Hey!!...what the hell do you think you’re doing!....put the camera down....don’t you see muzzle of the gun pointed at the crowd and the finger on trigger!...anyone who looks/behaves suspiciously falls under the suspect banner and is in all likelihood to be ‘disabled’ from doing ‘potential’ harm....and your audacious attempts at getting the best snaps does put u in the category!
That was my first day at Srinagar...with some humble advice from a Kashmiri friend who had invited me over.
THIS was Jammu and Kashmir...reputedly known as the Crown of India
a mystic hub for saints and scholars over centuries
a place which The Great Mughals fell in love with....
and made their summer retreat
....
and/but also a place where most of the populace remains uneducated..
...and consequently their minds remain closed to necessary exposures
and declared a ‘No Peace’ area for judicial ‘understanding’
apart from the other nuances to be followed, one of the implications being that as much as tourism is a livelihood for the people, every non-resident/tourist has an obligation to stick to the mortared roads...
there are designated spots...
the regular Shankar acharya, Hazratbal, Gulmarg etc. That can be easily approached
but that left little space for a nature lover like me....taking every route that had the slightest indication of being treaded upon by a human foot was my order of the day
and that too in a in a place as beautiful and serene as this, that I had visited when I was just three years of age and had been longing to be there ever since I developed the virtues that were synonymous with adulthood....
Therefore when opportunity came my way, I never gave it a second thought
and a partly treacherous journey via Jammu through the well known Jawahar tunnel brought me to the valley
and as the very first waft of fresh air touched my face...I instantly developed a likeness to the place....
....the impeccable environment, the flora and fauna that surrounded me,
and as much as the roads in the valley were no different, a look to a diagonal front on all sides did wonders to my condition....
and I arrived almost fresh...to attend one of the most extravagant affairs I have come across....a Kashmiri wedding!
Matrimonial alliances in the valley are usually facilitated by a group of people trained exclusively for the job
similarly the festivities are home bound.....
every dish is different from the other and is prepared with utmost caution within the house premises
the chief cook- the Waza commands an army of subordinates, each designated a task and an expert at that.
The events, right from cooking to serving and then finally to eating is a task that is as much a pleasure as the effort that goes into it......
Waazwaan consists of rice as an integral part....to begin with it is topped with Lamb chops and Qurma.......then follows a multitude of dishes....concluded finally by a full stop- the Ghustaaba....my personal favourite....
at times, i bore the brunt of food coming on and on after the first two starters anticipating the arrival of this last spherical meat ball that puts a decisive end to ones capacity!
As spectacular as it was, my rendezvous with Kashmir would never have been possible without certain people. Believe me guys, it did’nt take too hard for the place to make me fall for it!...considering all the treading I have done and the situations I got myself into! ;-)
I would take this opportunity to thank the entire Goroo household: my good friend Ata Goroo, Mr. Shafi Goroo, Mr. Fayaaz Goroo and the like....the staff at the houseboats was also responsible for the work I have managed to pull off....and last but never the least, Miss Sabiya Ashraf.
Now that I have seen it for myself, I understand why all of you persuaded me to make a visit. :-)
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Any plagiarism or distribution would be legally offensive and dealt with appropriately.
