In the early 1970s, Commonwealth Foundation in London helped fund the establishment of Professional Centres (PCs) in many of Britain’s former colonies. As the name implies, PC membership comprises those belonging to societies and associations for the practice of professions, such as Accountancy, Architecture, Chemistry, Dentistry, Engineering, Law, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Quantity Survey, Social Work, etc.
The Spore Professional Centre (SPC) had about 22 Member Societies and thousands of individual members. I was glad to have served on the SPC Board for over ten years in the capacity of Convention, Publications, Community Service Committees Chairmen, and then SPC Deputy Chairman, Chairman, and Past Chairman. Those were very challenging and rewarding years as they demanded much time outside my full-time work in healthcare service.
I was fortunate to represent SPC to give two talks at a Commonwealth Meeting of PCs held in East Africa and travelled via New Dehli and Kashmir’s Srinagar, a beautiful place with friendly people. It was wintertime, and there were few tourists. A local tour company’s owner was the guide to accompany me during my stay and sightseeing trips.


I was glad to have stayed in a luxury houseboat on Dal Lake. (See photos of the boat and its interior). Small boats would come by to sell food, flowers, and handicrafts. I bought several wood carvings, a knife, and scissors with carved wooden casings as unique souvenirs. The boat provided several attendants to serve passengers and excellent Northern Indian meals.

A day journey to the Gulmarg Mountain was made on horseback. The mountain scenery was much like those of the Swiss Alps. (See photo of Gulmarg). I encountered unusual views of men wearing blankets with protruding bellies appearing in late pregnancy. When they sat by the roadsides, these men took out small pots they were carrying with both hands under their “blankets” to keep themselves warm! It turned out that they were wearing Kashmir’s traditional winter garment, the pheran. Worn by men and women, the pheran is usually stitched loosely to let the traditional fire pot (in a rattan basket with handles), Kangri, be carried inside it during chilly winter days. Please see some photos of this unique attire.

Kashmir is well known for the following types of handicrafts: handwoven silk and woolen carpets, walnut wood carvings, Crewel embroidery, Pashmina shawls, enameled papier mache boxes and tall vases decorated with colourful floral and other designs, dried Saffron flowers, outer leather jackets, full-sized sheep and goats’ skins with fur or hair dyed in golden orange colour. I shared the view of my Kashmiri silk carpet in an earlier message. Please enjoy the full-size golden orange goat’s skin and some beautiful papier mache boxes I brought back from Kashmir.

It is a great pity that Kashmir was closed to tourism just a few years after my visit. It became a hotbed for conflicts, terrorism, and battle between India and Pakistan. The political turmoil persisted for a long time and badly affected Kashmir’s tourism industry. Occasional violent incidents in recent years are still preventing foreigners from a desire to visit.