Ravi Speaks:
“Once got stuck in Curfew in Srinagar-Kashmir.”
Article updated on 15.06.2022
Every year, I used to go to the Kashmir valley on my official visit at least once in three months. So I could make it a minimum of four times a year that way. This I maintained for all the twelve years as Sales Manager, except one or two occasions when there was a ‘complete bandh’ for weeks together. Himalaya had three Reps stationed there in Srinagar proper and one more in the outer important area of Anantnag, with a manager’s HQ at Srinagar as well. Perhaps ours was the only division amongst so many other divisions of Himalaya, where we had kept one Regional Manager based at Srinagar HQ. The number of these many visits to Srinagar was even lesser since this place was the highest potential area for us and gave an above average of sales even though the area was prone to bandhs and violence now and then.
People here in Delhi would tell me to avoid going to Srinagar since the situations there were very unpredictable and uncertainty was prevailing all the time there. Still, I would not agree and plan my visit at least for three days on every trip I made to Kashmir. During those three days, I could work with each Rep there and also finish the other important works related to the Distributors and even finish up my planning and discussions with the Regional Manager of that area. Fortunately, that area used to give the exchequer always the highest sales and with a minimum input compared to other areas on an average. I was thrilled with the team Kashmir, since they were very nice and concerned about their performances, despite the odd situations there. They had to remain inside their homes for months together because of the violence and had to face the restrictions imposed by the authorities often. Still, they used to put in their hard labor and somehow reach their numbers of the annual targets. I always had the advantage of taking their example and citing the same in the rest of the meetings in the country and trying to influence the rest of my colleagues for better performance by emulating their extraordinary performances.
Now coming on to the incident which happened somewhere in the summer of 2017-when there was a violent eruption almost now and then. It happened, so that I had a plan to go to Srinagar for three days and I was not sure whether the situation, which had turned bad for continuously a fortnight, would improve or not and it was during that period the planned tour was scheduled. All the people advised me to cancel my Air tickets and postpone the tour to next month. Suddenly one day earlier than my scheduled plan, the news about the complete normalcy was spread on the media, and even the shops and everything else started functioning normally as was shown even on the TV. So looking to such an improvement happening and by that time the city too was closed for almost a fortnight- I thought it would go the normal way the next day as well.
So I took the flight to Srinagar from Delhi and reached there around 10.30 AM. The moment I reached the airport, I saw only private vehicles and only a few taxis which were present there. I realized that all was not well in the city, which was why the total number of cars at the airport was only a few. The distance between the Airport and my hotel was around 20 KMs. So I picked up one taxi and looking at the situation in the city, the driver told me he would charge more since he had to go through the ‘bandh’ situation. There I came to know that Srinagar city had a Bandh call for that day and the entire market and vehicles were closed for the day. This call was given by the Local Federation-leaders. Now that I had already reached there, had no other choice but to take the cab and reach somehow my hotel. While passing through the city area, I found only the Army on the sides of the streets and no shop was open and only a few people were walking on the sides of the road. It seemed as if there was already a curfew imposed-but the curfew was imposed the next day.
Somehow I reached my hotel, which was at the heart of Srinagar city known as Badshah Chowk. I went to the reception of the hotel and found no one there in the seat. After some waiting, a gentleman came and checked me in after verifying my booking details. The room given to me was the one facing the main crossing of the Badshah-bridge-where there used to be a great vehicular movement and even many people moving up and down that area- there was no one seen on that day. As the luck would have it-I could see the patrolling of troops on that road straight from my hotel window.
I immediately called my colleague Javeed there, since the Regional manager was away in Jammu on the tour and was not present there. He told me that the market was opened yesterday after such a long gap but certain miscreants made the situation hideous and threw stones at the army in the city areas of Srinagar-so ‘total bandh’ call was given for the day. He even cautioned me I should not be going out of the hotel at any point in time because there was every possibility of the curfew again being reimposed.
So I dumped myself inside that room and was seeing all the happenings of the main road crossing from my window. I ordered a cup of tea on the phone at the reception-that guy outrightly refused and said there was no milk supply that day and the powdered milk had finished with which they used to give the tea. So I had to wait for many hours till late in the evening I was given a powdered milk tea.
Even there was no choice for me to take the dinner of my choice since the hotel had made the menu as per the availability of the items. I still remember I was given rice with chicken prepared and there was no vegetable even the next day as well. Then I realized that the stuff which they were serving to the people stuck in the hotel was the frozen stock with them and that used to be their normal way of catering.
During the night there was total closure -no movement of any vehicle or even people except the army movements-which were made intensive looking at the situation.
Early next day morning I received the call from Javeed that the entire city was put on indefinite curfew and I realized that my coming to Srinagar was just an exercise in futility. I had no work except sitting and dumping myself there in the room to pass the time. During the day, I saw only the Army and the State Police vehicles making the rounds and also making the announcements regarding the Curfew and directing the people to remain indoors only. I talked to my company people on the phone about this development and everyone advised me to take full care and not to go outside the hotel.
I expected that by the evening the next day, authorities would announce the upliftment of the curfew, but to my utter surprise; the curfew was extended giving no break indefinitely. It was Thursday, and I had the return ticket for Delhi on Saturday in the morning hours. During the day, I used to eat whatever stuff the hotel people were giving me, since I had no choice except for the number of teacups that I used to take almost every couple of hours. I became so much tense and bored that I wanted to come out somehow from that situation back to Delhi safe and sound.
Like-wise the next day again on Friday the curfew was there and this time it was even more strict since on Fridays the Muslim community offers the “Nimazz” during the daytime in the different mosques and there was always the violence in the past on such Fridays. I was praying to God that everything should go smoothly somehow for that day so that the curfew is not extended further. I was eagerly waiting for the evening news on Friday about the next day’s plans of the authorities, but there was no mention of the lifting of the curfew in the evening-local news as well.
Finally, after somehow spending the second day in a row doing nothing, I went back on Saturday and the fundamental question for me was how I should reach the airport before the scheduled time of the flight. The next day, early in the morning, I made the last payments to the hotel people and came out at around 9.00 AM on the road where there was the curfew still clamped and no respite was visible for any person. I had with me two bags and I approached a military van that was standing there just opposite my hotel. I talked to the military man who seemed to be a south-Indian, in Hindi. He immediately replied to me by telling me to wait for some time there in the hotel reception itself and he would make some arrangements for me. I thanked him in advance for the gesture shown. I went back to the Hotel and sat there at the reception to wait for the Army personnel.
It was after hardly around an hour that the same man came with another army of personnel and told me to come along with them. I found one army Jeep waiting outside the hotel and that army man told me to sit inside the jeep and they would drop me at the airport since the same jeep had to go that side only. I thanked him and thanked my stars and just jumped inside the jeep with my luggage.
Reached the airport at around 10.45 AM and I was almost four hours before the time of my departure-which was at around 3.00 PM. Inside the jeep, there were only two army-men-one was driving and the other sitting beside him. During the travel, they asked me about my whereabouts and told me not to worry they would safely drop me there at the airport. After reaching the airport, I thanked both of them and proceeded further with my checking-in formalities.
After taking the boarding and realizing that I was back in the safe zone, I heaved a sigh of relief and thanked my stars for reaching the airport safely. I decided there and then, that I shall go to such places only after confirming and checking the situation firmly and that would not allow me in the future to go into a state of uncertainty and tension in.
It had happened for the first time that officially I had gone to some place for a three-day tour but spent the complete time inside the hotel room without even meeting a single person from my company side or even going out of the hotel for the whole duration of three days. I would remember this whenever the word Srinagar or Kashmir would be mentioned before me.
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