Wednesday, April 30, 2014

KASHMIR - THE SECOND DAY (XVII)

Second day- 20th April, 2014

On second day we had a plan to go to Gulmarg, but our driver- Mr. Abdullah, at the end moment changed the plan and told us that we were going to Sonmarg. Anyhow that was also fine with us as we had Sonmarg also in our itinerary. Looking into our previous day experience, this time we were totally packed in our jackets and warmers and kept few woollen too in our bags in case we would be needing them in evening. Luckily it was sunny that day and there were no rains. We were heading towards Sonmarg, travelling through mountains and valleys and Abdullah bhaiya ("bhaiya" is used to address brother) playing romantic Aashiqui 2 songs (the taxi had an awesome pioneer music system).

At a point he halted at a waterfall with water travelling at a swift high-speed. That was such a beautiful start for the day. We clicked photographs (in various poses :-) ) and continued with our further journey. 


 It was approx. 2 hours journey. Abdullah bhaiya didn't have the breakfast, so he stopped to buy some chips for himself. We were sitting in the car and I was just looking around and suddenly my eyes got stuck at one point and I was not able to remove them. It was a house in a very dilapidated condition. I was tempted to get off the car to enter that house- not because of the house but because there was this cute baby, with red cheeks sitting in its verandah smiling. I immediately get off the car and told my friend to click my pics with that sweet little child. If I had a choice I would have adopted that child and bring her along with me.Her mother and sister were sitting inside the house and they were laughing and smiling and in a way were giving us a warm welcome. I asked the child's name- it was Shayena.  I could never forget the calmness, the serenity and the positivity of that child. By that time Abdullah bhaiya started honking and we had to rush towards the car.

 
We finally reached Sonmarg. There we realised that our taxi could not go further and we had to hire another taxi or horses to reach to exact Sonmarg. We were little pissed off as Abdullah bhaiya did not tell us all this before and we ended up paying a lot to the other taxi driver. The major problem was their Union system- there was no particular law as such regarding fares- it was upon us as to how efficiently we could bargain. Anyhow we reached the final destination- Sonmarg- and suddenly everything vanished, we totally forgot the thing, our moods were enlightened.  The whole land was covered in white snow like diamonds, the rustling water of Sindh river floating on a side, horses around-a beautiful sight. We played with snow like kids- throwing snowballs, floating in snow, slipping! 

While coming back we stopped at the river, had Maggie, omelette and coffee sitting on cane chairs on river-side and then retreated back to Srinagar. 

Everyone was damn tired except me :-). Everyone slept in the car but I was wide awake chatting with Abdullah bhaiya. It was election season in Srinagar and I asked him about his political views. To my amazement he told that they did not vote. They were totally against politicians and somehow had boycotted them. He in a sad voice said- "par wo to ek vote se bhi jeet jaate hain (but they even win by one vote also)". They were against army also. In Kashmir army rules. I noticed that there was army everywhere- in place of traffic policemen also. To lighten his mood I asked him about his girlfriend. He then joked " telephone ka bill bahut aata hai. Is baar 2500 rupaye aya. Bahut baat karti hai  (This time my telephone bill was Rs 2500. She talks too much)" and we burst into laughters. 

It was Sunday evening and I could notice that cricket  was favourite sport of kids there (its everywhere in India). Wherever I could see a plain plot, 15-20 kids were playing cricket there. 

Being a banker I noticed that there were not many banks there- all I could see was J&K bank. I asked Abdullah bhaiya and he told that there were few branches of other banks also but J&K was the most popular. He showed us J&K's Central Office (a beautiful brick-glass office) also.  

To end our day we went to Hazratbal Shrine (dargah)- a holy place. It contained the hair of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. Being a girl I was not allowed to go from the front gate and I had to go from the back gate. I entered from the back gate and a policeman told me that I should cover my head. I took out my handkerchief and covered it. That man started a conversation with me- he was a polite, humble person. When I told him I was a lawyer he felt as if he had met one of his relatives. He shook my hand so tightly I almost got a jerk and he happily bade goodbye to me saying "phir aana (come again)". 

At night I was thinking about the whole day and the various people I met and somewhere I didn't mind paying that taxi driver more- I realised that tourism was their only source of earning and that too for a fixed season. Economy of Kashmir runs because of tourism. 

It was a memorable day. And while writing this blog I am realising that I am reliving those days.  



Sunday, April 27, 2014

KASHMIR- THE FIRST DAY (XVI)

Four days have already passed, but I still get dreams- dreams of snow covered mountains, river floating on one side, colourful flowers and me in between all of this! These are the real dreams, the real- experienced ones. It was the most beautiful trip I ever had, this 5 days trip to Kashmir- indeed the heaven on earth! 

First day- 19th April, 2014

We boarded the flight at 7.30 in the morning and luckily I got the window seat. To my amazement I realised that I am sitting in air-plane almost after 5 years. In this one hour journey I kept looking out of the window- the view of Qutub Minar, the Lotus temple (which exactly looked like a lotus from top) was mind blowing. In around 45 minutes we entered Srinagar and the colour of the land started changing from brown to green and I realised that I was going to enter into heaven. We reached Srinagar and hired a taxi till Dal lake and our hunt for a good reasonable hotel started. Finally we got one in Rajbagh. We hired a local taxi for 5 days so that there won't be any headache of conveyance and which promised to take us to local Srinagar sight seeing, Gulmarg, Sonmarg, Pahalgam and then back to airport. 

view from Airplane


Finally our first day of journey started- local sight seeing in Srinagar- it was cold and was raining cats and dogs. All tugged up in our woollens we first headed to Shankaracharya temple- a temple devoted to Lord Shiva. It was at the hill top at a height of approx 1000 ft. I was sceptical to climb so many stairs but finally made it. I was curious as to how many stairs I climbed, so while coming back I counted them- total stairs up and down was 500. It was freezing cold and we had to take of our shoes to enter the temple- it felt as if we were walking on the ice slab. It was the small temple with a huge beautiful Shivling inside. From top of the temple we got the breathtaking bird's eye view of Srinagar (Unfortunately the camera was not allowed there because of security reasons). 

We then headed towards various gardens. Srinagar is a land of garden and shrines. We visited Chasme Shahi first- one of the Mughal Gardens, an idle place for a floriculturist! Ethereal water flowing from a dome was believed to be a holy water having all ayurvedic medicinal values good for health. People were filling that water in their water bottles. 




We then went to Tulip garden- month of April being the perfect time when all colours of tulips bloom. That sight was stimulating, rich in all sort of colours. I am still not able to believe that sight. It was unbelievable.  



After that we went to Nishat Garden and Shalimar Bagh (garden)- both unique in their own ways. It was still raining and we were forced to buy an umbrella. The sun was retreating and the temperature was decreasing. We had evening tea and late lunch in a local restaurant, our body shaking with cold and smoke coming out of our mouths. What was holding us in that cold was the sight in front of us- The Sunset at the Dal lake- stunningly picturesque.  



I realised:

Whatever happens... life doesn't stop...it goes on! I Experienced life in Kashmir!

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