The Unyielding Souls of J&K: A Tribute to the Daily Wagers Who Refuse to Surrender

Parvinder Singh,
Chairman GNSCT
The world measures success in milestones degrees earned, careers built, families nurtured. But for some men, life is a relentless contradiction. Everything they wanted slipped through their fingers; everything they never wished for became their reality. Yet, against all odds, they persisted.
They were the brightest minds of their time, devouring knowledge with an insatiable hunger. Their academic achievements—certificates, medals, honours—could fill a museum. But success remained elusive. They had been the best among their peers, the most disciplined, the most hardworking, yet when the time came, the doors to opportunity never opened.
They turned to competitive exams, appearing for tens of them, studying day and night, solving thousands of questions, mastering subjects with precision. Every result day, they dreamt of seeing their name on the selection list. But each time, they fell short—by a fraction, by an unexpected rule change, by luck that never favored them.
Rejection became routine. Failure became a constant companion. They watched as mediocrity was rewarded, as those who barely made an effort climbed ahead. It stung, it crushed their spirits, but they never stopped trying.
When jobs failed them, they turned to business—hundreds of ideas, thousands of attempts. Small shops, ambitious ventures, trade, services—they tried it all. Some ideas flourished, only to collapse overnight. Some never took off. Partners betrayed them. Customers disappeared. Their investments turned to dust. But they didn’t give up.
Each failure taught them something new. Every loss was another lesson. People laughed at them. They called them cursed. “The men who would never get things right.” But they refused to be defined by those words.
Then came love—a promise of companionship, a home filled with warmth. For a brief moment, they believed life had finally balanced its cruel scales. But fate had other plans. Their marriages crumbled. The person they trusted the most walked away. Love turned into indifference. Laughter into silence. A home into just bricks and walls.
Society whispered behind their backs. “They failed in everything. They are destined to be alone. Unlucky men.” Society ignored them.
Everything in their lives unfolded in opposition to their wishes. Where they sought stability, they found chaos. Where they yearned for success, they met failure. Where they desired companionship, they encountered solitude. It would have been easy to surrender, to disappear into the shadows. But they chose otherwise.
They woke up each day, dusted off yesterday’s failure, and moved forward—not with blind hope, not with false optimism, but with sheer will.
Years passed. Their friends settled into secure lives—families, careers, comfort. They had none of it. Yet, those who once pitied them began to see something remarkable. They saw men who had been defeated a thousand times but had never been broken.
These men had nothing, yet they possessed everything—courage, endurance, and an unyielding belief in life itself. Suicide was an easy escape, but they never imagined it. They fought—in life, with life, for life—with unwavering determination, until the angel of death arrived one morning.
Their names? Irrelevant to history, perhaps. But to those who truly understood, they were the unsung warriors—the contractual workers, the daily wagers, the need-based workforce of Jammu & Kashmir.
One among them was my friend. A companion of two decades. His words, his advice, his laughter, his warmth still send chills down my spine every time I reflect on him. The world, life, and society could never defeat him. But death did. He died, as we all will one day.
But his story, like the story of every daily wager who refuses to surrender, must be told. They are the unyielding souls, the ones who find joy even in sorrow, who refuse to bend to life’s cruelties. They are the ones who teach us the true meaning of resilience.