Hailing from Anantnag district of Kashmir, 24-year-old Saqib Ahmad who is a fisheries graduate from SKUAST, Kashmir is making his mark in aquatic business.
His interest in aquaria led him to found his own company Crystal Aquatics which has a multiple working fronts in Harwan, Anantnag and Ganderbal; the last two are yet to be fully developed. Crystal Aquatics was initially established by the name of Crystal Kashmir Aquariums but Saqib had a change of mind after considering that the name failed to notify about all the areas he dealt with.
“When you come across the name Crystal Kashmir Aquariums, the one and only thing that comes to your mind is the manufacturing of aquariums. We do a lot more than just that. We also have a division dealing with the breeding of ornamental fishes in Kashmir and hopefully many more divisions will be added soon,” says Saqib.
Knowing that this industry has an untapped potential, Saqib with his knowledge of fisheries wants to relay the pros of aquarium keeping to the people of Kashmir as the same is rigorously followed in the West.
“I have always found myself drawn to the beauty of nature and it was because of that I decided to invest in this line of business. Aquarium keeping is not an easy task and I had met with people who were discouraged with this hobby and kept ranting about its demerits,” he says.
“I was utterly disheartened by this and took upon myself to change this myth once for all. I was at the time in my final semester of UG course and opted for Ornamental Fisheries under experiential learning program. There I learned the fabrication of aquariums and to gain more knowledge in this area, I read the books of famous aquarist Takashi Amano who is known to be an ‘Aquascaping Legend’. I had kindled a burning enthusiasm within myself and I took whatever step I could to get more information about this field. My friend from Ganderbal Arrshh Baba was a great help all through this course.”
To begin his journey, Saqib sold his first aquarium through his Facebook page and from then on he continued to sell more aquariums with pre-order bookings. He received his first grand project wherein he had to design an aquarium for a reputed institution in Kashmir valley and another project at Kissan Mela organised by SKUAST.
“I did not have any funds to invest in my business and I designed my first aquarium with the help of my savings. I did not tell anyone in my family because I wanted to lay the foundation of my business first and then inform them about it,” he says.
According to Saqib people have started to appreciate his work and his passion for creating aquariums enables him to come up with fresh ideas.
“Every aquarium that we have delivered so far has been built with utmost care and love and the feedback from our customers is overwhelming. I am content with the kind of response I am getting,” he says.
He is currently pursuing his masters in Fish Pathology from SKUAST-K Ganderbal while side by side operating his shop at Harwan, Srinagar.
“I hired a shop for my business in Harwan which belonged to my friend who was also my batch mate and set up the whole studio. He has been an immense support and has helped me a great deal in establishing this shop. Since I am busy with my studies, I am able to manufacture aquaria only during the weekends as I have to travel a lot. Also my guide Dr Feroz Ahmad always supported me in my venture and obviously my family whom I cannot thank enough,” he says.
Saqib has a lot of plans in mind that he aspires to turn into reality with maximum effect. While talking about his future plans and how he will manage to achieve all that, he says:
“Crystal Aquatics has now started to breed ornamental fishes to reduce the cost and make their availability easy. We have started with Gold Fish right now and are planning to breed some rare tropical fishes. This is a great development and we are doing the best we can. People will soon be able to explore the work of Crystal Aquatics online as we will be launching our own portal encompassing all the information regarding fishes, aquaria, accessories and other related items which will also have the option of getting home delivered. Apart from that, we are also planning to set up our own fish feed manufacturing plant in Kashmir which will be of great advantage to fish farmers as the rates will be relatively cheaper.”
After giving a detailed account about his area of work, Saqib has a very important message to give that might make you want to own an aquarium too.
“Studies have proven that aquarium keeping can keep you mentally sound. It relieves you and is considered as one of the best medicines. Rather than introducing your children to those monstrous gadgets, install an aquarium at your home as it nourishes one’s mind and you will experience the difference.”