Mohammad Ashraf born on August 25, 1943 in the city of Srinagar in Kashmir, retired as the Director General of Tourism of the State of Jammu & Kashmir in India in August, 2003. He had served the department of tourism for over 30 years. Joining as a Deputy Director in 1973, he became its Chief Executive in 1992 which post he held for 11 years. He is basically an adventure lover and is at present the Vice-President of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, the apex body of adventure in India. After his retirement he has been contributing articles on different topics to various newspapers and magazines. He has been a regular columnist for some of the leading daily newspapers of Kashmir for last 5 years. He has his own website: www.kashmirfirst.com