JAIPUR: The Machhal area, 10-12 kilometers before the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, where most of the villages have no electricity, have a high school but it does not have a college there. All they have are nocturnal gunshots, but some students from this area have come to explore Rajasthan. These School students proudly say that Kashmir is heaven, come and see. Although Humans have tried to create a lot of things here, still almost everything is made of nature here.
Major Deepak Kavia of Rashtriya Rifles is posted in the Machhal area under the Sadbhavna Mission of the Indian Army has brought these students to Rajasthan. Major Kavia himself is from Jodhpur. The children have also moved to Jodhpur and Ajmer, now are rotating to Jaipur. All the students are high school students in Machhal from ninth to 12th standard. None of them had ever crossed the boundary of Srinagar. They are shy, they feel hesitant while talking but they are complete chatterbox once they become comfortable to Rajasthani people. Many of them are sitting on the train for the first time. They are a bit disturbed by the heat of Rajasthan but have forgotten everything in front of the desire to see the world outside Kashmir. Their school teacher Hilal Ahmed, says, "it is a good thing that at such an age these children are able to see the world beyond Srinagar. We did not get this opportunity at all". Hilal is an MA in history and he also came for the first time in Rajasthan.
When we went to talk to them about development in their area, students came out with almost the same kind of opinion. Irfan Sheikh, studying in class XII, wants to become a teacher and it is the most common desire of many students ranging from the youngest Zakir to studying in Class IX. They say that the state of education quality in their area is not very good. they say "We want good education facilities from the government first. Everything else will continue, but there should be a good college, if there are one or two good institutes here, then a lot of work will be done". Altaf Ahmad, who studies in class 10, wants to become a doctor. He says that the poor children of our area cannot study beyond twelfth, because the college is in Kupwara. Girls consisting of just one percent are able to go to college. Zakir, studying in the ninth grade, says that my goal is to become a good teacher only so that I can teach the people of my area. Also, they all are fond of watching Bollywood movies.
Major Deepak Kavia, who brought these children on this goodwill mission, says that after the year 2009, this mission started twice in 2018. Last time 24 children came and the feedback that these children gave there had a huge impact and this time 60 names came to us. But since we could not bring more children, a general test of general knowledge was put up and only 20 students based on their marks are selected.
Major Kavia said that through this journey, we are introducing them to the culture, art, heritage, industrial development, educational development, etc. of Rajasthan. For this, not only tourist places but institutions like big colleges, marble factory, hotel management, etc. are also being shown, so that they can also be aware of the options for their careers. Kavia said that every year, the army selects people from different age groups and make them visit different states of the country. In this, we bring children from the primary to senior level and give them a chance to explore the country.
