Back From Heaven...

Back from the "Heaven on Earth" - Kashmir, India. The state which was under militants control for past 14 years.Kashmir's beauty is a blessing and a curse in itself.

My trip to Kashmir was with a different purpose. I desparetely wanted to get some peace of mind so we had planned for Vaishnodevi and Amarnath, two of the India's biggest shrines. They say you should travel to holy places to seek peace of mind. So did I.

Especially Amarnath is an experience one must take. There are two paths to reach the holy cave. One starts from "Pahalgam" and takes around 3-4 days to complete and another is from "Baltal" which can be done in a day. The major difference being the distance. From Pahalgam it is 34 kms of trek travelling through picturesque locations of Chandanwadi, Sheshnag. From Baltal it is 16 kms of steep climb. We went through Baltal since most of the tourists companies take you through that way. And we went with Kesari Tours. Nature is very unpredictable from either path. We were really lucky and blessed to have a safe and hassle free journey.

A steep climb, river continuously flowing by side, snow covered peaks, greenery, horses, people from all over India, uniformed jawans keeping a watch and finally the miraculous ShivLinga formed in ice. This all in one journey is Amarnath. Just that 16 km of trek teaches you so many things. The "yatris" showing amazing spirit. Just the presence of Jawans assuring you of a secured journey, at the same time reminding you that you are in India's most troubled but one of the most beautiful places - Kashmir. And finally the vast entrance to the cave, the 3 km walk on ice, its really memorable. Enter the cave and in the crowd of hundreds you feel as if you are alone there witnessing the Lord. Its a fantastic feeling after a tiring climb. All tiredness vanishes immediately. You are actually standing bare feet on ice-cold water and still not feeling it. It was beyond words. Some miraculous power was driving me through. Well if this is not GOD then what is it? The journey up and then the wait of 2-2.5 hrs for the Darshan was so testing that, at one point I cursed myself for walking up. Taking the darshan on the same day was the only thing in mind, had it been delayed, I would have been forced to stay up there ( at an altitude of 14,000 ft) in a meagre tent with a blanket. The weather being so unpredictable, all that we ( myself and other two people who walked with me) was to take the darshan as early as possible. We had started walking up at around 5:30 a.m and were 3 kms from the cave at 11:30. 3 Kms of sparkling ice was yet to be covered with 1.5 km of queue for the darshan. And all this with one samosa as lunch. :-) . The head was hurting badly. And believe me or not, this all vanished when we witnessed the holy cave. I actually forgot to make a wish. All my wishes had converged to only one wish - witnessing the wonder. And so I could see it in front of my eyes. What else could I ask for? Nothing really.

The horse owners and the "doly" owners reflect the poor condition of the people staying in there.
For 14 years people have been facing dificulties there. We can not even think about living such a miserable life.Their life depends on the 2 months of yatra period. Its their bread and butter. If one believes that, going to Amarnath yatra fulfills your wishes or "mannats" then I pray the condition of these people improves, since they do the yatra twice a day.

On the way I saw, a man with one leg climbing up the difficult path with the help of crutches and then really cursed my cribbing. The army men, with loads of weight going up just to make sure we were safe. Though as a part of duty, it was really a thing to appreciate. And all of them always smiling and encouraging you to climb up. Its really a different experience. One that I will never ever forget. Coming down by feet had almost become impossible. It was 6:45 p.m and the sun was setting on the horizon. Clouds had started gathering. So decided to take a horse to come down. Fortunately all three of us got horses to come down and then we started another memorable journey. We came down with eerie darkness around, the river which looked so beautiful in the morning appeared really daunting in the night. Could only hear the sound of water . The chilling weather was adding to the eerieness. It was again becoming memorable. We reached the base at 11:15 pm . Went off to sleep almost immediately as we had to return back to Srinagar the next day and that too early in the morning.

Terrorism is not new to Kashmir. Till now, we hear news of bomb blast, firings from this land. Till now people suffer power cut offs, blackouts. Taking birth in a poor family in Kashmir is like a crime. The entire economy is dependent on tourism. Since tourists never dared to go to this beautiful place for so many years, most of the population there is below poevrty line.

Well I am signing off for today. Will add more as and when I get time.