Every advanced and developed nation in the world prides itself in a “Work Culture”. The desire as well as ability to work honestly and genuinely in pursuit of one’s ideals is essential for progress in this world. Even some of the underdeveloped countries have some sort of a “Work Culture”! However, Kashmiris can take pride in its absence in this beautiful valley called the Paradise on Earth. It can at the best be described as the land of lotus eaters. We are lotus eaters not in proverbial sense but in real practice. Nadroo or the lotus root is ingredient of many popular local dishes and all the Kashmiris relish it. Kashmir’s mystic traditions are not only because it is known as the bowl of saints. Rather it is the very atmosphere of the valley which is conducive to a slow and lethargic life style. An eternal calm prevails in the valley. We do not experience frequent lightening and thunder storms or gale force winds unlike plains which face the fury of monsoons. Quite often the atmosphere is very clam and serene. This absence of violent forces of nature has a profound effect on our behaviour. However, in spite of this serenity the life used to be quite tough in the past due to a very severe winter. Till even very recent times we did have a strong “Work Culture” even though this was under the compulsion of the elements of nature. Kashmiri peasants who did not own the land till 1947 when Sheikh Abdullah with the single stroke of a pen transferred it to the tiller, had to struggle very hard for their survival. Over a long period of time due to very harsh conditions we had developed a behavioural pattern wherein we would work only when compelled either by nature or an external force. Of our own volition we prefer only to philosophise, relax, and remain inactive. Usually this is true of the men folk. Women generally work more than the men especially in the rural areas. Even now they trek up the hills very early in the morning to gather the fallen wood. They work in the fields during sowing, transplantation, and harvesting of paddy. After the harvest, they continue to assist in most of the related jobs. This is in addition to regular and normal household chores. The co-working in the rural areas is one of the reasons for the absence of strict purdah. The city dwellers too were hard working in the earlier times. People had to make provision for harsh winter both for heating as well as for food. Drying of chillies to make sun dried cakes of spices as well vegetables for winter was a common sight throughout the city. Not any more due to availability of fresh vegetables throughout the winter. The advent of modern means of communications and availability of new sources of energy such as electric power, cooking gas, and kerosene has drastically changed the life style. The ease loving modern Kashmiri has been “blessed” with another boon. Freely available cheap outside manual labour. At the present moment we have over a hundred thousand Biharis, Nepalis, and other outsiders working both as skilled as well as unskilled labour. They have penetrated every sphere of life. They work in paddy fields. They work as carpenters and masons. They work as manual labour on construction projects, brick kilns, and a host of other labour intensive fields. It was a surprise to know that even traditional Kashmiri Chefs called Wazas have started employing Biharis! Bakers and even the professional “Harissa” (a breakfast dish made from mutton and rice in winter) makers have been employing them for quite sometime now. Even Imams leading prayers in a number of mosques are from outside the state. To top it up, many Kashmiris have brought or bought “foreign” wives both brown as well as white. This external element allowing us to delegate the jobs which had been traditionally performed by locals for centuries has adversely affected our “Work Culture”. At this rate the Kashmiri work force may soon be outnumbered by the outsiders. This phenomenon is not confined to Kashmir only but can be vividly seen in Middle Eastern countries where Keralites (Malbaris) and Filipinos constitute the major chunk of the labour force. They are preferred as they are the cheapest and the most docile. The Arabs themselves have become the most ease and luxury loving people. The other factor which is responsible for the loss of “Work Culture” is the easy flowing money. In case of Arabs it is the revenue from oil, the famous petro-dollars while as in case of Kashmir it is the money pumped in by the two neighbouring countries to keep Kashmiris on their side. Most of the ills of the society emanate from this easy money. There is absolutely no accountability. An honest and a genuine “Worker” has no place in this set up. He is either choked up or swept away like a straw before the wind. The free for all situation of the last decade and a half has dealt the deadliest blow to our “Work Culture”. The worst example is the various branches of the state administration. The state government has employed an enormous number of workers in every field. The strength of employees is now almost half a million. There are ten people working on a job which could be easily undertaken by one person. Yet no work gets done! In the present set up there are almost twenty people in line from the lowest clerk to the Administrative head for the disposal of a job. The western concept of officer level correspondence and disposal is totally missing. A good chunk of time is spent by officers in gossip and sipping of tea. The lower rungs do not move at all unless “Greased”. Heads of department spend half of their time in circulating through various offices of the Secretariat. The “Meeting Culture” with tea and snacks is quite prevalent. The story is same in the field offices. People always look for an excuse to avoid work. No one has either the sense of responsibility or the inherent conscience to compel him to do the work for which he is paid. Such sublime and noble behaviour does not fall in our code of ethics, if we have one? We must have some other reasons to work. One has only to visit different institutions like Government Schools, Public Offices, Hospitals, and even the set ups of the people who are paid to enforce the “Work Culture” to know the truth. The old saying of “Work is worship” has totally lost its meaning in our present set up. However, most strange and absolutely striking phenomenon is the behaviour of same Kashmiris outside the state. A local labourer who employees a Bihari to do his work here does twice the work of a Punjabi or other labourer when he migrates outside the state during winter in search of work. Kashmiris working in Europe, USA, Middle East, or other foreign countries meticulously attend to their work schedules and sometimes do the overtime. With hard work they even excel in many fields. Is it because the working atmosphere and conditions are different or because they have no choice? Faced with an external force they have no choice but to work? One usually hears Kashmiris returning from abroad on a visit speak about tough working conditions there. They say the people outside know how to take work from the employees whom they pay, even though lavishly. Is it possible to restore our ancient “Work Culture”? Can anything be done to change the present sad and tragic state of affairs? Yes, the first thing is to restore the dignity of manual labour and introduce a hire and fire system of employment. Everyone prefers white collar jobs and avoids working with his own hands. Even our Engineers prefer well furnished cosy offices to really satisfying field jobs. It is a pity that even the highly educated people prefer to get the lowest government job of a helper or an orderly as they consider it as a lifelong social security as no one can touch them whether they work or not. Government also finds it easy to create an army of slaves whether they do any productive work or not. The first initiative has to come from our “Political Bosses”, both from the mainstream as well as anti-establishment side. The “Work Culture” should flow from top downwards. We need leaders who say “Follow Me” rather than “Move forward”. They have to set the practical examples on ground to be followed by the masses and not just preach without practice. We need to stop eating lotus roots and wake up before we turn into total morons whose only aim in life is to survive anyhow!