Syed Majid Gilani
When I look back at Srinagar today, many memories come back to me through the businesses I saw around me. They were ordinary things at the time, but somehow they have stayed with me. I have been watching this since the 1990s. One business would begin to do well, people would notice it, and before long, the same kind of business would start appearing in different parts of the city. Sometimes it seemed as if the whole city had suddenly discovered the same idea.
I remember the small kiryana shops of those years. The 1990s were not easy years in Srinagar. Curfews, hartals and restrictions on movement were familiar parts of life, and people often preferred buying their daily needs from somewhere close to home. A room facing the road could become a shop. A small portion of a house could be turned into one. Even a little space along a boundary wall was enough. A few shelves, some everyday items, and a shop was ready. Slowly, these little grocery shops became part of almost every colony and mohalla. They became part of the daily rhythm of neighbourhood life.
Then came the photostat and lamination shops. Students needed copies of notes, people needed forms and applications, and offices needed documents. Certificates and important papers were copied and laminated. For some years, photostat shops seemed to be everywhere. I can still remember people standing around, waiting for their documents.
Soon after, the STD, ISD and PCO booths became common. Today, when almost everyone carries a mobile phone, it is difficult to imagine what those little booths once meant. If you wanted to make a telephone call, you went to a PCO. Sometimes there was a small queue. Sometimes you waited for someone to finish talking. If the call was important, you stayed there patiently. Many PCOs also offered photostat, fax and lamination services. For a while, they were a familiar sight in Srinagar.
As landline telephones became more common and, later, mobile phones arrived, the PCOs slowly began to disappear. There was no particular day when they ended. They simply became unnecessary.
I also remember the computer training institutes. Computers were new and exciting then, and young people wanted to learn typing, MS-DOS, Windows and other basic computer skills. One institute opened, then others followed. For many young people, entering a computer institute was their first close encounter with a machine that seemed to belong to the future.
Not long after, Internet cafés began appearing across the city. Going to an Internet café was itself an experience. We went there to send emails, search for information, browse websites or simply explore this new world that had opened before us. I still remember sitting in front of those computers and waiting for a page to open. Sometimes the waiting seemed longer than the actual browsing. Today, the Internet is in our phones, and the cafés that once seemed so modern have almost disappeared. Yet for those of us who experienced them, they remain part of a particular Srinagar.
With time, coaching centres too began to mushroom, appearing across the city. Students and parents began looking for them, and soon they could be found in many parts of the city.
After that came fast food. Burgers, pizzas, rolls and other quick foods began appearing in different areas. One outlet would become popular, and before long, several others would appear, offering much the same products and services.
In recent years, departmental stores have become more common. In almost every other market, one can find them. There are businesses today that were not even part of our imagination when the old PCOs and Internet cafés were still part of everyday life.
Then came another trend, the mushrooming of journalism. With smartphones in almost every hand, every other person seemed to become a journalist or photo-journalist. Social media opened an enormous space for this, welcoming everyone with a camera, a story and an audience. Today, this trend is in full bloom.
Over the years, I kept seeing the same kind of change in different forms. Businesses came, became common, changed with time and, in some cases, disappeared. Some remained for years. Some were replaced by something new. Some survived by changing themselves.
When I think about all this now, I remember not only the businesses but also the Srinagar around them. I remember the colonies, the mohallas, the familiar faces, the small counters, the queues, the signboards and the streets we travelled every day without giving them a second thought. We were simply living our lives. We never thought that one day these ordinary things would become memories.
A shop opened on a familiar street. Years passed. Another signboard came up. An old one disappeared. A business we once saw everywhere slowly became part of the past, and something new took its place. The city kept moving while we were busy with our own lives.
I have watched Srinagar change like this since the 1990s. When I look back now, these businesses seem like little markers of time. Each one takes me back to a particular period, to the way the streets looked, the things people needed, the places they went and the way the city felt.
Perhaps, while reading this, someone will remember the first PCO from which they made a telephone call. Someone may remember sitting in an Internet café and waiting for a page to load. Someone may remember the computer institute they first entered, a little grocery shop in their colony or old mohalla, or the first fast-food outlet they visited with friends. We may all remember different things, but they belong to the same Srinagar.
This is simply a small glimpse into my Srinagar, the Srinagar I have watched since my school days. At the time, these were just ordinary shops and businesses we passed every day. Today, they have become memories. And perhaps, somewhere among these memories, you may find a little bit of your own Srinagar too.
(The author is a government officer. He can be contacted at [email protected])
