Kashmir

Awaits Your Arrival

For too long, the beautiful valleys of Kashmir have been ignored. Think of it, it has everything any tourist could ever want. Four seasons, each with its own charm. There is natural beauty anywhere you look. Mountains and hills, undulating meadows, scenic spots, trees, forests, rivers, lakes, enchanting gardens, great weather, hotels of every kind and, best of all, wonderful people rooted in culture and tradition with hospitality writ large on their hearts. And they await your arrival to offer you the best they have, a cuisine worth going to any extent to experience

P.S. The shopping will blow you away too, take my word!

Text & Photographs: Farzana Contractor

This was my second trip to Kashmir in six months. It was early autumn and the chinars were just beginning to change colours, a russet hue was evident. The older leaves, shades of ochre were already on the ground, dry, crackling, crushing under our feet as we walked around in the parks of Srinagar. I was here with my family to enjoy the charms of Kashmir. Actually I was in Kashmir earlier this year too, in March, on a ski holiday. I can’t tell you how emotional I had felt being there after so many years. While I had stopped skiing in Gulmarg in the mid-80s, I did visit Srinagar on my way to Ladakh in August 1999, just a week after the Kargil war had ended. I was accompanying Vipula Kadri of Save The Child and we were on our way to Kargil to adopt a village called Kaksar. Our entourage comprised, among a convoy of SUVs, three huge trucks loaded with food, clothes, medicines and other necessities that we thought the villagers would need.

Farooq Abdullah, the one person who, to me, is synonymous with Kashmir was the Chief Minister and not only did he come visit us at The Lalit, which had just been acquired by Lalit and Jyotsna Suri, he even offered us his powder blue SUV. ìIt will be more comfortable than that,î he said pointing to our dusty Gypsy. Ever the gallant and chivalrous Mr Abdulla!

Now 19 years on, Kashmir was breaking my heart. The signs of wear and tear, despondency and hopelessness are so apparent. Children playing by the roadside still look cute and their noses are still runny, just as their cheeks red, but the look in the eyes of the women reflects sadness and a certain wariness and the gait of the men is not that of confident men. Though once you get talking to them, they exude cheer and extend heart-warming hospitality, the one characteristic no one and nothing can take away from Kashmiris.

So what is the Kashmir of today? Well, it is not how it should be. It is not like how the other states of India are. Going on, in spite of ups and downsÖ There is a certain disquiet about it. The economy is totally affected, no signs of prosperity. Life it would seem is just going on... Kashmir is certainly not violent as projected, with people lurking in corners, ready to pelt stones; far from it! And they do welcome tourists and treat them with reverence. They need them, they want them to come to Kashmir. They will never let harm come to them. Kashmir seems peaceful, yet peace of mind is missing. Happiness is at bay. I suppose it is only natural. Strife and the harrowing situation has been continuing for 30 long years. Think of the damaging consequences that three decades of living in fear and uncertainty would have. In that context, Kashmiris have held up admirably.

So while I saw life going on normally even in the most dense and sensitive areas of the state capital, with not one untoward incident in all of the 10 days I was there, the feeling which persists is one of despair. The collective psyche of the people seems to be dented. It is as if they hope a messiah will come and lead them out of this mess, so they can all smile and laugh, go back to happily weaving their exquisite carpets and creating works of art in papier-maché and handicrafts.

That apart, what I found most heartening was to see school children, hordes and hordes of them, everywhere in the valley, in Gulmarg, in Pahalgam. Not just walking to school, but out in the parks, more specifically out for the day, on a picnic, a school tour, for games etc. In Gulmarg, on a Saturday a whole school was out there, here from Srinagar for the day, playing in the meadows, going on a joyride to Apparwat, in the cable car, up 14,000 ft.

On the drive to Pahalgam, I saw a huge park full of school children and wait, girls playing football! With gay abandon they chased the ball, dressed demurely in their grey and white uniforms, salwar-kameez-dupatta. In Betaab valley just outside Pahalgam, more students were zip-lining across the river Lidder. These were such happy sights and it was indeed gladdening to learn that the one thing Kashmiri parents want to make sure they offer their kids, is good education. For this they will leave no stone unturned. I suppose they feel it’s the one positive aspect of their future they have control upon.

So when is the best time to visit Kashmir? My answer, summer, winter, autumn, spring! Though that's not how the seasons goÖ After winter comes the delicate spring, when the snow starts to melt in Gulmarg and its higher reaches and little rivulets form, when delicate, little leaves start to sprout and dainty flowers follow suit. When the trees, dark and bare start to feel the warmth of the sun which now makes its regular appearance, filling the landscape with happy sunshine, setting the process of rejuvenation and growth in full motion. All kinds of fruit trees start to blossom making for a cheerful sight.

Summertime in Kashmir has to be pure happiness. When there are abundant and colourful flowers everywhere. There is a nip in the air, but you can dress in light clothes and go for long shikara rides on the Dal Lake, the lapping water lulling you to dream on. If energetic outings are your scene, a climb up the hill to Shankaracharya Temple is well worth it. Remember there are many steep, stone steps, to climb right at the top. The Mughal gardens (Shalimar, Nishant and Chashma Shahi) also beckon, but what is nice is the Pari Mahal up above the Chashma Shahi Garden. Offers breathtaking views of the serene Dal and the hundreds of red-roofed homes of Srinagar.

Gulmarg in summer does not find much favour with me because I am besotted to its winter charms. But a long drive way past and beyond the HAWS (High Altitude Warefare School), to Bota Pathri is a redeemer. I was driven there by a local friend  and came away enlightened because I made acquaintance with the simplest of human species there is; shepherds and some other hill people. I had the privilege to drink some local tea (salted) at Mohammad Sadiq’s home and eat thick, fat, freshly prepared rotis, generously smeared with butter (yes, Amul), while sitting atop a takht like verandah, beneath which was stored firewood. These  humble homes, by the hill side, seem to be so organic, like they are have grown from the earth itself. I have to thank this local friend, Shabir Wani, who used  to be one of my ski instructors when I used to go skiing when in college. Shabir has represented India at the Winter Olympics and has just retired as Asst. Director of Sports, J&K. He is now all set to open his ski school in Gulmarg and I can’t wait for that to happen. “Me too,” says Shabir. “I think every child should learn skiing. That’s my dream!”

Much as I like Gulmarg in winter, the place to visit in summer, is Pahalgam. The drive took me more than four hours from Gulmarg, though it shouldn’t take longer than three. But then I am one of those who believe the journey is the destination and I stopped to take pictures and visit an apple orchard, taste the different ones they grow, even buy a box to bring back to Bombay! To fast forward to my return drive to Srinagar from Pahalgam, I have to tell you, come through the Apple Valley. This route gets you to back via Bijbehara and it is a lovely drive. You see a lot of local life, women in the orchards plucking apples, men drying out the walnuts still in the kernels, by the wayside, setting up makeshift stalls to sell them. I have seen so many of these trees, I can now identify a walnut tree easily! I can even guide you on which walnuts to buy! The ones to buy, I learnt, are the not-so-nice-looking ones. The ones which have dark patches on them, like stains. Why? Because they have not received their acid wash! An acid wash gives walnuts their smooth look- nice and clean, unstained, but yup, have the chemical on them too. Of course I bought a few kilos of the natural ones to bring back to Bombay to crack open and eat with nostalgia, with the walnut cracker I bought in Pahalgam’s one-street market.

Talking about shopping, I can’t tell you how inexpensive everything seemed. We bought shawls by the dozens! For multiple reasons. We needed gifts for friends back home, these guys needed the trade, the stuff was fantastic- good quality wool, super embroidery and the prices really competitive. In fact, to be honest we didn’t have the heart to bargain. How can you, when Mansoor at Smiling Gifts just handed me a piece of paper and plaintively said, “You write what you have taken and for how much, please total, whatever you want.” The prices were marked on each artefact but he left it to me to decide a fair price! Would you then bargain?
That was Pahalgam, sleepy, laid-back, trusting. Srinagar, though is different. More expensive for sure, though that’s understandable. Big city after all.  The buzz was all around. At the Dal Lake corner, on Lal Chowk, at Residency Road where there are ample shops, to go shopping. The discovery was Pick and Choose, a one-stop shop to buy all kinds of things. I picked up dry fruits, even dried apricots from Ladakh and some canned products- tinned Gushtaba and Labhi Kabab which work fine when you are desperate to eat Kashmiri food when you are far away from Kashmir, like back in Bombay!  But for walnuts, the nice and shiny, acid-washed, but superior quality, you have to go around the corner and across the road. I forget the name of the shop but you can always ask.

I did do my walk on The Bund, which was not quite the same as decades ago when charming little boutiques lined the walk along the Jhelum. Where they sold fur coats and woollen dressing gowns and ponchos. Ponchos which we stylishly wore in our school days, but which the youth of today would not be seen dead in! Just to revive the trend, I bought a couple, for my friend’s children. And I am glad to say, the 12 and 16-year-old girls actually liked the ponchos, though at first the older one did quiz with a strange look, "What is this!?"

Unfortunately, with limited days in Srinagar and therefore limited dinners and lunches, we could not squeeze in a meal at Ahdoos, but there will be more visits to Srinagar in the near future, Insha Allah, shall look it up then. Ahdoos was de rigueur in the olden days and there was no question of passing through the city without eating there. I did pop-in though, just for a dekho and I must say it looked different, bigger for sure. I remember the last time I was there, decades ago, I ate behind a curtain. Could have been during Ramzan, I can’t recall!

I did discover some great food at a restaurant inside a hotel called Heevan, situated close to the Shalimar Gardens. It’s a Fortune (of ITC fame) run four-star hotel and offered some fantastic food. A Hyderabadi food festival was on and so that’s the cuisine we ate. As authentic as it could get except for the Khubani ka Meetha. I guess for that we have to head for the home of the late Nawab Shah Alam in Hyderabad, where Raffat Apa, his soft-spoken daughter-in-law continues to keep a great table.

But I have kept my best experience of Srinagar for the last. My meeting with Rafiq Wangnoo and having high-tea sitting atop his well-crafted and exquisite houseboat. The Gurkha Houseboats is the name under which his clutch of seven boats offer hospitality. They are all floating side-by-side on the Nagin Lake, which is a smaller, more exclusive lake than the much larger Dal. To arrive here we drove right around the Dal from The Lalit Grand end, coming into the dense sectors of Srinagar, driving past the Hazratbal and the Hari Parbat Fort and then getting into a shikara from the Nagin Club to ferry across to the Gurkha. A long drive but well worth it when you end up meeting a person as interesting and special as Rafiq sahab. An influential and well-respected man, his endeavour among many other noble ones is to clear the lake of the dense weed which is choking it. And I hear he does so, funding from his personal wealth.

I can’t wait for my next visit to this paradise on earth. To rediscover its charms, meet more of its wonderful people and bring our readers more such stories to encourage them to visit Kashmir, where peace prevails and where people are waiting to welcome them with open arms and open hearts.