib had to climb down four stairs to fetch water from a tap installed in a dirty corner of the street. She always saw him decently dressed. He was the Director, and also an of cer, no one could dare to ask him to fetch water for tea. May be this did not happen when Raj Kiran joined the group. Ashok Jailkhani never felt any kind of hesitation in fetching a bucket of water from the ground floor when it was his turn; I have myself observed him doing this duty. It was the impact of his schooling perhaps. It was in Biscoe School that all were trained to show utmost honesty in work and students were educated to be self-dependent.

Recollecting one more incident, Raj Kiran says, “I got the role of mother in Anton Chekhov’s play ‘The SeaGull’.I was about to make certain suggestions, but Ashok Jailkhani was so much engrossed in the script, that he never listened to anybody. This remorse lurked in my mind for several days, but he never paid any attention to it.”

If one wants to know how to make one’s team work with full dedication, Ashok Jailkhani is an example. Actors, camera person, sound person, editing person and every person involved in the unit, is utilized to his or her best talent. When the work is finished, he would invariably arrange for a big feast that included liquor, meat, chicken and all manners of vegetables. Nobody knew how he could afford to have such a rich food. Raj Kiran always tried to persuade him that he should abstain from drinking, but he simply dismissed her with a smile. May be today he has an occasional feeling that liquor is not a very good thing. Ashok’s mind was very despondent about social injustice, and unrestrained exploitation. This was the reason that he enthusiastically extended his helping hand to all those from the lower classes who wanted to rise from depravity. During his busy schedule and up to now, he, despite holding a significant and a very high position in the bureaucracy, he maintained distance from traditional bureaucracy and red-tapism. He was always prompt in performing his duty and accordingly tried his best to get most out of all those who were associated with his work. But he is always keeping it in his mind here in this world all human being form a crowd. Each of them has his /her family, home, kith and kin and friends, and all are related to each other by the bonds of humanism. All live a collective life as well. The basic necessities of all are more or less the same. Domestic life, parents, and offsprings make this world, and the world fulfils the requirements of all. All people engaged in the world, in spite of their differences, come from the same fundamental stream, and each one of them finally meets his/her end. This kind of consciousness must have made Ashok Jailkhani to an extent believer in determinism. This might have been the reason that he at a stage of life had to face much perplexities when he got involved in the circle of a soothsayer. The incident is like this that the famous astrologer Raghunathji Kikloo had been much close to his family members. He happened to show his horoscope to him. The soothsaying astrologer perturbed him like any human being. May be the astrologer read the zodiac signs of his horoscope wrongly, and thus predicted his life and his career in jeopardy. It was Moti Lal Kharoo who had lead Ashok Jailkhani to that astrologer; Moti Lal Kharoo worked in Doordarshan Srinagar at that time. The time was around 1978-80 and Ashok was 23 or 24. After knowing this type of prognosis Ashok Jailkhani started quivering with a slight adverse gale of wind. It was just the beginning of his life.

During this trepidation Ashok Jailkhani’s friend and class mate, Pranji’s son, Ajay came to see him. During their casual conversation Ajay came to know his friend was put into a very disturbing state of mind by the topmost astrologer of the state. After knowing the secret of his friend’s anxiety, Ajay too for a moment grew much anxious; Kashmiri Brahmins are much prone to the infleuence of the astrologers, and believe in it to the extent of superstition. The knowledge is of course a part of our proud legacy, which has been greatly enriched by Khagolia Ganit. It was Khagolia Ganit who explored the impact of various zodiac signs, planets and constellations on the phenomena of the earth, and how they bring about changes. A picture of astrological facts could be framed for every individual, which is known as a horoscope or Janamkundali. With the passage of time many other forms of knowledge emerged from it. The legacy of knowledge of the actions and fate of human beings remained preserved through Brahmins. However, ignorance about the details of signs and circles gave birth to various illusions which influenced common man’s mind. We must give attention to the fact that, not to speak of the invention of Hobble Telescope, even an ordinary telescope was not there, our Khagol Shastris gave us much information about Shani, Mangala, Rahu, Ketu, Budh, Shukr and other planets and made conjectures about them; all those conjectures were later found true. If poets/ imagination is separated from this science, and kept free from superstition, this science shall be accepted as a fundamental and significant development of human knowledge.

Ajay made a correct assessment of Ashok Jailkhani’s mental state; he knew that he was fear-stricken. The prognosis of the astrologer had put him in dread. Ajay showed great prudence in dealing with the situation of his friend. If it had happened in modern time, one would make a lengthy lecture about superstition and leave. That would not solve his problem. Ajay knew a young boy who belonged to a learned Kashmiri Pandit family. He had profound interest in astrology. If the Moon can have impact on the tides of the ocean, if ... are transformed into electro-magnetic waves and sent through space, if the invisible is changed into visible forms, then there is nothing in this world that could be called the ultimate truth. This was the faith of this young astrologer, who was also named Ashok. After a couple of days, Ajay took Ashok Jailkhani to this young astrologer. Seeing his age and facial features, Ashok Jailkhani thought that it was incredible that the young man knew such a science. However, the astrologer had a sweeping perusal of his Janamkundali (horoscope) and said abruptly, “I think his sight has missed the purpose of your birth. The direction of Shani is to remain constant for the next seven years and shall continue providing you with great opportunities. Not even a hair of you is in danger. You watch and see this prediction of mine coming true only in a few months.”

Ashok Ganjoo- the young astrologer explained many complex facts of astrology to Ashok Jailkhani and also made him understand their effects, and thus he felt considerably consoled and the lacerating anxiety in his mind was dispelled. Ashok Jailkhani is seldom seen at the shrines, festival sites, and temples, in that way he is much different from general Kashmiri Pundits, nevertheless he believes in the existence of God. God also, in many amazing ways revealed His existence to Ashok Jailkhani in his lifetime. When we come to know about the miraculous happenings in his life, we are simply amazed. Whenever I reaected on God and His creation, I always felt that this sphere of knowledge is beyond my reason and understanding. If we try to understand God in historical perspective and also in relation to the cosmos, I am convinced that in this world there is actually some all-pervading power in its objective form, it is not so, as we generally tend to think or believe. Perhaps this is true that He is as big and as particle of a theist or atheist. When we are told by the saints that if a dumb person feels taste, who is there to explain Him. But when we behold bloody wars and large-scale bloodshed in the name of God, man’s soul begins to think that it is nothing but man’s fear that we call Ishwara.” Whether it is faith of a nite and helpless man in the existence of the In nite and all-powerful, Ashok Ganjoo succeeded in liberating Ashok Jailkhani’s mind from the dread. Thus this episode was the beginning of a lasting friendship between the two. Ashok Ganjoo was neither having anything to do with acting, nor was he having any relation with TV. He was unemployed and that too even after his marriage, he neverapproached Ashok Jailkhani for any kind of help, even if he intended to help him, Ashok Ganjoo refused to accept it. Thus the friendship between the two remained free from sel shness and timeliness. Whenever Ashok Jailkhani remembers this friend of his youth, his eyes sparkle with tears. This sel ess person who informed others about their future, died in his prime youth. But before leaving this world he showed many amazing feats. While living in Kashmir he made many predictions about Ashok Jailkhani and amazingly all the predictions proved true. And when Ashok Jailkhani left Kashmir, this friend of his reached Lucknow to see him there. It was a time when both of them had passed through very trying times. But then both were again living their lives quite pleasantly. Ashok Gnjoo had shifted to New Delhi where he had developed relation with a travel agency dealing with foreign tourists in a 5-star hotel, and he succeeded in developing his vast customers. The predictions that he had made about Ashok Jailkhani proved so true that there were many who were happy and respected him and also helped him financially. Then all started running smoothly for him: he had his own house at Delhi, he possessed a car and other comforts of life. He, however, never forgot the friend of his youth and in his search came to Lucknow to see him. One day an interesting episode happened, when Ashok Ganjoo was at Lucknow a local friend of Jailkhani Manjul came to see him. As soon as he saw Mr. Manjul, he introduced his friend to him. “Here is my friend Ashok Ganjoo, my bosom friend. He is the person about whom I have talked many a time. “Manjulji recollected and came forward and shook his hand with him. He told him that how Ashok Jailkhani always seeks some excuse to talk about him. Before Manjulji said something further, Ashok Ganjoo said, “Sir, the way you recite your secret ‘Mantara’, is not correct. First learn to do it perfectly.” On hearing these words, Manjulji was flabbergasted. “How does he know about my secret ‘Mantara’? This is a secret and very personal.” Thus from this incident onwards, Munjulji also became a disciple of Ganjooji. With folded hands he beseeched him to show him the correct way.
Ashok Gajoo smiled and said, “All will be alright, you just rectify your Mantra.”

Ashok Jailkhani very poignantly remembers his friend Ashok Ganjoo. He has left a permanent mark of his spiritual knowledge on him. Similarly in a seminar at Jalandhar a spiritual person had told him that he should visit Balaji. He ignored that council with a smile. “Why and how can I go to such a far- ung place?” He thought. But when he was transferred to Chennai station, he visited ‘BalajiTirupati’, not once, but several times.

Ashok Jailkhani does not believe in superstitions, but his faith in God is rm. He respects all religions and shows sincere reverence to religious personages. He, at the same time is much angry with orthodoxy and hypocracy in religious matters. He thinks that fundamentalism, whether Muslim or Hindu, is the greatest hurdle in the development of human beings. He believes that in a closed society orthodoxy is given the name of culture and is used to shackle human reason. He knows that there are some people who desire that mankind in general, who have suffered subjugation for several centuries, should never get liberated to take the bridles of the social development in their own hands and be self-sufficient and independent. Those sel sh few never want that that people of all religions, castes, and creeds should have equal rights. They are the people who take pleasure in seeing women always servile to male ego. He hates the society in which a group of persons are the masters and all others are their servants and are treated inhumanly. Ashok Jailkhani is never happy with such orthodox and conservative people. He may not have given free vent to his dejection with this social system, but whenever occasion demanded he did not dither in opposing such evil forces.

Saving one’s individual conviction in the contemporary world is initself an indication of favour to scientific temper. Witness of all these up and downs, and influenced by all of them, and an efficient broadcaster, and programme producer Dr. Gouri Shankar Raina has been his close associate throughout his career.Dr. Gouri Shanker Raina also remained connected to that wave in seventies, when theatre was at its apex, and Ashok Jailkhani’s name was much popular among all. Dr. Gouri Shanker considers him his teacher though quite young. He says that getting opportunity of working under his direction was his earnest desire because he saw him at new heights in the creative work one after another. Gouri Shanker and Sohan Lal Koul have been very close friends. The planned a play, titled ‘Year-31’ when there were hectic preparations going on for the next year’s Theatre Festival at Tagore Hall. Workshops of Jammu and Kashmir cultural academy were being held in that hall and all were busy in that event. Gouri Shanker, along with Sohan Lal Koul came to meet Ashok Jailkhani. He relates this incident in his own way: “All talked about the efficient and powerful actor, and successful director who possess exceptional creative potential to combine setting, lights, sounds and creating powerful impact on the stage. I heard much appreciation of him, but that meeting had a lasting effect on me. I was transfixed to have met with the powerful charismatic Guru.

Gouri Shanker Raina and Ashok Jailkhani worked in the same institution, in two separate buildings of the same organisation working for the same Doordarshan. Gouri Shanker Raina had acquired vast experience in programme production and media education. He recounts further about the present Ashok Jailkhani: “Even after so many years, his individuality is distinguished; he is a vibrant personality, and inspires awe and inspiration. Whosoever meets him recognises him as a man of profound thoughts.” Then Gouri Shanker immediately recollects another episode of the past.

“Kashmir is brilliant with the hues of autumn. While the trees were glorious with their crimson colour, his play “Chinar” was staged; the play was written by Ali Mohammad Lone Sahib. Besides directing the play, Ashok Jailkhani played the role of the protagonist Professor Salman. The play had already been broadcast from Radio Kashmir, but with a different title. However, when it was presented on the stage, it had a quite different impact. The play sounded different and evinced a very different physical form in execution. The beginning of the play was very powerful and all the actors, one by one, played their roles silently at the level of contemplation. The contribution of the director of the play was visible. This happened in the month of October of 1976. Ali Mohammad Lone had already got his prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for his play ‘Suyya’ which was a historical play. But ‘Chinar’ was about present life, and its presentation posed different challenges. It possessed different dramatic text, design and different action. Besides Ashok Jailkhani, Indu Raina, a famous broadcaster, played an important role in it. Ashok Jailkhani achieved success in creative synthesis of sounds and actions and admirable presentation. It looked like a brand new painting on a fresh canvass. It dismissed all those apprehensions about the imagination of the director. A person of in nite possibilities was engaged in giving a new concept to the art of theatre.”

Soon after that Gouri Shanker went to New Delhi, and as such was deprived of seeing other plays of Ashok Jailkhani. But when he returned from Delhi, and met him again, he found Ashok Jailkhani appointed as Drama Producer in Television.

Gouri Shanker Raina says, “Kashmir could not produce television dramatists of international stature. A few radio playwrights or writers for theatre devoted their attention to writing and working for the new medium like television; the effort was difficult to conceive. The scripts written for this new medium were full of technical laws and as such needed adaptation. There at the time of producing a successful television drama the director had to do a lot of mental work. He had to keep the target audience always in his mind. His work was made all the more cumbersome by the lack of facilities of shooting and almost absence of editing facilities. All these considerations were kept in view in adapting a script for television. In this connection Mr. Rajesh Koul unravelled many such facts as amaze today’s reader.

Gouri Shanker referred mostly to the working style of the competent, skilful, and master of the media, Ashok Jailkhani. He says, “We had to present at least one drama in a fortnight. One had to remain engaged all the time with actors, actresses and other technicians. Even a slight weakness would ruin the whole effort. And then it was the time of ‘Run-Through’, that unstopped shooting. Once after reverse counting the word ‘Action’ was uttered, the word ‘CUT’ had to be said only at the end of the recording. You could understand this arduous task if you had the experience of shooting for preparing a 16 – mm lm in the outdoors. We had to arrange for an editor before that. It generally used to be a part of a segment of drama, and it was to be merged on line with a live telecast. In this situation nothing was free from faults. Music, lm strip, and drama on the set--- in all this the director had to remain dispersed. The producer had to complete the whole process of synthesis within a stipulated time. Once he took his seat on the panel, there was hardly any second for him to think. The whole process was to be accomplished without editing. In view of this a TV director had to make thorough and perfect arrangements for every detail before starting the task. What was to be telecast and how it was to be telecast, all depended on the Directors personal choice, competence and availability of the means. It was in this very trying period of the development of telecasting that Ashok Jailkhani thought of television dramas and many new plays were presented. In Kashmir the tradition of television serial dramas was started by Ashok Jailkhani much before DD-1 started the serials. It is his humility that he always asserts that the success of his productions was because of the collaboration of the writers of those plays, the performing actors, and technicians. He never says that it was because of his individual effort.” Gouri Shanker has expressed his feeling of intimacy, friendship and sense of nearness with Ashok Jailkhani in the following words:

A owing cascade of this extremely beautiful Valley shines on the stage of emotions,

All have said, and heard, that soothing

Is the down-pour of summer;

With dedication and commitment
He ambles on his chosen path; 
like Quiet chinars and silent leaf fall, 
Silent ow of a rivulet
Without stopping.


The same sentiment has been expressed by Rajesh Koul in his own way and emotionally charged words. Rajesh is himself a very efficient broadcaster and programme producer. He is proud of the fact that he began his career as a Production Assistant under Ashok Jailkhani. Soon after his appointment as a Production Assistant Rajesh Koul, because of his talent and hard work, emerged as an eminent programme producer in a very short time. Rajesh Koul is a very humble and an experienced person. He wonderfully combines his art and humanistic approach. He has equipped himself with a lot of experience and education in every aspect of the process of production. He admits that he has been influenced by the personality and manner of functioning of Ashok Jailkhani.

Recollecting the hardships of the early period of television, Gouri Shanker expatiated on the process of a ‘Run-Through Recording. He then gives an illustration of a television drama which he prepared under the supervision of Ashok Jailkhani. “One of the scenes of the drama was based on a ash-back. The male character in the ash back is without beard, but when he comes back to the present, he nds beard on his face. There was no question of stopping shooting, all was to be completed within a short time. All arrangements were fully made. In one room there was the set of the ash-back, and in the other that of the present. The distance between the two was covered by means of a narrow lane. Nisar Badgami, the makeup-man, himself kept standing in that dark lane and removed the crape from the face of the character within the stipulated time. On seeing the drama in totality no spectator could guess that how they could change the facial features of the actor in such a very short time. The Rajesh Koul and Ashok Jailkhani worked together as two good friends for over 18 years. There were nevertheless certain moments when because of the interference of others, there was some strain in their relations, but the two sorted out all their differences amicably and kept moving ahead. The two have their individual objectives in their lives, but even today Rajesh Koul very fondly respects Ashok Jailkhani; he calls him a ‘beacon’ or a ‘guide’.

In 1976, when just ten days had passed after Rajesh Koul’s marriage, Ashok Jailkhani was engaged in presenting his play ‘Begur Bani’ (vial with a crack).The incident goes that the actor to play the role of one of the central character was stranded at Anantnag because of the floods. There was no hope of clearing of the road for about a week. Then Rajesh Koul made a strange suggestion to Ashok Jailkhani. Since the former was not quite experienced in drama production, and in direction also he did not have any skill, yet within him he heard a voice saying to him, “Yes, you can do it!” He proposed that Ashokji should himself play the role and that he would himself take care of the panel. Ashok Jailkhani had full confidence in this young man, and thus he agreed to the suggestion. This was true of Ashok Jailkhani’s nature that whenever there was any unexpected problem, it would not take even a minute for him to take a decision. Playing that role meant to memorise the dialogues spread over 10- 12 pages within half a day and then enact the scene with other actors without any break. The most remarkable thing is that this drama was recorded and telecast quite successfully and the audience appreciated it much. People still remember the role played by Ashok Jailkhani. Kashmir is a Muslim majority region; 90% of the population comprises Muslims. In their culture and unity we find a visible reaction of Indian culture and harmony. However, the machinations of politics had caused a strange uncertainty in their life. The communal and fundamentalist forces were not happy with the harmonious composite culture. They would never like the Hindu and Muslim artists should work together to enrich the composite culture of the state. At the political level a campaign was started with full force against this unity. It happened in those days that objections against Muslim women’s acting on the stage and in television dramas were being heard. However, in utter disregard of these hostile voices, there were such Muslim women, as Naseem Khan, her younger sister Parveen Akhter, Hafeezah Kousar and others, who undaunted continued contributing to the popularity of television. All of these women have worked either as co- actors of Ashok Jailkhani or under his administration.

All the female actors admired his work. Ashok Jailkhani always called Naseem Khan by the name “Meem Sahib” and she would respond calling him ‘Sahibji”. The kind of friendly relations we had in television was hardly seen anywhere else. Doordarshan Kendra had emerged as the principal centre of attraction for all types of artists. Writers, maestros in music, singers, actors, and artists in all other spheres would assemble there. The Centre had thus emerged as the most important meeting point for all of them. There was never any paucity of intelligent producers and directors, all were equally efficient in their work and each of them strived in his or her way to strengthen this Centre. Farooq Nazki, Bashir Bhat, Bashir Badgami, Basharat, Javid Iqbal, Mir Mushtaq, Zaffar Ahmad, Chaman Lal Hakhoo, Bansi Koul, Jaikishen Zutshi, Piare Raina, and other ef cient and ingenious people worked there as producer/directors. Each one of them was peerless, and each played his role. All of them are all admiration for Ashok Jailkhani.

There at the Doordarshan Kendra, because of the competition, some kind of professional rivalry too was always seen, yet the rivalry did not mar the inter-personal relations leading to hostility. One could always nd a number of the artists sitting together in a small restaurant that served tea and coffee on the Bund. Ashok Jailkhani enjoyed the status of the central point of this fervent activity. The excuse of enjoying tea, coffee or Kanti would make them come closer to each other and get engaged in creative discussions. The subject of the discussions and parleys was either art or some issue related to art, like poetry, television, cinema, and theatre; political issues would also make the discussions fervent. One could many a time see couples in love also sitting there. It appeared that we are sitting in a restaurant of the world’s most developed and cultured country. This was a picture of Kashmir which was entirely different from the picture that is now presented to the world of politics. It was meeting point of highly sensitive and thinking individuals and enthusiastic young people. People would join that centre just to counter the divisive forces and the forces that were inimical to progress and development. The centre provided space to creativity, aesthetics, and individuality. There was no scope for any kind of fundamentalism. It was a centre which had such talented young producers and directors like Shanti Veer Koul, Shahzadi Simon. Young poets writing in English like Seetu Nanda and Roop Spark worked there as producers and directors, and beside them dozens of other talented poets and writers were associated with the Centre. The whole ambience was full of enthusiasm and fervour. One of the protagonists of this ambience was Ashok Jailkhani. He was also in the company of famous actors, actresses and writers.

In 1973, I passed my graduation from Anantnag Degree College. Prof Ratan Lal Shant was my teacher of Hindi literature; he was considered one of the most eminent short story writers in Hindi as well as Kashmiri. His radio plays too were quite popular. It was our fortune that he was transferred to our college. It was my final year in the B.A. I had already made some presentations of the theatre of my town. I used my own way to bring about some changes in the tastes of the people. I had founded a dramatic club in the town and had successfully staged many plays of Ramesh Mehta, and all the plays of our club were much appreciated by people. We had also presented some musical performances. Our club, namely, Amar Dramatic Club, presented many programmes on Radio. Whenever people sent letters addressed to Amar Dramatic Club, the postman delivered them to me; such was the wide popularity of the programmes that we presented from Radio Kashmir. When Dr. Shant came to know about it, he invited me to join his dramatic group. The rst drama we staged was “Jonk” written by Opindernath Ishk. I still deplore the fact that in spite of the keen interest shown by many girls to take part in the dramas, we had to rely on boys to perform female roles. But when numerous girls thronged in to watch the show and tried to break the barricades, we had to arrange for separate shows for them. My performance in the said drama gave me considerable encouragement. Dr. R L Shant was kind enough to recommend me to Shri Pran Kishore and Shri Somnath Sadhu in his two letters addressed to them. Though it was almost impossible for me to participate in any Radio programme because I had no facility of staying in Srinagar city, it generally took one full day to reach Srinagar. Even then whenever I reached Radio Station, my heart would start beating violently. ́Am I really going to be in company of those personages whom I have always craved to see?”

I thought. After getting entry-pass from the gate, I entered the premises of Radio Kashmir and started reading the name plates of the rooms. The door of Somnath Sadhu was open and beheld a gracefully lean person sitting in the chair perusing some les. I sought permission to enter the room, he allowed me with a nod of the head. “He cannot be Sadhu Sahib,” I thought. For about 15-20 minutes he did not utter even a word, and remained engrossed in his les; he was studying some script perhaps. Waiting for so long made my throat feel dry, I was trying hard to say a word. “Yes, what brings you here?” On hearing these few words from him, I was taken aback: “He is none but Sadhu Sahib himself!” I immediately took out the envelope addressed to him. “Okay, okay!” Hesaid. “I hope you are not in hurry. Let’s go for recording.”

I was totally flabbergasted; I could hardly believe my ears that I was received so warmly in Srinagar. However, this did not last long as shortly after that I was appointed in the Dena Bank of India, and eventually my visits to Srinagar Radio Station discontinued. After struggling hard, I could barely spend six or seven months in the bank, and in 1974, I took admission to the Department of Hindi in the University of Kashmir for post-graduation, and thus I was once again connected to the city. However, the rst year of my M.A. proved much heavy for me. There was a glitch in my scholarship, and as such I had to face terrible times. It was the money that I got for my participation in Radio and Television programmes that supported me in continuing my studies. In the meantime I came to know that a young man, named Ashok Jailkhani had won resounding appreciation for having staged a play, Evam Indrajit. It was one of my class-mates Piyare Lal who broke this news to me, but the real details I came to know from my teacher

Prof. Ayoub Premi. He was a professor of the University who regularly went to Tagore Hall to watch stage dramas there; he never missed any Hindi drama. He had watched all the dramas produced by Vasant Theatre, and one of the chief reasons of this was Ashok Zafrani. He had completed his post-graduation in Hindi and as such he generally arranged passes for the teachers of Hindi Department and invited them. Dr. Ayub Premi introduced me to Ashok Zafrani, and thus I started knowing about his theatre group. Even before that incident, I had been doing rehearsals for Sangarmal with Chandershekhar. It was the time when preparation for presenting Badal Sircar’s ‘Pagla Ghoda’ were in full swing; I got the role of Kartik in it. This play however, remained deferred for a pretty long time, which made me much sad as it had wasted much of my time. In the meantime, Ashok Jailkhani decided to postpone staging this play, and present another play of Vijay Tendulkar, titled “Gidhade”. This was my rst engagement with Vasant Theatre; it was my rst stage performance after coming to Srinagar. I played the role of the father, when I was hardly 22. My performance was much appreciated in the local dailies and as such I was very happy. This provided me an opportunity to come closer to Ashok Jailkhani and develop friendship with him. There was no better person than Ashok Jailkhani from whom I could learn how to work with full commitment, and make all hardships easy and achieve success. And I hardly felt the signi cance of this. After ‘Gidhade’ we worked for a long time on Shanker Shesh’s play ‘Fandi’,butbeing busy with some other work at the time of its staging, I could not participate in it.

Then we prepared another play written by Surendra Verma, that is ‘Surya Ki Antim Kiran Se Surya Ki Pahli Kiran Tak’. We had to face many hardships in finding a woman actor to play the lead role in it. Finally we ended our search after finding Asha Zaroo. I worked as Assistant Director in the play, and also played the role of Pratosh in it. Ashok Jailkhani was no less than an ideal and teacher for me. Not only at the level of theatre and television, but he assisted me in many trying situations of my life. He never made me realize that he silently kept on rectifying my mistakes. He never talked ill of others, nor did he let others do so. He always emphasised the principle of ‘know yourself rst’. He never held others responsible for his failures if any. He always made it sure that success did not give him overweening confidence. He at the same time never let any failure make his dejected and sit idle. He always thinks that keeping oneself engaged in work is the only way to happiness. If there was no drama to present, he wrote plays, if there is nothing to write, do acting; in short do something creative. There were many young men like me who were striving in Srinagar to find some work in theatre or television; Kamal Razdan, Reeta Jalali, Vijay Dhar, Anil Singh, Tariq Javed, Mohan Shah, Ashok Zalpuri, Ayash Arif are most prominent among this lot.

Ayyash Arif says that in or around 1970 when he opened his eyes in the world of theatre, he saw theatre at its pinnacle in Kashmir. He also believes that that was the ‘Golden Period’ of theatre in Kashmir. It was the time which produced great writers like Ali Mohammad Lone, Pushker Bhan, Somnath Sadhu, Pran Kishore, Kavi Rattan, Sajood Sailani, Makhan Lal Saraf, Jawaher Wanchoo, and Sham Lal Dhar Bahar, and among the youngsters there were people like Pran Cnadra, Veerender Razdan, Piyare Raina, M.K.Raina, K.K. Raina, and particularly Ashok Jailkhani. All of them were fervently engaged in developing theatre. Ayyash Arif further says that Ashok Jailkhani entered the eld of theatre at the time when many types of plays were already staged by others. The playwrights of Kashmir were conscious of their role in the social, political and cultural spheres of life. In spite of all this, says Ayyash, that it was no one but Ashok Jailkhani who for the rst time attempted to modernise theatre in Kashmir. He staged plays and set new standards for the playwrights as well as other artists. Ayyash worked in Ashok Jailkhani’s TV serial “Ducch” which was written jointly by Tej Tikoo and Zahid Nashad (Zahid Hussain).

When in his very frst meeting with Ashok Jailkhani, called Ayyash by his name, and invited him to stand amidst senior artists to write roles, he could hardly believe his ears. ‘How could such a great artist be so simple and affectionate in his demeanour? I thought that I knew him for many years.” Thus Ayyash could feel amiability and admiration in the personality of Ashok Jailkhani. The friendship between the two contemporary artists that started some 30 years ago, continues unabated. In this long span of time the world passed through many vicissitudes, and much has been eradicated, ruined, but their friendship remains unaffected. The basis of this abiding friendship is the essence of human values. Ayyash either sees him in the form of his teacher, or his supreme benefactor and well-wisher. Ayyash gives the credit for all his success to Ashok Jailkhani. “If then Ashokji had not given me the right kind of role,” says Ayyash,” I would have not got any recognition in the eld of acting among the masses. In fact he understood the anxieties and aspirations of many young people like me. Thus this relation did not remain con ned to the relation between an actor and a drama director, but was the relation of human beings grounded in the best human values of doing good to one another. The leadership that I and other young people needed, we got from Ashok Jailkhani - a visionary. Perhaps this was the reason that we proved ourselves tested as gold in the crucible of struggle, and we stood like a solid rock in all adversities that were aimed at uprooting the culture of Kashmir from its soil. Srinagar Doordarshan has worked under the direction of several reputed and eminent people like Shalinder Shanker (1973-1976), S.P.S Kiran (1976-1980), A.S. Garewal (1980- 1983) and Mazhar Imam (1983-88). All of them have praised Ashok Jailkhani for his creative zeal and contribution. All of them knew this multi-dimensional personality who in spite of his remarkable achievements preferred to live a simple and unassuming life. During all these years there has never been any complaint against Ashok Jailkhani; all have been happy with him. Scores of assistants, artists, staff and clerical staff have worked with him and I have never heard even a word of censure against him from any of them.” 

In 1975 he was promoted to the post of Producer, and then he started a new chapter as a TV presenter. His programme “khatoon ke Jawab” (Replies to Letters) was very popular among the people. He himself appeared on the screen and responded to every question on behalf of the audience; the programme was so successful that people even ignored the most popular Pakistani serial “Neelam Ghar”. In this connection it is interesting to mention here that even the numerous letters received from various parts of Pakistan, especially from Pak-Occupied Kashmir, too were all praise for the programme. One of the female viewer had written with emphasis that she ignored “Neelam Ghar”to watch the Programme “Aap aur Hum” (You and We). The letter was received from POK, and then she regularly wrote to Doordarshan Srinagar.
There is one more person who has remarkable success to his credit in the sphere of television, theatre, and daily programmes, and is much reputed and respected; he is Shabir Mujahid. He has seen and understood Ashok Jailkhani very closely and intimately. The two have been working together since 1971; and even before the beginning of their career the two read in the same college, that is S.P.College. Ashokji was senior to Shabir Mujahid, and both were very active in the cultural activities of the college. Shabir Mujahid was very enthusiastic in stage dramas and various literary activities of the college; this was the basis of close friendship between the two. When Shabir Mujahid entered S.P.College in 1971, Ashok Jailkhani had already earned name as a stage activist; the former was much in uenced by the latter. In 1973, Srinagar Television centre started functioning, and the two friends started their career in television almost simultaneously. Besides doing their jobs in television, they continued working for the stage.

In television centre, Shabir Mujahid found Ashok Jailkhani not only as a very competent of cer, but also a close associate who was ready for any type of help at any time. Whether it was some of ce related affair, or some personal problem, he never dithered. He says that Ashokji has a very clear and simple way of life and he does not let any anxiety or complexity creep into it; he is steadfast and upright person. He detests false praise or flattering. He never accepts anybody’s favour, nor does he indulge in slandering others. He never heeds to others’ backbiting, nor does he encourage this evil nature. He has a clear assessment of whatever he undertakes to do, and as such, he takes all manner of precaution.” Shabir Mujahid further says, “I not only learnt the art of working for television from Ashok Jailkhani, but also the practical philosophy of life.” He acknowledges quite candidly how Ashok Jailkhani worked with full dedication for the centre. According to him he always got inspiration to do better work from Ashok Jailkhani.

In recent times, Shabir Mujahid worked under the administration of Ashok Jailkhani during the Common- wealth Games. Ashok Jailkhani was the project director of the Commonwealth Games at the national level. The coverage of the games was telecast world over and highly appreciated.
Ashok Jailkhani has now attained the status of a very resourceful, creative, and brilliant broadcaster of Indian television. In spite of all his achievements, he is rooted to his soil and connected to his people. One of the fundamental objectives of the present book is to explore this organic relationship.
One single person’s minor contribution can make the path of numerous people easy. The government must always seek possibilities of utilizing the potential of an ef cient person, particularly a person who has proved his mettle in public service and has never dithered in performing to the best of his competence. He has never come forward to express his grudge that his contribution is not being recognized by the government. He is a man of integrity that he never exaggerates his contribution and competence in order to seek any kind of favour or recommendation from the higher officers. Whatever role was assigned to Ashok Jailkhani, he performed it willingly and with full dedication. If anyone willingly tried to in ict any harmupon him,he performed to his best even then.

By producing successful dramas and television serials, he made many people working in Srinagar Centre think, that if Ashok Jailkhani continued to work so brilliantly, they would never get any opportunity of showing their talent. Thus Ashok Jailkhani was once divested of his drama assignment and was asked to do games programmes. But he performed to his best even then, so much so that his work was much admired not only in the Centre but also elsewhere. It was his admirable performance in producing sports programmes that he was chosen to cover various national events and also the International event in the capacity of the chief producer. Relentless hard work, full commitment to work, honesty and integrity in performance, are the basic secrets of his success.

CHAPTER 17
THE BELL OF ALARM

On September 8, 1981 Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah breathed his last, and his son Farooq Abdullah assumed the charge of the President of the National Conference; he became the Chief Minister of the state. In his very first tenure he had to face political opportunism. The Indian National Congress would not like to remain out of power for any longer, they desired to grab the power by hook or crook. They urged the then Prime Minister, first Indira Gandhi and then Rajiv Gandhi that Farooq Abdullah be motivated to work in alliance with the Congress.

Farooq Abdullah was understanding the political intrigues against him, and, as such, he remained in touch with other political parties and maintained a distance from the Congress. Being annoyed with this gesture of Farooq Abdullah, the Central government succeeded in instigating Farooq Abdullah’s brother-in-law Ghulam Mohammad Shah to stand as a rival to Farooq Abdullah in the National Conference so that he could be appointed as the Chief Minister of the state with the active support of the Congress. As soon as Shah assumed the charge as the Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah grew impatient: he went to London where he developed liaises with various anti-India forces. In London he had meetings with separatist leaders like Amanullah Khan. However, Farooq Abdullah soon came out of this vicious circle. Firstly he was convinced that in India,

Indian National Congress is not the only political party to reckon with, and secondly, he had not lost his credibility in Kashmir. He saw the result of this in the next general election in 1983 when he won with absolute majority and formed the government. The clouds of uncertainty on the sky of Jammu and Kashmir dispersed as his party won 76 seats. Kashmiri people elected their leader with absolute majority, but the Congress felt that they had lost the chance of regaining power for all times to come. The banks of their patience started getting inundated. With the consent of the Centre, they formed a weak government with the support of G.M.Shah The people thus lost faith in the Central government and the disillusionment caused them pain. They got disillusioned with democracy. The government that was formed after the absolute majority in the elections was dissolved as it was a castle of the cards. People observed how political opportunism, nepotism, family discord and non-political considerations dominated and overwhelmed propriety and decency in politics. Thus the religious fundamentalists were quick to take full advantage of the situation and Jamaite Islami began to raise it head. They propagated among the disillusioned masses that it was only within the principles of Islam and only after establishing an Islamic state that Kashmiri people could do  away with  the corrupt politics. They tried to make people understand that India was a Hindu state, where everything was submerged in corruption and favouritism. They propagated that India was an enemy of Islam, and they stood for establishing Islamic democracy or Nizam-e Mustafa in the State of Jammu and Kashmir so that they could make the people of state prosperous.
The simple-minded emotionally charged populace was engulfed in the quandary of politics as the opportunist political forces ignored the rising power of the Jamat.

The political alliance of the Congress with Ghulam Mohammad Shah did not last long. News of a new alliance between Farooq Abdullah and Rajiv Gandhi was heard. Thus the congress withdrew their support to Shah and imposed Governor’s rule under article 356, and then after six months the President’s Rule.

In November 1986, the conjectures of the people proved true: there was an accord between Rajiv Gandhi and Farooq Abdullah, and thus an alliance of the National Conference and Indian National Congress came into power. This political exigency looked eerie to the people. They realised that it was just lust for power that guided their leaders and nobody bothered about the aspirations of the people. The most despicable thing about this political opportunism was that people lost faith in democratic process. In the meantime political accord between Rajiv and Farooq made some senior Congress people despondent. They saw that their significance in the political space of the state was dwindling fast. Mufti Muhammad Syed developed veiled liaison with the leaders of the Jamati Islami. Rajiv Gandhi sanctioned a special grant of 1000 crore rupees to the state.

In 1987, Muslim United Front (MUF) emerged as a strong political party and jumped into elections. Against the complaints of heavy rigging and booth capturing, Congress won 24 seats and National Conference 39 seats; the two parties again agreed to form an alliance government. In this aura and against this political expediency a dangerous poisonous stream of thought was fast emerging, but behind a veil, yet it started becoming tangible.

On July 13, 1988, the National Conference celebrated its Golden Jubilee and on August 1, of the same year there were two huge explosions, one near Srinagar Club, and the other near Telegraph office. The responsibility of these two explosions was taken by JKLF (Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front). Thus a new thought, a new chapter in the political history of Kashmir was unfolded. This marked the beginning of militancy; the government was groping in darkness for some kind of plastering work.

The official media of information became the first target of this aggressive politics, and the militants increased their efforts to exploit  the media.The employees working in these institutions became the soft targets of violence and they were intimidated, threatened or killed.

On the first of September 1988, there was an explosion in a tourist bus that worked as an announcement to all tourists to stop coming to Kashmir. On September 3, there was an attack on the General Post Office; one of the militants was killed and 21 militants were arrested along with their Kalashnikov’s or AK - 47 rifles. All these militants had acquired training in POK and had infiltrated into Kashmir to unleash mayhem. On October 12, 1988, it was found that the JKLF was behind all these incidents. On October 13, Rajiv Gandhi made an aerial trip to the valley of Kashmir to assess the situation of floods. He sanctioned an assistance of 53 crore rupees to the state.On October 27 there was ring in various parts of the city of Srinagar that terrified all the inhabitants.

CHAPTER 18
THE GORY VISTA
In 1989, on January 7, the government apprehended a big group of Pakistan trained terrorists, but in the month of June of the same year a new out t Hizb-ul Mujahidin appeared on the scene. They first of all ordered all the women to wears veils, and also declared Islamic Code of Conduct by issuing Fatwas. On August 5, 1989, the JKLF issued an ultimatum to the National Conference leaders and workers to resign immediately. OnAugust 21, 1989, they shot NationalConference(Ruling party) Block President Mohammad Yousuf Halwai dead.

On September 14, 1989, they killed the block president of Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), namely Tiklal Taploo. This incident terrified the whole valley as Tiklal Taploo was a popular leader. Muslims respected him more than the Hindus. He always pleaded for the poor in the court without charging them any fees. Besides being a man of integrity and eminent personality, he enjoyed much respect in the society.

On December 8 of the same year Rubia Syed, one of the daughters of the then Home Minister of India Mufti Mohammad Syed was kidnapped. The incident made the situation all the more bad. The way the central and the state government surrendered before the terrorists, it made people believe that the situation was totally out of the control of the government. The terrorists also made every attempt to convince the masses that the time of the rule of India and that the time of Pro-India politics had  finally ended, and that they were the real masters.

This propaganda did not have even an iota of truth, but since the people had faced many successive disillusionments for the last ten years, they were easily misled by this propaganda. All the people of the valley came out on the streets like a huge flood and raised slogans like “Yahan kya chale ga ?Nizam-I Mustafa!” and “Hm kya Chahte Azadi!” Many of the slogans were full of venom against the Hindus of Kashmir. Thus a large-scale campaign of dishonouring Hindu girls and women started. It was absolutely impossible for the staff to reach Radio and Television stations. Everyday the Producers of Radio and TV received orders from the terrorists: “Do what we ask you to do, if not, you shall get killed.”

During the times of the Emergency declared by Smt. Indira Gandhi, all the people of the country had widely condemned it, yet they had felt relief from many anxieties. There was a sudden decrease in the prices of food and other provisions, and all was available in plenty. The inflation was controlled, and in order to check corruption the administration was strengthened. Many programmes for the welfare of the lower sections of society were started. This period proved very fruitful even in the fields of culture and information.

Numerous effective measures were taken to strengthen culture and art. Since Indira Gandhi was no more in this world, the political scenario changed and the fields of art and culture also got marginalized. Although Rajiv Gandhi strived to bring India closer to the developed nations of the world, and declared many revolutionary measures for art and culture, but in order to realise those programmes, much needed to be done, and it needed strong political will against all social hurdles. Bofors gun deal, and reservation for the lower castes were two most hot issues that caused much confusion in the Centre. As a result of Indira Gandhi’s assassination and the consequent sympathy wave, the Indian National Congress won the elections under the leadership of Rajiv Gandhi with absolute majority. But that energy was gradually dissipating. The seeds of division and caste hatred were seen growing in every part of the country. A weak Central government meant strength to the divisive forces.

In toppling the government of Farooq Abdullah and installing a weak government of Ghulam Muhammad Shah with the active support of the Congress, the people witnessed a naked dance of political pragmatism. Common masses, and pro-Farooq Abdullah section of society, were much aggrieved by this arbitrary change. This alliance however, did not last long, but Farooq’s mind was completely disturbed. He, like his father, thus started thinking of other options. There was large scale unrest among the masses. The period was thus doomed to portend a very bad era of history. In order to weaken the strength of the National Conference, the Central government ignored the increasing strength of the fundamentalist Islamic force under the banner of Jamati Islami It was a political game rife with hazards.

In 1982, Zulfkar Ali Bhutto was hanged to death by Zia-ul Haque, the episode resulted in a bloody confrontation between the National Conference and Jamati Islami.

All this recounting of the important events of the time means to convey that the healthy and peaceful atmosphere that Kashmir had witnessed from 1970 to 1980’s, was getting turbid and scrambled.
No more were any Shakespeare, Kafka, Kalidas, Julius Caesar. T.S. Eliot and other literary figures like Pablo Neruda, discussed in the Coffee House; they were replaced by topics concerning Palestine, Israel, Russia, China, India, Vietnam, Kosovo or Argentina. Now it was said that the glorious period of Kashmir history in terms of culture and learning was not before the eleventh century, but it actually started only after when Islamic rule started in the state. All these developments made the people of the Hindu minority of Kashmir feel suffocated. This inherent discord in the society surfaced in 1986 in the shape of communal strife between the two sections of society in Anantnag.

Though the feuds between Muslims and Hindus were essentially started only to shake the State and Central governments, but in practice it was the Hindu section of society that was subjected to suffering. Dozens of temples were razed to ground in one night and the Hindus were mercilessly beaten up and humiliated in their own houses. Many houses of the Hindus were put on re and plundered. No art or culture could thrive in this atmosphere of communal hatred.

Soon after this, Muslim fundamentalists and supporters of violence started domination of all the institutions of art & culture and learning, like Radio Kashmir, Doordarshan Kendra, Jammu and Kashmir Cultural Academy etc. And then it was in such bad times that Ashok Jailkhani was appointed as the Assistant Station Director of Srinagar Doordarshan, while Lasa Koul was the Director; the latter worked as deputy Director of Radio Kashmir before that.

Actually appointment of Ashok Jailkhani as the Assistant Director of Doordarshan Kendra was made during the tenure of Mazhar Imam. Now the nature of Ashok Jailkhani’s duties was much different. The duty of a programme executive in those days was primarily related to the programmes, but after assuming the charge of an administrative post one had to look after the administrative affairs only; ones role is restricted to organization and its management. Now he was to see that he worked in accordance with the directions of the Centre to keep the station functional.

It was under the directorship of Mazhar Imam that ef cient broadcaster and Producer Farooq Nazki worked as the Deputy Director. He was appointed as the Director of Radio Kashmir. He knows Ashok Jailkhani quite closely. Farooq Nazki much candidly says about Ashok Jailkhani “He set a unique example among the people of younger generation in making successful career in broadcasting, and for his success he always gives credit to his mother and father.” He gives more credit to his mother because she herself had earned a very high respect in the society for her exemplary social work. Besides being an eminent educationist, she proved herself as a successful mother. Farooq Nazki emphatically says about the success of Ashok Jailkhani that it was fundamentally because of his mother’s in uence that he achieved so much in his young age. He says, “She was a multidimensional woman of great calibre and hailed from a well-educated family. She took all pains in bringing up her son Ashok Jailkhani and imbued him with many of her qualities.

In 1986-87 the accord between Rajeev Gandhi and Farooq Abdullah came into existence. On the other hand the Muslim United Front (MUF) was emerging as a very strong political force. One could easily see Muslim fundamentalism spreading in every nook and corner of Kashmir. The MUF was based on politics based on religion, and thrived on anti- India sentiment, and preached that Indian secularism was hollow. They were able to capitalise on the emotions to instigate Muslim majority.

This new stream of Islam was an open aggression on the tradition of religious tolerance and fraternity of Kashmir. These new forces tried to uproot the strong basis of the composite culture of India.This party enjoyed the support of some very senior leaders in the Central Government. The first target of this new political force were the progressive writers, secular intellectuals, and the people working for the media. Among the institutions of media of information the most important were radio and television centres.They were blamed for propagating secular ideology among the masses. Thus these institutions were encroached upon and dominated by the fundamentalists. They even interfered in the nature of programmes and their broadcasting. Thus whole atmosphere smacked of a deep conspiracy. As a result of this intervention, the staff of Radio and Doordarshan felt restlessness.

Some anti-social young Muslims tried to change the whole direction of radio and television programmes in their favour. Gradually this interference changed into practical coercion on all the artists, writers, producers, and directors so that all the programmes could be made to propagate Islamic teachings. Programmes like ‘Chitrahar( film songs)’, dramas, and music were banned. All the concepts of culture started losing their old meanings.

It was in this atmosphere of coercion that Lasa Koul was appointed as the Director of Doordarshan. Farooq Nazki was appointed as the Director of Radio Kashmir after a long interval. Before joining Radio, Farooq Nazki worked as special advisor of Farooq Abdullah while he was the Chief Minister. And as such he had almost lost all liaison with daily programmes of Radio and Television. A very 
influential Muslim political clout was interested in seeing him appointed as the Director Doordarshan.

Farooq Nazki has been a very experienced broadcaster. He tried to exploit the pressure mounted by that group and enter Doordarshan, and as such he gave them full freedom to act. But perhaps Nazki Sahib’s eyes were focussed on the political turmoil, and as such could decide things in his own favour. There was no perceptible reaction to resist the fast increasing influence of forces of pleading religious intolerance as that meant jeopardising one’s life. Those persons, who were really having the potential of countering the fundamentalist forces, took refuge in their safe recesses and supported them indirectly. Farooq Nazki and others who thought like him and important intellectuals preferred to remain mute spectators. Thus the whole atmosphere was overwhelmed by religious frenzy.

Ashok Jailkhani’s perception of the role of the players on the stage had changed. He was surrounded by new type of people with their individual interests and ambitions, and he never considered it more than that. It is a strange thing that while the majority of the Hindu staff were highly perturbed, Ashok Jailkhani maintained the cool of his mind saying that it was a new, though very ugly, transformation. “Maharaj, you don’t understand. My friend it is a stage, it, the stage is now being usurped by the Jamat because we secularists have abandoned it by our own choice. The meaning of secularism has undergone radical change. The whole politics of the country is getting contaminated. ...You better mind your own work. After all we are employees, we shall keep working under the government rules so long as we can...”
As Assistant Director, piles of bulky files, a big table and chair, and an awesome chamber--- yet one would not see any sign of anxiety on the face of Ashok Jailkhani. But the fact is that all had a strong cause to be anxious. And among the Muslims if anyone still wanted to be sober minded was frustrated 

All the religious gatherings were dominated by the fundamentalists. On the one hand fatwas were issued with excuses of being enemies of Muslim faith, and on the other hand they created religious discords so that a handful of people could grab all the institutions of culture and use them for their personal interests.

Now it was an era of decrees and fatwas of prohibitions in the name of religion. The slogans of ‘Azadi!” were reverberating in all directions. On the one hand the business of hashish and opium reached its acme, and the wealth generated by this black money made people raise clusters of mansions, and on the other hand the rhetoric on the bases of values of morality and “ Islamic code of Conduct” was growing more and more clamorous. The women folk were trained in a new kind of slavish subordination. It was a time of chaos in all respects.

It was in this kind of chaotic circumstances that the supporters of division on the basis of religious hatred started assessing social inequality in the name of religion. “The Hindus are enjoying all, while the Musalmans are deprived. Radio and TV are centres of indecency and nudity...This could be true of Indian tradition, but it is against Islamic practice... India has corrupted the culture of the state.... Hindu culture is being imposed on us...” All this propaganda justified attack on the centres of culture. And attack on the institutions of culture meant attack on Hindu employees in the institutions.

Lassa Koul and Ashok Jailkhani were working in Doordarshan on position one and position two respectively. They apprehended that if they came out of their offices, they might not survive. This was a precarious condition.

LassaKoul was constantly under the increasing pressure of the terrorists. On the other hand the pressure on the part of the government to maintain parity between the central and the state media too was increasing. The lack of cooperation of the staff, and the increasing burden of work caused tremendous burden on both Lassa Koul and Ashok Jailkhani who shouldered all work without assistance. Both were steadfast like true dedicated soldiers in the battle field.

In the terrible chill of December nights, away from the comforts of home, Lassa Koul and Ashok Jailkhani worked together without sleep. They wondered how all this abrupt transformation of the people could happen. Why are the teeming millions demonstrating on open roads in favour of violence. Why do all the intellectuals, elderly wise men, thinking scholars surrender before a group of gun-yielding militants and silently become their supporters? The values that were nourished for so many centuries turned to dust in no time. Lists of Hindu girls were prepared by the frenzied people to decide how many are to be kidnapped and from which place. Then a “HitList” of the selected people considered enemies of the militants was openly published; the “Hit-List” contained the names of Ashok Jailkhani and Lassa Koul, too. Yet the two friends were least frightened, they continued working as close friends. They tried to make people understand that the enemies of people had infiltrated deep into their society. The enemies of people have misled our youth and made them take to the gun. But there was no one ready to appear on the screen of the television. Even the news-readers were fatally attacked. Religious prohibitions were imposed on many of the women employees of the Centre On January 1, 1990, all the cinema halls of the valley were closed down under the orders of JKLF. On January 19, the Governor of the state, General Krishna Rao resigned and Jagmohan was appointed as the new Governor. Being angered by this decision, Farooq Abdullah resigned, and in  such the assembly remained suspended.

The night of January 19, 1990 was no less than a doomsday for the Hindus of Kashmir. All the loudspeakers of all the mosques were endlessly instructing the Muslims to join the Jihad. “The Kafirs have either to come in support of the Jihad or flee the valley.” The reins of government were entirely in the hands of Jagmohan. When Jagmohan tried his methods to re-assemble the fragmented and scattered administration, but to his desperation he found that no fragment in its place. The whole state was in a state of utter bedlam. The most unruly were the police and the intelligence agencies. Their accountability had almost ended. Jagmohan found that the intelligence agencies did not have any records with them. He therefore decided to organise and control the police and the intelligence and only then could the administration be brought into action. “How many young men have been misled by the propaganda and crossed the borders to get training in arms.” He could not find even the names or pictures of any of those young men. Even the records of common criminals had disappeared from all the police stations.

Governor Jagmohan had appreciated the importance of media and the dangers impending on them. He believed that among all the media, television was the most effective for people’s strength. He ordered the Director Lassa Koul to remain on hot line for 24 hours with him. Jagmohan was fully aware of the actual situation prevailing in Kashmir. He knew both Kashmiri people and their pulse. This was the reason that he wanted to have constant contact with media. He threw open the doors of Raj Bhawan so that common people could meet him. He several times appeared on television screen to address the people. Thus he started taking right decisions in the right direction. On seeing this, the terrorists as well as their masterminds across the borders lost the cool of their mind. He seemed to be successful in breaking the chakravyuha or the vicious circle of the terrorists. Two officers working Doordarshan were his principal allies.

The Coffee House in the city had been deprived of its charms for long; no stir was visible there. The Coffee House was now shut. Bansi Parimoo, Hassrat Gaddha, Hraday Koul Bharti, Ghulam Nabbi Khayal, Riyaz Punjabi, and others had lost the rendezvous and all their useful discussions and deliberations were now a matter of the past. The Residency Road that once throbbed with vitality was changed into a wilderness; instead of people, one could see nothing but panic and rush. The security forces and the CRPF were busy in changing the whole city into a cantonment. In all directions, one could observe a war-like situation. The people had completely retreated to their closets.

It is deplorable that the efficient soldier to curb terrorism Jagmohan was himself becoming a target of political manoeuvrings. Both Rajiv Gandhi and Farooq Abdullah untidily opposed appointment of Jagmohan as the Governor, which strengthened the hands of the terrorists. Lassa Koul and Ashok Jailkhani were constrained to include such news in the news bulletin, as made all the efforts of Jagmohan seen dubious.

It is extremely strenuous to work under such stress. Working day in and day out makes the body lose its nite energy. In order to fight this type of fatigue and stress, Lassa Koul and Ashok Jailkhan had no option but to take 15 days’ leave each by turns. The engineering staff too had to reside within the premises of the Doordarshan. The daily shut downs and strikes had thrown normal life into shambles.

Thus it was decided that Ashok Jailkhani would rst avail himself of 15 days’ leave and when he re-joins, Lassa Koul would take his turn. This was a way to help them to get refreshed and continue their work. February 5, Ashok Jailkhani along with his wife and his daughter Luna (Dr. Janani) left for a holiday trip to Mumabi.

On his very arrival in Mumbai, all his old friends and acquaintances thronged to see him. Each insisted that Ashok Jailkhani should stay with him at his house. Mohan Lal Koul (Aima), and Omkar Koul (Aima) were Kashmiri pandits who had been living in Mumbai for a pretty long time; We have already made a mention of Mohan Lal Aima; he had been associated with Srinagar station of All India Radio since its beginning. He was the person who gave life and direction to the music section of Radio Kashmir and made it tremendously popular among the masses. Discovering Raj Begam, Naseem Akhter, and many other effective singing voices goes to his credit. The musical song “Bumbr bumbro, which has become viral, was basically composed by him for Dinanath Nadim’s opera “Bombur ti Yimbirzal”.Omkar Aima is his younger brother and was working as an actor in Mumbai lm industry. He has performed in scores of lms as co-star with many top actors. Thus Ashok Jailkhani nally decided to put up along with his family at his residence in Mumbai. And when on January 15 his vacation was to end, and he started packing up for his return to Srinagar, Mohanji stopped him , telling him that he would go after the wedding of Omkar’s son But that meant that he had to wait for one month more to participate in that wedding celebration scheduled for 15th of February.

But bound by his commitment, Ashok Jailkhani had to reach Srinagar to relieve Lassa Koul to enable him to avail himself of his vacations. Thus he made Mohanji understand his compulsion, but he still succeeded in stopping him through persuasion. Lasa Koul and Mohanji had worked together in Radio; Mohanji was much senior to him. He enjoyed much respect as an experienced and devoted worker. No one could say ‘no’ or be indifferent to what he said. Thus Mohanji contacted Lassa Koul and managed to get the leave of Ashok Jailkhani extended for one month.

In spite of tremendous pressure from the terrorists, Lassa Koul was able to keep Doordarshan functioning according to the norms and regulations. According to religious laws of Shariat of Islam, this station was asked by the militants to telecast only such programmes as were Islamic in principle and all the national news bulletins and national programmes were to be stopped. They issued instructions that the news bulletins should contain nothing that went against the line of thinking of the militants. All these instructions and directions were received by Lassa Koul through phone as well as letters.

Lassa Koul was deeply rooted in the sentiments of Kashmiri people He was a profound scholar, and wonderful intellectual. He enjoyed considerable popularity for his Sufi  ideas among the Muslims of Kashmir. He was famous for being a strong advocate of Kashmiri culture. His mind was much above the parochial beliefs of religions, and possessed a scientific temper. He was very popular as a man of progressive ideas. But it was terribly despondent to see the conditions prevailing in his valley. He was grieved to see that the innocent boys of Kashmir were being used as scapegoats for nefarious political motives. He was trying to express his opinion to the people within his limited reach. On February 13, when Lassa Koul was leaving the station after many days to go to his home, he, under a pre-planned conspiracy, was shot dead from a close range just near the door of his house. Thus Lassa Koul was assassinated and the news drowned the whole valley in mourning. He was a person who could not think of causing anybody harm, even in his dreams. All used to bow their heads before his efficiency and gentleness, but he was killed so mercilessly. The assassination of Lassa Koul made all the Kashmiri Pandits angry and grieved, but in their helplessness they could do nothing; they thus started thinking of fleeing their land.

The indication was clear: the Hindus were the target of the terrorists. Sarvanand Koul Premi, his son, Premnath Bhat, Sarla Bhat... the list was day by day getting extended; they were killed for no fault of theirs. January 25 or sometime before that, the JKLF people had killed 4 Air Force personnel; their killers are still at large and move about freely.

When Ashok Jailkhani heard about the sad killing of Lassa Koul, he was hamstrung with grief, but started preparing himself for return to his duties. Had his vacations not been extended, then? It was just possible that Lassa Koul were spared and ...? While he was preparing for his return journey, he received a call from his mother. “The situation is extremely bad here, and you or on the hit list, and it has become public through newspapers. Do not come here... We too are thinking of fleeing the place. It is a war going on here. All Hindus are the targets.”

The opinion of Ashok’s Muslim friends was not much different from what his mother told him. “Your coming back could prove fatal for you. Presently forget about Kashmir...” They said to him.
Ashok Jailkhani believed in this when some staff members supported this opinion that he could lose his life if he went back to Srinagar. But no one could stop Ashok: he decided not to become a fugitive when he is in war. “I must fight and therefore go back. I cannot let the terrorists dominate the Centre.” With this resolution in his mind, he was going to see one of his friends who lived in Mumbai Central. He noticed that a young man was following him for some time. He alighted from the train at Marine Drive and entered a restaurant. The young man was seen there too following him. Sensing something evil, his heart started beating faster; he felt his death was very close to him. But while keeping his eyes transfixed on the young man he sat in a chair. The young man came nearer and stood in front of him. Now Ashok felt sure that his fear was not baseless. His face was familiar to every Kashmiri for being on the television screen. .. “It is a matter of few seconds only,” he thought.
Then the young man said in Kashmiri, “Sir, you do not recognize me, but I know you quite well. You are Ashok Jailkhani, I know. I have seen you on television.” Hearing these words for the young man, Ashok felt enlivened. “He seems to be some fan of mine. Fans like him, I generally meet while I am in Kashmir.” An incident like that could surely make an artist happy, and he would readily have a chat with him.
“What do you do here in Mumbai?” Ashok Jailkhani said to the young man.
“Sir I have fled Kashmir, my name is Ashraf, and I am a brother of a friend of yours. I need a little money. Seeing you I thought that you would help me.”
“That is alright,” said Ashok, “Why don’t you go to the Arts Emporium here? There are many Kashmiris working there. It is possible that you find some close acquaintance there.”

In the heart of hearts Ashok Jailkhani was still having fear that the young man could be a terrorist, and was seeking financial help from him.

The eyes of that unknown young man were filled with tears. “It is alright that you do not want to give me any money, but please do not advise me to go near those persons working there. All of them make me a butt of their ridicule and also threaten me that they would hand me over to the police. I hail from a good family. I have barely escaped the trap of the militants and saved my life here. You kindly ask your friend about me and then help me. You may phone him right now and know about me.”
“What is your name?”
“Sir my name is Ashraf, Ashraf Bhat.”

“How much do you need?”

“Sir nothing more than my train fare to Lucknow.”

Ashok Jailkhani took out three to four hundred rupees from his pocket and handed over the money to the young man. He was delighted, and left to catch the train for Lucknow.
Many conflicting questions were raising their heads in Ashok Jailkhani’s mind. He thought that the condition of the young man he met in Mumbai revealed that situation in the Valley had taken an extraordinary and very dangerous turn. All the media agencies in India are either ignorant of this or are trying deliberately to distort the facts. The fact was that terrorism in Kashmir was being organised and directed from Pakistan. Under the shield of religion, the bloody macabre had exceeded the limits. This was not an issue of unemployment or economic underdevelopment. Nor was it a result of the tyranny unleashed by the security forces, as the established mainstream papers and journal of the country tried to explain. Pakistan had kindled the religious frenzy of the Kashmiris and instigated them for self-aggression. They had created a camouflage of “Azadi”(Freedom) and actually placed all Kashmiris on a pile of gunpowder. Kashmir was being ruined. It was for this purpose that the institutions of culture and information were made targets. On March 1st, 1990, H.N. Handoo, an officer of the Information Department was killed ... Ashok Jailkhani felt that the situation was utterly adverse to him as well and that he should in no way thing of going back.

Thus he took the decision, a very difficult, and heart rending decision. “I will not go back to Srinagar.” He was resolute. But soon he received a message from I&B Ministry that he was promoted and appointed as Deputy Director of Doordarshan Srinagar. But sensing all the hard realities were against him, Ashok Jailkhani requested the Ministry that he would not like to go back to Srinagar in view of the conditions prevailing there. He wrote to the Ministry that he had taken shelter in Mumbai along with his family. He further pleaded that he might be posted anywhere in the country but not to Srinagar. Thus he stayed in Mumbai for four months without any salary, money, or a shelter. He spent the four months in actual penury of a refugee in utter desperation. Recalling those days of misfortune, Ashok Jailkhani says that one should keep in mind the condition of such people who have neither a job, nor means for subsistence. He reflects on those thousands of people who had ed the valley, empty handed and lived in various refugee camps. They must get preference in any attempt to help them.
After keeping Ashok Jailkhani waiting with empty pockets, the Government of India posted him to Lucknow. The Director of the Centre, Vilayat Jafri extended a warm reception to Ashok Jailkhani. During conversation with people there he came to know that there was hardly any Deputy Director appointed at the Centre who could have amiable relations with Vilayat Jafri. In fact it was Vilayat Jafri who had recommended the name of Ashok Jailkhani to the DG for posting at Lucknow. Using his personal sources, Vilayat Jafri had acquired much information about the virtues of Ashok Jailkhani. And then Ashok Jailkhani too never let Vilayat Jafri change his opinion about him and repent. Many years after that, even now the friendship between the two is quite warm. Villayat Jafri had in fact know about the suffering of Ashok Jailkhani through one of his friends. He knew how he had spent his four months in utter poverty. Jafri Sahib took personal interest in making arrangements of his lodging, provisions, and for all the household appliances. He spent out of his own pocket to make all these facilities available to him. He took every care that Ashok Jailkhani should no more feel any discomfort in Lucknow.

Thus Ashok Jailkhani was once again in his form and started living according to his tastes. While working as Deputy Director in Lucknow station, he got next promotion and was posted to Ranchi. But since he had found comfort level in Lucknow and had developed very good relations with the director that is Mr. Villayat Jafri, he refused the promotion and requested for him being allowed to stay in Lucknow for some more time. After some time he was posted and appointed as Director of Jammu station. It was a programme-relaying centre rather than programme making centre; no sort of programme-making activities were visible there. A small News Section was functioning there which was meant to give coverage to the turmoil in Kashmir. Hindu staff (Kashmiri Pundits)who had ed the valley were posted at this centre. The station was functioning from a make shift rented building. It was a strange situation; the centre looked like a camp-office. No one was provided with even the basic facilities.

Jammu Television Centre was raised from rudiments by Ashok Jailkhani. The Centre was basically used by the displaced employees of Srinagar Centre and its engineering and of ce staff to mark their presence. Nothing related to programme making was seen there. It merely played the role of relaying the ready-made programmes of the Central Doordarshan. Ashok Jailkhani brought the scattered elements of the station into motion and then started utilizing them. In a year or so the Centre started telecasting light shot entertainment programmes side by side the news. Gradually the Centre assumed speed and with the successful leadership achieved the desired goal.

Ashokji had to begin from the beginning. It was his perseverance that within a few months he transformed the centre into a productive centre. At present Jammu Television Centre is one of the well-established centres of the country. Presently the centre telecasts many entertainment programmes besides news bulletins and programmes on contemporary situation. The credit of the foundation and success of Jammu Centre certainly goes to Ashok Jailkhani.

In Jammu and Kashmir it is a routine that in order to achieve pretty self-interests people let serious problems grow disproportionately. And Jammu Centre too could not remain different from this general character. In Jammu region the majority of the people speak Dogri and possess their own rich culture. Although their creative literature has just started and is moving fast towards development, their folk songs, music, dress, architecture and social customs have their own unique characteristics. Dogra Rajya has its unique identity, cultural, and political history, and the people are much cheerful and friendly. Most of them gave hearty support to Jailkhani Sahib’s efforts. As a result of their cooperation the Centre made the people feel the significance of this Centre.

The artists, writers, and all the established institutions got closely attached to Jammu Doordarshan centre. Gojars, Bakarwals and various aborigine tribes residing in far flung areas also got adequate opportunities of giving representation to their art and traditions. Though the reach of the Centre at that time was not covering the remote areas of the region, yet the experienced people displaced from Srinagar station added colour and variety to the programmes. Under the active guidance of Ashok Jailkhani the employees of Jammu Station laid the sound foundation of Jammu Doordarshan. Talented people like Sohan Lal Koul, Satish Dhar, Moti Lal Kharoo, Somnath Suman, Ravinder Naaz, Ashok Bhan and Mahesh Chopra joined the campaign. It is pertinent to mention another talented person, namely, Piare Lal Hundoo. In Kashmir, Hundoo Sahib was known not only as a mature stage and monologue actor, but also an experienced producer of rural programmes. He had experience of exploring country life and presenting it through visual details. He always wrote his monologue himself. He was also famous for presenting two farcical female characters Singari and Zingari in the Machama series broadcast from Srinagar Radio Station; he had delighted people of all strata through that programme. He was appointed as deputy Director of Jammu Doordarshan Centre during the tenure of Ashok Jailkhani. Mahesh Chopra was appointed as Assistant Director afterwards. Thus step by step, Jammu Doordarshan got a Director, a Deputy Director and Assistant Director and also over a dozen programme producers and assistant producers, and the whole team worked harmoniously under the command of Ashok Jailkhani.

The result of Ashok Jailkhani’s perseverance and the active cooperation of his staff was that a new stream of programmes sprang from Jammu Doordarshan which provided space to the local talent and aspiration. The rst in- house serial produced by this centre ‘Lawaaris’ was assigned to me. The production of the serial was under Piare Lal Hunndoo, while I wrote the story and directed the serial. The principal characters were played by late Khsiminder Raina, Mohan Shah, Kajal Suri and well known talented actor Romi Sharma. In the meantime many more talented actors and other artists of Jammu region played significant role in its success. This was the actual beginning of television drama serials from Jammu Doordarshan. This provided opportunity to prominent producers and directors belonging to the region to make creative contributions. Some important names of these creative people are: Shiv Dutt of Teleman Films, Surender Goyal of Goyal Films, Devinder Kohli, Manhas, Mohan Singh, Mushtaq Kak, Sudhir Jamwal, Professor Madan Mohan and many more. Thus in a very short span of time the Centre changed the atmosphere and eventually many audio and video studios came into existence. Presently there are several audio-video studios functioning in Jammu city and are engaged in producing their private video albums and films. The business of producing audio-video programmes in Jammu is now expanding like an industry. The artists, musicians, playwrights, lyricists, and numerous technicians are actively pursuing lm production as their main vocation.

At the time when Jammu Doordarshan was establishing itself, Ashok Jailkhani was constantly receiving threats from various militant out ts. One day when he left for Delhi to attend some meeting there, his wife received a phone call that advised his wife that she should ask Ashok Jailkhani to desist from associating himself with the government propaganda against the militants. “Jammu is not far from Kashmir. Do not be under this false notion that we shall remain silent here towards this side of Banihal. If he does not refrain from his activities, you shall have to repent.”

Ashok Jailkhani’s wife, Prernaji, evinced much prudence, and tried to make the terrorists understand that her husband was merely doing his job under the rules of the Indian government. “When it is your government in future, we shall think over it.” For several days Prernaji did not divulge the telephonic talk to her husband, but inwardly she was much worried about the safety of her family and her children; she was constantly thinking about the impending dangers to her husband. One day this information somehow reached the security agencies and, as such, they tightened the security around Ashokji’s office and his house. Every day was full of imminent perils for Ashok Jailkhani and his family. Nevertheless, the husband and wife showed enough courage to cope up with the situation.
It was in 1982 that Ashokji got married to Prerna Raina who herself was a well known singer of the valley. Her father M. N. Raina was a very well known poet of the state. The couple now have two daughters. The elder one is a quali ed medical doctor, Dr. Janani Jailkhani who is now working in Mumbai and holds a senior executive position in a multinational pharmaceutical company. The younger daughter is Mokshda who has now established herself as a celebrated dancer and choreographer and commands a huge fan following and is known country-wide.

Basically Ashok Jailkhani, while staying in Jammu,was trying to revive cultural activities that had come to a standstill in Srinagar because of the deteriorating political situation. He in fact started making programmes for Srinagar station too. He started shootings at various locales at Patnitop, Udhampore, Kud, Batote, and Bhadarwah, and thus showed utter indifference to various intimidations, prohibitions and Fatwas issued by the terrorists. This irked the terrorists that the common people of Kashmir could no longer remain servile to the orders of the terrorists and remain suffocated. He made programmes not only for Srinagar Doordarshan, but also such programmes as exposed the designs of the terrorists, and their real faces were revealed to the common people. Thus Jammu Doordarshan played a signi cant role under the direction of Ashok Jailkhani. At that time Farooq Nazki was heading the Srinagar station and both of them in consultation with the governor of the state devied anti militancy and counter propaganda programmes.

Ashok Jailkhani showed remarkable success in all types of jobs that were assigned to him.
From Jammu, Ashok Jailkhani was transferred to Jalandhar. There he discovered that Punjab had a very rich cultural legacy and great traditions of music and dance. While performing his duties at the new place of posting, he received whole hearted support and cooperation from all sections of society. All know that wherever Ashok Jailkhani was assigned the duty of directorship, his prime concern was the development of the cultural legacy of the people of that place. In political issues he never deviates from his principles, and accomplishes every task within the rules of the office. However, he takes every care that the of ce rules do not become a hurdle in his performance. His performance at Jalandhar Station as the director of the station was so commendable that within just two years he changed this station from a loss making station to a pro t making one. In-fact it was he who started the ‘DD Punjabi’ round the clock channel in 2000. Many present day stars of Punjabi music who are now known at international level also were discovered by him. It was because of his excellent contribution at the Kendra that Doordarshan honoured him with ‘Best Director Award in the year 2002’ for his administrative and management skills.

The then DG of Doordarshan – Dr. S. Y. Quraishi (later chief election commissioner of India) recognizing his work at Jalandher asked him to take over the charge of Chennai Kendra. Actually at a certain point of time Chennai Doordarshan was the highest revenue earning Kendra of the Doordarshan network. It used to earn a revenue forty crore plus but the same had come down to near two crores. Despite Ashokji’s initial reluctance because of the language barrier, as Chennai Doordarshan telecast only in Tamil language he was persuaded to go and eventually he did. Just in a span of less than two years he turned around the Kendra completely by introducing totally new concepts in programming and gave a fresh look and feel to the entire content of the programmes that were telecast. The result was that just in around two years time the revenue of this Kendra jumped to Rupees ten crores. Again noticing his excellent performance the department gave him the ‘best director award’ for the second time.

During this period only he got his promotion as Additional Director General and had to eventually shift to the headquarters that is Mandi House, New Delhi in less than two years time. Now he had come a long way from a drama producer to the top most position of administration and management in the organization which he had joined at a young age of eighteen. At this position of Additional Director General, yet again he was the youngest and first from the state of J & K to reach at this position.

Keeping in view his vast experience, calliber and dedication he was made head of all the important national channels like DD National, DD Sports, DD Bharti, DD Kashmir and was given independent charge of the entire North zone which included big kendras like Delhi, Lucknow,

Jaipur, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Shimla, Jammu, Srinagar, etc. Apart from commendable contribution which he made in all areas of his work the most commendable perhaps was his contribution in the coverage of international sports events. When India hosted common wealth games in 2010, Doordarshan was the host broadcaster. It was a mammoth task as coverage of so many sports events and international level sports persons requiring special equipment and expertise was a big challenge. Ashok was made the project director of the games and it goes to his credit that the entire games were covered without any aw and for the first time in high definition format. The coverage was telecast world over in more than 200 countries and was admired everywhere.

This book started with spelling out Ashok’s distinct contribution to the eld of theatre for which he will be remembered always yet by the end of this book it is now clear that he has left an equally strong imprint in the eld of broadcasting and is widely acclaimed as an accomplished broadcaster.
The story is still on and after saying goodbye to Doordarshan in 2013, Ashok is actively engaged in direction, acting and also training of young students in the eld of mass media. We jointly wrote a book on television production which got a prestigious ‘Bhartendu Harishchandra Award’ from the government of India and is widely taught in a number of colleges and universities across the country. Another very valuable contribution of Ashok is book on theatre. The book has foreword by Girish Karnadand gives valuable information about theatre history and technique of play production. He took everyone by surprise recently when he appeared in a movie ‘Dirty Politics’ and gave brilliant performance while acting with the greatest actors of Indian Cinema like Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Anupam Kher.

The government of Jammu and Kashmir recognized his multifaceted talent and bestowed upon him the highest civil award of the government ‘State Award’ as an ‘Outstanding Media Men’.
I am sure that the people who know Ashok Jailkhani or have come into contact with him at any stage they will vouch for the fact that he is a charming personality, intellectually strong, knowledgeable, helpful and a very inspiring personality. He has his own distinct ideas about life and living and his approach to various issues is always from a different angle. I am sure that his distinct contributions shall keep on owing like Vitasta....



STATE TIMES JAMMU  29.10.2013
Biography of veteran theatrist
Ashok Jailkhani release

􀂄STAFF REPORTER
JAMMU: Nami Dogi Sanstha on Monday released biography of veteran theartrist and former ADG Doordarshan Ashok Jailkhani namely ‘Parwah Vitsta Ka’. The release ceremony was organised by Nami Dogri
Sanstha in collaboration with 'Verma Video Vision' at K.L Sehgal Hall.

The ceremony was graced by Vice Chancellor, Central University of Jammu, Dr. Sudhir S. Bloeria as a Chief Guest Whereas Deputy Director General DDK Jammu, Shabir Mujahid, Senior advocate and a writer S.S Lehar, Former ADG Doordarshan Ashok Jialkhani and President Nami Dogri Sanstha Harish Kaila were also present who released the biography and also spoke few of the achievements of the Jailkhani.

The book written by M.K Shah who in his address read out some contributions of Jailkhani in the field of theatre as well as in Doordarshan. He said that "Ashok Jailkhani is not only a senior official of Doordarshan, India; but, also represented an era of glory and development of Modern Kashmir Theatre movement". Shabir Mujahid in his address said that 'Prawah Vitsta ka' is a biography of Ashok Jailkhani, a doyen of theatre-an excellent director and actor. The book gives the full account of his life and works. 'Vitsta' is an allegory of

the time as on the banks of this river the whole saga takes place. The biographical material of the book is the creatively blended with the history of Kashmir and makes its style so interesting that a book gives a feel of a classical novel. M.K Shah has gone into the minute details and the finest nuances of Jailkhani's life. Rich Hindi idiom in the narratives has made it a piece of literature. President of Nami Dogri Sanstha Harish Kaila also spoke on the occasion.


 Review of My Book Prawah Vitasta Ka
E-Paper
Biography of a threatre artist, film maker
Posted on November 3, 2013 by Dailyexcelsior
Dr Sohan Koul

Biography is a genre of serious writing. Although confined to a detailed description of a notable person’s life and events but it has a reach beyond its classification. When history ceases to come forward with the events of a particular civil society, biographies take the place of history and get blended in particular time and space to describe the notable occurrences of that era like a live coverage of that event or series of events.

Biography is usually a nonfiction genre but it is the authority of a writer on a particular language which makes it as interesting as a novel or a short story. It is the oldest form of literary expression but always seeks to recreate in words the whole life span of a particular individual.
“Prawah Vitsta Ka’’, is a biography of Mr Ashok Jailkhani-a doyen of theatre and a well known film maker. A great television personality an excellent Actor and Director. As the title of the biography calls it the flow of Jehlum-allegorizing time and depicting the history with the gradual maturation of this personality. Finally this biographical material has emerged as the historical material and has made this biographical work a finish literary contribution of this decade. Biography and History are often concerned with the past as the evaluating and selection of sources are akin.
The very beginning of this biography is so interesting as if one starts reading a classical novel around Jehlum. Mr Ashok Jaikhani was born in Srinagar in 1953 and that too on the banks of Jehlum and luckily it was a Renaissance of cultural and literary traditions in Kashmir.
The state of anarchy was over and the new dawn of civilization had already begun. This was time for new seedlings to emerge from the old polity. In this backdrop Mr Jailkhani was born and the slow murmuring of vitsta went on feeding him with percepton, learning and reasoning. The time kept on initiating a well formed noesis in his growing personality.
These meaningful moments have been depicted with great skillfullness and knowledge by M K Shah, who is the author of this biography. With complete command over Hindi idiom, Mr Shah has explored the period with such a genius that the reader itself becomes a character of that 5D theatrical experience immersing you with in that period. In this colorful canvass some characters get introduced and these characters frame the basis of this biographical work.
Introduced as Ms Kunti Kaul and Mr Mohan Lal Jailkahani with some others. Ms Kunti Jailkhani is the mother of Mr Ashok Jailkhani and the book introduces the mother earth first and then its seedling. The treatment also depicts the rituals, the cultural saga and life style of Kashmiri Pandits living in that era. The story begins from the dust filled streets and compounds of Fateh Kadal where the values of life were almost novel and quite different from present day times. These dust filled streets lead to a famous Mohalla called as Jailkhani Mohalla. The initial canvass of this painting.Vitsta is a character of this biography and is a witness to all the rising socio-political currents of Kashmiri civil society. It keeps on documenting the best cultural nuances of life. The murmur of flowing water of Vitsta would teach the inhabitants of the city to love nature, to love time. People would cross Jehlum from one bank to other with small wooden boats, avoiding the bridges as it was a easy and comfortable way of transport. This journey has made the Kashmir to understand the time very accurately. Water keeps on flowing in Vitsta, Kunti Kaul gets married to Mohan Lal Jailkhani and the first child, an interpreter of aesthetics gets born. I would like to mention here about a scene when Ms Kunti Jailkhani travelled first time with her infant from Bana Mohalla to Fateh Kadal in a boat. The emotions, the aspirations of a young and innocent Kashmiri mother, depicted in between the lines are exceptionally mesmerizing. It was the spring in Kashmir and it reminds us Dostovyskean features of storytelling. There is another scene when the small boy is being admitted Tyandale Bisco School, when in we see Ms. Kunti Jailkhani and Mr M.L. Jailhani being interviewed by the Principal of the school for his admission and young Jailkhani is playing outside in the light and shade. This very gesture shows how much gifted the child was and later the time proves it, that with the use of lights, he created wonders on stage. The biography is filled with such cinematic scenes. He started this journey with Bisco School and ended it in the corridors of S.P. College and it is form this college that he started interpreting ideas through Plays. He became a legend of Kashmiri theatre. Directed noted plays like, “Santola,” “Hatya Ik Aakar Ki,” “Panchai Aise Aate Hain,” “Evam Inderjeet,” “Gidhi” etc and an equal number of serials on television. He became a house hold name of Kashmiri civil society. This is extensively covered in this biography.
The book gives full account of his life like that of a novel justifying every character, explaining every incident with historical perspective and authority. It is an authentic biography which cannot be summed up in few words. One should read it to better understand the history of Kashmir besides the life of a doyen of theatre and television. The book also carries his noted theatrical experiences, short sketches of book written by Mr Jailkhani. The book also carries some interviews with his contemporaries who share their experiences while working with the tallest person of this era.

The book is written in very subtle and fiction style which makes it an interesting. Growing and flowing with the time line Jehlum, which is a living allegory throughout the novel and pours in the technique of stream of consciousness by giving an account of historical ups and downs of the past. Spread over 144 pages, the book has an excellent get up with a designed cover page by Mr Anil Nakhasi. The book is worth reading and preserving in personal Library.


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