Tuesday 13 May 2008

We then went to Amritsar, Punjab to visit three different places that made me experience peace of mind, grief and pride. The places were the Golden Temple, Jallianwala Bagh, Wagah Border in that order.

Everyone who visits the temple must cover their head with a piece of cloth, irrespective of nationality, religion or gender.


Though there were so many people, no one spoke, the place was very calm, ironic to the agitating hot weather outside.









The picture on the left shows the place from where around 2000 unarmed protestants of the Rowlatt act were fired in 1919. There was a jyothi placed in remembrance of all those people who sacrificed their lives for the nation. No one spoke at this place too, but the silence here wasn't like the silence in the temple, it can't be explained, can only be felt.


Wagah border is the only road border between India and Pakistan where every evening the flags of both the countries are lowered as a tradition. It felt good to be at the ceremony as there were so many people, all eager to watch the guards, each one of them was very enthusiastic. To add to the feeling, there were patriotic songs being played. There was this commander who was getting the crowd to shout slogans and it was a great feeling, guess the closest we can ever get to how a soldier feels.


Will sign this post off with the most popular slogan at the Wagah Border - Hindustan Jindabad!




Sunday 11 May 2008

After Amarnath, we left the Baltal camp and headed towards Srinagar, next on the itinerary was Gulmarg, a mountain that could be reached by taking a cable car.














Just check out the cable cars down the hill in the picture on the left, I can see atleast 14 of them!
The cable car and the trees would be covered with snow in the winter, its just so bright and the view is clear during the we went there...
Gulmarg supposedly hosts the world's highest golf course, however we didn't go there :(


We went boating in the Dal lake in the evening, this would be our last day in Kashmir/Srinagar.

We noticed that the roads were deserted, there were no street lights as we went to the hotel :(
In the past 15 years or so, life has been a living hell in Srinagar, it has lost its charm. One of the localities was telling us that if we expected Kashmir to be like Switzerland (which people used to to do) then he can only be sorry for that!

I did speak to people from Kashmir as to how they feel about all this, they told that they didn't bother much about the attacks, they had learned to live with it, they were only concerned about bringing up their kids, their education :(





So that was Kashmir with its amazing people, phenomenal beauty and now turned to a place that probably holds uncertain future for it's own kids :(
But to the visitors it is, as the BEACON (Border Roads Organization force) puts it

Kashmir,
-The Paradise on Earth
-The bowl of fruits
-The bed of Saffron