Srinagar, July 25 -- Many professors, doctors, engineers and civil servants residing in Srinagar today were born and raised in villages. Those villages nurtured them, educated them, protected them through hardship and shaped the character that eventually led them to success. Every milestone they celebrate today has its earliest foundation in the dusty lanes, modest schools and resilient communities of their native villages. There is absolutely nothing wrong with moving to a city for cities offer opportunities, exposure and professional growth. The problem begins when mobility turns into amnesia and progress becomes synonymous with abandoning one's identity.

It is remarkable how quickly some people begin to redefine themselves after settl...