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Friday, July 12, 2013

Revisiting Kashmir and Ladakh, twenty seven years on

After having first visited Kashmir as an army brat in 1965, I had come to start a professional career in the summer of 1979, as aide to the Late Colonel John Wakefield, straight from college. My job? trek and fishing camp manager.

Since then,I was to spend all my summers for almost eight years including the years when I operated my own company there.

However, the troubles were just "brewing" during this  period and seeing the writing on the wall,  decided to exit the state in 1987

In 2009 my company began sending European and Americans back to Kashmir, as there was a relative calm thanks, to the sustained operations of the Indian Army against Paksitani militancy. Indian tourists thronged in their thousands.

I conducted 24 Germans and 8 Americans respectively in march 2011 and 2013 on a himalayan journey, following Michael Palin's book and tv series "Himalayan", which began in Chitral, NWFP Pakistan, and ended in Bhutan via Kashmir, McLeod Ganj, and Amritsar.  And I noticed certain changes.

The hostility of the man of the street had substantially reduced. He had, as one shikara boatman told me, realised " that in the old days or even now, because of the nature of the visitor, the foreign tourists' revenue was confined to the houseboat owners, and  the transporters, guides and the shops linked to them. In contrast, with the domestic tourist, money was spread. A little here, a little there, and thereby a greater respect was accorded to the latter.The man on the street had also suffered. He was forced to look for work in the plains. The Kashmiri trader was now entrenched in Jaipur, Goa, Jodhpur's desert Kingdom and so on. The young Kaashmiri was now an executive in a New Delhi firm. Heck there is for the first time a Kashmiri lad playing in the Indian cricket team. I am waiting to see when, when this lad is playing in the Indian team, against Pakistan, who the man on the street in Kashmir, will root for! It was always but always for Pakistan.

I learnt many things that I had not thought about earlier, with regards to Kashmir. It was the land of Sufiana -land of peers or saints- a concept that was anathema to the Wahaabi Islam of the Arabs. This, along with the fact that it was the cradle for ancient Hindu and Buddhism, itself would according to many, ensure that it would not come under the sway of the Taliban.

I was listening to the ring tone of an elderly Kashmiri's mobile phone. I realised the deep similiarity it had with the  hymns from my faith, Sikhism.

Majid Peer also told me that the Amarnath Cave to which thousands had begun thronging to in recent years, was actually not the correct site according to Hindu mythology, as this was the cave where Shiva and Parvati had merely stopped to take a rest. The actual site was farther up!

Even while I felt the pain and anguish of the Pandit hindu community who had been forced to leave Kashmir (ethnic cleansing according to a friend of mine, who had to flee), the cultural assault of hordes from the plains trekking to Amarnath, the heavy police contingents and resulting debris, all made me sympathise with the Kashmiris who had these rather inconsiderate guests, even while they profited from the yatra, each year.

It is the same in my native state of Uttrakhand, which is similiarly assaulted each year by plains people especially the Kavarias, who walk to take away Ganges water. They take not just the water, but degrade the soil, and leave behind dirt and debris, much of it non biodegradable.

The beautiful meadows of Gulmarg were marred by poor handling of the Gondola arrangements. Thousands queing, touts and others abusing the system, pushing, shoving, and standing in line for hours on end. Gulmarg is only worthwhile being visited in winter!

Pahalgam is similiarly ruined by the tourist both from the plains and from Kashmir, as they all come in cars, honking their way down the main single street.

In the midst of all this however, past knowledge and good grounds people helped me and the family, as well as my English clients, find solace. Also, having a good local guide, allowed me to get into some beautful valleys for trout fishing, and experiencing once again, the Kashmir of old.

I learnt something else. My Kashmiri houseboat owner, told me of how he gave up trout fishing, something he was a keen expert on, accompanying many a famous western visitor for four decades. He narrated how late one evening he caught and felt almost sucked into the river, by a monster fish. The fright he got, put him off fishing for the rest of his years! But what I learnt from him was, that to preserve a trout for long periods, one needed to sprinkle charcoal inside the cleaned out trout, and it would freeze for long periods!

Later, I crossed the Zo Ji La, the himalayan watershed, into Ladakh. Here I visited Leh, Hemis and Pangong Lake twenty seven years later. The road after the Zo Ji La pass, now is better than world class, barring some causeways.Leh and its surroundings have inevitably grown. The traffic and fumes fro diesel gensets its worst aspect. But smart cafes, producing excellent fare are now to be found.

ed 12 Jul 20. Currently Kashmir is now under central rule , and Ladakh, a Union Territory, with a major series of border incidents instigated by CCP China.



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