Magical Kashmir

This I saw, this I experienced, this I know to be the truth.

Kashmir had always been that mysterious place that occasionally showed glimpses of itself through movies like Roja and Haider. Always on the news but never to reveal its scenic beauty. Agar Firdaus Ruhen Zameen Ast - something so beautiful, something still within reach. I have been lucky that in my lifetime I was able to visit paradise. 

I can pinch myself and still not believe it that this dream has been lived and loved. Even though we were apprehensive about the security, this was something that had to be done. So much that I was ready to go through 4 hours of air sickness.

The first sight in Srinagar airport was this fully covered beautiful Kashmiri women and plain-faced bearded security personnel. The temperature was around 30 quite a disappointment as it was raining in Chennai then. Kashmir and dhoop something I did not imagine will go together. 

The water in the washroom was ice cold but, so I had some hopes. Our driver Sarfaras bhai was the first man from the fabled land we interacted with. He had the warmest smile and in the course of 5 days we knew him to be a very hard working man.

We chose to stay at a traditional houseboat which was 30 minutes’ drive from the airport, something that I did not know about, something similar to the traditional boathouses in Kerala, an experience I have reserved for a later date. 

The boathouse we stayed in is part of the Shelter group of houseboats, built in 1820s and claimed to be more than 40 years old, I doubt the math though. The boat is parked in the Jhelum river bed and the water is quite gray, mucky, I was expecting pristine waters, but it was not a let-down as the sunset gave a gorgeous view of the golden waters. 

The boat had gorgeous wood-carved interiors, even the ceiling had geometric detailing which was quite gorgeous, traditional Kashmiri carpets and aari embroidered wall hangings completed the picture-perfect setting of the houseboat.

After freshening up we headed out for lunch and were taken to Srinagar’s Mughal Darbar restaurant. The ambience was again amazing and we ordered typical nan and biryani. This was a let down as the biryani rice was not cooked well enough for my South-Indian teeth and really gave me a tough time chewing the food. We regretted not ordering the sumptuous looking Kashmiri Wazwan as suggested by the waiter and kept it for a later day.

Our stop after lunch was Pari Mahal – Musafar bhai suggested few places for local sightseeing and this was our first stop.This Pari Mahal or fairy palace had quite a worn down look, its arched-Mughal style architecture stood the test of time on the Zabarwan mountain range and offered a spectacular view of Srinagar and Dal Lake down below. But, not quite the ideal place to visit on a sunny day, on this pretence we skipped ChashmaShahi to a better weather day and made our way to the Mughal Shalimar Gardens were we spent the rest of our time. 

Shalimar Bagh did not take my breath away, I was still waiting to get hit by the fact that this is Kashmir. The garden’s main attraction is the water canal that flows from the river Jhelum and the tall trees. It was like any other garden but it is not a lush green garden, you can find carpeted meadows, felt good to connect with mother earth with a small little stroll on my own. 

Tall trees in a line (talk about mathematical precision), trimmed little bushes and seasonal flowers seem to give the garden a very structured look, a concept I found to be new and not very appealing.

Poppy Flowers on a Sunny Day at Pari Mahal

After a refreshing stop at the water garden, we took off to a crafts emporium and got ourselves a few goodies. I got myself a black poncho. My love for colours and embroidery took a leap when the gorgeously embroidered salwar and sarees were shown to us. As I pen this down, I am thinking of trying my hand at creating something exquisitely beautiful.

We started our journey back to our houseboat to call it a day and it was then I realised that the time was 7 and it was sooo bright. It was around 8 when we reached and it was still bright. Sun goes to sleep late and wakes up early during Kashmir’s summer season as though it just does not want to waste the little time it gets to warm up paradise.

Coming home to home-cooked food completes my day and this was the case during our stay at the houseboat as they provided us with great tasting comfort food. Rice is a staple in Kashmir so the rice bunny in me was always happy during dinner time.

We called it a night waiting for the sun to wake us up for our trip to Pahalgam, restless me waiting to get a glimpse of my Kashmir.