Heading towards a barren road, 21-year-old Qaiser Yousuf, a UPSC aspirant, walks a kilometre to an ancient Chinar tree outside their village to make a call to his classmate to download notes. After struggling for more than an hour in the cold to receive a network, Yousuf removes his gaze from the phone screen with a sigh of relief after his notes are downloaded.
As he makes his way back to his house, he recalls the countless times he had to endure ridicule and mockery from his classmates in Srinagar, who couldn't believe the struggles he faced just to access the phone network. “My classmates bully me, saying that I am from Mars and my people are aliens. I accept that my village is living in a dark age. To download notes and get on a call with my classmate, I have to walk to the Chinar tree outside the village. For connectivity, we have to sit there day and night so that we do not miss anything from our college,” Yousuf says.
Abadpora, at a distance of 16 kilometres from Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, grapples with the challenges of digital connectivity. The absence of reliable network connectivity has transformed this elusive village into a dark zone, creating a set of subsequent compulsions for its residents.
Finding a lifeline under the shade of a centuries-old Chinar tree that falls in between two villages on the right side of the road heading towards the neighbouring village of Aakerwail, the young residents of the village have resorted to sitting in the wild to stay connected to the outer world.
Qaiser Yousuf, 21, was barred from appearing for his semester exams after he missed a notification from his college due to a lack of network in his village, Abadpora. After running from pillar to post, he was made to write an application for the same until the day of the examination. Ultimately, because of his good academic performance, he was allowed by one of his professors to sit for the exams. Ashish Kumar Kataria/ Decode
A few years ago, the residents of Aakerwail also suffered a similar fate, with no network connectivity. However, a recent installation of a mobile tower in their village has brought them back into the digital age. Apart from a broken bridge that separates the two villages, Aakerwail and Abadpora are divided into a network zone and a no-network zone. The lack of internet access in Abadpora has not only hindered communication and information sharing but also limited educational and economic prospects for its residents, compelling the youth to migrate to Srinagar for better opportunities.
Like many others in Abadpora, Kumail Ali Bhat, 21, a bachelor student at a college in Srinagar, left his home at a young age to pursue his further education in a city with better educational resources and opportunities. Currently, on winter break from college, Bhat along with Mohammad Yaseen, 24, an Urdu literature student at the University of Kashmir, from the neighbouring village, walk past a common service centre located at the entrance of Abadpora, discussing how during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bhat was left with no choice but to leave his native place due to the lack of internet access, which made it difficult for him to access online study materials and communicate with his professors and classmates.
Bhat says, “During COVID-19, we faced a huge crisis. Most of the students were not able to take the examination; they didn't attend online classes. Some didn't receive updates, notes, study materials, or notifications due to a lack of networks in our village.” Students prefer relocating to Srinagar, the 21-year-old says, so that they can match the fast-paced life. “I have relocated to Srinagar so that I can allure digital opportunities and be updated about college notifications. There is no point in living in the village when I have to go crazy to look for network availability; it can risk my career.”
After walking a mile within the village to a nearby agricultural field to make a call, both gaze into their cell phones to see whether the cellular network is available or not. A smile comes on the face of Yaseen once the phone call connects with his brother, who lives outside the state. With joy, he takes a deep breath and greets his brother on the call, narrating their daily ordeal while ending the call.
Bhat on the other hand, looks disappointed as he struggles for connectivity. “Right now, my phone will be switched off for others; otherwise, it is not. It shows emergency calls only. In medical emergencies, we are not even able to make a call for an ambulance or inform our relatives about deaths, which can be distressing. These are the complications we suffer, and there is more to it than what we can do when we are being neglected,” adds Bhat.
A little boy runs out of his home with a tablet, shouting, "Again, I lost the cellular network during my online class; my teacher will scold me." Within seconds, his grandfather, Mushtaq Ahmad, 78, seeing his grandson in utter distress, holds his hand to take him to the nearby Chinar tree while walking quickly so that he does not miss anything.
The villagers claim that due to seasonal patterns, they face network issues as they do not have mobile towers installed, even after reaching out to cellular companies over the past few years. They ended up losing all hope in these companies as nobody reached them, their grievances went to deaf ears, and all approaches went in vain. They further add that during summer, due to lash greenery and leaves on the trees, they lose network connectivity, and during autumn and winter, they are at least able to access the network only at a few spots, which is even a rare case for them.
In the frayed threads of digital connectivity, Kumail Ali Bhat, 21, migrated to Srinagar to pursue higher education. Coming from a socio-economically weak background, he opted for a part-time job as a senior captain at a hotel management institute in Dalgate, Srinagar, to sustain his education and meet his daily living expenses while being apart from his family at a very young age. Ashish Kumar Kataria/ Decode
A witness to the shift from analogue to the digital era, Ghulam Ahmad Dar, an elderly man in his seventies, expresses his hopelessness. He laments the current state of affairs and wonders if there will ever be a solution to their connectivity issues.
"We hosted protests and approached authorities, but all in vain. We have lost hope at the same time. Our children are suffering and lagging, but nothing is in our hands. We have lived our lives without network connectivity. We do not want them to suffer or miss opportunities. We are even ready to give our land for the installation of a mobile tower, but who is listening to us? Nobody,” he says with a heavy sigh.
He looks around at the other villagers, who nod in agreement and share similar stories of frustration and despair. The lack of connectivity has not only hindered their daily lives but also limited their access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities.
After all the chaos and uncertainty in the aura, Yousuf remains hopeful that one day the villagers will experience reliable network connectivity, envisioning a world where communication and access to information will be seamless. However, a shadow of disappointment lingers on the faces of Bhat, Dar, and other villagers as the dream of consistent connectivity feels elusive, creating a bittersweet mix of optimism and disillusionment in their aspirations.
Meanwhile, Decode tried to reach an official of the Jio company to whom these villagers have approached several times for the installation of a mobile tower. “I cannot do anything,” he said, refusing to comment further.