We also had Pandit Prem Nath Shastri, one of the most well-read people of his time, who actually invented the Kashmiri Pandit Vijyeshwar Panchang, which over the years has become one of the most important guides for the Kashmiri Pandits in their day-to-day socio-religious rituals. His Jantri (calendar) is followed even today. Kashmiri Pandits from across the world do things according to that. Every year, a new Jantri comes out because it changes. So, when it changes, everything changes and.

Shastriji was our kulguru (family guru) and he would come for heraths and do all the prayers and rituals. I still remember that graceful man, tall, slim, good looking. He had a nice, very decent and elegant demeanour about him. He was a very learned person, and not the regular gurus that you come across these days. And he obviously had Shaivite tendencies and also knew Swami Lakshman Joo, who then was the only Shaivite living saint. These are remembrances from my childhood.

Here I would also like to mention that I was a little bit of a macho man and hung around with young macho boys of my area and small gangs of the yesteryears. Wazir Bagh and Jawahar Nagar was one gang and the Sarai Bala was another. Both would fight with each other. Occasionally, I would get drawn into that. I did a little bit of this, a little bit of that, a little bit of everything.

To the utmost surprise of my teachers, they never expected me to get the marks I would get. Because they never knew that after whatever I did on the streets in the day, I would read in the night and make sure I got my marks. It was always about saving my skin.

My mantra was simple. If I wanted the kind of lifestyle and get away with the kind of things that I was doing while growing up like go to movies, travel, have all vices that children had I mean smoking, hang out with friends and party, then I had to make sure that I got my marks right.