Just back from my first trip to Leh –Kargil- Srinagar. And what a trip!
Ladakh, beautiful is the word. What impressed me was the organized way in which everything functions. Every shop has a shop and establishment certificate and the local market committee certificate put up on its walls. Ask a taxi driver for a charge and he will show you the government rate card and charge accordingly. Quiet peaceful people who do their business as it should be done. That’s called law and order. The locals tell us that all that remains in Leh in the winters at -20 degrees is Dogs, Donkeys and Jawaans. Always feel that the people who are ready to make sacrifices are the ones treated badly.
The last leg of the trip, the drive from Leh- Kargil and Kargil- Srinagar was the dangerous and the interesting part.
Kargil is the quaint little town, disconnected from the outside world, vulnerable from everything, cold winters, shelling from across the LoC, bombing! Visit the town and you won’t feel it to be a part of India. Neither do they have anything remotely Indian in terms of culture or way of living. Don’t think any leader has ever visited the town. Why should the people there keep their allegiance with India?
As we drove towards Kargil we saw young children continuously waving towards us. A young guy who did seem educated whiling away his time throwing stones at trees. Probably that symbolized the state of affairs of the place. What have we given them except for insecurity, fear, unemployment and nothing to protect this region which is the worlds second coldest habitat. We don’t deserve the beautiful nature that lies there.
As we drove down from Sonmarg towards Srinagar, it gave the feeling that nature can’t paint a more beautiful picture than this. Lush green mountains, beautiful flowers all around and snow in the background. Whoa! Paradise it is!!
But Srinagar was burning. 24 deaths in the 4days before we reached and 15 deaths in the riots that were happening on the day we were there. Amidst a curfew we heard bullet shelling, heard a “Julus”, heard provocative “azaadi” speeches right up to midnight. Left the city at 4 in the morning for a 12 pm flight to save our lives. En route to the airport we saw things broken, some things burning and blood on streets leaving a permanent memory of a city in conflict.
