Gulmarg can be the world's most visited winter sports destination. If only..
Though we had booked the sledges and the helpers were willing, it seemed inhuman and a bit embarassing to ask them to drag us up the snow hill. So, up we went, and eventually made it to the top, after a couple of funny slips and falls in the snow. The view was magnificient, and the helpers ensured the kids have as much fun as they wanted to.
We came down after a couple of hours, and trotted back on the horses to Sonamarg. On the way back, we passed by a meadow where a Cricket match was going on. You won't believe it, but most of the kids were playing in whites. The teenager walking with my horse asked me where I am from. And when I said Hyderabad, he immediately said: Sun Risers ! Rashid Khan ! Dhawan ! - and when I asked him who does he support in Cricket, he gave me the answer only a true Cricket lover gives. " I love watching it when I can, sir. And I like fast bowling, doesn't matter who is bowling against whom."
On the way back from Sonamarg, Parvez bhai was quiet for some time, and everytime his phone rang, he would cut the call in less than a minute. I wondered if he was expecting a call from someone and did not want to miss it. After a while, he got a call (I am guessing the one he was waiting for), and he spoke for a few minutes in rapid Kashmiri. When the call was over, I asked him if he would like to stop for some tea. The family was fast asleep on the back seat.
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| 'The tourist traffic is just 1 % of what it used to be during peak season, thanks to the stone pelters' - said some locals. |
Parvez asked if I could wait for another 15-20 minutes because he wants to have the tea at his regular tea-stop. And so, he took a right turn after 20 minutes, and parked inside the compound wall of a Punjabi Dhaba. It was almost 7 PM. A couple of Sardarjis were making paranthas, and two teenagers were hanging around to serve the customers. One of them brought us the tea, and true to Parvez bhai's words, it was indeed good. As we were sipping the hot chai, two buses went by on the main road in the opposite direction, followed by two Taveras. All the vehicles were packed full with youngsters shouting some slogans with full zest. The two teenagers serving us gave me sheepish smiles.
"They seem to be having fun ! What are the slogans about?" - I asked.
" Yes, fun is what they have been having for the last 25 years. Do no work, just give slogans and create problems."- said Parvez bhai and spat on the ground.
The teenagers laughed. They seemed like Haryanvi or Rajasthani kids, and not local Kashmiri. I repeated my question about the slogans. And one of them relented and translated it for me: " Pakistan, hum tere saath hain (We are with you Pakistan) !"
I decided to keep my mouth shut, and quietly follow a still angry Parvez bhai back to our car. My family was peacefully asleep. I did not feel any fear because the boys in the buses did not sound as if they were in an aggressive mood. They were simply gung ho about their solidarity, and announcing their presence on the road. I could sense Parvez bhai's nervousness dissipate after we left the area, and he became normal after a few minutes, as we entered the town of Ganderbal.
The next morning, we again started at 9, and made good time to reach Gulmarg. One could hire ponies for the trek up to the snow points in Phase 1 and Phase 2, or opt for a ride on the cable car. They call it Gondola ride in Gulmarg, which was confusing for my daughter as she thought Gondolas are boats, like the Shikaras on Dal Lake.
The snow at Gulmarg Phase 2 was much fresher than the one at Thajiwas glacier, and there were more tourists as well. If you ever visit Gulmarg, be careful not to give in to the touts and local guides who will swarm you and insist on their services ( "Don't pay us anything. If you are happy with our service, you can pay us a small fee of your choice once you return.")
It is just a brief walk from the Phase 2 Gondola station to the Line of Control (LoC) point - the border between India and Pakistan. It looks quite close but in fact, one would be looking at the LoC a few kilometres away across the snow clad hills. The valleys are so steep that this Apharwat peak must be one of the best places for skiing in the world, I thought. I was told skiing adventure enthusiasts come from all over the world during winter to Gulmarg. There is so much more potential here for tourism if the infrastructure is improved. In fact, Gulmarg can and should bid for Winter Olympics. But will the militancy ever come down for Gulmarg to reach its potential?
The exertions in the snow slowed me down a bit. So, I returned to the gondola station and waited for the family to finish building their snow man and other snow games. When they came back, Lasya (my daughter) asked me if I heard the slogans. Apparently, some people shouted 'Pakistan Zindabad' for a few minutes. I told her that they must have done it for fun, and it doesn't mean anything. 'No one would harm the tourists, because we come and spend money here, and the locals earn their livelihood through tourism.' - I told her.
As we were returning to Srinagar that evening, Parvez bhai took a lengthy call on his phone, and then asked me if I can check the Internet on my mobile. 'My wife called, sir. I believe there was an encounter at Pulwama earlier, and 3-4 people got killed. Can you confirm the details, please?'
A google search for 'encounter at Pulwama' returned many results, but none for the day. After a couple of search attempts, I finally found the news item about the latest encounter at Pulwama. A notorious militant and two of his accomplices were killed, and an 18-year old student was also killed in the encounter. It was not clear whether the student was a militant too, or just a sympathiser. Hurriyat has called for a Kashmir bandh the next day to protest the killing of the student.
" Sir, you will need to start very early tomorrow if you want to visit Pahalgam. May be by 7 AM or so." - Parvez bhai did not seem too worried, but was sure that starting at our usual time would mean taking risks - as we would go through some 'dangerous areas' on the way to Pahalgam.
Imtiaz was waiting for us at the house boat, and seemed relieved to see us happy, and tired. He repeated the same advice that Parvez bhai gave us. "Parvez is experienced and can be trusted to take you through safely to Pahalgam. But I have a new driver who will be taking the Assamese family to Pahalgam. We can't afford to take chances. Let us start together and I will come with you to Pahalgam as well, " said Imtiaz.
"Are they creating a sense of danger just to demand more money from us later on?" - enquired the Assamese tax consultant, after dinner. I shrugged and said that I did not bargain with Imtiaz on day one and he assured me that ensuring safety of his guests is part of the package and a professional commitment of honour. " But even if they ask for some extra payment, it will be worth it, because we don't want any untoward incidents to spoil our holiday," I added.
One of my friends from Hyderabad meanwhile pinged me on Facebook, giving me the names of a couple of ancient temples on the route from Srinagar to Pahalgam. The Martand temple (Sun temple) and the Pandav temple, both seem to be thousands of years old, and worth visiting. But the Pandav temple is in Avantipura, which is one of the 'risky areas' mentioned by Parvez bhai. And the Martand temple as well would require us to go through a couple of villages known for incidents of stone pelting and encounters.
We woke up the children by 5:30 AM and reached the jetty by 7 AM, where Parvez bhai was already waiting since 40 minutes. I asked Imtiaz about the possibility of the temples, and he said:" Sir, our first priority is your safety. If everything is fine, we can definitely try stopping at Martand temple for a few minutes. But Avantipura, I am afraid is too risky.".
The Assamese gentleman interrupted our conversation and said: "Who wants to go see old temples? Assam, and all of India are full of old temples. Even your South has so many old temples. Let us go straight to Pahalgam. No detours." It was almost as if we are in severe danger and he is the leader wolf.
People say that I am bad at hiding emotions.😉 Both Parvez and Imtiaz seemed to have sensed it on my face. They spoke in Kashmiri for a few minutes, and then we were off.
Parvez bhai drove quite fast on the empty high way that morning. We breezed past Bijbehara, with one side of the highway taken up by a military base, and then long stretches of Kashmiri willow trees, Saffron fields, paddy fields and so on. We also passed by a town or two with hundreds of shops selling Cricket bats. Literally thousands of bat 'blades' stacked up by the road side. My wife was surprised to know the process of bat making, the finer points of which, there was a difference of opinion between myself and Parvez bhai. In any case, it was news to me that these blades are left to dry for close to two years, before they are taken for shaving and polishing, and eventually fitting the handle splice. "The Kashmiri willow is the best wood for making a bat, sir. The best players in the world use only Kashmir willow" - bragged Parvez. I mumbled about English willow bat being used by Sachin, and Sialkot in Pakistan being known for making Cricket bats too, but conceded that probably Kashmir willow bats last longer. Kedar meanwhile piped up demanding that we buy a Kashmir willow bat for him.
The discussion served as a distraction as we passed quickly through a couple of small town squares. It was just 8 AM but people started milling on to the streets, and we could see the police and special forces in large numbers as well. We zipped through a town market road where some policemen were explaining to a big group of men and youngsters - presumably advising them to go back home and not create any trouble.
However, people did assemble in every street corner in their threes, fours, and sometimes a dozen or more. Parvez bhai took a diversion, and we found ourselves on a smaller road. I asked him why he took a turn, and he said:"I can't take you to the Pandav temple. But I will show you the Martand temple. But please don't spend a lot of time there."
"What about the other car?" - I asked.
"They have not come to experience Kashmir, sir. They have come to just go to each place, take some photos, and go back. They were here 2 days before you arrived. I took them to Sonamarg. The sir was talking to his office people in Assam, the entire drive to Sonamarg. I stopped at the river, and none of them stepped out to feel and taste the river water, or smell the pine-scented air. We respect them for the business and they are not bad people, but we feel better with people like your family."
"Ok..thanks, but have they gone ahead?"
"Yes, but we will catch-up with them. They will take an hour for breakfast."
We went inside the Martand temple. The walls and the temple tank looked quite old, and there is a small Gurdwara (NanakSahib) as well inside the temple complex. The Sun temple itself looked a new construction (less than 100 years likely).
The natural spring that fills the temple tank is attributed to rishi Kashyap (Kashmir derives its name from rishi Kashyap according to popular accounts). Wow ! to walk around in a place that has been in existence for more than 1000 years (or may be 2000+ years..who knows?), a place where Guru Nanak himself sat and meditated for a while - whilst this temple is no patch on the much more beautiful places across the Kashmir valley, there was a certain serenity and timelessness to it.
The priest got up from his low seat, and asked us if we want to do pooja. I thanked and politely declined his offer. He walked back with us to where we had removed our footwear. Another old gentleman was sitting there now. They both exchanged some words, and the priest then told me:
"Three terrorists and one new recruit got killed yesterday by the Special Forces. One of them is a hard core terrorist and there was Rs.10 lakh reward on his head. The Army (he said Army, but it was not the Army that did the encounter) found him and bumped him off without a fuss. "
He said the above in a way that I could sense he really relished the killing of these people. It was almost as if it was some sort of a closure for him personally. Otherwise, he wouldn't make such statements to a complete stranger.
'Did he or his family suffer from any harassment by the local Tanzim? or was it more a case of a member of the suppressed minority simply identifying with the Indian State, which with its military force is the only entity standing between his community and total ethnic cleansing? Or is he simply an extreme Hindutva right winger - the stereotype painted by the mainstream media' - my thoughts were empathetic towards this old man, but I also realized that I haven't spoken to a single person who could explain the other side to me. Earlier, my wife had asked me casually - 'are you sure Parvez bhai is deliberately giving you a feel good experience, because tourism is his first priority and we are tourists? What if he really thinks differently, but not letting it on?' - that is a possibility, I conceded.
We reached Pahalgam by 10 AM and checked into a hotel booked by Imtiaz for us. The other car came a good 45 min later. We set off for a 4 hour journey on horse back through the valleys of Pahalgam, while the Assamese family booked a local cab to visit Betaab valley, and other view points.
At the Martand temple, I thought of not being able to have a genuine conversation with any strong separatist sympathiser so far. The Gods must have heard me. I ended up having a one hour conversation with a couple of young men later that evening.
As this post has already become too long, I stop here for now.
You can read Part 4 here.
Link to Part 1
Link to Part 2
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