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Rest in eternal peace, Ghulam Rasool Malik uncle

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  In an era when we had just one TV channel and no remote controls, we consumed all available content including advertisements. The peppy and catchy advertisement of Campa Cola made it particularly attractive and an instant hit. I was around four or five years old when I had the short-lived joy of having my first Cola drink while we were on our way to a picnic.  The fizzy drink perhaps cost a princely sum of Rs seven each for a bunch of kids. The ever-so-indulgent Ghulam Rasool Malik uncle was again there to indulge and buy colas for us. We could always count on the large-hearted and generous Malik uncle. We would eagerly wait for the Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport bus from Baramulla, where he was posted as an industries officer, to pull in for us to get our almost daily share of Pan Pasand candies.  I perhaps did my first set of writings for the Springer children's magazine (Kashmir Times Group, Jammu) on a chair-cum-desk he bought for his children, Umake and Misbah, as we