Click to play videoNew Delhi: A Member of Parliament at 28, India's Minister of State at 29, the President of his party at 34, and now the youngest Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir at 38 - but for those achievements - it may have been easy to dismiss Omar Abdullah as just another political scion.
But he has proven himself most with his win in the Jammu and Kashmir elections this time after years of political isolation. It makes the return of the Abdullahs to power 56 years after his grandfather was first sworn in, and 26 years after his father was.
In 2002, the National Conference, headed by Omar Abdullah was rejected by the electorate. Omar even lost his own seat of Ganderbal to a then unknown PDP leader. But he went back to fight again this time - a decision he credits his schooling at a boarding school near Shimla with.
"It was ego. I went to a school who's motto was never give in and so I refused to give up," Omar said.
In the years that followed his defeat, Omar Abdullah set about putting his party in order. He worked on India-Pakistan relations, even having a controversial meeting with President Musharraf in Islamabad.
Omar Abdullah's mother is a British Christian, his wife a Hindu, and it's his image as a secular Muslim that has won him the most comment in New Delhi - especially his passionate speech in support of the UPA's Nuclear Deal in Parliament this July.
"I am a Muslim and I am an Indian, and I see no distinction between the two," he had said on that occasion.
For all the euphoria though, Omar Abdullah's road ahead is hard with the tasks of bridging the distinctions between his state and the Centre, a sometimes difficult relationship with his own father between the political mainstream the Kashmiri separatists, and an increasingly disaffected gen-next of the Valley.
Yet To Sink In
The new Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah took oath on Monday. He says there is lots on his mind, things that need to be done now.
"Things that are in my mind, that need to be done cover Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. There are areas that are unrepresented but that is only the beginning. Out of 25 ministers this is only 10. We still have 15 more ministers to come. I have lots of first tasks in mind. The main thing is the upcoming Chief Ministerial meeting."
He says that the feeling of being Chief Minister has yet to sink in.
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