The sight of bright colored pencils always takes us down memory lane right to our childhood days. But have you ever wondered where the wood to make these pencils come from? Well, it comes from Oukhoo village situated in the Pulwama district of Kashmir.
In the past, India used to import wood from nations like China. In 2010, local business owners chose to use the wood from Kashmir's famous poplar trees, which are soft and pliable and best suited for making pencils. Poplar trees thrive in Kashmir's valleys where the right moisture content and climatic conditions keep the wood supple throughout the tree's growth process.
Manzoor Ahmad Alai (45), owner of one of the largest pencil slate manufacturing plants in Oukhoo was elated when the government declared the resumption of offline classes as the demand for pencils increased manifold. Alai had visited Jammu in 2011 to learn about the techniques for creating wooden slats that are used to make pencils, and with help from Hindustan Pencils, a major Indian producer and exporter of pencils, he established a facility in Oukhoo.
The village became famous after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed about the "Pencil Village of India" in-depth during a segment of his monthly radio show, "Mann Ki Baat." 
"Today, Pulwama is contributing significantly to the education of the entire country. If students across the country are doing their homework and preparing notes, it is because of the hard effort of the people of Pulwama" said Prime Minister Modi in his 70th Mann Ki Baat address.