Kashmir... A name synonymous with beauty and serenity was my first choice, when dad asked me to plan for a vacation. Dad, mom and me charted out a short trip, to this lovely place. It was Sunday afternoon, when we stepped out of the Airport, into the sunny Srinagar! Yeah, it was, but the winds were chilly and refreshing!
We checked in to this elegant hotel, where we had our bookings made, that welcomed us with bright red carpets, into a warm and comfortable room. I drew the curtains, only to fall in love with the sight that unfolded in front of me...the other side of the hotel, where the balconies of every room were lined with colourful roses, an open space with a few coffee tables and to cover them all, the backdrop of lovely mountains! The three of us looked at each other and smiled... :)
We did not waste time and after a cup of hot tea, we set out to explore that beautiful land. Kashmir, especially Srinagar, a place dreaded by people, thanks to terrorism, did not really scare us much. In fact the day we landed, we were told that people were on a strike against the police who had shot a young guy dead, a few days back. But fortunately, we did not get into any kind of trouble.
That evening was dedicated to the enchanting 'Dal' lake, so we hired a 'Shikara', the traditional long boat that houses people, merchants, weavers and what not! Two and a half hours on the silent, cool waters of the lake, occasionally being approached by the jhumka-seller, the photographer, the fruit-chat-seller...! And of course, mountains surrounding the lake! 'Picturesque' is too small a word to describe what we saw.
Gulmarg, a place that is located at a higher altitude, about 80 kilometers away from Srinagar, boasts of the world's highest cable-car system, locally known as the 'Gondolas'. How could we miss it?! The three of us, rushed to the ticket counters, pushed and pulled and managed to get the tickets to take the Gondola! In about 2 hours time, we were on top (4000m ASL) of a snow-clad mountain, shivering in cold, but still managed to smile and have fun! :) The triumphant look on all our faces, made our day!
Pehalgam, another similar destination, again too beautiful to describe. The route from Srinagar to Pehalgam was lined by Apple, Walnut, Almond trees and saffron fields, not to forget the fierce Lidder river that accompanied us throughout! We proceeded to 'Chandanwari', considered as the starting point for pilgrims to the Amarnath shrine. It was again a rocky, snow-clad place, where we were given walking sticks for support! But the most surprising thing was to see chai-wallas and chat-wallas on those hills, sincerely preparing hot tea and tasty chats :) Ah! One has to earn his living, you see!
And then the gardens in Srinagar, I must say, even a normal road-side park proudly showed off colorful flowers and roses and were neat! The Shalimar, Nishat, Chashmashahi, Botanical gardens, were just treat to the eyes. The Shankaracharya temple, was another noted place, that was built on top of, again a hill. Steep steps were the only means of reaching the temple that housed Lord Shiva's sanctum. All the way, I was wondering what made Shankaracharya go up to such a difficult place and do penance. Did he not feel comfortable doing it at a lesser altitude?! :|
We did not miss the Lal Chowk, which was the market-centre of Srinagar where I could find hand-loom shops to desinger-label showrooms! This place was apparently, the most targeted location for activists and kind to stage attacks. Most tourists avoid this place, but we risked it and in fact shopped too!
Well, those were the tourism tales. Now, the people, the city and the foood! :D ha! I was pleasantly surprised to spot at least three 'Vaishno Dhabas' in every street of Srinagar, busily serving authentic punjabi khana. We made the most-famous and most-crowded dhaba, the 'Krishna Vaishno Dhaba' our food joint and visited it atleast once a day to grab some tasty food.
I fell in love with not just the city, but its people too. Polite and smiling, they never showed even traces of fear or the uncertainness of their life, on their faces. I admired each of them, from the shikara and auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers to the dhaba servers to the police and military men on the roads to our very own, hotel staff! And yeah, I have heard that kashmiri women are very very beautiful, but unfortunately, I came across no such strikingly beautiful woman. They were fair and very few were good-looking. On the other hand, I found real handsome men ;) fair and tall and well-built!
It was really hard to believe that under this sheet of beauty and tranquility, lied fear, violence, firing and blood-shed. I got talking to a restaurant guy, about the recent strikes and how they managed to survive it and he answered with a smile, "Are memsaab, yeh koi nayi baat thodhi hai. hamein toh in sab ki aadat ho gayee hai. agar aisa kuch naa ho, toh yeh Kashmir nahin kehlaati", which translates to, "Madam, this is nothing new to us. We have got used to all this. If such things didn't happen, this wouldn't be called Kashmir". All I could do was smile back with moist eyes!
That was Kashmir... I just hope and pray that this paradise should see no more violence in future! It has had its fair part of suffering. People there, deserve peace and prosperity!
