Wow- just the name throws up images of massive chinar trees, verdant valleys and snow covered mountains. Had a short but wonderful 4.5 days there. Visited two places- Srinagar and Gulmarg. Not going to bore you with how beautiful it is- enough and more has been said about it –but just being in a place where the air is cool and crisp, surrounded by nature- in itself is invigorating and cleansing. Anywhere you are you see either the huge 22sq kms (looked it up ) Dal lake, or towering snow clad peaks which seem close enough to reach, or simply huge trees (most chinar trees had trunks so thick that two people would have to join hands to circle the circumference) imaging if tree could talk what tales these magnificent chinars would tell us.Wow- just the name throws up images of massive chinar trees, verdant valleys and snow covered mountains. Had a short but wonderful 4.5 days there. Visited two places- Srinagar and Gulmarg. Not going to bore you with how beautiful it is- enough and more has been said about it –but just being in a place where the air is cool and crisp, surrounded by nature- in itself is invigorating and cleansing. Anywhere you are you see either the huge 22sq kms ( looked it up ) Dal lake , or towering snow clad peaks which seem close enough to reach, or simply huge trees (most chinar trees had trunks so thick that two people would have to join hands to circle the circumference) imaging if tree could talk what tales these magnificent chinars would tell us.
Dal Lake
Just going to write impressions-
Past few years — there’s been a lot of bad press about Kashmir, the militancy , the massacres etc- visiting Kashmir still provokes anxiety in many- as was in us and family before we actually reached Kashmir. — We encountered no hostility anywhere- yes there is a strong military presence — and the common man seemed vary of approaching them (our cab driver was simply petrified- but he seemed a scare-dy cat kind of a person) but we experienced only friendliness and willingness in all the people we interacted with — shopkeepers, local guides, cab drivers, educated , established community members….
I felt, the youth of Kashmir could be divided in two sects — the young ones- who are still studying and the older lot which has completed the graduation in the past few years. the younger lot has experienced or are experiencing the benefits of various schemes instituted- like Skill India and see the government doing something for them but the older ones have seen a lot of strife and tensions, having studied to get out of the rut but being jobless has taken its toll. Being dissappointed by the government they still feel alienated with a general negativity towards india- probably were easy targets for the malcontent and disruptive forces.
The common man just wants to live in peace while the intelligensia — or the richer classes , like they do anywhere else — blame the politicians- In Kashmir it seems to be quite true.
Prime Minister’s skill India scheme is working well in Kashmir. Khyber, the resort we were staying at Gulmarg in — had employed 50+ trainees who had completed a 12 month diploma in hotel management or similar under the Pradhan Mantri Skill India scheme. Subsidized study and then 3–4 months training in the field- with a stipend payable and these u=youngsters are set on the career path, to motivate hotels and other agencies to employ the trainees the govt pays for part of the stipend payable — a win win situation all around I’d say. Tho’ I wish there was more propaganda about it.
Hopefully the enthusiasm of the younger lot and their improved ( hopefully) conditions will help turn the disgruntled youth around. the tourism which has once again started — tho’ still in its nascent stage- Apparently there are a lot of tourists from Gujarat and southern India (most places carried a Jain menu, Gujarati cuisine as well as Idly Dosa options) . The Saudi Muslims come for shopping and we met a fair number of tourists from Thailand ( a huge community of Sardars have settled in Thailand and for them Kashmir seems to be a hot vacation spot )
We had been warned to be careful of Kashmiri shopkeepers — as it seemed that they try to hoodwink aand fleece tourists…did not experience that — even while cursory browsing through shops the shopkeepers attended to us as if we were important buyers-bringing out and displaying their goods one after the other. One small incidence of pettiness- a chut of a fellow selling bottled water tried to charge us for dumping an empty bottle in his dustbin — — however the very next man with a bin happily accepted our trash 😊
We spent two days in Srinagar and two in Gulmarg. Srinagar was densely populated — with busy markets. One night we stayed in an airbnb property described as being in a posh area — well the houses were huge with gardens and drive ways — but the lanes and bylane of the entire colony were like those in sainik farms in delhi- narrow -one car at a time width, and somewhat winding. Houses were built in the centre of the plot with open spaces all around — the boundary walls being low we could see into all the 4–5 properties surrounding the house — as could they see inside this one. obviosuly the connotation ‘POSH” has different connotation in Kashmir than it does in Delhi.
While in Srinagar we visited the various famous gardens- Shalimar, Nishat gardens, Chasme Shahi (built by the Mughals in the 16th Century) as well as the recent Tulip garden.
The gardens viewed with todays eyes seemed merely pretty — with fountains and canals and neatly laid out gardens — -but considering that they were built many years ago in the Mughal era- and still stand more or less intact- laid out in designs acceptable even after hundred score of years is what makes them amazing. Cannot say the same attention to detail and beauty was there in the more recent (a few years ago) Tulip garden which was laid down. The beauty of the tuple garden is only due to the beauty of the flowers- take away the blooms and there is nothing- but the Shalimar and Nishat gardens ( even though the flowers and fruits were not in full bloom) were still beautiful and one could spend the whole day in them — just being. So that says something I guess
A visit to the J & K state emporiums is well worth a visit — firstly they are housed in an old haveli- beautifully carved doors and pillars, wooden floors, curving bannisters, amazing walnut wood fireplace mantles and had these huge gardens in the front with beautiful huge old trees .
Inside we saw beautifully carved furniture in walnut wood and other woods, side tables, nested tables, chests of drawers, dining sets- all fully carved with intricate designs featuring the chinar leaves, roses, tulips etc. s ( some pieces picked up in auctions by well known houses and up for sale) , exquisite paper mache goods, carpets , nabdas, woven wall hangings and runners, — all very cost effective and beautiful. The shawls and the pashminas and other fabrics we saw however were so so — except for two or three extremely expensive but with exquisitive embroidery.
Kashmir has umpteen individual shawl sellers who get shawls embroidered by locals in villages and they come to Delhi and other towns of India to sell the wares during the winter months — Each shawl- wala leaves a small mark on the shawl which marks it as his — so even if diffeent people use the same “karigar” there is no mixing up of wares. As the shawls are hand embroidered the quality of work as well as the colours chosen are dependant on the person doing the embroidery. some have a firm hand so their stitches are clear and more detailed while others have a looser hand and that can be seen in the quality of the work. Also the vendors supply the design the colour combinations are the imagination of the embroiderer so no tow shawls will be exactly the same evefr.
Unfortunately — the “Do Rukkha “ kind of emnbroidery is a dying art- In Do Rukkha, the embroidery is so fine that it is quite difficult to tell which is the right side up for the shawl. Now some peole still are able to do “Dedh Rukkha” with 1.5 times clarity of stitches else it is normal embroidery with neat stiches on one side and not so neat at the other. Saw some beautiful pieces by one such vendor — known via friends. In fact we got two of our shawls repaired by him while we were there. The works man ship was far superior to the repair work done by “karigars” in Delhi.
Nexr two days we were in Gulmarg- a short 90 minutes drive from srinagar. Gulmarg has no real local population so as to speak — -Kashmiri locals come for commercial purposes only and invariably sleep in and around their shops.
It is a place purely for tourists- and tourists come all the year around — during summers to enjoy the lolling green valleys dominated by snow peaks and during winters for the skiing.
Gulmarg has been declared a no plastic area — and we saw no plastic bottles etc anywhere — -in fact the shop keepers donot carry plastic bags at all — -something Delhi ites can learn perhaps.. we have had multiple plastic ban orders — but plastic garbage as well as bags are very much present all over.
Besides some lovely walks Gulmarg offers a Gandola ride — a cable car which has two levels- the 1st is for the fledgling skiers- learning to ski,
the 2nd level goes upto 14000 ft where the LOC is visible in the distance beyond the no-mans land. Bunkers of both the Indian army as well as of Pakistan army are visible — tho’ obviously they are out of bounds for visitors. Guides at this level give visitors an experience of sledging and skiing by having visitors stand behind them on skis- clutching on to their
waists for dear life or sitting on these tiny wooden boxes with no sides nor handles- which the guide pulls along running at a speed. The visitor helplessly sways and teethers trying to maintain their balance till simply tumbling into the snow for lack of any support except the hand of the guide who is pulling you along. Not very enjoyable- nevertheless an experience. Chargeable of course. But fair — the guides trudge up the mountain daily (saw (from the cablecar) tracks going up the mountain side) and stay there all day catering to tourists (cablecar ride would eat into their earnings) — our guide carried some packed biryani for them from the “Dhabas’ on level one. (we tried the biryani — not very nice)
Gulmarg was full of guides- one just had to step out in the street for a horde to descent- many spoke decent English and often were part time students doing tourism courses or other such. They are issued a guide tag by the government and have to sit for a test and interview -where they are quizzed about places in Kashmir etc before they are recruited as guides. Also they are allowed just one excursion per day — -they charge 600/- bucks for their services. — do not know how the tracking of excursions was done — -saw no system in place for it — -maybe they rip the tourists like that –but multiple guides mentioned this — and guides from various locations… so maybe it is true
In Gulmarg we stayed at an upmarket property Khyber- a beautiful property with lovely walnut wood pieces and furnitures scattered around along with huge pretty paper mache flower vases- of course the views were wonderful as were the amenities — warm water swimming pools, jacuzzi ( separate for men and women) , sauna, massages, games room, hookah bars, sunken tubs wide enough for two….the works but doesn’t seem right to advertise for them beyond this….:)
Last but not the least the Kashmiri cuisine — -never have been a fan of it till now- tried it multiple times in Delhi — made by Kashmiris- but when we had the same in Kashmir- and had it for all meals ( except breakfast) the taste was completely different and so very yummmmm. The same dishes- goshtaba, rishta, haak saag, roganjosh, Kashmiri roti, wuza chicken — but tasting so different. Stayed one night with a Kashmiri couple — via Airbnb — and the dishes she served were out of the world. Learned Yakhni from her and tried making it — -did not turn out to be the same as hers in looks but nevertheless tasted quite delicious. In fact this couple has three children scattered across Delhi B’lore and California — and each time they visit any kid — they cook up a storm of their Kashmiri delicacies and get them professionally sealed and canned and carry the tins with them. The tins are good for 6 months at least in the fridge.
One last interesting fact — -saw many many shops selling books and such — -multiple shops in the same small bazaar — — also saw online links being advertised in Srinagar where books could be purchased delivered and returned — maybe read — — IF kashmiris take to reading and learning maybe it willnot be long before the paradise that was Kashmir returns again.
Inshallah.
Allah Hafiz for now (may God be with you)