Early morning conversations during dal lake shikara ride.
Chacha, is poore pahad me light kyun lagi hui he? Yahan koi famous night trek hota he kya?
Nahi, ye Military Cantonment area he.
Oh, yahan pe ja sakte he?
Nahi, civillians allowed nahi he.
Aur, vo doosra pahad? Ukse upar kya he? Mandir?
Haan, vo Shanakracharaya ka mandir he. Bohot famous he.
Acha, vahan se dal lake dikta he?
Shayad. Me kabhi gaya nahi.
Kyon? Aap to yahin rehte ho.
“Sundar to sab hi he. Jahan he vahin ka luft lete he.” He replied looking at the mesmerizing sunrise from dal lake.
I smiled back. On this misty and hazy cold morning, Dal lake just glittered when the sun rose from the mountains and spread its rays on the lake. The droplets of ice on the lotus leaves looked like translucent pearls.
At some level, this can be regarded as laziness, lack of zeal, old age, ghar ki murgi dal barabar, etc. And maybe, some of it is true. But I felt otherwise.
I’ve spent 10 days in just Srinagar (no Pahalgam, Gulmarg, etc.), leisurely talking to locals without looking at the phone, without any agenda (tell me the best places/shops, etc.). This pretty much was part of my daily routine.
One thing which I find very fascinating was that the locals who were 40+, irrespective of their bank balance, didn’t even have the desire to see the world – be it Delhi or Dubai. I’m not referring to moving out of Kashmir, just going on vacation. Although, they were very particular and rather strict about their children pursuing higher education and having a well-paying job away from Kashmir.
How can someone be that content? Every time I’ve asked them, aren’t you ever remotely curious about seeing the world? The response is pretty much the same.
“Yahan sukoon he. Bahar jake kya karenge. Sundar to sab hi he.”
I’ve watched this exact thing on one of my favorite slow travel documentaries, https://youtu.be/YJ3K4ksEdBY?t=913. Here a local – Noor chacha, who is a caretaker of a house was asked by the legendary golfer Jyoti Randhawa to come and stay with him for 2 weeks in Delhi. He politely refuses the kind offer stating “Saab, mera Kashmir see jane ka man nahi karta”.
This contentment and peace with your day-to-day life is just pure bliss, especially in the downright crazy Instagram influencer world. If you have read the book Ikigai or watched any documentary on how centenarians live in Okinawa – the blue zone, you will be able to draw so many parallels with how a Kashmiri lives.
It felt surreal to actually have the same experience as the travel show host. This reminded me of all the travel documentaries I had watched on slow and much more meaningful travel during Covid. That’s where the seed of travel to a new place and ‘live like a local’ was planted.
Rather than squeezing a million activities which mainly comprises of ticking off every touristy place in the shortest amount of time and posing and posting a bucket load of pictures full of keywords and hashtags, slow travel is about adopting a mindset that focuses on connection. During covid, I’ve genuinely prayed to just get one more chance to travel and experience this. Kashmir was the answer to my prayers.
I’ve learned so so much from all the conversations with locals, formed life-long bonds, tried new and sometimes daunting experiences and so much more. But most importantly I’ve learned a bit about the importance of slowing down, forming meaningful connections, and being at peace with oneself. In short, Sukoon ki life jeena.
[…] and as I went closer and moved the leaves, there was a majestic view of the mighty ‘Dal Lake’. I had enquired about this on one of my early morning shikara rides but had totally forgotten about i… Is this what people call destiny? It’s a good thing, I […]