There is some kind of buzz in the streets of old town Baramulla. While some of the faces involved in the action are familiar many others are not. There is the filming going on, a web series being made – this is almost on everyone’s lips. The web series is centred on the inroads a Kashmir-based football club has made on the central stage and is now counted among the top ten football clubs in the country. Real Kashmir Football Club – this name will get etched on the pages of history with the production of this scale. After a long time Kashmir will be remembered for something so good.
As a side stroke the web series is expected to highlight the warm hospitality exhibited by Kashmiris towards outsiders. Well that is so true. We in Kashmir do treat our guests like our own family members. There is still the tradition that if someone has an accident on the road strangers pick them up and send them to hospital. It is indeed a land of people who are warm-hearted with hospitality, brotherhood and love at the core of their philosophy.
The story of Real Kashmir Football club is emblematic of the fact that any brand has the potential to grow in Kashmir provided the right atmosphere is provided. This football club was started by two football enthusiasts, nourished by the love of football in the hearts of thousands of Kashmiris who still remember Habib Goalkeeper, Yusuf Dar, Majeed Kakroo and Mehrajuddin Waddoo. Kashmir valley and Jammu region are places where you will find football enthusiasts everywhere. People love football, watch it in thousands and discuss it wherever they find time – shop steps, baker shops, college lawns, lawyer chambers, doctor cabins and almost anywhere.
This web series on a Kashmir-based football club has the potential to attract international tourists to Kashmir. There are still thousands of foreigners who would want to know how a football club spawned in a cul de sac of northern Indian highlands from mere nothing and rose through the ranks to become a top ranking football team of a country of one and a half billion souls.
LG administration played a positive role in promoting sports activities in Kashmir and now the Omar Abdullah led government is trying its level best to match that enthusiasm. We wish the producers of this web series all the best.
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