Mission Kashmir

There may be frissons of fear lurking behind its gorgeous landscapes, but the tide has turned in Kashmir’s favour... tourists are learning to frequent ‘paradise on earth’ again

We dis-embark at Srinagar airport after a 90-minute flight from Delhi over the gasp-inducing Himalayas. The scene below me — an expansive view of a stunning icy amphitheatre — is so surreal, I blame it on the drinks served onboard!

As we emerge blinking 
into the Kashmir sun, a huge billboard that announces ‘Welcome to Kashmir, Paradise on Earth’ catches my eye above a scene of lakes and snow-capped mountains. What shatters the idyll is a machine gun emplacement just below, from which Indian army commandos are peering through camouflage netting.

The irony is unmistakable. Despite the proclamation of its ‘paradise-like’ quality, heavy police presence is all-pervasive in the state. Soldiers are on patrol outside the arrival hall, toting machine guns. They look sharp as we whisk our baggage off the conveyor belt and file gingerly past them.

I wonder at this point if it is indeed the spice of danger, the lingering geopolitical tension beneath a calm patina or the gorgeous forbidden valley at the precipice of the world’s highest mountains that lures people to this paradise called Kashmir.

The region has been eulogised by everyone from the 16^th-century Mogul emperor Jahangir (who, when asked on his deathbed if he wanted anything, is said to have whispered “Kashmir, only Kashmir”) to Led Zeppelin (who sang “Ooh my baby, let me take you there”).

Indians too, seem to have rediscovered their love for the valley after what seems like an inordinately long, brutal season of near-empty hotels and scant visitors since 1988 when the insurgency began. The tide’s turned and in 2011 — the government’s publicity blitzkrieg combined with a peaceful season — put Kashmir back on the global tourist radar. A whopping 11 lakh tourists visited the Valley till September 30 in 2011, smashing a 25-year-old record. With a dramatic improvement in infrastructure, a resurgent economy and a new rail link, the state’s tourism is set to grow exponentially to about one crore visitors by 2012.

From the airport, the 
cab ferries us to our hotel — The Lalit Grand Palace, Srinagar — in under half an hour. After a royal welcome that included fragrant rose petals thrown confetti-style, we’re served a welcome drink of the famed kehwa (Kashmiri tea brewed with cinnamon sticks, cardamom seeds, crushed almonds and slivers of saffron). The hotel’s gleaming lobby flaunts a cache of awards, including 
a national tourism award dated 2009.

The hotel — a former palace owned by Karan Singh, the state’s former royalty — now stands morphed into a spectacular property at the foothills of the Zabarwan mountain range. It has been painstakingly restored and is functional since 1998, not shutting down even for a single day even during the height of insurgency. Unsurprisingly, the 112-roomed heritage property, with sprawling lawns overlooking Dal Lake, is a magnet for the global chichi.

Our suites overlook riotous flowerbeds and, of course, the Lake. Tempted by its Circe-like lure, we head for a shikara (boat) ride 
soon after check-in. One can hire a shikara for an hour, a few hours or the whole day (Dal Lake is enormous and is connected to other lakes through canals). The ride gives one a chance to see how the Dal Lake residents have lived over the centuries: growing vegetables on the plots of land on the lake, running errands on boats, going to school by boats, buying and selling from boats….

The shikara trips can be quite addictive. Reclining on soft pillows, watching the other boats glide by on the glutinous water body, the rhythmic ‘glug-glug’ of the boatman’s rowing and kingfishers plopping into the water around you can be an ethereal experience.

The next day, we’re off to Pahalgam, one of Kashmir’s ‘jewels’. An obstreperous pony is hardly a good vehicle to enjoy the salubrious Pahalgam. But when you’re accompanied by two adrenaline-charged teenaged kids and an adventurous spouse for a holiday in this blessed land, there’s no point resisting.

So here we are, all four of us, positioned precariously on our quadrupeds as the accompanying guide fills 
us in on the region’s history and beauty. And what beauty! The snow-swathed Lidderwat and Kolohoi Glaciers glint in the distance, staggering vistas of the famed Kashmir valley unfold before us and exotic foliage (pine, fir, conifer, deodar) covers our path.

Punctuating this idyll are pristine streams/brooks gurgling over stretches of ivory-coloured pebbles creating sonorous music. The countryside is lush with apple orchards and fields of saffron, a key ingredient in Kashmiri cuisine. Bliss!

Pahalgam is situated at the confluence of the Sheshnag and the Lidder streams. Once a humble shepherd’s village, it has now morphed into Kashmir’s premier summer resort, cool even at the height of summer.

The town is also a trekker’s paradise with sundry sports companies offering ski ‘packages’ and accommodation in Swiss-style chalets. For the Hindus, Pahalgam is a landmark stopover en route to Amarnath, Lord Shiva’s holy residential cave.

Interestingly, Pahalgam (also known as the Village of Shepherds) lives up to its name pretty well. Shepherds can be spotted everywhere, herding their goats/lambs across grassy plains in a pastoral setting.

Their children contribute to the economy in their own unique way by carrying lambs or furry rabbits in their arms for visitors to hold or snap photos with. And that’ll be Rs 50-100, please! Tourists who get inveigled into believing that this is a cute gesture on the part of locals get a rude shock when the cherubic kids demand money for this ‘service’!

Back from Pahalgam, we’re booked for a Wazwan feast at The Lalit’s multi-cuisine eatery, The Chinar. The Wazwan is a multiple-course meal in the Kashmiri tradition and is considered a culinary art form. Almost all the dishes here are meat-based (lamb, chicken, fish) with saag (a medley of greens) being the only exception.

The meal is the ultimate formal banquet in Kashmir. Of its 36 courses, the chef informs us, between 15 and 30 can be preparations of meat, cooked overnight by the master chef Vasta Waza and his retinue of wazas. Though we obviously don’t partake of the entire smorgasbord, it is an experience worth savouring. And nicely rounding off the meal is the saffron-inflected phirni.

Semi-comatosed by much good food, we head straight to our rooms and sleep like babies. The following morning, its time to pay a visit to Shalimar Gardens and a raft of other celebrated gardens. They showcase Moghul horticulture in Srinagar at its best. Chashm-e-Shahi is the most famous of the lot though the menu at each hardly varies — a carpet of blooming flowers, rippling water bodies, luminous mountains looming in the distance...

However, it was the centre of Srinagar city that I found most atmospheric, especially the Khanqah of Shah-Hamdan, an astonishingly well-crafted mosque. Studded with coloured glass and papier-maché, it was Kashmir’s first mosque and is built in the memory of Mir Sayed Ali Hamadni, the Persian saint who brought not just Islam to the valley, but a trove of artists and artisans that give Kashmiri culture its famed heft. The mosque is most notable for the beautiful and intricate woodcarvings done by skilled Kashmiri wood carvers using time-honoured techniques.

After a full day, that included local shopping of phirins (long Kashmiri coats), dry fruits and local handicrafts at knockout prices, we get back to the hotel just in time to watch the sun ease into the lake.-

wknd@khaleejtimes.com