Srinagar: Love of their mother tongue has driven two old city siblings here to develop a social networking site on the pattern of Facebook. The site named ‘Connect Kashmir’ is aimed to promote Kashmiri language.
The siblings, Rayees and Suhail Zargar, said the aim of the site is to create awareness among younger generation about Kashmir’s history and its language. The siblings, who are computer literates, said that they got the idea of developing the site from some social networking sites including Facebook.
“Almost everyone in Kashmir is using social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. And that is from where the thought of developing our own social networking site came to our mind,” says Rayees. “We developed the Social Networking module with different features which could attract people towards this site,” they said. The duo said the Connect Kashmir has around 5,000 active members and the membership is increasing with each passing day.
“We are providing space to local entrepreneurs to market their products through advertisement on the site. We are looking for sponsor and advertisers which can help our venture to further expand its base,”. Rayees said, adding that the Connect Kashmir is not just a social networking site, “it is a cause by which we will promote language and educate people about Kashmir history.”
“The site has been developed in such a way that people around the world can connect to Kashmir and know about it. In Connect Kashmir our motto is to introduce people to the rich culture of Kashmir, its proverbs, its budding talent its heritage and much more,” Rayees said.
The website features many articles on the history of Kashmir. “The aim of such exercise is to create awareness about the Kashmir language through social networking, which is a craze these days, people from every age group are using it.”
Suhail Zargar, who is doing Master’s in Computer Applications said they wanted to give Kashmir its own social networking site. The duo however had to confront many problems during the process of developing the site. Suhail said: “One of the major difficulties we faced while developing the site is electricity outages and poor internet connectivity.”
Pertinently, Connect Kashmir is the product of Netshell Software Solution, a software company in JK, owned by Zargar brothers.
The Ck was formally launched by the Commissioner Secretary, IT, at Mumbai during an IT show where people praised the duo for their concept. Pertinently, the trend of making android games, applications and developing websites is gaining popularity in Kashmir. Recently, a 19-year-old boy developed an android game based on the basic principles of Physics.
Earlier, a 23-year-old software engineer developed an Android application ‘Dial Kashmir’ that contains over 500 contacts of government and private departments. Previously, another young engineer developed an online platform where people can share and get any information regarding Kashmir.