Kashmiris have been travelling to every part of the globe from earliest times. Some have gone there in search of newer pastures to earn a bit of money in an honest manner while some others have been going for higher education. During a number of earlier upheavals mentioned in history, quite a few have left the beautiful valley by compulsion. Famines caused by flood or drought or political persecution or even prolonged political disturbances have forced many to go into voluntary exile. Till the beginning of the turmoil of 1990, a large number of people used to go mostly for short duration stays of few years to earn some honest money by putting in very hard work in different foreign countries. Most of the professionals who had gone abroad were planning to earn a bit of extra cash to better their life style back home. Some had gone to acquire latest skills and undertake higher studies. Almost all had no idea of settling permanently abroad. Only a very few who were basically inclined towards a western life style or could adopt and adjust in the overseas social milieu were planning to get settled there permanently. Not now. The mindset has dramatically changed during last few years. Quite a few families have started looking for permanent residences as well as many other investment opportunities in places like Dubai. Initially all of them had the long-term goal of coming home to live a peaceful retired life in comfort but there being a very uncertain outlook for the future, they feel the “Home” is totally unsettled. After a year of hard work people hopefully look forward to a vacation back home with their kith and kin. These days many overseas Kashmiris take their families to South East Asian destinations like Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Some visit Middle Eastern and African countries like Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and even South Africa. Mostly they visit Kashmir for some social obligations such as attending marriages or some tragic happenings in the family. A large number of people had been seriously thinking about investing back home in many enterprises but have been waiting for things to get back to normal. Doctors working in many European and American Continent had been planning for quite sometime to set up world class medical facilities in Kashmir. Numerous meetings have been held in different countries as well as in Kashmir but nothing has materialised on the ground so far. There are many other avenues involving infrastructure development in which investments can be made. Unfortunately the maximum investment is going into real estate and land. These are supposed to be safe investments, which have resulted in sky rocketing of the land prices. Over last couple of years things have stabilised to a great extent compared to early nineties and it should not be difficult to select a number of sectors in which one can safely invest. One need not wait for absolute total normalcy, which may take a sufficiently long time to materialise. There are numerous possibilities even at present. Most promising is agriculture and horticulture based industries especially improved and scientific methods of quality production as well as post harvest infrastructure. If the produce of Kashmir is standardised and post harvest infrastructure is put in place, there is no doubt that our products can easily compete in global markets with the added advantage of most of these being of organic nature. Similar is the case with Floriculture, Fisheries and Forest based industries. Hospitality sector involving infrastructure suitable for up market clientele is one more avenue for investment. Even basic infrastructure such as Airports, Roads (Motorways) and Power generating projects should be made available for such investments. This will not only be a worthwhile investment economically but would be a people oriented welfare measure. The only requirement is to overcome the dilemma and take a bold initiative. The Government has to play a very important role to convince and motivate overseas Kashmiris to invest in their homeland. Like Singapore they need to provide accelerated clearance through single window.

The other very serious dilemma has social implications. Traditionally Kashmiris prefer to marry within their own race. They also like to give away their daughters in marriage to Kashmiri families. Most of the overseas residents with daughters of marriageable age would prefer to return to Kashmir to look for matches. In the Western atmosphere it is very hard to isolate young people from the society they are living in. There are numerous instances where the parents have had to compromise against their wishes, with the independent actions taken by their wards. However, these days there are many problems back home. Firstly there is a dearth of grooms with sound sources of livelihood. The unemployment figures are touching more than three hundred thousand. Even very highly educated youth from some good families are doing menial jobs to survive. For local families it may be workable to arrange marriages even with very low-income grooms but for overseas residents used to a totally different life style it is very hard to adjust. These days there is a trend to marry those couples where both partners are working, which helps them to meet the sharply rising cost of living. Unlike the West we still have the joint family system, which is a blessing for the working couples for upbringing of children. These are looked after by their grand parents. It would be an interesting proposition for overseas parents to invest in grooms and assist them in starting enterprises here rather than offer massive dowries! Some overseas residents have tried to take their parents abroad to stay with them. However, this does not work very well with the majority. The main reason being the failure of the elderly to adjust to the life in those countries where there is very little social interaction compared to Kashmir. If forced to stay against their will, they end up with serious psychological problems. In those countries normally the elderly are sent to old age homes where they lead a miserable life. The children visit them once in a while. One cannot imagine a similar set up here. One interesting observation with overseas residents is their ability to isolate themselves from the surrounding society by clubbing together. Normally Kashmiris are supposed to be very adaptable and flexible. We have survived the most terrible ravages of time. We have absorbed all the races, which came here or ruled over us. However, in these “Western Social Oceans” where morality and decency has different values and meanings, we have been able to create islands of our own. This too is a unique quality of a Kashmiri. The dilemmas of overseas Kashmiris are an interesting subject for social scientists to study. If given proper thought it could open up many new avenues both in Kashmir as well as abroad. Any one willing to take up the challenge?