From being cut off from the rest of the world to now battling the pandemic fallout, youngsters in J&K are far from getting a level-playing field as startup founders and innovators in the rest of the country. But that won't stop them
(From left) Omaira Khan and Binish Basheer Khan are working hard to run their Instagram business Craft World Kashmir despite losses borne during the internet shutdown and the pandemic. The internet, they say, is not just an avenue for business, but also a safe space for women entrepreneurs in the region
Image: Kamran Yousuf for Forbes India
The people of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) had many stories to share. Two school teachers were excited about selling handcrafted jewellery and accessories on Instagram to buyers around the world. A man in his 20s who worked in the thick of Bengaluru’s information technology (IT) culture was taking his learnings back home. Two friends delivering parcels in Srinagar were spreading their wings online. An MBA graduate saw opportunities in the government’s ban on Chinese apps and was making the most of it. A social worker had taken it upon himself to improve the lives of schoolchildren with digital education.
Conversations with women and men of the Union Territory are peppered with aspirations that have come to define the lives of most youngsters in India—the desire to earn success, money, influence and prestige, the desire to look beyond the limited opportunities around them, the desire to solve problems, and the desire to be part of the good old startup ‘disruption’.
From being under siege for a whole year—cut off from the rest of the world with no means of communication—to now battling Covid-19 amid volatility, youngsters in J&K feel they are far from getting a level-playing field, or seeing the dizzying levels of entrepreneurial success that startup founders, innovators and businesspersons in the rest of the country get to experience. Not that it’s stopping them, but it’s certainly making it a tough fight.
Malik Aadil is the founder of e-grocery startup Groxery that currently employs 40 local Kashmiri youth and services about 35 pincodes in Srinagar. He plans to expand to Jammu soon