Kashmir: Beyond Lakes, Mountains, and Snow
Kashmir has always been a focus of tourism in Asia. It doesn’t matter how media presents the Kashmir narrative, tourists from all over the world travel Kashmir and enjoy the mesmerizing scenes the valley always promises. Every corner of the Kashmir Valley is an exciting experience with amazing stories. Mountains, plains, lakes, and gardens; they are all here in this beautiful land.
While travelers from around the world praise this land for its beauty and heritage, they never forget to mention the people who make it “Heaven on Earth“. Kashmiris have been living here and called so when even countries like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh didn’t exist. The story dates to an early age. Let us not get there right now. That is the talk for another time.
Places like Gulmarg and Pahalgam are mainly crowded all year with different people from all corners of the earth. They have been visiting here and they even know some Kashmiris very well. Some married here and some were cheated here. You will be surprised to know that some of the foreigners can speak Kashmiri too. I remember an interesting encounter back in January 2019. I had come back from Delhi and visited Gulmarg with my cousins. While we were in the ski shop renting a ski we met a man from France. He was there with his daughter and son. They were getting skis as well. A sudden voice in broken Kashmiri hit my ears. I turned back and saw this french man talking to his daughter who was around 10 years old in Kashmiri. I was stunned! with joy and with surprise. I didn’t know what to say but curiously investigated the matter. He had been living here for the last 17 years somewhere in South Kashmir. He learned the language and now his children born and raised in Kashmir were used to this language. I have seen many Kashmiris speaking English or other foreign languages but that day I witnessed the first time a foreigner speaking Kashmiri.
Tourism has been an economic backbone of the valley since the beginning. Along with the money that comes with them, we Kashmiris are always keen on following trends. While traveling to Gulmarg you can easily find Ponny Walas speaking pieces of English mixed with Urdu and Kashmiri with their clients all day long. So are the workers in Pahalgam, Sonamarg, or even in the famous Dal Lake. The sense of style, clothing, and fashion is not far away from people who are working with these tourists all year round. Brands like Quechua are everywhere. Pheran (a traditional gown like garment usually worn in winter) is no exception. But these past few years it underwent tremendous changes. Nowadays Pherans are not just meant to be worn at home, people prefer Pherans during their office hours as well. A modern Pheran with a tinge of overcoat replaced the old good shaggy Pheran. I am not saying it is bad, in fact, it was a good initiative that will keep our Pheran going for a few more decades before some other pieces are torn off.
I frequently visit Gulmarg in Winter and it gives me ample chances to interact with visitors from different parts of the world. A few years back while I was skiing I saw a snowboarder talking to a noob and giving him some tips related to Snowboarding. I had a chance to speak with him and he was interested in sharing his thoughts about Kashmir with me. Being local, I was eager to hear what he has to say about us. He started by telling me that he and his wife have been visiting Kashmir for the last 10 years. “I am from Italy and now I work in an MNC in Mumbai”, he added. He had settled in Mumbai and every year he would make sure to spend at least 20 days in Gulmarg. I asked him about his experience with Kashmir and he seems to have the same answer as every other tourist would. “Kashmir is beautiful, people are amazing; food is so delicious”, he said and paused. “You know what makes you different?”, he asked me with a smiled and continued. “You Kashmiris never quit, you never give up”. I was surprised to hear this and he was looking at my confusing face and said, “don’t be confused I read a lot of articles every year before I come here in winter. They don’t bother me but I do read them anyway. Every year something terrible happens to this land and I would think to myself that you people are never gonna recover from this one. But when I am here. I see happy faces. I see people moving as if that incident never happened. You are pushing forward your narrative with a smile. YOU NEVER GIVE UP”.
We never give up. That is what he taught me. Kashmir has survived and battled hard for centuries. Whether it was the Dogra Rule then or the injustice now. We have been shaping the political structure of our neighboring countries since 1947. Kashmir is not just the land of Mountains and Lakes, Kashmir is more than that. We, Kashmiris have been playing our part as global citizens from the beginning. Our Kashmir was always their Cashmere.