As more and more children of Kashmiri Pandit Families complete their 12th standard, there is a gradual shift towards several cities in India or sometimes even abroad.

When initially Kashmiri Pandit families started settling down in Jammu after the Exodous and Genocide caused by terrorism in Kashmir Valley, little did they know that they would never be settled in Jammu as well. 

Several Kashmiri Pandit Families were educated and had good jobs, because of which they were able to settle down in Jammu and some other nearby states. Still, life was really hard initially. Life in migrant camps was not up to human survival because of the constant danger of insects and snakes.

Adding salt to the wound, the weather of Jammu, and mosquitoes were other issues that caused several diseases in the migrant camps.

Several years have passed now, and many Kashmiri Pandits have accepted the fate that they will not be able to go back to Kashmir Valley and build their homes from scratch. Some already had land investments and some purchased it slowly and gradually as they aged.

Although they worked hard to construct their homes, little did they knew that they are not going to enjoy their life for long.

After a few years of exodus and genocide, Kashmiri Pandit Families started connecting together in small communities in Jammu and nearby regions, and they worked hard to construct their houses again from scratch by taking loans. This was the time when several of them also had small children.

Giving my example, I remember I had spent some time in Talwara Migrant Camp and then we were in Subash Nagar in a rented apartment where washrooms were approximately 1km away from the room we used to live in.

But as our parents worked hard and constructed their homes, we started shifting towards Janipur, and then Bantalab.

This was amazing because several other Kashmir Pandit Families were also coming to those areas. So, we had a community kind of thing in the Bantalab area with lane systems, like Lane No 1, Lane No 2, etc. Ours was Lane No 4, which was also named Adarsh Nagar.

When we were initially constructing our house, I still remember coming with dad to see the progress as we used to live in a rented house, and when we were thirsty, we used to ask our neighbors "Akhoon", for water.

They had constructed their house long before ours and were an old couple living with their children.

When our house was getting built, we used to come there on our holidays and used to give water to the walls so as to make it strong.

We went to our house without front windows. I think that maybe because we were in a hurry to shift, still there were no windows and the whole front was open. Still, it was one of the best places that we were in because it was ours.

As time passed, we progressed and were also able to install windows and doors and eventually stairs to go to our terrace. That was an amazing feeling because for several years we were not able to access our stairs, and therefore, if during cricket or badminton, our ball or shuttle was shot on our terrace, we were not able to rescue them.

Now this story is not specific to us, but several other Kashmiri Pandit Families also struggled during this time and have faced similar situations.

Slowly and gradually we also formed friends with our neighbor kids and used to discuss our future and careers.

Most of the time, we were expected to be good in academics and secure a good-paying job so that we would be able to live a good life, and this was mostly because our families struggled a lot and even strived for basic living facilities when exodus and genocide happened in Kashmir.

Now, as time progressed and all of us children started choosing our careers, we saw a gradual shift in demography outside the Jammu and Kashmir region, and that was because of several facilities and quotas offered by different states around India.

This was a great initiative because our elder brothers and sisters were able to complete their education at one of the best colleges around India and were also able to secure good-paying jobs.

Still, this took an unwanted turn when every single child and parent's dream was to send their kids outside the Jammu and Kashmir region as most of the opportunities were in those regions and states only.

Most of the time, I still remember, there used to be strikes at Jammu and Kashmir University and political parties were more concerned about making money and coming into power rather than ensuring the career growth of their children.

I saw several students getting their careers screwed because they didn't go outside the state at that time, and this created fear in the minds of parents and children at that time. We used to think anyone who was still in Jammu after 12th standard was worthless and wouldn't be able to get a good college.

This was the mindset that several of us had, and it was genuine also because at that time the situations didn't allow anyone to prosper as per their abilities and most of the time people used to earn average salaries in the state.

Lonely Lanes and Homes
As children started going out of the Jammu region, we started observing a weird silence in our Lanes and community areas. There were homes without any residents as most of the parents also shifted with their kids in this rat race.

Some of them came back because they were not feeling comfortable living a metro life and started living again in homes in Jammu, still, many of them knew that the exodus that had started back in the 90s hadn't stopped till now.

It is still happening in the way of changing the demography of people in those areas and communities. 

We have seen houses being left without renovations because no one lives there now. Once the places and houses that used to glow up due to the voices of children and people living in them are not abandoned and look like ghost houses without proper care.

Is it only happening with Kashmiri Pandits?
Initially, it was seen that Kashmiri Pandits were the first ones to leave Jammu because of education and career opportunities, but I have started observing that a lot of other communities like Dogras and Punjabis have also started moving out of the Jammu region because fewer opportunities.

Although several still prefer to have their businesses in their home town, most of the people have started leaving their homes and have started settling down in other states of India.

Which places do people from the Jammu region go to?
It cannot be generalized but several people from Jammu usually go for higher studies in Delhi Chandigarh, or even Pune, and then settle in Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore, or Hyderabad, and even in Delhi, because many of them are in IT sector.

Still, I have seen several doctors in Hyderabad and around 200+ Kashmiri Pandit People part of Kashmiri Hindu Sabah Telangana WhatsApp Group.

When I was in Pune, the situation was the same and several Kashmiri People had settled there. I even saw several Non-Kashmiri Pandit Families migrating to Pune and Hyderabad because of the career opportunities as most of them have started leaving their businesses and prefer corporate jobs instead.

What does it look like in Jammu these days?
Although several people still live in Jammu, most of them have shifted to other states because of career opportunities. Children of KP Families also realize that facilities like Health, Education, and Jobs are far more in Metro Cities than in Jammu and surrounding areas.

Therefore, most of the places are quiet and we only see the Aging Population living in Jammu and waiting for their time to come.

I have seen houses and communities closed, not properly maintained for living, and also being sold out as people have stopped coming back to Jammu.

The problem is not only about Aging Population but also because that aging population doesn't have good health care facilities as it is in Metro Cities. Most of them have to travel long distances and via their personal vehicles in crowded and small lanes to reach hospitals and clinics, because of which it becomes difficult if someone falls sick and needs emergency treatment.

Is the government doing something about this issue?
The government has started several programs to help people in the Jammu region and has also introduced government jobs in Jammu and Kashmir region, which were initially famous but now because of recent killings have become a second option for several Kashmiri Pandit Families and even for Non-Kashmiri Families.

What can we do to stop this migration?
Currently we can do only one thing and that is to create opportunities in Jammu and Kashmir region that can help children have good growth opportunities there.

Since the exodus several people created temples, charities and ashrams, still no one was able to create educational institutes and businesses, and this is not because we didn't had knowledge, but mostly because we were concerned about our growth and settlement rather than settling our future generation.

Today we can help children learn Sharda Script and Kashmiri Language, that will encourage them to be part of their mother land and also we should try to open educational institutes in Jammu and Kashmir that will have facilities for Kashmiri Migrants and other people that need educational assistance.

Onley having Schools  will not help, we should also have higher education institutes for our children because that will help them gain insights about the changes that are happening in India and abroad and will also help them gain skills that are market ready.

We should have more corporate startups and incubation centers that can help people of Jammu and Kashmir to build their prototypes and businesses and also help them create opportunities in the region.

I think these all efforts should be able to help us restore the demographic balance back in Jammu and we should be able to see proper use of our houses again.

Till then we can only work hard towards this dream as it is one of the major issues in Jammu region, and we should not take our resources and opportunities for granted to safeguard our society and its values.