Death, as we realise bitterly, keeps its own calendar, runs in its own timeline. Divinely ordained, it is a great leveller and rips through all barriers, high and low. It can neither be cajoled nor bribed. It stands deadly insulated against all pleas, mercies and beseeching. Its single frown is enough to numb anyone into a soul-less corpse. 

Abdul Khaliq Tak popularly known as Tak Zainagiri, was a remarkable man, for decades he served his fellow people in a selfless way that made him a symbol of human goodness and kindness. This most amazing and selfless human being was born for what he achieved in decades of dedication to humanitarian work, a testimony to the natural goodness in all human beings.

This “great philanthropist of the valley,” the iconic founder of the Jammu and Kashmir Yateem Trust breathed his last on 24th July, 1989. He was a great Kashmiri philanthropic, social activist, poet, writer and researcher. On his final journey from this world, all people, particularly, orphans, destitute, penniless students, poor and neglected, had tears to express their love for this noble humanitarian soul. Though pangs of separation seared through the hearts of the lovers but the nature has its own ways of putting balm on lacerated wounds and after recuperating steadily through the phase of gloom, his illustrious and dedicated son Zahoor Ahmad Tak and a team of workers, donors, and sympathisers geared up to act together and continue his noble mission of the Jammu and Kashmir Yateem Trust, turning it into a success story. 

He was born on 19th of May 1924 in a financially modest family with educational upbringing at Hard Shuva Zaingir, Sopore. His father, Haji Ghulam Rasool Tak who was a professional hand and also served as the Imam of the village mosque without any demand for wages; exhibiting his religious touch and spirit. Being the eldest among four brothers, Abdul Khaliq Tak grew up in an........

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