Azon Linhares’ stint as a volunteer at a school remotevillage of Breswana (at 7,100 feet, one has to walk seven hours from the mainroad to get there) in Kashmir began with him getting lost in the Himalayas, onthe second day he was there. “One Sunday morning, I decided to go off on my ownand explore the woods above. Left at about 6am and reached the top about 10am,and got lost amidst the pines and snow. The guys back at the village wereapparently getting frantic, what with there being wild bears and leopards inthe forest,” he says with a mix of a smile and a shudder. Four hours later,after rolling face-down the slope, eating snow and contemplating the making ofa final video clip of saying goodbye to the world, a search party of villagers foundhim.
It was the longing to do something different that had Azontaking a month’s off from his work at Reuters and going to Nepal to trek aroundthe Annapurna circuit for a month. “I was completely taken up by it, came backand quit my job in September 2011, for I wanted to do more,” says Azon. He thenproceeded to the Andamans and completed 80 dives in two months beforeproceeding to Kashmir. “A friend of mine followed Sabbah on Twitter. They hadbegun the long-term volunteer programmes and I found myself signing up for thesame,” said Azon. Sabbah Haji, originally from Kashmir, left a comfortable lifeabroad to set up the school in Breswana and three other schools under a trust.Azon taught English and Environmental Sciences to students from class 1 to class4 (the school has 80 students). After four months of volunteer work, hebackpacked to Himachal Pradesh and did a mountaineering course at the NehruInstitute of Mountaineering before returning to Goa.
“I decided to take another year off and head back to Kashmirwhen I got a call from the management of the school asking if I would fill inas Assistant Director of the Trust.” This, building up small businesses in thevillage and running the volunteer programme is what Azon will be doing for thenext three years. “We intend to start something like a cooperative like Amul,on a smaller scale though, because they are very good with cattle,” he says.
“When I began doing all this, my mum thought I had gonemad,” he laughs. “She’s happy now, I believe.” And how will he sustain himself?“I have saved to tide over this time, though obviously I can’t live a luxuriouslife. I backpack,” he says.
