Kashmir in the time of unrest

I was staring at a picture postcard. The distant snow covered mountains glistening in the evening sun and the white fluffy clouds hovering over them, a tiny island in the middle of the lake with a few barren trees, all reflected in the still waters, at the banks of which I stood. Momentarily the picture turned into an animated one as a flock of birds entered on the scene and left for home. And I was brought back to the moment, I was at the Dal lake in Kashmir in mid February.

This was my second visit to this beautiful land and since I had covered all the touristy places during my first visit in summer, my agenda for this one was to simply chill, literally.

Also it was the time of unrest, only 5 days prior there had been a terrorist attack, close to Srinagar, that had martyred 40 army men. As a result of this, we had been contemplating cancelling our trip but then decided against it. We figured that the terrorists’ intentions were to disrupt the smooth functioning of the land, which thrives mainly on tourists and we did not want them to succeed. Eventually it proved to be a good decision. 

The flight we took was surprisingly full, I guess with like-minded people, and we landed in 5 degrees from the sweltering 30s in Mumbai. Covering ourselves amply, we proceeded to our car that was sent by The Lalit, where we had booked ourselves for the next 4 days. The driver, Mr Latif, was a very friendly man and he assured us of our safety during these uncertain times.

The Lalit Grand Palace in Srinagar is a sprawling property with apple and walnut orchards and Chinar trees which were barren but well pruned and looked very beautiful. The lawn outside our room was snow covered and my daughter got busy making snow balls to be hurled at us.

The food at The Lalit was very flavoursome and the service extremely warm. There had been around 200 cancellations due to the unrest and we had almost the entire place to ourselves !

All the four days we tasted authentic Kashmiri cuisine and loved it. Recommended places are the Chinar at The Lalit and Ahdoos and Shamyana in the market.

Next day, Latif took us to the heavily guarded Shankaracharya temple which was an easy 200 step climb after the car park and offered stunning views of the city from the top. Due to security reasons photography is not allowed. So I just clicked the pics in my mind and they will last as a memory forever. Later he got us to taste Kahwa the local drink of Kashmir, its taste and warmth still lingers. We went to a local shop and bought some dried walnuts, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and also some Kahwa mix to take home.

Next stop was a shawl and carpet store that also had a small room showcasing the process of making woven shawls and knotted carpets. The owner Mr Mir (seen in this pic), a very knowledgeable and well travelled man, showed us around. It was very interesting to see how the design is made and then coded on a piece of paper using various symbols indicating the colours to be chosen per line. The weavers, who though are not literates, are well versed in decoding these strips of paper and creating their magic.

On the third day we went to the Hazratbal shrine that requires you to drive around the serene Dal lake. The picture postcard scene was clicked on the way to the shrine.

silence is the language of god
all else is poor translation.
– Rumi

Rumi must have spoken these words at this very place, I thought. And the other thought that came to my mind was whether language, the form in which it exists today, was necessary to be created. I will soon be writing a post on that.

During our entire stay not once did we feel that we were under any kind of threat. The locals were very warm, welcoming and helpful at all times. And I returned home with a stillness inside of me which I hadn’t experienced in a long while. Knowing well that this peace would soon be shattered asa I would enter into my routine life, I resolved to return to this charming place again to witness its beauty in autumn.

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This is my first post and I was a bit nervous about it. But once I started typing it just flowed along. Hope you like reading it as much as I liked writing it.

You guys have an awesome day!

Cheers.

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All pictures on this site have been clicked by me and all words and thoughts are mine alone. But if you like what you see and wish to share it, please feel free to do so, but do refer it back to me. Make sure you show some love to me too.