The house of ABDULLAH

The father
When Farooq Abdullah was sworn in as Union minister for new and renewable energy last month,it was seen as too small an assignment for a politician who had three stints as Jamp;K chief minister in a 30-year-long political career. But the Abdullah family was happy. The move had put an end to the battle of leadership in the family. His presence in Kashmir had created a parallel power centre,which was becoming a problem for the government led by his son Omar Abdullah.

Farooq now lives alone in a bungalow in Teen Murti Lane in Delhi,the head of a family scattered across the world Kashmir,Delhi and Britainand a man who seems to have withdrawn into a shell. He visits Nizamuddin dargah several times every week and spends a lot of time alone in his living room,watching television. My family comes to visit me during the winters. We have a house in UK and my wife takes care of it. My daughter Hinna Collins lives close by in England with her daughters, he says. Do you feel lonely here? At times yes, he says and there is a long pause. But there is a lot of work. I am taking my new assignment very seriously.
The days ahead of the announcement of Omars candidature for chief ministership in December 2008 were tumultuous. Farooq had made his ambition to become chief minister public twice. The matter was resolved amicably when Farooqs wife Molly finally pushed for the generational shift.

Farooq says he was never in favour of Omar joining politics. When I planned to join politics,my father Sheikh Abdullah had advised me to stay away, he says. He told me once you jump into this river,you either flow with it or fight the current; you can never get out. I too advised Omar against joining politics. But like me,he didnt listen to his father, he says. Farooq tells us about his wifes reaction when he told her that Omar may want to join politics one day. She was furious. She said it would happen over her dead body.
Omar,however,says this is a conversation only his father recollects. My mother is not sure of it. She says she doesnt remember saying that, he says and adds with a laugh: But we tend to give dad the benefit of doubt.

This is not the first time that politics has split the Abdullah family. After Sheikhs death,an unseemly feud erupted over the issue of the partys leadership because Farooqs elder sister Khalida resented his ascension. Her husband Ghulam Mohammad Shah staged an overnight coup against Farooqs government in July 1984,when he broke the NC and took over power with the Congresss support.

Over the years,Farooq says,he tried his best to patch up with Khalida and her husband. We met at the funeral of Mohideen Shah sahib another NC stalwart a few years ago and I told them enough is enough now lets get together. They agreed. But they put up such difficult conditions,which were impossible to accept. I am sad about it. My sister was very dear to Sheikh sahib. But now she has become extremely bitter. She will die with that bitterness and it hurts me.
Sara Pilot,married to minister Sachin Pilot,is the only family member who lives close to Farooq. A photograph of the Pilots with their toddler son hangs on the wall of Farooqs living room,next to Omars family portrait. I am glad she lives close by. I meet her often, he says.

Is Farooq Abdullah a carefree and non-serious politician? I have never liked alcohol never smoked. I do like my golf once in a while,thats it, he says. My detractors have created this perception over the years. I had bad luck too.
In the Eighties,Farooq shocked his conservative state when he rode pillion on a motorcycle with actress-friend Shabana Azmi in front. Shabanaji Azmi came and sat on my motorcycle and I could never clear myself from that one incident. That image stuck with me, he says. Perhaps I was not uptight enough and didnt lie to hide my personal life. But all thats irrelevant now. I am getting older, he says. I am playing my last innings I have lived my life on my own terms.

What did he think about his children marrying out of Kashmir and the community? Did it have any implications on the politics in Kashmir? My mother,my sisters and brothers,everyone was against these marriages, he says. With Omar I had a choice I could have prevented him. But then I knew he would have married in England and ended up like me ,living an entire life with a divided family, he says.
Farooq said yes to Omars decision to marry the woman he loved,Payal Singh,daughter of an Army officer from Delhi. And then it was his decision and his responsibility. I didnt want to be blamed if anything went wrong, he says. It was a similar situation when Sara decided to marry Sachin Pilot. I thought I would lose my daughter, he says. I didnt want that. Thank God,we are a happy family now. My children are happily married and I am a grandfather.

The son
Omar Abdullah remembers a childhood surrounded by politics. Every evening,the family would assemble at my grandfathers house. My dads sisters and brothers and our cousins would be there and lot of conversation would revolve around politics, he says.
Over the last six years,though,Omar has tried his best to get out of his fathers shadow. Not only did his party snap ties with the BJP-led NDA but Omar also publicly apologised several times for not walking out earlier.

People who have watched Omar grow up say that he has always tried to strike a different path from his father,as a person and a politician. While Farooq speaks his mind without considering its political fallout,Omar is always measured. He also keeps a distance from Farooqs coterie and is disinterested in his fathers friends from business and films. This has generated a subtle tension between the father and the son.

His personality,too,is as different from his father as is his working style. He is very much a family man,preferring to spend time with wife Payal,whom he married in 1994,and their two sons Zamir and Zahir. After he took over as chief minister last year,Omar has been living separately in a house,a few blocks away from Farooqs Gupkar Road residence in Srinagar. Payal and his sons live in Delhi,where his children go to school. Omar regularly takes time off to spend time with his family in Delhi.

Prod as much as you will,Omar is reticient about his personal life. Sources reveal that though he was not happy when sister Sara decided to marry Sachin Pilot,he has been reconciled to it. Our opposition consistently tried to raise these personal issues but people did not pay any heed to them, he says. And I dont want to talk about it.
If Omar fails to deliver as chief minister,Farooqs return to Kashmir cannot be ruled out. How he will react to such an eventuality only time will determine.

The son-in-law
The lawns of Pilots official residence in south Delhi are packed with people. Inside his small office,life-size portraits of father Rajesh Pilot are everywhere. My first contact with Kashmir was through my father. He used to visit the state from the mid-Eighties and I used to accompany him, he says. Pilot first met his father-in-law when he was eight or nine. He is very easy to get along with. He is a likeable personality both as a politician as well as father-in-law, he says.

Ask him about Omar and his remarks turn a little formal. Omar is a focussed individual. As a politician,he represents change and as of today,he is the youngest chief minister in the country. He has made his place in politics and has changed the politics in Kashmir. All of us are doing our jobs. We have our families and are happy. We dont think of anything beyond that.
Pilot says that his politics is different as he is representing his constituency in Delhi and is part of the biggest national party. But at the end of the day,we all are here for similar reasons we represent our people, he says.

Did his marriage into the Abdullah family become an issue in Rajasthan? I am sure someone somewhere must have tried. There are small-minded people out there too. Initially,our detractors tried to raise it in newspapers but the response was devastating for them. People of Rajasthan accepted Sara as their bahu and treated her like a daughter, he says.
While Payal has stayed away from politics and didnt even join her husband during election campaign,Sara Pilot has been actively campaigning for her husband during the past two elections. Pilot says Sara comes with strong family roots in Kashmir but we tend to think beyond the regional divides. I was born in UP,studied in Delhi and my roots and my constituency are in Rajasthan. Its India after all, he says.

Pilot says that he and his wife regularly visit their family in Kashmir. But thats it, he says. Its part of our private life and I dont like to bring it before the public.
There might be another politician on the way. The Pilots are expecting their second child.