S Gopal Puri
Dharamshala (Gaggal): At 37, Anuj Kohli’s life is a story of choices—of staying back when others left, of building when it was easier to move on. After completing his MCA, while his peers looked to foreign shores, Anuj returned to Kangra to nurture his family’s legacy: an electronics business that had been serving the region for generations.
Today, that legacy is under threat.
Anuj runs some of the state’s most exclusive electronics outlets—HP World, Lenovo Exclusive, and ASUS Select. These are not ordinary stores; only a handful exist across Himachal Pradesh. They are more than shops—they represent trust, continuity, and aspiration. His business provides a livelihood to around 30 people, directly and indirectly, and offers locals access to the latest in technology.
But since 2022, a cloud of uncertainty has hung over his future. The Himachal Pradesh government’s decision to expand Kangra Airport—meant to usher in better connectivity and bigger aircraft—has shaken the foundation of many enterprises, including his own.
For Anuj, the announcement brought not excitement, but sleepless nights. “This business was built with risk, loans, and years of hard work,” he says quietly. “We keep large stocks of mobiles and laptops because customers expect availability. But when you are suddenly told to move out, there is no way to recover such investments.”
His wife and three-year-old son see the worry he carries home each night. Behind the bright signboards of his stores lies the silent weight of anxiety—what will happen to the world he has built?
The government has announced large rehabilitation figures—crores set aside for landowners, and promises of better opportunities once the airport expands. But for entrepreneurs like Anuj, money alone cannot replace stability. “The government talks only about land value,” he says. “But what about the businesses, the employees, the years invested? That part of the story is missing.”
For now, Anuj continues to open his stores each morning, greeting customers with the same warmth as always. But in his heart lingers a question many in Kangra quietly share—can progress be called progress if it takes away the very enterprises that give life to a community?
As bulldozers prepare to reshape Kangra’s skyline, Anuj Kohli holds on to hope that his story—and his business—will not be lost in the noise of development.
