Kashmir

Day 1.

     As our car maneuvered across the slender roads of Srinagar, I got a brief idea about the city.

     I could see roses. Many of them. Coming out of wall cracks, growing on the road dividers, beside the compound walls and few of them in the swampy areas. It makes the city look so good. Their size and shape are the aspects that surprised me. Bigger and colorful than those I’ve seen before. They add a whole new dimension to the city.

     Srinagar seemed to be a city that still needs to be worked upon a lot. But it’s kind of elegant. And this elegance doesn’t derive from its regularity, but the irregularity of everything it sports. I saw beautiful houses everywhere, they’d tapering rooftops, so that the snow didn’t stay over there in the winters. As a matter of fact, there’re virtually no apartments in Kashmir. People stay in their individual houses (Kholi). Big or

small, but they should be individual.

     Talking about people. Kashmiri people were so different in appearance. Clear complexion and straight noses. You’ll hardly see a dark complexioned Kashmiri; all of ‘em had this extremely clear skin color, especially girls, fair as hell! All of ‘em have red cheeks. Literally red cheeks. As if they spend days and nights in beauty parlors. Believe me, with some acting acumen they can give Indian actresses a run for their money. Men over there had peculiar characteristics. Chiseled jaws and most of ‘em bearded. Sometimes it was hard to distinguish between them.

      In no time, we were at the place about which I’d heard a lot right since my childhood – Dal Lake. It seemed to be pretty enormous for a lake. Having a shoreline of around 16 kilometers, Dal Lake was humongous. Houseboats and Shikaras densely populated its edges on either side. What a spectacular view it was! Water bodies instantly become the most sought after tourist spots everywhere; it was the case with Dal Lake as well. Everyday hoards of people throng the places in its vicinity. Markets and restaurants basically accompanied its shorelines. Famous Mughal gardens such as, Nishat Bagh and Shalimar Bagh, having exquisite flora were spaciously located adjacent to the Lake. I was getting impatient to revisit the place and explore it amply.