On Sunday, 26th August 2001, at around 7:45 pm, when the signature tune of “Radio Kashmir Pesh Hai – JK Bank Diary” went on air for the first time, no one imagined that this 15-minute programme would still be on air, without a single break, 25 years later.This Sunday, JK Bank Diary completes its Silver Jubilee. 25 years. 1300 episodes. 325 hours of broadcast. Networked on 8 stations of Radio Kashmir – Srinagar, Jammu, Leh, Kargil, Poonch, Rajouri, Bhaderwah and Kathua.In the history of All India Radio, no commercial sponsored programme of 15 minutes weekly has ever had such an uninterrupted, revenue-generating run. It is, perhaps, a national broadcasting record.

And it all began mid-air.Love at first hear: Bangalore to Srinagar, 23rd June 2000The story is now folklore in broadcasting circles.On 23rd June 2000, this writer was waiting for a flight from Bangalore to Srinagar. In the lounge, I spotted a tall, graceful personality – Mr. M.Y. Khan, Chairman, J&K Bank.We boarded together and destiny gave us seats together. For three hours, I poured my heart out.“Khan Sahab, Radio Kashmir talks about Chinar, Kehwa, Saffron, Pashmina – everything beautiful. But we never talk about the empty pocket of our farmer. We never tell our artisan that his shawl has a price in Paris. Our own bank – J&K Bank – is our pride, but for a common man in Kupwara, it still looks like a locked government office. Why doesn’t J&K Bank itself tell its people what the Bank is and what does the Bank have for them?”Mr. Khan did not just listen. He heard it.For the entire flight, we discussed only this. It was, as i later called it, love at first hear.As we landed at Srinagar, he held my hand and said: “Rafeeq, come to Zam Zam, my office. The idea born in the air must get wings on the ground.”A week later, in........

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