It was late evening of 26th of December 2024 when the news of the demise of Prof. Nazir Ahmad Gilkar, a great academician and an academic administrator, broke. As the shocking news came, a pall of gloom descended on the academic community of Kashmir in general and the commerce education fraternity, in particular. As a quick and natural reaction, for a moment, I couldn’t believe, but was soon forced to accept the truth as the deceased was unwell for quite some time. Alas! I had lost my close companion in academics and research. A companion, alongside whom, I had started my academic career in 1987, with whom I was in close association for over three and a half decades.

Born in 1954 at Pandaan, Nowhatta, an area of the Srinagar’s historic downtown, to parents with underprivileged background, Prof. Nazir A Gilkar had a humble beginning. Soon after passing the 12th standard, Prof. Gilkar took up a job in Govt. Arts Emporium. Despite the compelling circumstances to lend a helping hand to his parents in managing the affairs of the household, he left the job to fulfil his longing for further studies.

After giving up his first job, Prof. Gilkar took admission in the historic Islamia College of Science and Commerce as a student for B. Com Programme. Soon after graduating from the college, Prof. Nazir joined the then iconic central PSU, HMT, at its Zainakote unit in Srinagar as Accounts Assistant. Notwithstanding, the fissiparous pressures that would have ordinarily forced an average person to yield to, Prof. Nazir stood tall and as a sequel to the........

© Greater Kashmir