Morning 11th April

Morning was here and so was the mythicalness of Bandipore & the energy to go even further. I have heard the line “my village is prettiest of them all” so many times in 70’s bollywood movies and here it is my turn to say the same, only thing is unlike Dharmendra I will also add the line “my village is heavily militarized”. I was warned by many that the real danger in Kashmir is when you become an innocent civilian caught in a grenade attack by terrorists on an Army/Paramilitary installation. The thought prevailing there was that terrorists aren’t attacking civilians these days. I felt that there are no imaginary dangers in Kashmir, a few days later some unidentified armed people attacked tourists in the valley, none of the terrorists groups took responsibility. Maybe Loch Ness monster was responsible. With these real, imaginary & complex fears with us, we took off for Gulmarg.
I believe Gulmarg is the most filmed location in the world after Wall Street & Times Square. 8 out of 10 Bollywood movies in 60’s & 70’s were shot here (don’t take this statistic very seriously, this is just to give you a general idea J). There is a reason why it is so, because Gulmarg is the Sachin Tendulkar & Amitabh Bachan of the Indian Hill Stations. A few kilometers away is Tanmarg, not exactly a hill station but an aspiring pit stop to the great Gulmarg. We decided to encourage its aspirations & halt there for a while. The place has a few shops which stock most of the things u would want to have while on course to Gulmarg. Someone whom I hadn’t met ever in life (& odds are really low that I would meet again) approached from behind and asked me in Kashmiri “Are you a Kashmiri Pandit” I replied in affirmative. “We are very ashamed of what happened in early 90’s and we really miss you here”. I am not sure if he needed to apologize because I don’t feel he was responsible for what happened (neither the larger self he wanted to represent when he said so). But the short conversation I had with him there once again made me wonder, how could a place that has so much love in the surroundings & the people surrounding them, possibly be such a tragic victim of hate.
Well tragedies fell aside and all the song & dance sequences had come to forefront as we reached Gulmarg. Of many sinful, ambitious desires I had, to play in the snow was the most intense. I did get a shot at it & also to ride one of the most advanced Gondola rides in the world for 500 rupees (11 dollars). Our sledge puller at Gulmarg like so many other people we talked to once again bad mouthed terrorists. Well there is one thing common to terrorists & Indian politicians, both are far less popular than what they think they are.
While coming back we decided to inspire Tanmarg further & decided to have lunch there in a hotel. After we asked for rice for three people, the person waiting on us (who also seemed like the manager there) told us to have one serving, see if it is not enough & then order for more. Damn he was right; we were not able to finish the first bowl of rice. A person who damages his business to ensure you don’t order more than u need. What place on earth was I ???