Kashmir Valley - Refreshing memories

 Kashmir Valley: Refreshing memories for a life time

Visiting the Valley: Two decades ago, I never imagined that I will ever make a trip to the beautiful Kashmir Valley in my life time. However, things have changed, much faster in the last two years. Post COVID, Indian tourism has surged and Jammu & Kashmir (J & K), back on its moving wheels, is no exception. Even then, when we, as a group of fifteen senior citizens (barring one in her fifties)*, planned a 5 nights - 6 days trip to Srinagar and its surroundings, (through e-Routes - a Coimbatore based travel firm), in the third week of March 2024, two fears remained- (i) Is all that good we hear about “tourist are most welcome to J & K”  really true? or are we  in for an avoidable risk? and (ii) Are we wiser enough to visit the valley in the month of March, braving cold weather and heavy snow. 

I am happy to share that the just concluded trip to Kashmir will remain the most cherished travel memory in the minds of all of us, who undertook the tour, well organized by the travel operator

Places visited: From Coimbatore, we reached Srinagar Airport via New Delhi on 20th March 2024. The stay was arranged in Hotel Namrose resort and spa, in Down Town, Sri Nagar.

We were fortunate to

• enjoy the cable rides and walks at the snow filled Gulmarg , the second longest and second highest cable in the world, witness the scenic beauty of ABC Valleys (Aru, Betaab and Chandanwari Valleys) at Pahalgam and 'shiver’ through the snowy hill station in Sonmarg with motor cycle rides.
• experience the unity in diversity and divine feelings at Shankaracharya (jyshteswara) and Mata Kheer Bhawani Jee temples, 
• Do a ‘shikara’ ride in Dal Lake, visit Tulip Garden on day one of its opening and 
• visit Lal Chowk, proudly salute the Indian national flag hoisted at the top of Ghanta Ghar, the renowned clock tower at Lal Chowk. 

My personal views about Kashmiris and Kashmir after the trip:   Throughout the trip, we enjoyed the care and love showered on us, in abundance. by the Kashmiris. A few were more eloquent in their praise about the turnaround achieved in the last three years. Everyone, without any exception, both in the plains and valleys, were found cheerfully helping all the tourists, more particularly the senior citizens. In fact, since Amarnath Cave Journey is mostly done by trekking through Pahalgam (3-5 days journey), we could find innumerable ‘pure vegetarian’ hotels and even non-vegetarian hotels serving ‘Jain food’ in Srinagar. Lush green gardens, attractive glaciers down the valleys, return of normalcy - all paving way for surged revenues from tourism have made the Kashmiris to be more of themselves, they are known for. Even in and around Shankaracharya and Mata Kheer Bhawani Jee temples, maintained  by the army battalion, one could see locals putting up their shops and restaurants in huge numbers for the benefit of tourists.

Demonetization and CRPF appear to have removed even the traces of ‘pelting of stones’, said to be engineered by anti nationals, from the streets. The presence of army jawans are not seen in most of the places. The political and other major events since COVID has definitely brought back hopes of Kashmir becoming the ‘only heaven on earth’ again, for the locals and tourists. The exponential growth from tourism is sure to make the Kashmiris self-reliant.  I need to mention that in my conversations with a few locals, I felt, (I may be wrong), the reconciliation process to accept the changed circumstances is still a work-in-progress. So, whoever comes to power in the centre, after the general elections are over, need to ensure not only the revival of tourism is on firm roots but also demonstrate with every positive move that the interests of Kashmir and Kashmiris are kept upper most in mind behind every such move. That will help win their hearts and make them feel that all of us are dear brethren after all.

Regards 

V. Viswanathan

31st March 2024

*only 11 could make it finally