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.
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