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On Feb 9 2008 in “The tragedy of being a middle class Kashmiri Muslim” (Greater Kashmir Op-ed) i had written about the pain of a youth in this society. Though to me the word “middle class” seems pejorative now. Much water has flown down the Jhelum since then. But the seeds had been sown much earlier. Despite my dislike of exhibition, i have been forced by circumstances to write these lines. Circumstances alter cases.
One of my well established non – Muslim friends once questioned my ability to excel in life in general and corporate world in particular. He cited an example of a second HR head in a Pune based company. He told me he is a son of a personal secretary of ex cm of our state and for him classical example of success from Kashmir. The reason given that his father could have fixed him in any state sector, but he chose to prove his mettle.
A question by a Kendriya Vidyalaya teacher Jitendra kumar who writes in Yojana, Kurukshetra, Down to earth, UNDP. “Tell Kashmiri students to give up gun and violence and prove their mettle in civil services (UPSC)”.
At the outset there are certain things that need to be cleared and any conclusions drawn from it must be understood on these axioms.
I am an average person with average needs of life. I don’t believe in the ‘lofty’ ideals of nationalism, patriotism and so on. I am politically naive having never been able to understand the concept of identity, race, culture, and nation. Being utopian dreamer of "one world one citizen".My primary belief is that a person needs to satisfy his basic needs and secondary belief is that he has to work on the creative urge of understanding the universe and to use this understanding to improve the style of his fulfilling needs. This thinking could be primarily to my education in science. ‘Science is the art of soluble while as politics is the art of possible’. There is no such thing as Indian Science, Pakistani Science, and Italian Science. In science we are not divided. In this global village it is this thinking that will be the mantra of the future. This thinking will hold sway as the structures of ‘second wave’ are demolished to build ‘third wave’ structures around the globe.

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