31st August, 2011. Wednesday.
6:45 AM, Bangalore International Airport.
I am in the Bangalore International Airport with wife and my two-year old daughter. My daughter is playing around. We woke up at 4 AM in the morning and yet there is no sign of tiredness in her eyes. In a few minutes from now we will catch the flight to Delhi and then from there to Srinagar, Kashmir after a brief halt. By 2:00 PM we hope to be in Kashmir. That is about seven hours from now we should be in the supposedly "Paradise on Earth". There has been reports of some unrest in certain areas of Kashmir.Even a couple of days back there were reports of some unknown mass graves unearthed there. I hope they don't come in the way of our visit.
1:20 PM, Flight from Delhi to Srinagar
We are about to land in Srinagar within half an hour. From the flight I can see the mountains, dotted with pine trees and occasionally silver lines, which might be the rivers. The seat belt sign is on. We are all excited. My daughter has been growing unrest in the last few minutes. This long journey is boring for us, it must be even more boring for her. But now its a matter of minutes that we touch-down.Our agenda for today is the Shikara ride in the famous Dal Lake for a couple of hours.
7:55 PM, Hotel Room, Srinagar.
11:10 PM, Hotel Room, Srinagar.
Had awesome Mutton Rogan Josh and Mutton Sheekh Kabab! I was outside till 9:15 PM. No problem in the city. Very peaceful. I did not, for once, feel unsecured. The people are very friendly and very warm. Its sad outside people are afraid to come to the place. It was difficult to wake my daughter and give her the dinner. She was too tired. Somehow, we managed to feed her. She is again sleeping. Tomorrow we have to wake up by 7:30 AM as we have to leave for Pahalgam at 9:00 AM. It is about 100 km from Srinagar. The first day was a good one. Lets see how it goes tomorrow.
1st September, 2011. Thursday
3:05 PM, Resturant, Pahalgam.
Man has made some things which man admires. For example, the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, the City of Las Vagus, the Roman Amphitheater etc. etc. And then there are certain things that the Almighty has created for man. And it is the latter things that have blown men away for centuries. They have stood the test of time.
We have just ordered some lunch at a restaurant in Pahalgam. My wife is busy making my daughter eat something - showing her the horses and the birds outside. While I wait for the food to be served, I thought of penning down our experience since morning. We had a good sleep yesterday after the long day. I set the clock alarm to 6:15 AM. For the Pahalgam trip we were given a off-white Cheverolet Trevor. The driver is called Gulam Nabi. Aged, around fifty. On the way, he explained how the place had been badly hit by the unrest that continued for more than for about two decades - since 1989. He talked about the plight since then. Soon after we left Srinagar, the road that took us to Pahalgam had another companion with it - the Pahalgam river that went upto the city of Pahalgam. Small brooks emerging from the distant green mountain range joins the wider river. At one place we parked our car by the river side. Cold clear water. Small stones to big boulders are strewn here and there randomly. Time seems to stand still.On the way we found nomads with horses and mules; the animals makes the sweet jingling sound as they walked stealthily on one side of the road. It was cloudy then, it is still cloudy now. The raindrops have started hitting the restaurant window pane now.
We reached Pahalgam at around 12:30 PM. The car left us at a place from where we had to take a horse ride to cover the local sight seeings. Stablemen with long gowns approached us for the horse ride. At first we hesitated to take the ride as we were unsure about the ride. It was drizzling and so the question was "Are we ready to take the 2 hour horse ride in the drizzle?" At last, we decided to go ahead. It was the first time we were riding a horse. A few years back I rode a camel in Rajasthan. When I was small a circus group came to our town. Then I rode on an elephant. But horse - this is the first time. It was a steep landscape with no proper defined road. There was one stableman for the two horses. I was afraid how he will manage two horses. He tried to pacify me saying that the horses know the way and gave me a brief demo of the same. Not having much of a choice, we decided to continue with the ride with butterflies in our stomach. To make matters worse, my daughter started crying. Slowly she became quite and we got adjusted to the ride. We went to some valleys. They are too beautiful to be described. What is there in these mountain ranges, rivers, valleys, sky that makes men for centuries spell-bound, I don't know. Is it that we are part of Nature and so, when we see her at her best we cannot but admire her? Or is it that , because of our ancestral roots, we are more comfortable in the vicinity of nature and hence mountains and seas appeal to us? We covered valleys like Baisaran Valley, Kanomarg valley. Our horses crossed a couple of mountain brooks. We saw a gorgeous waterfall. It was raining, the ground was muddy and soft. My daughter was with my wife. Their horse slipped twice, but the stableman was able to control it and nothing happened. I don't know is it sheer frustration or the beauty around that my daughter started singing in the last 10-15 minutes of the horse journey. The horse ride was worth taking. Without it we would have missed something really beautiful that Nature had for us. I saw some of the greatest creations by the Almighty, I am sure. It reaffirmed the lesson of my life - without efforts and hardships we can't get the good things in life. The food must be ready by now. Let me go and check it...I am so hungry after the rigorous horse ride and its past 3 PM! The 25-km rigorous horse ride must be equivalent to a good two-hour gym give or take a few minutes.
11:25 PM. Hotel Room, Pahalgam.
On the way from Pahalgam we came across rows of apple trees lined on the both sides of the road for miles. We bought apples - plucked from the gardens and as fresh as it can get. It reminded me of the apple tree in Cranfield University and I plucked a few there as well on my first week in the University. On the way we bought Saffron and a few packets of dry fruits. Another awesome dinner (Mutton Dhania) followed by a lonely walk beside the Dal Lake. Tomorrow is to Gulmarg. Its closer than Pahalgam - about 50 km from here, but we tend to cover the Mughal Gardens in Srinagar in the evening. So, we have to start from the hotel same time. Heard there are horse ride there as well. Legs are a bit paining, but mind is too overwhelmed at the sights of the Nature...so the agony of the legs can be conveniently ignored. Two days gone. Three more to go.
2nd September, 2011. Friday.
12:40 PM, Gulmarg.
Today is sunny. And that made the Himalayas completely different from what it was yesterday. It was a bright sunny day. It was the same driver.
We came via a place called Ananth Nag. And he had interesting story to share regarding that area. He said it was also known as Islamabad, synonymous with the capital of Pakistan. When unrest was at its peak if any person replied to the military forces that they were going to "Islamabad", they were beaten - they had to say Ananth Nag.The life of the Kashmiris bring tears to my eyes. They were living like hell in a paradise! They fled away from this beautiful place.They went to other parts of India to sell the famous Kashmiri shawls and other woolen garments.
Our driver said he also did the same about 20 years back. He went to Calcutta to sell shawals for two years. He said there was a good friend of his called "Banerjee", who used to run a Bengali hotel here. When condition became tensed here, the hotel was shut down and Banerjee returned back, perhaps to Bengal. When he went to Bengal to sell shawls, he searched for him. But in the vast city, he could not find him as he did not know any of his whereabouts. A couple of years back the hotel re-opened, but under a different management. Banerjee has not come back since then - to run the hotel or otherwise. And Gulam Nabi does not think he'll come back again. "He must have found something better now"
While they were away trying to earn bread and butter for their family in places like Delhi, Calcutta and Bangalore, their heart and mind were in Kashmir. They were always praying for the safety and well-being of their family members. I remember, as a child, I saw young Kashmiri lads with big bags on their back selling shawls. At that time we could little imagine what drove them away from their homeland and force them to become "shawlwallas", as they we commonly called and what was going inside them. Tough times!! Somewhere the lives of the Kashmris and the beauty of Kashmir seems so much in contrast to each other - they seem to be poles apart. While one is about the unrest, the other is about serenity; while one talks of fear, the other talks about peace.
As predicted, there was the horse ride. The driver brought us to the place where the stablemen were ready with their horses.Taking the help of a guide and a stableman we rode upto the Gondola. The we climbed on top via the Gondola.My daughter seems to have enjoyed the ride. It is cold up here. In winter this place is filled with snow and is ideal for Skiing. Snowfall here is 7-8 feet! We saw some huts on the way up. The guide said these people relocate during the snow and return once they melt. Now we have the greenery to enjoy. My daughter is playing in the cold spring water. I tasted it some time back...its tasty! We will stay here for a few more minutes. It has suddenly become cloudy. We can see the clouds shrouding the mountain tops. There was Phase Two Gondola ride from here to even higher up. But we were advised by the guide not to take the ride.One, there is nothing much to see from there. The view from there is much like what it is from here. Two, there is less oxygen and the child might find it difficult there.
Let me walk around here for a few more minutes, before I get down.
4:30 PM, On the way from Gulmarg to Srinagar.
The car is speeding through sleepy mountain ranges. In about an hour we will reach Srinagar. My wife and daughter are tired. They have dozed off to sleep in the car. Man has not created words that can describe the outside scene. The town of Gulmarg seemed like taken out of some fairyland. It has a touch of mystery. There are cottages, canopy and clouds. And the horses grazing in the distant lush green valleys. Slowly and stealthily our horses found their way through them. We passed through a Golf Course, a children park and a temple. At one place my daughter was swinging round a pole, when one professional photographer approached us whether he can take her pictures. We did not have any problem. My daughter also seemed to have enjoyed the photo session.
The stableman was a young lad. During the journey, he said he was planning to do BEd and then get into a teaching profession. The teachers get decently paid here. He is a stableman now to earn money for his family and his future studies. The guide showed us a big half-built old building. He said this was supposed to be a hotel of a famous hotelier in India. But when unrest began they left the place, never to return again.He said during unrest no tourist came, while 90% of the people depend on tourism for their livelihood. My obvious concern was, how they survived in those years. He said, they had a real tough time. Some left the state, some started farming, some lent money from loan sharks and got into the vicious debt trap. He said that about two lacs kashmiri civilians died during the 1999 Kargil war with Pakistan. Every moment I had the mixed feeling. On one side is this paradise, on the other the plight stories of each and every kashmiri. Their eyes have seen and their hearts have felt a lot more pain than we can possibly imagine. Ten - fifteen or may be even more years of their life have been in darkness. Some have lived through the darkness, some may not have.
We had lunch and then on our way back. Now we plan to go to the Mughal Gardens in Srinagar. We don't have much time. Tomorrow, Saturday, is Sonamarg and then Sunday we take the return flight. When I was small I had heard that the total Kashmir tour takes at least 15 days.Train from Calcutta to Jammu (railway station nearest to Srinagar) takes about 48 hours. Then there is about 500 km by road, which is another whole day. Then some rest. Some casual sight seeings. And then back. Total 15 days. In today's fast-paced world, 5 days is what we have. Both me and my wife cannot get any further leaves from office. But that's fine. When I was planning the trip, I was sure about one thing. I did not want to drag this journey to the extent that we tell, "Enough! We should now return home!" I wanted to finish it in at a time when we still crave for more. I did not want it to stretch endlessly. The car has entered in the city of Srinagar. We will reach the Mughal Gardens any time. As the name suggests, they were built by the Mughal Emperors. There are three such garden - Nishat Bagh, Shalimar Garden and Gardens of Chashma Shahi.
11:35 PM, Hotel Room,Srinagar
The Mughal gardens were very beautiful. The Mughals would have made them centuries back, but kudos to the gardeners and the administration who maintained the gardens. Very clean and very well decorated. There were springs in the gardens. The driver said that the source of the spring is unknown. Water flows like that throughout the year. It is "Qudrat ka karishma" (Grace of the Almighty) that even when the whole of Srinagar is under snow, the spring water never freezes!
From the Nishant garden we saw the sun hid behind the clouds, calling it a day.The sky was filled with birds returning to their nest. Another awesome dinner. Its time to go to bed. Tomorrow Sonamarg, about a 100 km from here. I have set the alarm to 6:15 AM. There we will see glaciers. There is also the horse ride. Slowly getting used to the rides. I have a bit of back pain, but that was obvious, considering the horse ride in the rough terrain. But I'm sure this is something I will miss when I leave this place.
Bangalore and this place may be separated by a few thousand kilometers, but otherwise, they are poles apart. The guide, the stableman, the cook in the resturant, the driver, the waiters lived the simple lives that you find in many parts of India. Their lives revolved around tourism, around the fear that engulfed Kashmir; they talked about about the sensitive areas like Lal Chowk in Srinagar, about Pakistan and the India-Pakistan border, about the police and military, about shattered homes and small dreams, about snow, about horses, and course of the bitter old days and memories associated with it. Their life is so different from that of mine. My life is about EMIs, about malls, about office, about recession, about inflation, about finding play homes and schools for daughter, about investment, about the growing traffic and land prices in Bangalore, about fighting corruption, about Facebook and Google....etc etc. I shall perhaps never ever meet them again in life. Slowly I will forget their faces, too, if I have not taken pictures of them. But they will remain with me in the form of their stories...heart-touching melancholy tales of simple people, who just wanted very simple things in life, like to live in peace, to live without fear. Is it too much to ask for?
3rd September, 2011. Saturday.
4:40 PM, On the way to Srinagar from Sonamarg.
Good that this was the last of the day-long trips that was lined up for us. Things can't get better and more rigorous than this. Sometimes you seem to find the last picture in your album or the last item in your shopping list and do not want to proceed further. Our trip to Sonamarg was something like this. I am on my way to Srinagar. As our car finds finds it way through the mountains, simmering in the golden sun rays, I try to put down on paper today's events. Each day we took the car at around 9:00 AM and each day the road and the scene was different. It may sound very strange. Because, after all, it is the same Himalayan mountain range and how can it change between only a hundred kilometer? Well, it did. While the way to Pahalgam was very scenic and beautifully crafted, the way to Gulmarg was through rows of Walnut trees followed by a steep climb. Today the road to Sonamarg was raw beauty - the uncensored version, if I may call it. With basic things like water in the form of river, rocks in the form of boulders and mountains, flora in the form of big and small, tall and short tress, topped with the golden sun rays piercing through the mountain ranges sheer magic can be weaved and that is exactly what the road to Sonamarg had for us. Sonamarg is higher in altitude and we could feel the chillness of the atmosphere on the way. Every time the car took a bend in the spiraling mountain roads, another facet of the paradise seems to have been revealed. The sheer change in the angle of the sun's rays completely changes the environment. You have to see it to believe it. On the way the driver, Gulam Nabi, said that this roads leads to Leh, about 500 km from Srinanagar, another place where you get nothing but raw beauty at its best.
We reached Sonamarg at around 12 noon. Horse ride again. My daughter has started enjoying the ride now. As usual, steep climb and then some plains where boulders seems to have been carelessly scattered around and brooks founds their course through them. There were a couple of small wooden bridges built across the brooks. There were herds of sheep grazing the green mountain slopes. Shepherds kept a good vigil over them. Mesmerizing! On the way we could see the glaciers on the mountain tops - quite high above. We knew in a matter of time we will be there. But how do we go on top...they are so steep? We got the answers soon. And it was something I feared! The horse started climbing on those steep mountains amidst stones and boulders, no sign of grass. It was a bit terrifying. If the horse slips we will fall over the hard stones and roll down a few metres below. And thats not a good news. In our previous, rides if we had fallen we would have rolled over muddy plains or green valleys. Half way up, the stableman let us know that this is the last point the horses can climb to. The rest is so rough that there is a chance that they might slip and fall. The solution? Walk on foot..!! It was not an easy thing to trek up for several meters carrying my daughter. My wife did most of the hard work. Once we reached there, the world seemed different. It was glacier in the form of cave. Water trickling down the walls of the glacier, that stood there for centuries. Some enthusiastic tourists wanted to go inside the cave, but were strictly warned by the local guys. Last year a chunk fell from the roof of the glaciers and nine people were trapped to death.
The view from top was different this time. The mountains around were more rocky with snow-capped, rather glacier-capped. From the top we could see horses way below near the tent, grazing the grass.After spending a few minutes we climbed down. We had thought that climbing down would have been easier. But we were wrong as chances of slipping down was more. Then back to the horse. While returning my daughter fell asleep on the horseback. I dont know how one can sleep that way when the roads are so bumpy and you are always been shaken. The only time when one can sleep on horseback is when you are too tired. Thats what my daughter was, I guess. It was too much for her tiny body. We thought of getting near the river bank. But did not. One, my daughter was asleep. Two, it was already around 3 PM and we all did not have lunch. Three, it suddenly started drizzling. The horses started walking briskly and that was quite an adventure for new horse-riders like us. It was fun, though. Once we were near the car parking lot, the rain had stopped and the sun appeared. They say here "Weather in Sonamarg and fashion in Mumbai changes in minutes!"
We are now inside the car and are on our way back. Just a few minutes back I saw the roads were wet, testimony to the fact that it had been raining there. But now, as I look out of the window, I see a clear sky , and soft sun rays on the turbulent stream. Evening shadows have already been cast in some areas in the distant mountain. Now we are heading straight home. On the way we will buy some more dry fruits and Kashmiri spices, a "Khan suit" for me, typical dress for the Kashmiris, some fashion jewelleries and dress for my wife, something for my daughter....lots of expenses ahead....
12:00 midnight, Hotel Room, Srinagar.
We did all the shopping. When we passed the Dal Lake, the sun was setting. Another sunset, some more memorable moments that I was able to capture.Since childhood I am obsessed with sunrise and sunset wherever we go. And I must tell, I have not seen any two sunsets or sunrise the same. Its amazing!
We returned to our hotel room at around 8 PM. We thanked the driver for his taking us around and making the three trips to Pahalagam, Gulmarg and Sonamarg memorable.I was too tired to go out and buy dinner from the best resturants in Srinagar. We found, our hotel had cooked delicious Chicken Biriyani...
Tomorrow is our way back. Most of the packing has been done. I am sure I have to shell out some bucks for the extra luggage. Thank God, none can weigh the bountiful of memories that we all carrying on our way back. And this is where the difference between the physical world and the world within becomes so prominent. All that we are carrying physically - the apples, spices, the dress and all that which adds weight to our luggage - will perish in due course, some in a few days, some in weeks, some in years...But the whatever we are carrying within us is not erasable or perishable. I have captured some moments in my camera. But some moments and the feelings and thoughts that has become associated with those moments cannot be captured by any man-made devices or inventions. When there was no camera, men painted moments, men wrote poems to express their innermost thoughts. And yet some thoughts and moments remained within - the inexpressible ones. Today mankind has improved to the world of digital cameras and blogs, but not the words to describe them. I can call the place Paradise. In fact, there is a famous line on Kashmir "Gar firdaus, ruhe zamin ast, hamin asto, hamin asto, hamin asto" by Mughal Emperor Jahangir or some say by the famous poet Poet Firdausi. It means, "If there is a paradise on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here !!". But that does not describe the grandeur and splendor around, that does not describe the bubbling water drops and golden sun-rays falling on it, that does not tell about the sheep grazing on the mountain slopes or the horses grazing in the meadows and the thoughts it evokes within us and a million such things. When I say "the horses grazing in the meadows" or "snow-capped mountains", you create a visual image in your mind. But the images that you create in your minds are based on similiar experiences and similiar images that you had seen before. And there lies the limitations to our imagination. What if we had not seen before? As for the photos, the camera captures only one of the aspects of the environment - the visual aspect. And it is not the only aspect that deserves to be captured. What about the sweet murmuring sound of stream during the journey from Srinagar to Pahalgam? What about the feelings of cold drops of rainwater in Sonamarg, accompanied by the brisk walking of the horse? What about the smell of the fresh apples as I entered the apple garden? What about the excitement that we had during the horse-rides? How do I describe the taste of the Kashmiri dishes? How do I write what I felt when I heard the pain-stricken experiences of the local Kashmiris? How do I describe all these?
4th September, 2001. Sunday
7:45 PM, Flight to Bangalore via Delhi
Today, I woke up in the morning and clicked some pictures of the misty Dal Lake in the morning and Shikaras ferrying passenger from the houseboats. After that I took some snaps of my daughter playing in the garden of our hotel.Srinagar has a bit more stringent norms as far as the airport security is concerned. So, we had to start a bit early in comparison to other airports. As far as our safety is taken care of, I don't think we should complain, just because we don't know what else to do! The flight from Delhi to Bangalore is a bit bumpy as it is cloudy on the way.
11:55 PM, Sunday. Sonar Kella, Bangalore
Sonar Kella is the name of our house. The name is inspired from a popular Bengali detective movie by the same name by the famous director, Satyajit Ray. We are safely back. Except for the bumpy flight in the last hour of the Delhi-Srinagar, we had a safe journey. Tomorrow is office. Need to go to bed now.
It was well and truly a memorable trip.
8th September, 2011. Thursday.
7:55 AM, Sonar Kella, Bangalore
I will soon publish my blog after proof-reading it one final time. These days I have been taking special interest about any news about Kashmir.
Two days ago my father called me in the morning saying that there was curfew in Srinagar.
After yesterday's bomb blast in Delhi High Court, today's one newspaper headline read "Delhi blast: NIA gets a few leads, 4 grilled in Jammu and Kashmir".
Some things never change.
But life has to continue and it continues - for the near and dear ones of the dead in Delhi blast, for the local Kashmiris and for the rest of the world.
"We shall overcome, we shall overcome,
We shall overcome someday;
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe,
We shall overcome someday." .
