Kashmir yatra!

When I was uploading a photograph of our Kashmir tour I remembered our Kashmir tour. It seems long ago, way back in the month of September, 1987. But some of the memories are still fresh.

I was married to Usha on 2^nd February 1987. We had no time for a long trip. We went to Chikmagalur for a short trip. My close friends Shankaraiah (now Shankar Sharma) and T R V Prasanna were married respectively during October 1985 and August 1984. They had not gone out to any specific tour except where their jobs took them.

We decided to go to J&K. At that time, Prasanna, Rathna and the kid Prarthana were in Nasik. So myself, Usha, Shankar and his wife Sandhya left from Bangalore and reached Nasik. We spent a day visiting the city. We visited the TryambakeshwarTemple on the banks of river Godavari. The next day we left for Ellora caves. Visited Ghrishneswar in Ellora. There is a monolithic temple of Kailashnath. From there we went to Aurangabad, where we visited the tombstone of Auragzeb’s wife. Then to the Ajanta Caves. The Waghure river flowing in the middle of the caves looks amazing. The whole set of caves were the hideout of Buddhists once upon a time. There was this University as well.

The next day all the three pairs along with the kid Prarthana left for Delhi. From Delhi we were supposed to take a night train which reached Jammu Tawi next day morning. The train came very late – 9 hours late. So, our program got topsy turvy. We had to travel sitting and reach Jammu Tawi in the night. Brrr .. it was very cold. We finally could get a dormitory which housed all of us during the night.

The next day morning we went in search of a friend of my sister’s sister-in-law. Just to book our return tickets for us. There was no internet booking those days. Hence we had to resort to such methods!

We took a bus at 9 am to Srinagar. The bus went on and on along a gorge on one side, hill on the other side. Really horrifyingly beautiful! There was this 2 ½ km tunnel to pass through. Finally at 8 pm we reached Srinagar.

We went on the Dal lake in darkness. We could hear the squeals of our respective wives. We settled in a wooden hotel on the other side. (Elegant, I think is the name of the hotel)

It was fruits and flowers season in Srinagar. We could see the UN police taking care of any likely unrest. In fact, Srinagar was very peaceful. The route to Jammu from Delhi wasn’t. it was the time when Punjab was burning and lot of deaths were taking place for some reason or the other.

We went to Gulmarg on the first day. Our food was biscuits and fruits. We travelled in the ropeway (with benches!) in such a height that it was very scary. The route where Joy Mukherjee sang for Asha Parekh (Pukar ta chala hoon main) and Dr. Raj singing ‘naa benkiyanthe’ in double role were on the same road!

The next day was Sona Marg. The route was tedious and tiring. Only Shankar could go up the hill to see the glacier. I went to the foothill and Prasanna was the bodyguard for the ladies and the kid.

Third day was Pahalgaon. Very picturesque village. If you have seen the Rajesh Khanna Mumtaz movie Roti, you would have seen it.

Fourth day the local garden visit. Chashmeshahi had the mineral water spring (first time ever I had seen a mineral water spring). Then Nishat Bagh where we dressed up as Kashmiris to take photos. Shalimar Garden must have been shot in many many Hindi movies. I remember only Saathi Vyjantimala and Rajendrakumar... mera pyar bhi tu hai.. ye bahar bhi tu hai.. We saw the light and sound show.

The next day was to Jammu Tawi. That narration later!