kasmir musings

One realised that the so called “writers block" does exist but no more for I have found my muse- the beautiful cashmere valley!! As work related travel found my Indian Airlines flight descending from the clouds above to a green sea below and touchdown at Sri Nagar airport on a bright August afternoon I was convinced that this was another fascinating part of incredible India.

The first impression of the city was of huge and fabulous European style wooden bungalows, the picturesque Dal lake, Jhelum river, the distant Hari Parbat and Shankaracharya hill and the occasional military presence.

As our Tata Sumo glided along the smooth highway to Muzaffarabad lined with tall and lean pencil like poplar trees planted by Raja Hari Singh half a century back ( as claimed by our Marathi speaking Kashmiri driver Mushtaq ) one was awestruck by the greenery all around. There were miles of lemon green paddy fields, distinct bottle green hills on the fringes covered with thick pine forests and the occasional gigantic chinar trees in between. At intervals the surroundings changed into orchards full of reddening apples resembling a green summer dress with red polka dots!! Conversation revealed that the harvesting season was approaching and there are almost half a dozen varieties of this precious fruit grown in the valley with interesting names like American, Maharaja, Delicious, Hazratbali etc.

Enroute was also reminded of the recent meal I had with my sister on Rakhi day at a Kashmiri restaurant in Pune called “Shikara". If marketed well kashmiri cuisine can become a rage the would over and associated with other culinary brand names like Thai or Italian . A simple dish of Yakhni (curd based gravy of chicken/meat) with plain basmati rice is enough to impress even the most critical taste buds not taking into account various other concoctions and recipes on offer!!

So on a breezy night as one sat atop a nearby will with the vast valley below and its zillion little lights merged with an equal member of stars in a clear sky above one pondered that this valley was ideal for photographers, film makers, artists, tourists, trekkers and shoppers and not for the existing but much subdued conflict in place instead fueled by vested interests. May peace and normalcy descend upon it asap. Amen.