GUREZ SERIES Part-15 Magic of ‘Three’ / By Rashmi Talwar/ Kashmir Images

(CONTINUED from Part-I …..TEXT BELOW)

ü “Three” spellings of Gurez

Just as a love child is called out by many a loving name, so is our little Gurez.

By that parameter the formal name or ‘school ka naam’ is Gurez. The other two are spoils of the first in what is considered affection or in endearment.  

·         Gurez: is the formal name

·         Guraai: is its name in the local Shina language

·         Gurais:  seems to be an endearment to its name

ü Pre-partition Gurez

Before the Indo-Pak partition, Gurez – the land of the Dards called Dardistan fanned out into “Three” regions. These were:

§     The area from Toabat to Sharda Peeth or the Seat of Sharda, named after the goddess of wisdom Saraswati. It was an ancient center of learning established in 273 B, even before the Takshila and Nalanda universities. Sharda Peeth today is the ruins of the Holy Temple and the center of great learning of Kashmiri Pandits.  This area is administered by Pakistan, as Neelum District.

§     Between Kamri and Minimarg, it lies in the Astore District of Gilgit Baltistan (Pakistan).

§     From Taobat or Taobao to Abdullah Tulail, it is known as Gurez Tehsil falling in Bandipore District of state of  Jammu and Kashmir, India.

ü Gurez sits as a cusp of “Three” state borders including international

§     Gurez is ‘located’ in the state of Jammu Kashmir,

§    Touches’ the Union Territory of Ladakh.

§     Meets’ the border with Pakistan side of Kashmir with Kamri and further on with ancient Sharda Peeth Shrine,  just 10 Kms from the Line of Control in Pakistan.

ü “Three” best edibles of Gurez

   Gurez is famous for

§     Zeera or mountain cumin

§     Morchella or Morel or Guchchi mushroom

§     Potatoes 

ü “Three” types of Trout fish found in Gurez

Gurez is an angler’s paradise with a wealth of seafood in its shimmery clear waters. Here “Three”  types of Trout fish, a delicacy of Kashmir is found in Gurez, which is a rarity.

1. Brown Trout (Salmo Truttal)

2. Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

3. Snow Trout (Schizothorax plagiostomus)

 “Three” archeological sites

Gurez is ensconced in proximity to “Three” archeological sites including:  

·        Kanzalwan, where the last council of Buddhism was held.

·        Ancient Sharada University, a place of knowledge and learning, a Hindu shrine having great reverence among Kashmiris.

·        An archeological site at Wangath Temple complex, in Naranag- an ancient Hindu temple of learning.

ü “Three” languages

Gurezis broadly speak “Three” languages

.     Urdu/Hindi

·      Shina

·       Kashmiri

ü  “Three” Ancient Scripts

Hundreds of carved inscriptions found in Gurez are inscribed in “Three” distinct ancient scripts. A poet observed about Gurez-“These rocks are full of texts and teachings, these cliffs are tables of stone graven with laws and commandments”. These ancient scripts discovered in Gurez comprise of  

·         Kharoshthi

·          Brahmi

·          Tibetan.

ü   “Three” major archeological sites of Gurez 

These Rare scripts (Kharoshthi, Brahmi, and Tibetan) were discovered in “Three” major archeological sites of Gurez.

·        Dawar – the ancient capital of Dardistan of the Dards.

·        Kanzalwan – an ancient Buddhist site.

·        Sharada Peeth- a Hindu Shrine, University, and Temple of Learning now on the Pakistan side of Kashmir.

ü  Gurez embodies “Three” ancient faiths

The Mighty Kishenganga River of Gurez is a unique blend of bonding of “Three” religions,

·       The Mighty Kishenganga flows by the famous ‘Buddhist’ site of Kanzalwan where the last congregation of Buddhist intellectuals was held.

·       The river touches Dawar, the mainstay of Gurez valley flanked by a famous and almost perfect pyramidal Peak named after a ‘Muslim’ Poetess queen Habba Khatoon, also known as “Nightingale of Kashmir”.

·       Kishenganga spreads to the world-famous ‘Hindu’ Temple University of Sharada, an ardent pilgrimage site in the pre-partition. A unique Library of rare books, scrolls, etchings, and lithographs, adds to the depth and layers of this repository of knowledge. The Sharda Peeth, an ancient seat of learning, revered by Kashmiri Pandits is located on the Pakistan side of Kashmir. The shrine played a key role in coining Sharda Script. Incidentally; it is a mere 10kms from the Line of Control between India and Pakistan.

ü  “Three” point LoCs 

“Three” Sides of Gurez are located on the Border,– the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan.

·       Kaobal Gali –Connects to Drass, a flashpoint of the Kargil War. Civilians are disallowed, and army permission is very subjective and choosy. The Drupadi Kund lake at 13,000 ft is one of the most beautiful azure alpine lakes in the virgin mountains of the Kaobal Gali. 

·       Bagtore– Is plateau land at 8000 ft above sea level and its uniqueness emerges from the fact that it is bang on the LoC. “Where India plays cricket and the audience includes Pakistan army personnel stationed on a few mountain peaks in an arch spread on one side. The Peaks overlooking the ground watching Indians play through binoculars.

·       Sikander Point -On the Indian side is flanked by mountains on a riverfront, where Indian and Pakistan armies sit eyeball to eyeball on mountain peaks.

ü “Three” Treks

“Three” Prominent Trekking routes from Gurez valley lead to:

·                    Sonmarg

·                    Gangbal

·                    Zanskar and Drass on the same tangent

ü “Three” Sister Mountains 

Gurez is a study in contrasts of mountainscapes. They are the typical fraternal triplets that are worded as the Golden triangle of mountain formations. From a point, if you look towards East they stand as stark crags, barren and bald, in the North, the mountain flanks are lush with fir forests and in the West –wide and peeking meadows holding a basket of permanent snows. They refuse to be one eyeful before the other abuts and pokes with its teasing tongue, to break your spell; interlocked as they stand united. These “Three” sisters fall into the following classifications.

·                Rugged Mountain carp, rock-faced, snow-covered, cold desert for the most part of the year.

·                Mounts of grass, green meadows, with lurking lichens, peeking out below cracks of snow of snows on mountain rims, garlanding slopes into blushing crimson hues.

·                Richly bejewelled mountains covered with deep thick fir forests and anglicized Birches, joined by plunging, tumbling waterfalls.

ü     “Three” Namesake Doppelgangers  of Gurez

Did you know our Gurez has namesakes all over the world? I discovered “Three”

§     Gurez is the name of a village in the former Fushe Kuqe Commune Lezhe County in Northwestern, Albania.

§     Gurez is the name of a village in the Jagdishpura block of Bhojpur district in Bihar.

§     Gurez is the name of a railway station in Ferizaj nearby to Enha Profile and close to Mondial, Kosovo

ü  Gurez stationed Army’s “Three” best friends 

An Army personnel stationed at Sikander point, told me –We enjoy “Three” permanent friends wherever we are posted in remote areas. And Gurez didn’t fail us; here too we enjoy these following friends.

1. Dog: “Since dog barks on any trespass, it warns us about impending intrusion -man or animal. Dogs and other animals possess an intense sense of seismic movement and behave strangely when disasters such as earthquakes are looming”.  And adds -“Dogs are our home alarms and serve as nightguards that keep our areas free of wild animals too.

2. Crow: Crow too sounds the alarm of any killing of man or animal even before the stench of the decomposition spreads around. You can often see them continuously cawing together, looking at each other, and continuing that competition for who-caws-loudest. It is an indication of an incident. Mostly it is a death that is indicated.

3. Rat: Rats clean up garbage left-overs; they are known to store seeds that eventually lead to ecological contribution. They are also known in army circles as easy to get trained as affectionate pets.

Last Call

“We have one nimble rat here named Haseena,” an army guy smiled and called out to her- “Haseena! Ek Aur dost Haseena tumhe milene ayi hai koi …aa jao bahar!” causing a huge guffaw of merriment around that seemed to echo in the mountains of Gurez and perhaps reach the sentries standing guard on mountain tops of both side of the border. Suddenly seized of the sensitive location, I urged them to sound low- “shhhhh”. To which the army man answered in the most loved film “Sholay” style – “Sunney doo unko bhii, kon Hasii chal rahi hai Hindustanion mein, shayad woh bhi apni Hassi walli team tyaar kar le.. aur kon pataa dono Haasye Teamo ka Mukablaa Karii Dey ,kaa  pata”, his smile widened flashing his set of perfect bateesii ”. (32teeth) 

I am loathed to translate this into English, it is sure to lose its flavor.

00—00

IMP: Photos of Sharda Peeth Kashmiri Temple Shrine located in Sharda of Astore District by Prof Aqeel Kasmi of National College of Arts, Lahore Pakistan during a study tour with students of NCA to the historic site. Prof Aqeel is also an artist and actor.

Pics of Gurez by Author

Rashmi Talwar can be contacted at: rashmitalwarno1@gmail.com

GUREZ Part-14- Magic of “THREE”/ By Rashmi Talwar /Kashmir Images

(TEXT BELOW)

GUREZ PART – Part- 14

Magic of  ‘“THREE” ’

RASHMI TALWAR

Gurez showered a rare clairvoyance. How was I to know that I would roll into its folds and venture into the Magic tunnel of “Three”? As I glided across the unbelievable beauty of Gurez, I picked up gems that surprisingly added up to the enchanting number – “Three”. This fascination kept gathering steam, irrespective of conforming to the exact figures or facts, nevertheless, near truthful.

Before I proceed and lay bare the instinctual collection, it befits to explain what exactly is the Magic of “Three”, in the drama of the vast Universe.

For the uninitiated the rule of “Three” is a grouping of “Three” that could be “Three” – words, “Three” – objects, “Three” – times, etc that has a repetitive element or a common thread running through them to complete the tiara of beauty. The Rule of “Three” – is often used in designing, verse, poetry, paintings, dimensions, films, songs, and touch. The effect of “Three”, plays beautifully on the sensory instincts and gives it a grand finish of a powerful impact or a sensation of beauty.

 “Three” is not only appealing and easier to remember but our brains are pattern-seeking machines, constantly looking for relationships and meaning and connecting the world around us. “Three” is the smallest number we need to create a pattern, the perfect combination of brevity and rhythm. The rhythm or echoes of “Three” creates a strong impact! Similarly, any multiple of “Three” will enlarge the effect of impact on the human eye, human mind, and human memory. I attempted to piece together this magic of “Three” for the enchanting Land of Gurez.

ü “Three” point someone – Gurez: Gurez has a multi-dimensional past and present.

1. It was a robust trade point that connected to neighboring and far-off developed world. 

2. At present Gurez is a Border area with Pakistan.

3. Gurez is a fascinating Literary hub of a rare Shina-speaking Dard tribe, a guardian of its culture and lifestyle

ü  Gurez, an ancient gateway: Gurez was a gateway for South Asian trade and travel. It sits on the crux of the age-old Silk Route and connects it to “Three” regions, which are: 

1. The Gilgit Baltistan section in Pakistan

2. The Kashgar in China is called the ‘oasis city’ in Tarim basin connected to Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan. It was a robust trade route that saw many a precious sparkling gem, silks, crafts, jewelry, fruit and food, and much more travel to and fro the faraway lands.

3. And, from there onwards to Europe. 

ü  Gurez, a literary hub of Dards

Gurez is the ‘third’ pillar as a guardian and literary hub of Shina language, Dard culture, traditions, and rituals. These “Three” areas include

1. Gilgit Baltistan (Pakistan),

2. Gurez and (Jammu and Kashmir)

3. Kargil (Ladakh)

All “Three” regions collectively speak the Shina language and in these times of nano speed of internet have Whatsapp groups for cultural exchange too, that additionally laments their separation and painful parting through borderlines between India and Pakistan. One such group I was made a member of is “Hum sab Kab Milangay” admin is Musa bringing together lost tribes of a region partitioned.

ü “Three” personalities are recorded as prominent visitors to Gurez

1. Franklin Delano Roosevelt before being crowned the 32nd US President.

2.  Jawaharlal Nehru- First Prime Minister of India, along with his family including the first and only lady PM of India- Indira Gandhi.

3. Walter R Lawrence – The author who served in the Indian civil services in British India during which he was the first Settlement Commissioner of Kashmir and in 1895 published a seminal book – “The valley of Kashmir” mentioning Gurez.

ü  How the native Kashmiri language won over Urdu-

One couldn’t imagine a unique subject or storyline of a Queen poetess, rising from humble roots from the saffron fields of Pampore, emerging as an exalted figure, with a life gone bitterly tragic and dying with the pain of parting. How could that story of love, passion, romance, poetry, royalty, and intrigue not catch the imagination of the medium of cinematic art? It did. Top filmmakers of the time dreamed about making a celluloid marvel with the pivotal story of Habba Khatoon enchantingly woven with the silken threads of her poetry.

Over the years, “Three” renowned filmmakers conceived the subject of the nightingale of Kashmir- a sobriquet for Habba Khatoon, to present it on the silver screen in Urdu/ Hindi, a language of Indian cinema. Could they bring their dream projects to fruition?

ü  “Three” filmmakers dreamed of Habba Khatoon

§     In the year 1960, a fascinated Mehboob Khan, with the dramatic story of Habba Khatoon determined to make a film starring Saira Banu in the lead as Habba. In an interview, decades later, Saira Bano, revealed that Dilip Kumar was to star opposite her as Yusuf Shah Chak- the King of Kashmir and Habba’s husband. This was before Dilip and Saira were married. Filmmaker Mehboob’s death in 1964 led to the shelving of the film.

§     In 1980, BR Chopra attempted to bring Habba Khatoon alive with Zeenat Aman and Sanjay Khan in lead roles with music by Naushad. A Ghazal ‘Jis Raat Ke Khawab Aaye’ by Naushad was recorded with the inimitable Mohammed Rafi, who couldn’t control his tears on first hearing the words woven in the Ghazal, then again during its recording. Later Mohammed Rafi refused to be paid a paisa for the Ghazal. But Rafi died soon after, on July 31, 1980, and the Ghazal of Habba Khatoon remained the renowned singer’s swan song. The heartbroken filmmaker couldn’t bring himself to restart the subject with another singer and shelved it.

§     In late 1988, a third attempt at immortalizing Habba on the silver screen came from Muzaffer Ali with his film ‘Zooni’- the Moon, starring Dimple Kapadia and Vinod Khanna in lead roles. A dream project, Ali conceived a palette jeweled with colors merging in the flavors of Kashmir’s varied seasons to depict Habba’s saga.   Music, with songs in the Kashmiri language by Mohan Lal Aima, lyrics by Shahryar, and music by Khayyam. The mega period film was to be filmed in both Hindi and English. Hence the English version was in the hands of a Japanese Oscar winner Riyuchi Sakamoto famous for lending music to masterpiece films such as -‘The last Emperor’ and ‘The Revenant’.

Illustrious American fashion designer, Mary McFadden was roped in to design period costumes when the Moghul Empire had not influenced Kashmiri attire. Antique fabrics were acquired and curated from private collections. A film set of two villages was constructed near Srinagar. Half of the film was shot in 1989 incorporating two seasons. Then insurgency struck the charming Kashmir valley and ‘Zooni’ to be released in 1990 too slept the forever slumber and the film remained in the cans never to see daylight again. But the dream of Habba Khatoon did not die; in a recent interview, Muzaffar Ali expressed his enthusiasm for remaking ‘Zooni’ the story of Habba Khatoon, with Aalia Bhatt. 

The alluring story of Habba Khatoon, despite magnum attempts, to the extent of parts of music, Ghazals, songs, and shooting recorded, to create cinematic history with Habba’s poetry, remained mystifyingly incomplete. Not one, out of “Three” major film attempts, blazed a trail on the cinematic screen by Bollywood- one of the biggest film industries in the World. Each attempt came to naught. This drew the belief in Bollywood circles; of the subject of Habba Khatoon being jinxed.

ü  Home Turf wins with “Three” part series

Alternately the Idiot Box stole the show with – a “Three” Part– Telefilm in ‘Kashmiri language’ of Habba Khatoon. They won hands down, against Burley-Bollywood’s Urdu/Hindi cinema. The story of Habba Khatoon was successfully broadcast on home TV screens across Jammu & Kashmir, in the local Kashmiri dialect, winning fond adulation along with acclaim from the home state and its people.  

In the year 1970, Basheer Badgami, a Kashmiri filmmaker created a “Three” -Part Telefilm Series ‘Habba Khatoon’ for Doordarshan. The Telefilm saw the light of day with Rita Razdan and Ghani Khan as lead actors playing the roles of Habba and King Yusuf Shah, respectively. It became the most popular Kashmiri Tele film of all time. Songs of the film were sung by famed Kashmiri singer Shameema Dev Azad, wife of Parliamentarian and former Chief Minister of Jammu Kashmir -Ghulam Nabi Azad. The film to date is regarded as a befitting tribute to Habba Khatoon’s chequered life.

Photos of Sharda Peeth Kashmiri Temple Shrine located in Sharda of Astore District clicked by Prof Aqeel Kasmi of National College of Arts, Lahore Pakistan during a study tour with students of NCA to the historic site. Prof Aqeel is also an artist and actor. Photos dated: 26 May 2022

Pics of Gurez by Author

Rashmi Talwar can be contacted at: rashmitalwarno1@gmail.com

GUREZ SERIES-Part-13 /Gurez Floral Wealth: Rich Resources, Rich Returns/ By Rashmi Talwar/ Kashmir Images

(TEXT BELOW)

GUREZ SERIES – PART-6

Gurez Floral Wealth:  Rich Resources, Rich Returns 

RASHMI TALWAR

Mr. Om Parkash Sharma ‘Vidyarthi’, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests J&K, a man of the wild woods, could easily compete with Google on instant answers about plants, botanical names, uses, and properties. And like Google he can keep unfolding the cabbage layers of the greenies, their medicinal value, folklore, fragrance, and everything else, he can go and on.

No wonder his talent took the form of “Tree Talks” pioneered, conducted, and built over more than a decade, a formidable record of 1180 Tree Talks that started in 2010 across the nation and internationally too. His first international tree talk was held in Vancouver Canada. He held Tree Talks in most areas of Jammu & Kashmir, in groves, roadsides, hills, riversides, parks, homes, marshlands, in tree trunks, crevices, anywhere. As if his audio airtime felt insufficient, his love for cosmos found outpourings on paper and went on to grow into 46 books.

Addressed lovingly by his pen name ‘Vidyarthi’ the forest man’s singular achievement is – First and Only IFS officer to bag the coveted Sahitya Academy Award for his book “Trip Trip Chete’ in 2002, a travelogue resonating with the music of nature. His writings- in Prose or Poetry, of Trees or Trips, in Travels or Tales, Transport you deep within a blooming bud, the fervent rustle of shedding leaves, the might of a seed pushing out to catch sun rays, or the slow gliding bird, the open arms of mountains, the home hurrying bird on tangerine skies.

And within this mood of reverie and joy of cosmos, Mr. Om Parkash Sharma ‘Vidyarthi’- the forever student-  talks to RASHMI TALWAR about Gurez, and its flora and vegetative treasures.

Q1. Mr. Vidyarthi, you authored 46 books on flora laced them with your poetry, and folklore, penned about medicinal uses to humanity; is any book or portion, devoted to the flora of ‘Gurez’?

Yes, how could I miss Gurez, I call it the ‘Splendorous abode of the Almighty’ – I wrote a book- “Ecotourism Destinations- Gurez Gangbal & Gulmarg” in the year 2009.

Some of my other books on flora, fauna, books on poetry, short stories, garden flowers, and medicinal plants, include – ‘Wild & cultivated Plants of Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh’; ‘Plants of Parks & gardens’; ‘Medicinal plants of Plains & Hills’; ‘Forest Flora of Kashmir’; Eco stories on Plants and animals-2017; Illustrated Dictionary of Flora and Fauna-2011; Wild edible plants of Jammu & Kashmir -2019; Forest flora of Kashmir; Tree Talk Travels 2011; ‘Wildflowers for eco-tourists & naturalists- 2010’ and many more

Books in Dogri language to English, Hindi and 16 of them bilinguals; alongside, I coined nearly 6000 scientific terms, for flora in three regions of Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh. “Gurez is unique and I am a collector of information about the most mysterious, it could never have escaped my vision”, he smiles

Q.2. Since Gurez is a valley; it has ample potential for fruit vegetables and medicinal herbs. The mighty Kishanganga River- a source of pure water in the region gives it an added gut to cultivate rare flora, what are the possibilities in your opinion?

Ans 2: The possibilities in Gurez are endless. The terrain has sweeping areas, rich alluvial soils, water proximity, and water-laden air conditions; in this scenario, terrace agriculture is already in progress and can be further improved upon to add newer varieties with help from Army. The army itself has been instrumental in bringing many uplifting changes in the region including an army school, which is emerging as the best in the border territories for inculcating new and vocationally linked skills. These chapters could also embrace agricultural practices for new and rare plant cultivation. Alongside the poly-house concept of growing vegetables long beyond autumn is a possibility too.

Q.3. It is also believed that the foothills of the unique mountain peak named after the poet queen Habba Khatoon is home to a rich bouquet of medicinal plants; could you shed light on that?

Ans 3: Habba Khatoon peak named after the mountain Queen, has a sacred Grove surrounding the peak with a natural spring or ‘chashma’ named after the Queen poetess; this habitat is a good source of mountain cumin, Kala Zeera, or Black Cumin (Bunium persicum), used as a condiment. The spice fetches a remarkable market value. However, a trial to cultivate the crop has not yielded much so far. Agricultural Department started a germplasm improvement program, at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, (SKUAST) Kashmir; the mountain cumin however got some success at Pampore- the womb of saffron cultivation and the birthplace of Habba Khatoon. Gurez area also bears unique plants like Syringa emodi- Himalayan Liliac, Sea-buckthorn Hippophae rhamnoides growing along the Kishanganga River that can be exploited for edible, medicinal products as per techniques developed by China. Interestingly, its value can be gauged by the fact that a national body is created for this plant named “The Seabuckthorn Association of India”.

Q. 4. Any folklore tales connected to the flora of Gurez, mountain queen &poetess of Kashmir?

Ans 4: The medicinal herb Artemisia maritima’s with its silvery-white charming gauzy leaves, stands named in Gurez’s Mountain Queen’s honour as Zoon, Sheski, or Mooi. ‘Zoon’ which means Moon denoting the moonlike beauty of Zooni (Habba Khatoon’s childhood name) possesses qualities for digestion and improving liver function and is anti-malarial.

 The plant is not only floral decorative but has a lovely fragrance. It has such a strong fragrance that a person sitting in the back seat of a bus with a bag of sheshki, could be smelled in the driver’s seat. It can be seen near the Jawahar Tunnel area- the Gateway to Kashmir, Limber wildlife sanctuary Baramulla, and around Gurez valley. I noticed locals harvest this aromatic plant. Its silvery moon-like appearance made it apt to be named after the poetess whose name was also moon or ‘Zoon’ in Kashmiri.

Another plant dedicated to the Queen is ‘Shama-Zoon’ or Shamadi, (Podophyllum hexandrum), a plant possessing an anti-cancer drug.  Himalayan May Apple. But this one is still uncertain, although attaching zoon as a suffix indicates its connection.

Q. 5.  Some rare plants are found here including gas plants or torchlight plants? How did such an amazing name come about?

Ans 5: Interestingly the area possesses Dictamnus Albus Dittany or Burning bush a decorative beautiful flower, also called the torchlight plant.

Incidentally, this unique plant has gained an award of merit from the Royal Horticultural Society. Its further propagation & cultivation is recommended as fragrance emitting and possessing medicinal properties. The Torchlight Plant got its name from the fact that once the daughter of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus ignited a matchstick near the plant and that caught fire in still-warm weather. The Torchlight plant actually catches fire in a bit of warmth. More than 100 chemical constituents were isolated from this genus. Foothills and nearby Habba Khatoon peak are its favourite haunt. Gurezi Folklore has it – the plants act like royal torches as ‘santari’ or guards to the Royal abode of the Queen Habba Khatoon- the mountain peak.

For the Shina-speaking locals of Gurez, Habba Khatoon commands great reverence. Alternately, in Kashmir, it is rare to see a mountain named after a woman.

Q 6: Can a herb park, exotic vegetables, or exotic fruit orchards, be etched in this paradisiacal valley of Gurez?

Ans 6: Gurez has high altitude topography; plants of pastoral grasslands are found aplenty here. Since the growing season is shorter, restricted to 4-5 months, growing exotic vegetables could come around as a program for women empowerment in keeping with the reverence for the female form of Habba Khatoon.

Almost all European exotic vegetables can be grown here with active assistance from the army which already has a High Altitude Laboratory at Gulmarg, Kashmir or ‘Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) Leh, Ladakh- the laboratory is already screening and identifying high altitude medicinal and aromatic plants to use them for defense purposes and also on greenhouse technology for cultivation at high altitude and cold desert conditions. Similarly, poly-houses or greenhouses could also serve the purpose of growing vegetables even during light snows. Most Gurezis dry the summer vegetables, threading them as garlands and hanging them from windows and balconies, to use and consume during the winter months.

Q7. You mean people of Gurez will be able to enjoy eating and growing colorful red, yellow, capsicums, and purple cabbage!!

Yes, growing and enjoying them, as well as supplying them to the army and exporting them to the mainland. Vegetables such as baby corn, baby cabbage, zucchini, purple cabbage, kales, snow peas, leeks, parsley celery, broccoli, dragon beans, ice cabbages, bok choy, cherry tomatoes, lettuce have a huge market in the country itself. The Gurez area is known for organic farming, it could easily beat the competition with ‘Pure, Organic, Mountain grown’ taglines. The local population may not have a taste for them initially but developing tourism would be great. Also, fresh produce could be supplied to the army which has to make do with a lot of canned food.

 Likewise, organically grown exotic fresh herbs, oregano, dill, sage, and rosemary could prove a game-changer for packaged dry herbs, alternately, dry herbs could also be manifested during the winter months.

Another cash crop in great demand is lavender farming.

An exotic fruit orchard is not a viable proposition as the landholdings are small and fruits take a lot of care and grooming to produce years later after being planted. However, varieties that are natives like cherry, walnuts also apricots have huge potential along with apples, peaches, and pears.

Q8. Is there more Gurezi plant life that can make the region prosperous?

ANS 8: Summer crops –Buckwheat, Potato, Maize, Amaranth, Pumpkins, peas, apples, kidney beans. The area is rich in Hazelnut in the wilderness, pecan nuts can also be grown here, and forest nut named Shahthor in Shina, Virin in Kashmiri has good potential for cultivation in the area. Besides hazelnut, Kanship fruit- Sorbus lanata, fondly eaten by locals needs to be put under cultivation trials by the Horticulture department. Walnuts are another crop that has rich potential in the area but their germ plasma needs genetic improvement.

Q9. Himachal Pradesh is on the road to growing asafoetida or hing which ideally comes from freezing regions of Afghanistan.  

ANS 9: Wild hing/asafoetida is already prevalent here in Gurez; hence the possibility of hing cultivation is superb.

Q 10: Is there any proposal to trigger widespread cultivation of the Morchella mushroom of Gurez considered a real delicacy?

ANS 10: The uniqueness of Morchella or Guchchii mushroom referred as ‘shanteel’ in Gurez has huge market demand. Not only was this mushroom much sought after but the mystery surrounding their growth and places where they are found are kept a closely guarded secret. Hence not only its consumption, but the entire ‘Morchella  Mushroom Story’, complete with its hiding spots and why was it kept a secret, could turn out to be a unique selling point or the ‘stand out’ attraction for tourists to Gurez.   

Q 11: Himachal is also looking at saffron, kiwi, dragon fruit, persimmon, cultivation? Is it possible to do its cultivation here? Prospects of food processing, juices, cut pieces, malt, sauces, jams, skewed fruit?

ANS 11: Yes saffron and all these are possible but the area for cultivation is smaller and should be thoughtfully allocated for crops, and other flora cultures, remember fruit trees are permanent and need more care. Consequently, Medicinal plants, floriculture, exotic vegetables & herbs in my view would be best other than local fruits on the peripheries of fields. These could be possible only with army support.

Q.12. What about oil extraction from fruit seeds? Incense oils, body, face &massage oils?

Yes, it is possible provided the raw material is produced here. Otherwise, a more central area for setting up such a plant would be more feasible with production from all surrounding areas to keep the machines running.

Q.13. Is Fisheries; as trout is abundant here, possible?

Ans 13: Abundantly

Q. 14: Bee keeping and honey production?

Ans 14: Absolutely

Q 15: Is Pearl cultivation possible I have seen in New Zealand?

ANS. 15: Haven’t much knowledge about this but looking at weather conditions in comparison with New Zealand and the similarity in regions,  it may be possible and if it is, it would prove to be a huge tourist attraction, I should say.  

During this one-to-one talk, the sole motive of our conversation was to raise the need to retain the hardy village folks within the border region to save its beauty, its innocence, and cultural heritage and practices from going extinct. For this, the government needs to look within, at the rich resources that this region is naturally endowed with; the clean air, purest waters, and temperatures that are conducive to many vegetables, fruits, flowers, and flora products like grass, straw, moss as well as out of the box thinking and bringing in success stories from other regions. No industrial backup is required and the area can be suffused with unique occupations and jobs thereon. The government and army together could introduce new agricultural, floricultural medi-cultural practices so that the region becomes self-sustainable and monetarily rich. Should other cash-rich practices like silkworm cultivation be started? It would be for the experts to take a call

Pics of Gurez by Author

Rashmi Talwar, can be contacted at: rashmitalwarno1@gmail.com

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GUREZ SERIES Part-12 Power Woes -II/ By Rashmi Talwar /Kashmir Images

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GUREZ SERIES Part-12

Gurrez’s Power Woes -II

By Rashmi Talwar

Connect Gurez with the Solar farm of Ladakh

There is a significant pitch, to connect Gurez with the massive Ladakh Solar Project commenced in 2018 that is claimed, to redirect the entire region towards cleaner energy besides also turning it into an energy-exporting zone for parts of the country.

The ambitious project of 7.5 GW Solar Park was initiated despite the cold, as the Ladakh region favors good prospects due to high irradiation and low pollution in the eco-sensitive region. The giant project is proceeding gradually per se due to a few hurdles. This makes substantial sense. How? The Drass region in Ladakh is only 59 Kms from Chakwali- which is the last civilian-allowed point in the border area falling in Gurez. Drass- is the massive battlefield of the Indo-Pak war of Kargil in 1999, from the Mashkoh valley side.

Another source of electric power could be by utilizing wind energy and installation of windmills. In Amsterdam, the scene of Tulips in the backdrop of windmills is stunningly beautiful, hence aesthetics work very well in the wind power generators that merge and enhance the beauty of Gurez.

The need to ask these questions and highlight responses were sorely felt, considering, Gurez is being vigorously pitched as a remarkable tourist destination. The government needs to do more about power needs if a tourist footprint is required to support it in the economic upliftment of the lesser-trudged area. In this context, it becomes imperative to relate an incident that will remain stamped in my memory for life that one night in Gurez. A slight slip or break in spirit could have turned it in any direction – here is how …

A Night in pitch dark

As a solo traveller, one of my four nights in the JKTDC (Jammu Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation) owned Tourist complex was a nightmare chilly (at -6 degrees centigrade) and extremely harsh. Not a soul had stayed in the Tourist complex in any adjoining rooms for three nights in a row. It was strange that I was given to understand that the Tourist complex was fully booked. The power that night was in a tearing hurry and left merely 10 minutes after my arrival and vanished into the chilly wind for the rest of the night. Past 7 pm in pitch dark, I used an almost depleted dim battery-operated mobile light to look around for essentials. I waited as I was expecting power to be restored. It was only 7 PM and power is given till midnight. No one to call out to, the night turned into a real-time dread.

Facing this unexpected scenario, I drew upon lessons in survival that I learned in the sports fields and my girl-guide training, in school days of the 60s-70s.

 I decided to face the challenge head-on. As a first, to beat the bitter cold and dark, all that I could manage was to creep inside a quilt, fully clothed, wearing a snow jacket, snow trousers, snow boots with a double pair of socks, extra leg warmers, balaclava, and a snow cap et al. With a tepid hot water bottle for company, provided by the lone vanishing caretaker of the complex, the night turned long, dark, fearful and dreary. I hardly slept a blink in the below-freezing temperature, with conked out mobile, depleted battery banks, completely cut off. Two nights before, snowstorms had swept the Razdan Top- the high mountain pass leading to the valley of Gurez. I had no experience of dealing with snow or the chill of minus degrees. Even the washroom, which had to be frequently visited and used due to the chilly conditions, proved hostile and provided hardly any water. It was an irony that I was in a place close to the river and there was no water in the taps! A place on which a hydroelectric plant generated hydroelectricity and no electricity reached the hydro-mother of the Kishanganga River. I shivered the entire night not only of cold but also out of helplessness. At the break of dawn I called out from the main door for help, but no soul had risked out then. I could feel icicles cracking on the door of the complex. 

Calling upon all angels and good fairies for help, I then put my meditative and yoga skills to practice the ‘kapaal bhatii’ breathing technique to generate heat and keep it going in my blood vessels, throughout the night.  It made me thank the Almighty for all His blessings, that we take for granted. Alternately, it made me think about the hardships faced by the Gurezis in this place. At 6 o’clock I again made my way to the front door and called out, I couldn’t see a soul in the fog; I went back into bed that literally felt wet.  Eventually at 8 o’clock my driver Tanveer knocked, and looked in, to my utter relief, as we were scheduled for Tulail tour that day. I felt all cramped from sleeplessness and the night of bitter cold and complete blackout. I almost appeared ill to him. Brushing aside the panic and dread of past hours, I urged Tanveer to charge my phone and battery bank in his car and decided to leave the night behind and enjoy my present time, as they say – “The here and now”. I learned from locals, that most people after a similar experience leave the complex promptly to book private accommodation. Perhaps if I had the car with me, I too would have done the same.       

 Be prepared

If you are tough and perchance, have thoughts of adventurer, to rough it out in the Tourism complex accommodation, beware there is no kitchen facility even to heat water, making something simple like tea or Maggie, is a King’s dream. The Government-owned tourist complex severely lacks basics, other facilities are a grand fantasy.

The toilets too suffer a similar fate. Limited power means no geysers are put to labour and no hot water is possible even for a wash. ‘I couldn’t take a bath for four days I was there”. This deficiency seems to be a great big advantage to privately-owned accommodations in Dawar, with the tourism department clearly handing out the benefit; virtually on a platter to give them a full occupancy status. This, despite, the fact that the Tourist complex is located in the most picturesque spot, sitting within a large beautiful garden complex with a grand view of Habba Khatoon Peak!

Accommodations in Gurez

At ‘Kaka Palace’ Hotel, Dawar, Gurez, Younis and Ajas the owners, were most helpful throughout. The hotel presents a sharp contrast to the Tourist Complex- serving delicious food, providing a chunk more than the limited power supply in all of Gurez, hot-water round-the-clock, cozy rooms, heaters, and hot-water bottles as well. Hotel ‘Wood vibes’ is another nice accommodation just close by. Besides this, there is Hotel Grand Gurez and Gurez Retreat.

Closing point: Check, the taxi for sturdiness, for a rough Himalayan drive, it shouldn’t be very old with fairly good condition of tyres. Also, the vehicle must have a functional charging socket. Carry a super speed, branded car charger with multiple slots, for your electronic equipment including mobiles, laptops, cameras, and battery banks, which can deal with power fluctuations in the car. I was suggested Targus. Pictures are a great treasure and for the world of it, it would be sinful and criminal, for anyone, to have a mobile camera with no charging! Believe me, with Gurez it could prove to be lifelong regret and a cause of mental trauma for the rest of your life. 

First windmill gifted by a Gujarati, operational in Gurez

A windmill has arrived in Gurez. It is a gift from a Gujarati Suresh Kapadia.  Suresh is the CEO of ‘Arkin Ventures’ a private engineering firm dealing in solar thermal technology in Nasik and is invited to present his projects in various countries at  Tech International forums.

Suresh while speaking to the author, explained -“I worked out the feasibility factor of Gurez in great detail and felt that more than Solar energy, the wind energy needs to be harnessed in such snow-bound areas. “Gurez is ideal, it has high-velocity winds of more than 8 knots, which is more than sufficient and can produce 24×7, 365 days of electricity for the entire belt.

Suresh totalled –“Razdan Pass is most ideal and possesses a formidable potential for a chain of windmills that would make entire Gurez, Tulail, and Bandipore glitter with lights at 1/6 the cost of hydropower. The requirement is about 12 to15 MVA, which will not only suffice but make it power surplus region. The windmill project can become operational in three months with a maximum implementation period of six months for weather exigencies. The project would cost about Rs 20 Crores, said Suresh. Suresh has not only floated the idea to the government but has taken concrete steps with a gift of the first windmill project worth Rs 6 lakhs to Gurez as a model device on his own, which has lit up a large portion of a forward army post. “The more the wind velocity, the merrier, and no uprooting of infrastructure are there, is the beauty of this project. In no time the Post where it is built would become energy autonomous”, he assured.

The best part is the input cost can be recovered in merely 13 months and will take care of lifelong electricity needs with minimal maintenance; just a battery change would be required every 8 years. “I have already sent a draft of installation, operations and output to the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir.  

If this is a proven possibility, why doesn’t the government look at it ….? I ask

Rashmi Talwar, can be contacted at: rashmitalwarno1@gmail.com

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RESPONSE

Iftikar Drabu Response: Apropos to Gurez Series Part 11 Unfair : Power Woes in Gurez, written by Rashmi Talwar…Published on 13th June 2022, in Newspaper Kashmir  Images :

Thank you for sharing the article. Incidentally I have been closely involved in Kishanganga HEP, a NHPC project since I was the project director from the designer’s (Halcrow of UK) from 2009 start till 2013. As far as I recall various alternatives were considered by NHPC to provide electricity to Gurez valley. One alternative considered was to have a transmission line from Bandipore to Gurez through the water tunnel. It was shelved because its maintenance would be a nightmare with the tunnel having to be drained every time you need to do a maintenance job. The other was to construct a small dam toe powerhouse in Kanzilwan Gurez itself from the environment release flow which would suffice the local demand. Seems this dam toe powerhouse has not been constructed (it was the same concept you mention of 3 units of 0.8 MW in your article). Will check why it was not constructed.

With regard to road connectivity, the government, or rather NHAI missed a golden chance to have a road tunnel constructed through the same machine and agency as the headrace tunnel / water conductor of the Kishangana Project. The tunnel boring machine, which has failed literally in all hydro projects in Himalayas, performed exceptionally well here. M/s Seli from Italy supplied the machine and excavated the tunnel. It achieved a record of 817 metres of tunneling (including concreting -segment laying) in a month. With 5.2 metres diameter a tunnel using the TBM could have been gainfully used to construct the main road tunnel and this could be used for construction, maintenance, escape, and ventilation.

Solar incidentally is very much possible. Efficiency /output will drop in winter when it is needed most but it will work. A pumped storage scheme using solar to pump up the water will work best. No pollution and much less environmental degradation. The pumped storages work as battery banks and are very functional.

~Iftikar Drabu

GUREZ SERIES – Part -11/ Unfair: Power Woes Gurez/ Kashmir Images

UNFAIR: POWER WOES OF GUREZ

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GUREZ SERIES – PART -11

UNFAIR:  Power woes in Gurez?                      

RASHMI TALWAR

Disha lay on the rock, face down, scooped up the water in her cupped hands, from Gurez’s legendary Habba Khatoon spring and slowly sipped it. “Gurez has a distinct and delightful ‘Taste Profile’”, she declared, enjoying the sweet flavour of dewy water emerging from the Habba Khatoon – the poet queen’s mountain peak.

Disha’s hubby, Varun Solanki, meantime hummed a romantic Punjabi number – “Chann Kithan Guzari ayi raat ve”, – O my Moon how did you spend the night? Attempting to rhyme the two- ‘Gurez and Guzari’(meaning, time-spent); to outline their dreamy stay. And whispered, I am attracted by the ‘hypnotic innocence’ of this incredible valley. “We are infected forever with the pure spirit of Gurez”, they spoke together.

Disha, a dynamic young Investment Advisor with ‘Unaprime’ and Varun a business owner, felt loath to go back to the polluted humdrum of Mumbai or its darkish ocean waters, after the rendezvous in the –‘enchanting Land of the Dards- Dardistan, of Ancient settlers’.

Virgin Gurez and power issues

Fascinating stories like the above turning into beautiful memories with charming untainted beauty of Gurez could get undermined most unfortunately by the ‘diesel-ed air’ that greets one at the very first habitation of Dawar Township.

As evening descends on the exquisite locale, and the moon quietly creeps out of the triangular peak named after medieval poetess Habba Khatoon, the whirring of diesel-fed Gen-sets and pollution thereon doesn’t leave in peace the fragile silence of the pure air of this joyous land. Fumes carry forth a daily act of invasion in this little township, of smoke emitting gen-sets all fired up from evening 19.00 hours till Cinderella’s hour of stroke of midnight 24.00 hours, amounting to nearly six or more hours of heavy pollution.

And one wonders “How the rich Cinderella-land of the fairy-tale flora survives, with the onslaught of heavy pollutants and how could the water-rich land be deprived of essential cleaner sources of electricity via hydro operations, while the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) generation plant producing 330 MW hydropower, on the Kishanganga River, sits in Gurez’s womb?” Many in Gurez including the armed force personnel express their deep dismay over the power scenario in Gurez as a ‘monumentally unfair’ distribution of electricity that needs to be rectified at the earliest.

In October 2021, High Tension poles were seen installed in a neat row along the road, in Dawar near the landmark Habba Khatoon peak, with snow cutting barriers on the upper hillside, admittedly to prevent huge blocks of snow from accumulating and rolling downhill and damaging poles. Sources in the power department said that a projected number of poles to be installed for power distribution is 2000, to the Gurez border sector, divided into two blocks of Dawar and Tulail.

Two substations or receiving stations are proposed of 6.3 MVA each in both Dawar and Tulail blocks. Dawar sub-station- distanced at about 66Kms from Bandipore- the source of the power distribution, and Tulail at 42 Kms further on. However, proposals cannot become the power for the area, until implemented and produce results to elevate the lives of the country folk and mitigate the pollution level of the pure vale.

 Snow Avalanches prove spoilsport

Power woes of Gurez seem less from a reason of lethargy or incompetence, and more due to nature’s refusal to be tamed by man. Power authorities and ground teams of the project are miffed by snow avalanches in the recent past that led to stalling of the installation of power distribution poles in Dawar. A round of meets with spot-surveys, thrashed out these issues. There were proposals for cables in-between the avalanche-prone areas as well as underground laying of lines, in some parts.

A proposal at the secretary-level talks held in August 2021 was to reinforce poles by putting two or three poles where a single one was proposed. “Yes, that too was admitted”,  a high-level officer in the power department admits. Along with two substations each of132/33 Kv levels each of 20 MVA with 25 to 30-meter high Transmission Towers. The top-notch Engineers met on this, where an eminent technical team of electrical, electronics, and communication engineers presented solutions and proposals to the hurdles was finally vetted by Central Electricity Authority. However, it still awaits sanction by the Union Ministry of Power. “Thus the timeline for fully functional hydropower supply to Gurez is still in abeyance, subject to the nod and assent of the union ministry”- a senior source connected with the project confided.             Two power substations in the Gurez sector would mean the power needs of the next 10-15 years could be met and fulfilled. This would offer a powerhouse push to the expansion of the tourism silhouette of the quaint beauty of this border area with Pakistan.

 –BOX-1-

Presentation of paper by locals of Gurez’s power scenario at meetings

A letter outlining the scenario of Gurez, reads- “There is no central electric supply in Gurez, although, a hydro-electric plant is under construction since 2009 by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC).  There are high capacity diesel generators placed in each locality in villages to supply timed & restricted power supply to each household at subsidized rates. The fuel storage, management & maintenance of generators in winters remain an issue.  There is a plan to tap the existing structure of the dam in Khapuri by adding three turbine units of 0.8 MW capacities each, to generate 2.4 MW power to be supplied to Gurez sub div.  However, the award of tender for this job is still under the program, therefore, no timeline can be assessed.  A High Tension (HT) power line coming from Bandipore is not functional due to wx & trn issues. Because of lack of proper & adequate supply of electricity, there is no significant industrial activity in the valley.”  The letter outlines a number of issues about the state of power in Gurez presently.

 -BOX -1 Ends –

Manipulation of resources

The Kishanganga hydroelectric project is under NHPC started in 2009’ with a sanctioned cost of the project at Rs 3642.04 Crores, later revised to Rs 5783.17 Crore, and became operational in 2018.

Life in the Gurez region with minus temperatures for the most part of the year is entirely dependent on diesel-run gensets. A place steeped in innocence and purity, being thus contaminated with pollution, amounts to an act of defilement. Especially so, when we cannot ignore climate crises, due to our growing carbon footprints, more so in fragile alpine zones that need to be reduced now more than ever before.

This also leads to other grave issues. Some of these are for instance – (1) Genuine diesel shortages are played upon, as a political rallying point. (2) Diesel pilferages become a source of corruption. (3) Accidental spillage or leakage of combustible liquid, could badly damage the ecology of the unspoiled land. Thus, it is imperative to look at alternate and cleaner sources of energy for the land that too for sustainable living, plus its prosperity. 

Kishanganga emotive voting issue

No MLAs of Gurez including Nazir Gurezi, former Deputy Speaker and sitting MLA heading the NC party in this area, and Fakir Khan, former MLA from Tulail- the choice of  BJP to stand for MLA this time, can afford to avoid the issue of Electric Power to Gurez. They dare not. Naturally, the power supply to Gurez issue takes the top spot as the most emotive issue in poll manifestoes. Both political parties do not spare even the NHPC (National Hydro Power Corporation) and freely bash up Hydro Power Corp for procuring and using local resources for generating power and not providing electricity to the region.

However, NHPC sources say they pay over Rs 600 Crore to J&K State as water cess annually and J&K is the only State where NHPC pays water charges and then supplies 12% free power to the State, sources add. However, the issue hangs till the Central Government’s nod and awaits power supply in Gurez people here pray for early work on the ground. With distribution lines fully commissioned, and suitable logistics in place for prompt repairs and maintenance, thereon, the region will pick up exponentially as a hub for many activities. 

I only hope and pray the activities are least corrosive to ecological damage and lucrative for the prosperity of the people of Gurez.

Michael Nenanav, a writer who visited Gurez in 2008 and then in 2018 after the construction of the dam that led to displacement wrote “The displacements during the making of Kishanganga dam had led to flooding villages”, he remembers “Badwan is now wiped out, as river water consumed it”, he writes in an article -“In the journey to Kashmir’s Gurez valley” published in New York Times. And, further recorded,-“Displacement leads to de-peasantization, displacement, causes collateral damage of loss of culture, language, identity, and dispossession of land, besides a total wipeout of history of an area and its people”.

Nasir Gurezi, who rose from humble roots to become MLA and deputy speaker, tells me, ‘Gurez rues that during the conception and construction of the dam, they could not demand an all-weather tunnel, that Kargil has, and dedicated power supply to Gurez “It was a case of regret and a ‘monumental’ missed opportunity”. The electricity woes are also majorly on the manifesto and agenda of Fakir Khan of BJP, a former MLA, who met me at Kaka Palace Hotel.  

Is solar energy possible in Gurez?

In this scenario would solar energy benefit? “To an extent, yes,” articulates CEO Khalid Mehmood of Science &Technology Department, Kashmir. Solar Street lighting and home lighting systems were provided to the people of Gurez over time. He also adds “A hydropower project has been planned of 25 MW on a tributary of Kishanganga. Leh and Kargil are connected with the main grid; similarly, other areas- Kupwara and Gurez are also proposed to be connected to the grid.

On a query about whether solar cookware would be beneficial as an energy saver for the Gurezis – he responds “We have also provided box-type solar cookers to people in Gurez.”

 Rashmi Talwar, can be contacted at: rashmitalwarno1@gmail.com

Pics of Gurez by Author

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GUREZ SERIES Part-10 Rural Tourism Bounties in Gurez/ By Rashmi Talwar/ Kashmir Images

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GUREZ SERIES Part-10

Rural Tourism Bounties in Gurez

By Rashmi Talwar

-Aviary-Tourism:

Gurez is an aviary-rich area, with a wealth of exotic and rare birds. For bird lovers and pages of National Geographic, it is truly a treasure house. Bird watching alongside wildlife watching, village walks, village stays, forest showers, and exploring avian habitats and habits, could make an interesting circuit. 

 – Photographic and Painting Tourism: As many as 90-select artists from world-over, under the umbrella of ‘Kalaarambh’ residential workshop’, mentored artists, in Srinagar and continued to Sonmarg and Pahalgam creating ‘En plein air’ – the French words for ‘live outdoor painting’. Gurez can easily become a prime destination and host for ‘En Plein air’ Photography and Painting. It can also become an annual limited Terminus for book festivals like in Kasauli, Music Fests and Dance and Drama fests.

– Celebrity Tourism: Celebrities add to the intrigue of a place. Remember the super hit film –Betaab, starring the debut pair of Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh. The location of the shooting is named ‘Betaab valley’ after the film, and is the biggest attraction in Pahalgam- ‘the village of Shepherds’. Similarly, Ashmuqam- the Sufi shrine on the way to Pahalgam became a tourist attraction by a Qawwali filmed in Bajrangi Bhaijaan, another super hit film. Film Haider made famous the ruins of the Martand Sun temple of Mattan. The Bollywood film industry possesses the largest cache of celebrities. Our entertainment industry is our biggest asset and Bollywood holds the ropes to promote a destination. Gurez needs just one biggie of Bollywood to shoot in these lovely vales.

Gender tourism is catching with a ‘Hen trip’ or the All-girl-trip, alternately a ‘Stag-trip’ read as ‘All-boys-trip’ becoming hip. Gurez is geared for both photo-op locales and sites, besides adventure and real-time roughing it in.  

Nuptial or wedding tourism- Gurez is perfect for a pre-wedding shoot or an exotic adventure-type wedding with guests putting up in tents and celebrations along the river. A jetty on the wide riverside could add to the celebrations.

Gurez is also suitable for some other niche segments of Tourism like-   

ü Astro-Tourism, related to stargazing, chasing meteor showers, eclipses, or simply soaking in the sights of an illuminated night sky, is boosted by  Science Travel companies.

ü High altitude living Tourism- Relates to the experience of living at a high altitude with local hosts.

ü Wellness Tourism- Organic vegetables, purest, air, water, and everything else, who couldn’t get well in Gurez. 

Adventure Gurez  

ü Angling or Fishing is charming in Gurez, and Gurez boasts of the best Trout including Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout.  Gurez could position itself as a hotspot, to become a part of the bigger Angling Tourism circuit, which could be enhanced with rural stays and rural fish cooking.

ü Camping: Hamlets Badoab and Badi Daas in Wanpura are popular camping sites, along the Kishanganga’s floodplain. Sheikhpora’s camping is also picking up.

ü Paragliding: Three test flights were conducted in Gurez and Razdan top during the visit of the Divisional Commissioner and the potential to develop Gurez as a paragliding node was showcased to the Civil Administration. Some adventure companies Such as ‘PG Gurukul’ in Bir billing have taken up a case for the development of Razdan Top as a paragliding node. However, it is learned that the response from the Civil Administration was slack.  

ü Rafting: The naughty rapids of the Kishanganga River, present a huge natural advantage for Gurez as a Rafting node. Earlier initiatives in rafting in Gurez could not be sustained due to the lack of a nodal agency such as TDA or Tourism Development Authority.

Winter tourism:

With approximately 20-25 feet of snow, the slopes of Gurez could turn delightful with skiing, sledding, Snowboarding, tyre-sledging, ski jumps, Ice fishing, and what they call Kashmiri -Sheen Aab Jung’-Snow-fighting. Gurez’s flatland is favorable for snow cricket, Ice skating, synchronized skating, Ice Hockey, and snow volleyball. Adding vigor to Tourism could mean snowmobiling, and snow scooters. The milder ones, easy on senses could lead to age-old snowman making, snow-village figure making, ice sculpting, competitions, and igloo-making.

ü Snow Adventure:  The Army has been taking initiatives to train locals in skiing and to develop Gurez as a winter sports destination for tourists and skilled youth to become tourist trainers as an employment-generating activity.

ü Rock climbing: The abundance of limestone rock faces and steep cliffs in Gurez makes it a climber’s heaven. This sport is unexplored and the introduction of this sport will ensure a surge in foreign as well as regional adventure enthusiasts. 

ü Trekking: Treks from Gurez and Tuleil leading to Gangabal and Sonmarg to the East and Drass, Dahanu, Zanskar to the North. To my mind, Gurez could also follow in the lines of the famed ‘Chaddar trek’ following the route of the frozen Kishanganga River with snow trekking and snow-climbing frozen waterfalls too. Gurez accounts for numerous unexplored treks like Patalwan, Harmukh, Vishansar, Gadsar, and Vigi Gali, for the lifetime experience of the pristine beauty of Gurez valley.  Indian Army in collaboration with Boots and Crampons (An international trekking company) organized a Jashn-e-Azadi Trek to Patalwan Lakes in August last year, revealed Commandant Col Abhinav Goel, and added –“these treks have exclusivity”. 

ü Water adventure: White river rafting, parasailing, canoeing, kayaking, and water skiing are already on the cards. Others like water-ball, (in upper lakes), speed boat tours in silent waters surrounded by lofty cliffs, and many innovations could be explored. 

Other than that: Backpacking, hiking, mountaineering, mountain biking, and of course horse riding, rock climbing, zorbing, and haystack rides could have potential.

Short takes on an unusual adventure  

o   Flying fox adventure

o   Caving

o   Zipline adventure  

o   Hot air ballooning  

Gurez’s Drawbacks and Development needs to boost Tourism

I feel developing Gurez as a tourist destination is insurance against unemployment, abandonment, and mass migration. In fact, many rural spaces are facing the flight of youth from villages. With a tourism boost, locals especially youth would be propelled to create self-employment opportunities and quash plans of abandoning Gurez, and stop labeling it backward. This is also vital to keep the border area alive with human habitation.  

· Roads to Gurez: Are in a dismal condition, especially the descent from Razdan pass to Dawar. Thereon, roads are worse from Dawar to Tulail which are the most picturesque locales of the valley. The Centre is also keen to open the road from Chakwali to Kaobal Gali that would connect the Drass sector with Gurez, thus helping in the mobility of people using the all-weather Zojilla tunnel to remain connected to the world despite heavy snows and closure of high altitude passes. Roads are the first ideation to formulate tourist interest. Improving road infrastructure is the key to an exponential rise in tourist footfall in Gurez. 

· Power 24×7: Of utmost importance is the 24×7 Power supply to Gurez. 

· Locals also demand the establishment of a Tourism Development Authority (TDA) to supervise and ensure the completion of projects in right earnest.   

· Upgradation of medical setup: in Gurez is a top priority, which includes setting up a dedicated hospital with a blood bank, surgeons, gynecologists, dentists, and other specialists.

· Tourism Police: may sound inane now, but while trying to boost tourism it is important to have a managing and redressal authority for benefit of all stakeholders. 

· Waste Disposal: If we are looking at setting up Tourism in a significant way, a proper waste disposal system in consonance with a sensitive zone with growing needs for waste management, should be a priority before heaps of garbage becomes unmanageable or areas turn into garbage dumps. For this garbage, gobbling bacteria could be used. The country folk must be oriented towards proper ways of waste disposal and make it an issue equivalent to ‘worship’ to keep their ‘Jannat’ waste-free. At present, the installation of dustbins at strategic locations with locals as guides and eyes and ears for tourists to not litter anywhere could go a long way.

· Soft Loans: Expecting more tourists, needs a sound and environmentally friendly development plan in terms of accommodation infrastructure preferably homestays and campsites. Soft loans, to the villagers to add living quarters, to existing structures, in a planned fashion are required.  House-holders must be First aid trained /and possess simple English language skills. Tutoring and monitoring locals on hospitality, sanitation, and homestay provisions could be the task of civic authorities.

 · Signage and Maps: Installation of signage, direction, and milestones besides village and township maps could be very useful in identifying places in a jiffy as the internet’s Google map could be erratic and power-consuming.

· Dedicated Heli: A Dedicated Chopper service for winter’s sorties would lift winter tourism in a big way.

· Modular Bio-Toilets: Temporary modular or pre-fabricated collapsible bio-toilets & shower cubicles with Timer-fittings could greatly help tourists, especially those staying in the wild.

· Create Stories Regular Recce on all tours and treks imaginatively exploring focal points out of mountain shapes, adds to the beautiful stories of the place.  For instance –“A rock formation creates the impression of an elephant now a tourist attraction as the “ Elephant Rock” of Iceland.

· Employability Promotion and establishment of small-scale agro, handicraft, or any non-polluting industries could prove a shot in the arm to local incomes. Besides which civic authorities could set up self-help groups that could air problems and mutually support each other. 

· Facilities: There is only one ATM available and travellers avoid carrying too much cash during travel. Establishing more ATMs, bank branches, and petrol pumps need to be a priority. Allowing only small batches of tourists to ensure quality services, assistance, and long-term benefits of good publicity.

· Security employment:  Employing village youth for security needs.

· Mementos Shop: Rural gift shops could be a big hit with tourists who love to take a piece of the place for posterity. Gift items or some related to ‘particular’ niche tours could boost up huge job potential and income resources. Example ‘Fishing Tour’ could have trout fish look-alike key-rings, trout-shaped penholders, or trout fish-shaped earrings, car hangings, wildflowers or mini-fish glass paperweights, T-shirts, caps, etc. Architectural or Heritage Tourism may have miniature Gurezi houses as gift items, or textile bags or caps or T-shirts displaying the route of the Architectural circuit. Winter sports Tourism could sell miniature papier mache skis or sleds. While traditional wicker, wood carvings, and other handicrafts could also be promoted. 

Return Journey –

The return journey could be equally enriching with a break at the serene Mansabal Lake. A tiny ancient Shiv Temple in Kashmiri architecture just outside the entrance of the lake sits waiting for devotees and tourists. The temple is barricaded and heavily guarded with grilled exteriors alongside guards to protect it as it innocently sits in a trout swimming water bath, as temples in Kashmir typically do. Another divine destination is ‘Kheer Bhawani’ the most revered Kashmiri Pandit Temple shrine about 25-Kms from Srinagar; where, the shade of the water, in June’s famed mela, is an indicator of ‘times to come’, in Kashmir. It is said that in times of militancy in 1990 the water in the holy pool turned dark and black indicating an ominous time ahead. In years that went peaceful the water was milky white or pale blue predicting times for good health of man and bounty in nature.   

Last Word –

Walter Lawrence’s ‘The Valley of Kashmir’ describes Gurez of late 1800s  

In late 1800s, Commissioner of Kashmir, Sir Walter Roper Lawrence wrote- “Perhaps Pahalgam, the village of the shepherds that stands at the head of the Liddar valley with its healthy forest of pines, and Gurez, which lies at a distance of thirty-five miles from Bandipora, the port of the Wular Lake, will before long rival in popularity the other margs. Gurez is a lovely valley five miles in length lying at an elevation of about 8000 feet above the sea. The Kishenganga river flows through it, and on either side are mountains. The climate is dry and mild, excellent English vegetables can be grown, and the wild raspberries and currants are delicious. The valley is extremely picturesque, as the river comes dashing along through a rich meadow, partly covered with lindens, walnut, and willow trees, while the mountains on either side present nothing but a succession of most abrupt precipices, and Alpine lodges, covered with fir trees.”

 The valley remains open to tourists from May to October. The best time to visit Gurez is from late June to mid-August.  Other months too, are spectacular scenically but limited food, movement and facilities may be hampered. However, a heli-day trip is ideal.

Rashmi Talwar, can be contacted at: rashmitalwarno1@gmail.com

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GUREZ SERIES Part-9/ Rural Tourism/ by Rashmi Talwar/Kashmir Images

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GUREZ SERIES- PART – 4

Rural Tourism bounties in Gurez

Rashmi Talwar

There is a pleasure

In the pathless woods

There is a rapture on the lonely shore,

There is society where none intrudes,

By the deep Sea, and music in its

roar:  I love not Man the

less, but Nature more…

~ Lord Byron  

 As the litlu, litlu mules wheedled away carrying loads of maize bags, tingling with bells, I watch Gurez, tenderly walking the rope of a nascent Tourism. If not for tourism, the untouched valley with the influx of internet via mobile phones may soon be abandoned as its youth takes a flight to brighter prospects of career opportunities and villages may age with only the old staying back to fend and tend the fields, and the picturesque homesteads of the lovely vale may look forlorn and lonely. Rural tourism has larger-than-life potential in Gurez.

 If one were to count- Gurez’s rural flavour is matchless. Its spring and autumn add to the unspoiled caresses of its emerald grasses and flower-laden undulating slopes. Within its bountiful and variant topography lies an exquisite scenic beauty and delicate scents. Add to this is a priceless brush with precious history that enhances its mystery.

Unique Ancient Community

Noted Greek historian and geographer Herodotus mentioned the unique Dard Shin Tribe that inhabits Gurez. Ancient Greek and Roman writers record the native Dard’s chronicles when the unique community was at the zenith of their power and influence, which extended from northern Afghanistan to central Tibet.

 The robust and strong Dard Shin tribe once had their homeland spread across valleys, tucked inside the greater Himalayas at the edge of North Kashmir from Chitral and Yasin, Drass, Kargil, across the Indus regions of Gilgit, Chilas, and Bunji to Gurez valley. Studying Kalhana’s Rajtarangni (river of kings) – Kashmir’s 12th-century chronicle – British historian Sir Aurel Stein remarked -“The seat of Dards has not changed since the time of Herodotus”. 

Partition slices Historic togetherness

 Indo-Pak Partition sliced the Dard Shin homeland and followed it by a hostile Line of Control between warring neighbours. The Dard tribe squeezed into the remote Gurez valley in North Kashmir. This ‘otherisation’ due to Partition and the physical isolation, also protected and preserved the environment and cultural treasures of Gurez- which lay on the ancient Silk route connecting Kashmir and Kashgar (now Xingjian province of China). However being isolated, Dards struggled to save their distinct Shina language, culture, traditions, and diverse identity. Gurez’s ethnic Dards live very close to Burzil Pass, which leads into the Astore district of Gilgit-Baltistan now in Pakistan. In addition to Kashmiri and Urdu, Dards speak Shina. Their kinsfolk in Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan dress and live the same way as Gurezis.

Tourism momentum

If, in the times of lowest ever communication, the valley couldn’t remain hidden, as Walter R Lawrence wrote in “The valley of Kashmir” about Gurez in the 1890s, what holds back this beauty, from its rightful place in the limelight, in times of nano hi-fi communication. Its people deserve every bit of slice of the tourism stake, which Jammu & Kashmir or other tourism-rich corners in the world enjoy.

 Visionaries coin multiple niche Tourism projects – for which study of successful tracks carved by other countries having similarities in weather and scenic strengths could be indigenously adapted, for self-sustaining and roaring rural tourism. Allowing, a rare glimpse into pastoral life while supporting, retaining, and sustaining the youth, as well as the virgin and pristine beauty of Gurez.

 A former Director of Tourism, Talat Parvez, had claimed that rural is the newest and budding attraction especially for mountainous regions- “Towards this end, 50 villages were identified as rural tourism villages by the Union Government in the year 2013 when he was Director.  Three rural circuits were identified and sanctioned by the Centre in Dr. Manmohan Singh’s tenure of the Congress Government, in which development included Gurez and Bangus Valley. Few others included the Khag area of Beerwah, Budgam.

Interestingly, to safeguard rural areas emerging as targets for animal attacks, the government has undertaken an unusual drive of applying the most dreaded hot-chili concoction called the ‘ghost pepper’ or ‘bhoot jholokia’ – the oil of which is smeared on fences to ward off wild animals, thus reducing the man-animal conflict and injury which can be a big deterrent for rural tourism projects. A security man commented, ‘Wish this oil could be applied to concertina wires to negate cross border militant infiltration too’.

 Incidentally, some rural tourism projects were given a green signal even during the years of militancy under the Government of India project for Rural Tourism promotion. Despite the lumbering situation at the time in Kashmir, turning worse in 2010 with stone-pelters, these projects in J&K displayed remarkable success despite turmoil raging in parts of Kashmir.

 Tourism spells Jobs and economic upliftment for villagers 

• Rural Tourism promises plentiful jobs for rural youth as builders, painters, masons, artisans, carpenters, guides, cooks, porters, hosts, providers, trainers, horse owners, gillies (angling experts), adventure-sports assistants, photographers, artists, and others. Simple villagers, who cannot afford many opportunities for their progeny, would be thrilled with a profitable stake in community or cooperative ventures of any particular rural tourism circuit. They would readily pool in for a build-up as well as infrastructural needs of the project, with government help. 

• Soft Loans Instead of building new structures incongruous with surroundings, existing rural homes can be given additional incentives and soft loans to add rooms or dorms to accommodate tourists. Rural home-stays can boost the income of families, with adds-on of all meals, including packed lunches. A cluster homestay could arrange joint local live music nights, bonfires, and barbecues, as a unique package.

• Cultural Evenings: Cultural evenings could translate into a business opportunity for locals and even for the likes of nomads, gujjars, bakarwals, etc. to present the rarity of their respective cultural performing arts as a means of earning . Resorts and hotels are already using local tribal artists and singers in top-notch tourist destinations all over Rajasthan. The trend has even started in sister Hill stations of Himachal Pradesh.

 Possibilities of “Niche Tourism” in Gurez 

Gurez is naturally poised and gifted to position itself for a variety of niche tourism. “Rural tourism has an exponential possibility of generating alternative sources of income in the non-agricultural sector for its people” feels Mahmud A Shah, former Director Tourism, who treks remote country-sides, has counted more than a hundred Himalayan alpine lakes through extensive trekking, promoted adventure tourism with first-hand experience in the entire rural belt; now as Director Industries and Commerce in addition to Director Handloom and handicrafts, J&K vigorously promotes the rural, -especially the handicraft produce, through various social networking handles, aiming to start their stories in the public domain.

 The situation could turn out ideal as a natural and sustainable way for rural and urban economic exchange.• With outsiders being fascinated with the story of a Gurezi home, its design, and practicality, Gurezis would not only retain and repair but also maintain their distinct architecture and exciting indigenous innovations.

 Community or tribe’s fascinating rituals, traditions, and culture could be showcased as events and also during special festivals.  Tourism could invigorate the pride of villagers in their holdings and deter the flight of local youth to cities and other regions in varied ways, for instance- It could support the revival of lost and prevalent handicrafts; by setting up gift shops in the base camps of the niche tourist circuit.

Niche tourism is the need of the hour, to project one focus and graduate and spread onto other segments. Also, niche Tourism could fill up a set of days for a particular kind of Tourism spreading out the platter to varied tastes and textures. Some of the popular ‘Niche Tourism’ circuits world-over, could easily be innovated, molded, and translated into a local flavour given Gurez’s gifted multi-potential.

Spiritual Tourism:

 Pilgrimage destinations like shrines, temples, Dargahs, mosques, and monasteries from ancient times are often located in rural areas, to boost pilgrim tourism. Gurez’s Spiritual Tourism could mean offering prayers at Peer Baba ki Dargah about 44kms from Dawar. The spiritual circuit could include Sufi shrines; almost a walk away from Dawar Township. One is the Baba Dervish shrine, sitting within a grove of Walnut trees in Fakirpora.  Just about 200 mts away lays the shrine of his brother Baba Razaq in Gochari, haloed by Pine Trees.

Archi-Tourism:

Gurez boasts of charming ancient log huts with unique architecture to hold up for decades under heavy snows, hail, water, and rainfall. How are they built to insulate from near killing chill? How do interlocking logs work for it? How is the architecture built to protect inner infrastructure? Did it have dry toilets? Does it have cellars?  How does the architecture come to the aid in safeguarding livestock? Gurezi homes are a unique sample of brilliant architecture with good fundamentals An entire two-day circuit could be created around the story of log huts.    “Architects and Conservators Conference or Meet” would be fascinated with ‘native ways’ of doing peculiar activities. The interlocking logs are a hallmark of Gurezi traditional homes.     Architects in turn could lay a blueprint of eco-friendly mini constructions to enhance the tourist experience of the stunning vale with river jetties, placement of sittings at vantage points, all indigenously created in hallmark Gurezi style.    

 Agri- Tourism:

Gurez would be more than happy to offer farm stays and show their farm practices. Many ancient agricultural practices involved human fecal matter decomposing along with livestock matter making a fabulous manure mix. This practice,  recycled human and animal waste to enrich the soil to produce nutritious, appetizing farm produce.  I saw this widely prevalent in Aryan villages of Kargil like Garkone; which could be of much interest to agricultural studies.  How temperature changes, snows, rains, hail, and frost changing seasons, affect crops, and methods adopted to procure bumper and pure organic crops should be interesting. 

Unique-stay Tourism  

a)    Igloo Tourism Entire Gurez in a large cluster could be turned into igloo stays by dressing up homes as igloos and having smaller igloos in open spaces near homes as recreational and Photo Op places, during winters. Since main township Dawar already has a fabulous Log Wood Café, shaping it in snow, wouldn’t be difficult and lo and behold – Gurez can have its own igloo café. Add to it can be ice carving sessions, workshops, and competitions.

b)  Hobbit Hut Stay- A unique stay reminds me of the habitation of gujjars in Yousmarg’s log and mud huts with grass, crops, vegetables, and flowers growing on their roofs. I witnessed similar countryside homes in Germany. Some of them are so structurally imbued in natural groves so as to use the slope to carve a home in a way that a dwelling hardly causes any disruption in the slope’s angle. In Europe, these are called ‘Hobbit Homes’, ensconced in greens. Unique homestay could brighten and enlighten tourists about unique pastoral dwellings besides afford a rare experience.

·c) Tree tops – It is a tree-house or ‘machchan’ living that could be replicated in Gurez. In Cairns, Australia, a Skyrail cruise above forest canopy and waterfalls is breathtaking  

Rashmi Talwar, can be contacted at: rashmitalwarno1@gmail.com

GUREZ SERIES Part-8 Tricorne Hat of LoCs/ by Rashmi Talwar / Kashmir Images

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GUREZ SERIES Part-8 Tricorne Hat of LoCs

by Rashmi Talwar

Gurezi people and the army’s inter-dependence

After-war, Road to Paradise: It took a war, to bring a road to Gurez! Before that Gurezis walked to and from Gurez to Bandipore via the Athwatu Nallah. Then the patch was roughly motor-able for a few tough jeeps on this axis. Ponies were the chief transporters of goods. Things changed with the visit of Indian PM Indira Gandhi post-Indo-Pak war of 1971 when Gurez was promised a road. The main axis, along the Kishanganga River, joining Kanzalwan came via Razdan pass at more than 11,000 feet, lifted Gurezi spirits; but snowbound and snow blizzard prone area of Razdan remains closed for half the year bringing with it hardships of being cut off from the mainland for most of the year.

Medical facilities: Hugely cut off in winters Gurez lacks basic medical infrastructure, doctors, and medicines. Army’s Op Sadbhavna, facilitates more than 100 medical camps, half of them multi-specialty, alongside foot patrols to remote villages, imparting medical services, and distributing medicine. Sometimes collaborating with NGOs like ‘Borderless World Foundation’ and ‘Being Heart Foundations’ for medical health of border countrymen, but locals feel that critical medical emergencies like childbirth complications, cannot be handled despite army facilities. Although air ambulance choppers are provided by the army, moving a patient in extreme conditions is likely to be paid with lives. The locals alternately are richly bestowed with ancient wisdom about the healing power of flora extracts, which helped an injured with fundamentals, till the army brought in help and equipment for a medical emergency.

Gurez’s own Doctors: Incidentally, Gurez has produced some doctors, it’s sad, that none opted for a rural internship in their villages for their own village folks. “I think it should be made mandatory for all rural children in medical fields to compulsorily complete their rural internship at home grounds. That way homesteads feel a part of the success story, it inspires and encourages more children to walk the tough road to the medical profession.  The intern could also become its village’s guide in medical studies, moreover, the village doctor is familiar with his environment to immediately think out of box solutions and ascertain a prevalent concern of the area and its probable causes”, felt Abdul Rehman, an ex-serviceman. Meantime army undertakes vital civil and civic duties, assisting in medical help at its headquarters besides arranging for air ambulance in cases of emergency.  

Sports and games: It’s to the credit of the armed force to develop a spirit of adventure and competition among Gurezi students, from the entire area; much like the reformer Tyndale Biscoe in Srinagar, a Christian missionary of 1890. Here competitive matches of cricket, volleyball, Kabaddi, badminton, chess, carom, and pony race, constructively engage the youth. This has succeeded in keeping the youth of the valley away from lethal pass-times of drug addiction and radicalization leading to violent acts, a senior army officer expressed. The youth here is full of life, enthusiasm, and energy besides adventure, cricket is truly their God. The army arranges matches with locals and this competitive spirit binds the locals with the forces.

Goodwill school: An Army goodwill school in Gurez provides quality education to locals at affordable prices. Established in 2007, 160 students presently study here from classes LKG to class X. The school has taken significant strides with state-of-the-art, computer labs, science labs, playground, and infrastructure. Admission is coveted as the school provides the best facilities and curriculum to prepare rural children for entrepreneurship, self-help, assisting others, adventure, First Aid, and many such skills. Education does not end here; the army undertakes outreach programs to educate ex-servicemen, nomads, Bakarwals, and marginalized populations and helps to mitigate their hardships. Similarly, children are taught martial arts including women. The students respond with great enthusiasm to learn new things and tips and tricks of everything. “Their enthusiasm is infectious”, an army guy smiles infectiously.

Skilling: Numerous initiatives to skill youth and people of Gurez to explore avenues of self-employment and training to become employable in relevant sectors are undertaken regularly.  Stitching, crewelling classes, a culinary workshop for hoteliers, vocational courses in computers, carpentry, electrical repairs, providing on-job training to youth along with trekking companies such as ‘Boots and Crampons’. The avenues of earning in the coming years would be substantial. Alternate professions like trek guides are emerging among Gurezi youth. Alternately the youth of Gurezi is strong, agile, and eager to learn which takes care of the first step of motivating the youth including women to participate in honing earning capabilities for their families.

Log Hut Café – Army built the log hut Café as a gift to the Gurezi people, whose youth is looking out towards the internet and feeling to spread their wings in the wide wide world. The café serves as a business model for the youth of the area. Alongside it has become a coveted platform for the display of performing arts and culture of Gurez with many local artists performing here. This interdependence and cooperative ventures are becoming a big hit in the border areas, where employment opportunities are created. Soon the café may have a gift shop selling items prepared or sourced from Gurez for an eager tourist who wants to take back a piece of the place as a memory.

Short Take

Ex-servicemen roam as watchful shepherds and serve as eyes and ears of defense forces. I met one, who knew Gurez like the back of his hand. He told me, that two Gurezi boys had eloped to Pakistan from here. The army spoke to the parents and understood that the parents were in the dark about any planning. ‘Now parents want the army to get back their boys!’ ‘How is it possible? These things have to be taken up at diplomatic level’. “Or if the army decides to do a ‘surgical strike’ to whisk back the boys whose whereabouts are unknown” and adds- “It is rarest of the rare incident here – No one can do anything if the boys wished to go or now didn’t wish to stay in Pakistan. They are missing, period”. It made me think about how youngsters in border regions can be lured to become turncoats for their own people and the country, the danger is tangible. 

Quick shots

· “With 20 feet of snow between us and the other villages, we don’t know anything about our neighboring villages,” Ahmad said. “We live and die within these snow-covered mountains with no link to the outside world,” said Riyaz, a porter from Kaspot village.

· Tulail is also connected with the main Kashmir valley through hiking trails that lead to Naranag over Satsar Pass and to Sonmarg through Gadsar lake

· Shoes are left outdoors scattered or neatly on a rack. Home’s kitchen hearth is the warmest place both in temperatures and in shared emotions. Entire families sit together every single night sharing meals, and details of their day. It is also a time for entertainment with jokes, mimicry, dances, and the exhibition of new skills. That is one reason, I noticed why families in Kashmir are so close-knit

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Employment and income generation opportunities in Gurez

·  Despite fair education standards & reservation/quotas in government jobs, unemployment is rampant. While army is their biggest employer, as year-round porters and others, it is Tourism that spurs entrepreneurship, adventure, and unique start-ups. Gurez Valley is bestowed with such blessings that a number of income-generating initiatives are more than possible.

·   Undoubtedly, adventure and outdoor activities would earn the bulk of the income in Gurez, Adventures possibilities along with Hiking, trekking, and camping are -mountain biking, rock climbing, rafting, paragliding, mountaineering, caving, skiing, abseiling, bungee jumping, canyoning, climbing, zipline, parachuting, Parasailing, snowboarding via ferrate split board, fly board, hot air ballooning, sledging, tyre-sledging , horse trekking, rafting.

·   A son-et-Lumiere – a French phrase meaning ‘light and sound show’, is wholly possible in Gurez! And the obvious choice is at the base of the Habba Khatoon peak. The storyline naturally is of the love story of poetess Queen Habba Khatoon and Yusuf Shah Chak – The King of Kashmir. The show could be monetized and could be a big draw for every single soul that lands in Gurez, just like the Beating Retreat Ceremony at Wagah Indo Pak border in Amritsar, which of course is free.

· Government-supported special gift shops and short demo courses, coordinated with a year-round calendar of events could mean a formidable income generation especially as winter sports and snowfall views are picking up in Gurez. This would mean substantially sourcing local raw materials and locally skilled people to prepare the items.                                           For instance, a “Fishing Fest” could include a customized “Package” of name engraving on spot, “Angling Fest – The year 2029” on pieces of Gurezi wood.  Spot printing of the Gurez Festival could be offered on anyone’s Fishing hats, socks, and gloves to make it memorable. Tea-shirts with Angling /Fishing map of Gurez.  Alongside this, local youth could give demos on fishing in Gurezi waters; trout cooking demos; tent pitching; survival workshop demonstrations, as part of the package or as an individual offers.  

· Gurez could open up as a destination for the annual National painting and Photography festival inviting big names.

· Gurez could be promoted for filming musical scores, songs, dances, and film shooting destinations.

· J&K Tourism could conduct workshops for locals to create, manage and earn from homestays with innovative ideas and collective events. Short courses for Tourism management and hospitability training for homestay could be started on a wafer-thin budget here.

· Café culture is a part of any world tourist destination. Hence local boys and girls could be garnered for Café Business.

· Dawar and Izmarg are selected to produce high-quality seeds of vegetables including lentils, Rajma, and potatoes tubers and seeds, thus uplifting income generation avenues for locals as a cross-country export item. 

· Besides walnut as a cash crop, agriculture experts plant apricots, apples, and cherries and could work out additional contractual schemes for locals.

· Talks are also on for government-sponsored community providing skill training to locals to produce traditional Kashmiri curtains, pillow covers, coverlets, table and bed runners, sofa backs, sling bags, shopping bags, Namda or floor covers, and like -‘An embroidered piece, roughly framed in local birch wood could create a piece uniquely Gurezi!’, adding impetus to employment and marketing skills, I add.

Closing take: The need, however, is for hand-holding by responsible market forces informed about the ecological sensitivity of the land to help generate income by least disturbance to the beautiful mountain-scape- an example could be internet services, online and white-collar net based jobs. In fact, enhanced internet connectivity could easily attract droves of the ‘work from home’ sector from here. This brings me to the conclusion that Gurez cannot just be wearing a – the triangular shape ‘The Tricorne Hat’. It can also don the Regal Turban, an apt headcover for its Royal stature, with the layers and folds of the turban symbolically unfolding Gurez’s countless unique dimensions, aspects, and layers that make up the heavenly locale.

Pics of Gurez by Author

Rashmi Talwar, can be contacted at: rashmitalwarno1@gmail.com

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GUREZ SERIES Part -7 ‘The Tricorne Hat’ of LoCs/ Rashmi Talwar/ Kashmir Images

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GUREZ SERIES Part -7

‘The Tricorne Hat’ of LoCs

Rashmi Talwar

Bagtore Cricket bang on the LoC

As I take the route to Bagtore or Izmarg, another LoC point, I notice how precious was firewood – the stray, dry twigs collected soon after snow-melt adds to the list of lifelines of lady Gurez. Gurezi women, mostly elderly, eagle-eyed, pick every tiny bit of wood and accumulate them in strongly fenced open-air godowns. so, despite, a ‘super cold’ day in summers, the firewood is banned for use until winter.  

Tourists are not permitted without an express army permit to LoC Bagtore. My description and details have already arrived at the army post. A forking road lifts from Dahi Nallah, a canal, famous for its curds and cows, and takes me to a dreamy zigzag route through  picturesque Izmarg village, where mysteries await every turn and bend; in one, a beautiful gnarled tree trunk; at another bend, a Birch tree with gold leaves stands like a sunflower; grasses hanging from trees for winter fodder for domestic livestock; yet another turn sees a seemingly punished goat bleeping continuously begging to be untied. Another bend, reveals mounds of mining of coal, seemingly unchecked. I saw a family digging a trench to store potatoes in the ground for winter food. Wide lush meadows, dotted with tiny hut clusters, side cuts and inflows from the magically swinging road, reaching upto the LoC Bagtore – the Grand plateau of Cricket. 

And lo and behold vast pastures greet; where ongoing cricket commentary is more of a light and friendly banter on the mike. Almost five to six cricket pitches are active simultaneously in the vast expanse. The soldiers by day and night have a break, sort of a picnic from heavy-taxing duties. Low steady colorful umbrellas twined to ground tent-pegged for stability underneath the canopy -ice buckets and hot cases of food, fruits, and drinks; and loungers for few army wives to relax, giving it a cricket carnival sportosphere. This piece of vast land is the LoC Bagtore, where alternate peaks are heavily garrisoned by respective rival armies.  Indeed it was one of the best cricket grounds in the valley; Dassi Bagtore was being promoted for snow cricket as a novelty for Tourists with locals and army.

And it was indeed my most buoyant moment to be invited to join one of the cricket pitches …Yahooo ! You savor a memory for a lifetime of hitting ball on the LoC!! Almost dreamy, unreal, but, it could turn ghastly, where a sniper’s gun to rip you apart. One-shot could start a war maybe a nuclear war! I brush aside deadly thoughts; after all I am not the President of the US or even an Arvind Kejriwal to be thus targeted! As I turn back, after a euphoric milestone in my life, it soothed me to watch the innocence of Bagtore children having a feast of cricket on their own in the Pasteur nearby. While cattle grazed unmindful of the tangible enmity, close by.

Locals tell me, you can see the refugee camps which have now become permanent settlements for people who crossed over the border from Pakistan to India post-Indo-Pak partition. The settlements are named Refugee-I and Refugee-II. Just a few Kms across LoC Bagtore village the PoK’s village Taobat or Taobutt welcomes the gushing Kishanganga from India that had got christened as Neelum, 9-years after the Partition in 1956. People in Taobat lead almost a mirrored life to the one in Gurez with firewood collections and portering service with army, sharing the same Languages, except, it is here where the Kashmiri language too has a borderline, that doesn’t go beyond, Amin and Muzaffar both Gurezis confirm to me.   

Tulail & Kaobal Gali

East of Gurez lays the exotic Tulail valley, less than a Kilometer in width. Gurez sector borders with Astore on the Pakistan side with this Northern tip nearly 9000ft high, with Gurez in the West, Mushkoh Valley and Drass in the East, and Kashmir valley in the South, rising across the Line of Control.

Tulail, is the most stunning expanse of Gurez. The Kishanganga waters enter Gurez after crossing the alpine meadows of Sonmarg from Tulail’s center Badugam. Among its lilting music locales sit some of the most exotic scenery in the villages of  Burnai, Badoab, Niru, and Sheikhpora. Towards Drass LoC, the last villages are Burnai and Chakwali. Taking a shared ride to Tulail in a local taxi with friends, we aimed to reach Chakwali from where we had permission to go upto Kaobal Gali (pronounced like the capital of Afghanistan). En route, several locals wave to us, we waved back in glee at their so friendly gesture; they were actually asking for a lift. We shared the taxi between the three of us and had ample space to fill in, so took on two local men, whose toothy smiles didn’t leave them all through.

Our car stopped at another check-post, nearly a dozen local men flocked around our vehicle and urged the locals traveling with us to spare them a seat also. As we said yes to two more, another ran after the taxi and entreated us to take him, we stopped, and he ran back and brought his goat held by another; our driver shooed him away angrily in Kashmiri language. The rest of the locals laughed in glee and to tease him kept waving to him as the car left, we too joined in the fun and laughed and waved to him till he was visible. He too waved back. The whole thing felt as innocent as the purity of the mountains and the endearing mountain folk of Tulail. The smile and laughter stamped on my memory chip for life.

 On the way, we stopped at Badoab a check-post short of Chakwali (last point for civilians) the ever-helpful army guys courteously offered us Tea and Maggi. “We have clearance for Kaobal Gali (hardest to get). We shall definitely take you on your gracious offer on our way back”, I told the army commander of the station. Little did we know the gentleman that he was, he didn’t want to discourage us by saying it was too late to reach Kaobal Gali and the way was cracked, potholed and washed away in parts. The to and fro journey in the mountains was impossible without a ready disaster, with a wind-face slowly forming on higher reaches and landslide spillovers all the way. However, he waved us goodbye and off we went unknowingly happily towards Chakwali.

It is pertinent to mention that the road to Kaobal is highly risky and a hazardous restricted area that is only used by the army. It is absolutely at the discretion of the army to give clearance or withhold –no questions asked – policy. Ahead, the Kaobal road connects to Mushkoh valley and Drass sectors that are bang on the (LoC) “Line of Control”.

 It may also be recalled that Drass was the prime location where the theater of the Indo-Pak Kargil war of 1999 unfolded and led to the death of more than 535 Indian soldiers with Pakistan incurring a loss of more than 4000 men. I had already visited Drass and had seen the nearly 2-3 feet thick stone wall, facing the peaks encroached upon by Pakistan – the Tiger Hill, Tololing, Point 4590, Point 5353, and others falling on the arterial road connecting Kargil to Leh. This major Drass route was planned to be blown off, to cut off Kargil and Leh by the Kargil war whose main architect was the former President of Pakistan Gen Parvez Musharaff.

However, an alternate route Leh-Manali Highway in Himachal Pradesh connects the two areas.  The Drass wall though left battered as a historic reminder had faced heavy bombardment from the Pakistan side besides which is the War memorial where soldiers’ headstones can shake you uncontrollably. The Bofors gun boomed here, the gun whose purchase brought down a government. The clandestine makeshift modular igloos by Pak infilterators, on Indian peaks, were providentially detected by an Indian shepherd, followed by Kargil War. The first war broadcast live on TV, was credited to ace journalist Barkha Dutt whose photograph in a newspaper then, adorns the photo gallery of the War memorial.

Reaching Chakwali check-post, we couldn’t get the clearance; probably the commandant had refused to risk our lives. It seemed a long wait for clearance and deciding on the futility of pursuing further we turned the vehicles back. In hindsight, it was a correct decision as night fell halfway back to Dawar and maneuvering the rough roads was challenging even then. That it was dangerous was an understatement although the local driver has the skills of a great maneuver in the art of mountain driving.

It is strongly being proposed to open the “Chakwali Kaobal Gali Tulail” section to connect Gurez with Kargil and Drass and have an alternate route for the snow-bound areas to remain connected to the world as the Zojila was an all-weather Tunnel, that is slated for inauguration in the year 2024.

Pics of Gurez by Author

Rashmi Talwar, can be contacted at: rashmitalwarno1@gmail.com

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Gurez Series– Part-6 Gurez: The ‘Tricorne’ Hat of LoCs /Rashmi Talwar / Kashmir Images

(TEXT BELOW )

Gurez Series– Part-6

GUREZ SERIES Part -6

Gurez: The ‘Tricorne’ Hat of LoCs

Rashmi Talwar

Gurez wears a strange hat; a unique triangular shape, it’s called – ‘The Tricorne Hat’ worn by George Washington- the Founder President of America. This triangular shape is symbolic and indicative of the connect Gurez has on three sides with the ‘Line of Control’ or the LoC, with Pak Occupied Kashmir. Loops of tall razor wire-walls walk along the entire area, as Gurez sits on the edge, keeping me mindful of trespass in an International Border Area. The contiguous rolls of razor wire, also serve as a wild animal deterrent. However, coincidental as it may seem, Gurez does have a history with America, especially its Presidency. Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited Gurez years before he became the 32nd President of America.

Army boots, alert eyes, and camouflage uniforms are everywhere. Black and yellow strips on bridges, culverts, and road signage of BRO (Border Roads Organization), a wing of the Indian Armed Forces, are on the sidelines in this border sector. The relatively silent border at times witnesses enemy fire from across the border. 

But Gurez- the Beauty, remains unmindful of manmade borderlines, it continues unfettered and unrefined. It’s a bonnet full of wildflowers, and its vivid colors are God’s chosen prism. A massive natural color palette of petals and leaves; stems and stamens; buds and luscious fruit; is sprinkled carelessly on its grassy slopes. While in the ruggedness of the sloppy slant, flaxen autumnal grass falls like prayers, in sprays of the color of molten coffee.   How contrasting that, Gurez is pregnant with greens and blues, it is also bald, bare, and barren; and somewhere it’s a moon-full of snows; in places, she is marshy, grassy, rocky and watered. Birch trees with stark white theatrically twisted trunks stand lissom, like actors in various stages of dialogue and drama. Each floating color is rare, of the bold, the bountiful, the beautiful, and a bellyful; where no one sleeps hungry, no one sleeps in the open skies and no one is left unclothed and cold.

It’s a triangle, where the proximity of the LoC or Line of Control on three sides adds its challenges, with cross-border incidents that locals must adapt to. The untamed area has other issues, including challenges of the wild, where organic waste attracts brown bears, bringing them far too close to human habitation particularly before and after their winter hibernation resulting in a man-animal conflict that often causes grievous injury or death.

LoC stop, Sikander Top –

A short drive ahead of Achoora is Chorwan- a quaint border village. Huts stand tall, clinging to each other, like whispering women exchanging gossip at a village well. On the way I peep into a closely fenced area, to see lush vegetables of unsurpassed colours swaying delicately. Adjoining it and more tightly wood-locked, it holds the winter gold of Gurez – the massive stacks of firewood –a lifeline of our delicate Gurez when she wears the snow-white veil.

Sikander Top falls on the old silk route to the land of Gilgit Baltistan now on the Pakistan side.  Beyond the LoC on the Pak side is Kamri village about 9 Kms from the Indo Pak border, even the ancient Burzil pass is so close. As I stand on a rock with a rifled Jawan I feel ‘If I was a whale I could touch the other side of the border with the tip of my nose’ the thought brings a giggle. Beyond that is Astore, Sharda, Gilgit, and Chilas, historically prominent sites on this axis falling on the Pakistan side of Kashmir. Incidentally, a Burzil tributary from across the border joins Kishanganga nearby Dawar.

Sikander Top is a sharp contrast to village Chorwan, a no-entry zone; the army generously provides me an accompanying Jawan- a kind of a ‘living entry pass cum guide’, followed by satellite or walkie-talkie messages all the way up; where borderlines are drawn, between two Kashmirs of India-Pakistan. En route to the forward areas, huge ringlets of barbed razor wire lace the roadsides, a contiguous reminder of being in a highly militarized zone. The concertina wires run not only as road demarcations, protecting from intruders’ man or animal, but also the metal shine reflects with just pinpricks of light, giving an appearance of a silver snake for greater visibility to helicopter sorties, especially, in snows and fog.

Sikander Top is a mini army encampment, a contrast of sorts. It is disciplined, regimented, uncluttered, wooded, shady, with bountiful apples peeping through branches. Clean lines, strokes of white paint geometrically defined areas, neat brick-edged, well-kept, even at 8000 feet of river-land, and I wondered if I was on a ground army cantonment of Srinagar’s Badami Bagh or a Pathankot or an Amritsar one, and not in an Upper Himalayas unique expanse of flatland of remote Gurez.

Alongside, the forward areas, the azure waters of Kishanganga change colors with seasons and lights, and the theatrical little water-body, swings to “Jhanak Jhanak …. Baje Payaliya ….” in Indian classical dance, grandly crosses the border into Pakistan administered Kashmir, without seeking any man’s permission. Its name changeth in the neighborhood, of no consequence to its flowing charm, its beauty. I am told not to take photographs because the Sikander Top of the fair lady –Gurez, is on the edge – an edge of a border and a photo could spell a thousand words, Yes Sir! Rightfully so.

A strange contraption catches my eye –it’s a Kerometer, the commandant tells me, it’s a large kerosene stove that burns and heats an outer metal rim exuding warmth to soldiers living on the edge, in the biting cold. Sikander Top is an eyeball to eyeball position, of round-the-clock vigilance, alert, and caution, with Pakistan. “We also place a saucepan of water over the flat top of the Kerometer, a soldier tells me with a twinkle, so the heater is “shooting two birds with one missile” we all laugh. “The kero also acts as a ready kettle to cook something as simple as tea, coffee, Maggi, soup, quick water-boiled meals”. He shows me the stockpile of supplies; I see rats having a free run. Do you know how important is the “Danngar Brigade” here? He takes me by surprise, catching my attention. “Danngggggar!”  They laugh, seeing my confusion – “it’s the ‘animal brigade’, a Sikh jawan conspicuous by his turban tells me in Punjabi, and a Punjabi to Punjabi connection is instantly sealed.  Those mules or danngars perform multiple ‘sorties’ bringing noodles’, he smiles-‘I mean -goodies for us’. A soldier lifts up one ear of a mule singing – “Coz, He’s a jolly good fellow, and he’s a jolly….we all join the chorus.”  I mimic a scene from a movie – like a mule or ‘Khachar’ may say: – “Hume dangar nahi, Sher hain, aur sirf Sher hi nahi, Babbar Sher hain!” (Mule: I am not just an animal, I am a tiger, and not only that, I am a Lion!) And another round of laughter hangs among the apple trees.

They take me to see the lower bunker picket, equipped with high-intensity binoculars and machine guns peeking out of a tiny window heavily sandbagged, and weighed down roofs to bear wind and snow intensities, besides insulation from winter chill”. The army bunker is replicated on the mountain peak too and correspondingly a crow’s throw away, the Pakistani army too, is entrenched on mountain peaks. “So they look at you and you look at them, all day-all night long..? like “Aankhoo, Aankhoo mein…” I sing a popular tune from a Bollywood movie …and blurt out –“You should try Bhangra, it will add a lot of pep and warmth in this cold and add colour to this monotonous picket, besides you could enjoy international spectators from across the border”, I twinkle.  The Sikh soldier adds – “Aap ko pata hai, duniya ke kissi bhi kone mein ek aloo aur ek Punjabi milta hai” (You know, one can find a potato and a Punjabi in any remote corner of the world), we merrily laugh.

The visit sheds new light on the life of army men away from families, warmth, duty-bound in below minus temperature stationed in Gurez, where cows as feeders and mules as livelihood transport for man, goods, wood, and food, from times ancient, the live transporter are revered each and every day; even, in this day and age, of world-wide internet, deterring youth from adopting old norms. These were but a moment of merriment in a highly volatile station where an accidental burst could trigger a war. The commandant of the mini encampment tells me “We sit here in the coldest of times with -20 degrees even as most of Gurez migrates to Bandipore or Srinagar, we lose our fingers in frostbites despite being well equipped, but we hold the weight on our shoulders as the country’s guards”, I bend low with folded hands as a ‘shukriyaa’ in utter gratefulness.  I take home this feeling of monumental gratitude with me, on seeing army life in the inhospitable snows and multiple challenges in the most trying circumstances. 

Pics of Gurez by Author

Rashmi Talwar, can be contacted at: rashmitalwarno1@gmail.com

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GUREZ SERIES Part-5 Go Gurez

Gurez Series -Part-5

‘Go Gurez …..’

RASHMI TALWAR

(TEXT BELOW)

Potato and Seed Preservation

Potatoes are segregated for propagation and seeds of peas, wheat, Rajma are buried in-ground for warmth, before winter sets in. Azizullah having a Kiryana Store in Achoora bang on the old Silk Road explains to me the indigenous procedure –“A pit is dug, loose soil is packed or compressed with logs. Birchbark lines the bottom and sidelining. Selected and Prized ‘potato eyes’ are placed over it; another layer of Birch covers the hidden edible life; then topped with soil. Layers are formed thus finishing with topsoil over the last layer of Birch. Interestingly the Birchbark has natural properties of being waterproof- “Natural polythene!” I exclaim. It can be molded after sitting in water for many days. Birch also used as insulation and waterproofing for roof linings in old homes of Gurez, is interestingly found growing over 11,500 ft. above sea level. 

Birchbark or ‘Bhoj Patra’ was extensively used to make paper in ancient times and members of the Royal palace wrote letters, books, commands, farmans, testimonials, and secret messages on it which were speedily delivered on horseback in the form of scrolls.

·           Sheikhpora- Sheikhpora descents on the riverside, as a kachcha exit road from main Tulail roadabout 3-4 Kms ahead of Purani Tulail, a narrow path descends to a serene, scenic huge plain-land. Homes in clusters joined by narrow raw sawed fencing create mysterious zigzag tracks. Spray-laden winds, music of gushing waters, and swaying fields of maize and mustard lilt me gently. Log huts here, with brightly painted windows, of burnished wood have seen many winters of 20ft snow or more. Lanes in Sheikhpora are flanked by wood plank fencing on both sides. This little lane is covered with tin sheet and thick polythene, and quickly cleared to facilitate a track to neighbors during snows A homestay is also in place in Sheikhpora with a smiling host owned by Jibran Mohammed. Seeing this virgin locale makes me think aloud ‘what would be my first-hand experience be to stay at a local’s home and watch this beauty, I think it would be matchless! Hamlets Badoab and Badi Daas in Wanpura catch up as popular camping sites near here along Kishanganga’s floodplain. I would love to stay here one day.

Internet stepped into this lovely silent valley in 2021, and since then, weak signals are even more exciting! Informed Abdul Qayoom, a resident. His explanation turns true, as I spot a youth balancing himself, with legs inside his Pheran on a strategic rock, on a sunny field playing online games, despite weak signals. And these, once the Earth children, who couldn’t be seen sitting idle for more than a minute, as summer sun seeped into their chilled bones, infusing energy and vigor, post-hibernation. However, not entirely shedding the spirit of physical gaming, boys here concoct a game of sorts, to locate who can find the spot with the ‘best mobile signal’. Surely mobile addiction is here and Tulail is infected.

·     Khandiyal- This elusive sunset point commands an incredible aerial view of the entire Gurez Valley, with a sky-full of colors, as a snaking river forks, creating a natural island in the waters. From that vantage point, in a distance, modernization is seen to slowly creep in the lovely locale, cement bags, bricks, and crushers with mortar intend to defeat the famed log wood homes of the valley. I look with dread at new concrete buildings, which have caught the fancy of little Gurez, and wonder if it comes at its huge cost with the only advantage of looking new and modern, and offering little to save the mountain souls from the biting cold. This, over the traditional, insulated old rumbly-tumbly-brambly huts laden with warm hearts.

·     Tuleil

Time stands still as one watches the glacial waters of the turquoise Kishanganga river flow along the valley. Upstream lies the equally brilliant Tulail valley, sandwiched between Gurez to the west, and Drass and Mushkoh valley to the West. Time and connectivity are relative concepts in Gurez, where phone connectivity that became available in recent years has transformed the entire region in terms of education, travel, and entry of liberal thought.

Sitting aloof, Tulail is hard to reach, as snows disturb the equilibrium of its tracks most mercilessly and what is left of the road, is gorged down by melting waters, cracks and one wonders if beauties too have to pay a price. Tiny pockets of midnight blue huts studded with a lone red or orange peeking through is like the exquisite zardozi work in the flowing dupatta, embellished with vivid and rich floral delights and meandering spaces filled with rivulets that abound the lush valley. I found the Tulail more exquisite than Dawar.

·     The little known Gurez

The perfect triangular landmark of Habba Khatoon peak, a calm sliver of a curvy river, Gurez’s gifted beauty, historically, is a part of ancient Dardistan- the land of the Beautiful Dards- with Dawar as its capital. Gurez sits royally in elegance in the sacred Vedic seat etched between the ancient shrine of Sharada Peeth (West), Minimarg (North), Drass in the East, and Bagtore in the South. Various archeological surveys of her carvings provide insights into the origins of the Kashmiri people and the early history of the Buddhist faith that touched her. During the 1947-48 Indo-Pak partition and attempted tribal invasion of Gurez, she even entertained foreign dignitaries; nothing less than a would-be 32^nd US President -Franklin Delano Roosevelt. 

Enviably located in lush-land, between Ladakh and LoC, Gurez is a poetess and a warrior, water and a mountain, a valley and a fall, coveted by suitors, but remains committed, lofty and graceful. Sitting elegantly in a forward command area, she is luscious silk but frayed and raw in places. She tempts nature lovers- offering historic trekking routes Ninao Gali and Darkhaun Gali, to have been followed by travelers of yore through the silk routes. A wild side to her love story and beauty lies as a playground to the Himalayan Brown Bear, Ibex, and the Snow Leopard.

Predominantly, Sunni Muslim, Gurez, before the arrival of Mir Sayyid Ali Hamdani, was Hindu-dominated practicing Buddhism. Due to the attitude & atrocities of Kabaili/ raiders under Gilgit Baltistan scouts, the local population of Gurez turned against the marauding muslim invaders in the 1947-48 war and secured  Gurez Valley, guided and assisted by the Indian Army.  This fact is authenticated by a kiryana merchant whose shop is bang on the ancient Silk road- Mohammed Muzamil who relates about oral history abounding in Gurez “One Major Akbar of Pak army along with his five juniors used to flash the proverbial rod in Gurez and take away cattle and livestock of the villagers, along with girls of Gurez. Enraged Gurezis laid a trap, found an opportunity, and hacked all six men. During the Indo-Pak partition in October of 1948, villagers of Kilshey, Tuleil, were asked a choice and Gurez favored India. The first army officer of the Indian army here was Major Ashok, who cannot be forgotten by the people for his benevolence. Gurezis were given rice and kerosene by the army, they had never dreamt of this bounty. This endeared India to Gurez”.

Top Shots

·     Bagtore and Sheikhpora got selected as “tourist villages” in Gurez valley.

·     Razdan top is also called Sanga top.

·     Footbridges built of wood planks are knitted together with supporting logs for a wider river expanse. Just two logs or planks suffice for rivulets, all over Gurez and Tulail Valley.  I notice rough wood fencing to protect vegetables from wild animals. The vegetables with vivid colors, fragrance, and taste are grown in pure, fertile mountain soil.

·      I am convinced that mountain Maggi and mountain omelette with chai or Kehwa have an astonishing soul connect that flies only around Himalayan peaks.

·       In Markoot just ahead of Habba Khatoon peak, for decades majestic crooked log huts look like something out of fairytales; built over stone foundations raised above the ground. Homes in Markoot are far more striking than found in tiny hamlets dotting Gurez. They give a -cobbly-wobbly-comfy look.

·     Ahead of Dawar, the stunning valley of Tulail lies low along the river bed not even a kilometer in width, sitting amidst contrasts of snow-clad peaks, rugged mountains, bald mountain crags, and densely forested mountain cliffs. Enchanting Tulail is a perfect place to sink in the lap of nature!

·     Log hut café by the army is charmingly decorated with multi-colored glass Turkish lanterns.

·     Cut flowers here retain vivid colors. Younis owner of Kaka Palace graciously handed a dry bouquet carelessly lying about in his restaurant from an occasion, days ago. Neither did the petals fall, nor did colors fade; pure air ensured the preservation of dried cut flowers. The potential is huge.

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‘Famous personalities of Gurez’

· Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon IAS– Principal Secretary JK and remained Divisional Commissioner Kashmir

. Bollywood actress- Huma Qureshi of three film fare award nominations, best known for her work in Gangs of Wasseypur, Dedh Ishqiya, and web series Maharani, is ‘the granddaughter’ of Gurez. Her mother Amina is a Gurezi.

·Aadil Gurezi– Bollywood singer from Gurez whose ‘Dupte Nunem’ catapulted him to fame and is the most hummed song in Kashmir.

·Farad Kaloo of Dawar, retired from the horticulture department, President of ‘Habba Khatoon Arts Club’, detailed me, -“The club started in 1976, by my Ustad Abdul Aziz Samoon of Khandiyal, and is instrumental in preserving, promoting the rich cultural heritage of Gurezis. Some 10-artists of the club perform folk musicals and folk dance in local Shina language of Gurez. As instruments Harmonium, Rubab, Tubaknari –single-sided drum and flute is played. We are preparing to perform at Jashne-e-Gurez festival shortly. The club has performed many times in the log hut café spreading the melodious notes of Shina music to the world outside.   

Gurez’s Typical Lifestyle

·           Handlooms have been a steady feature of Gurezis who prided themselves on being self-sufficient until the internet caused the humble handloom to be discarded as a symbol of backwardness and poverty. However, I saw homes in Tulail valley still possessing handlooms, used in winters to weave ‘Pattu’ cloth for Pheran and bed sheets. Excess wool is sold. I notice the Mule as their absolute King, as weight bearers and the humble cow and goat, the Queens -for their life-giving abundant udders, and as lifelong manure-machines!  

· Older Women roam and collect firewood while younger lot studies, and attend to household chores including cooking, knitting, cleaning, embroidery, and cattle care, besides working in fields and vegetable gardens.

· Cooped indoors in winter months, people mostly cook lentils and rice and summer dried vegetables, besides feeding, and caring for livestock that lives in the lower portion of the house and baby livestock housed in cave types rooms for added warmth.

· Shoes are left outdoors scattered or neatly on a rack as per financial status, at the entrance. The Gurezi home’s warmth comes not just from the hosts but also from the kitchen hearth exuding much-needed heat. It is the warmest place both in temperatures and in shared emotions. Entire families sit together every single night sharing meals, and details of their day. It is also a time for entertainment with jokes, mimicry, dances, and the exhibition of new skills. That is one reason; I noticed why families in Kashmir are so close-knit.

·Windows in Gurez are free-flowing. One can easily jump in and out and children are wont to make slides of snow from their first-floor windows in early snows. Valley windows are shadowed with thick transparent or opaque plastic, according to the arriving chill. A transparent one, for sunshine on sunny days and opaque by evening, and a thick dark blanket or Pattu during nights and winters to beat the icy chill.

·Older women roam riverbeds and forests collecting traditional herbs, grass & firewood, also picking priced zeera on these rendezvous.

·It’s quite fascinating to see Beauty of the Dards stand out with their sheep wool, woolen-caps called ‘Pakol’ also called Pakhui, Seeked, Phartsun, in white, black, brown, grey with dyed Red using walnut shells,  embellished with a white or black fluttering plume (feather).

·Homestays: The concept of homestays in Gurez is on, and simple village folk fed on a diet of ‘Guest is God’, having seen few visitors in lifetimes are coming to terms with charging money for services or stays.  Since Gurez boasts of top cooks in the state, Majid, a cook student, and the owner started a homestay ‘Hillside Resort’/ 6005826540 in Achoora–A 5-bedroom, two bathrooms, kitchen, set with envious views, cooking entire homemade meals for his guests. Recently Izmarg, Kanzalwan got its first homestay cum camping site with the support of the army – “The Afsara Homestay” owned by Hasmat Lone. Jibran Mohammed in Sheikhpora in Tulail sector is a proud owner of a homestay in Sheikhpora.

·“Gurezi ‘Wazas’, are outstanding chefs in the state”, former Director Tourism Mahmud Shah, now Director Industries and Commerce additionally Director Handloom and Handicrafts, Jammu and Kashmir, remarks during a discussion. “A grand wedding or any occasion, in any part of Jammu and Kashmir wouldn’t be counted impressive if not for food cooked by Gurezi Wazas”, he adds.

· Gurezis love sports especially team play with cricket football and volleyball being front runners. However, Cricket runs deep into Gurezi hearts and winters with snow cricket is the newest addition to Gurez’s sports menu. Cricket is worshipped and carries on till the autumn in October and beyond as weather permits. If you are a hardcore cricket buff, play snow cricket in Dassi Bagtore bang on LoC, and store a story of lifetime experience in your memory chip.

Summer suns infused crouching bones with vigor and an energized population vigorously tills land bringing forth the tastiest, greenest vegetables, walnuts, potatoes, and lentils, nurtured on pure air, water, and naturally manured valley soil. Fish is food too and Gurezi is one of the best anglers. Some rush off to get employed in jobs with the army and BSF. Everyone works in summer, there is no time to soak in the sunshine and collect the heat. A song comes to mind….Dil Doondta hai, hai fir wahi, fursat ke raat din…thandi safed chaadron pe, jaagen der tak, taaron ko dekhte rahe…chhat par pade huye…’ – (Heart searches those footloose fancy-free moments …on white cool sheets of summer , laying stargazing from rooftops…’) But the local Gurezi possess little wealth of ‘time’, to sit or enjoy.   

 ·     Cultural dances, handicrafts, singing, and other acrobatics are honed as preparation for the prestigious annual Gurez Mela or Fair or Festival in July or August. Many cultural, sports & local art stalls are the main attractions during this event. The traditional Pony race -‘Gurez Race’ is the most popular event during the Gurez festival along with folk dances & music.

· In winters, among families who bear the brunt of winters cloistered in Gurez, locals generally engage themselves in cooking and livestock care. Vigorous knitting, sewing, embroidering Namda making working handloom to weave Pattu cloth, handicraft, goes on along with other chores. Locals,  besides weaving shawls, Pheran cloth, and knitting that suffices for themselves and sold in markets of Bandipore or Srinagar also indulge in singing, and dancing, within the low ceiling cramped walls of their homes, to keep energized and allow some entertainment in their lives. Besides which few venture out for winter sports.

· Few pick up volunteer vocational training in winters. Half the population migrates to Bandipore, in rented accommodation, ownership is but a few.

· Summer and moreso in winter, Gurezi children are conditioned well to take up home chores, in between these, they create Tik-Tok videos readied for quick upload at the strike of the network. 

**Pics of Gurez by Author

***Rashmi Talwar, can be contacted at: rashmitalwarno1@gmail.com

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GUREZ SERIES Part -4 Go Gurez / Rashmi Talwar/ Kashmir Images

GUREZ SERIES -PART –4

“Go Gurez”….. 

RASHMI TALWAR

Weddings in Gurez – modern and summerish this time

Ishret Munawar is Gurez’s new-age teenage girl; she loves Kashmiri rapper Babar on YouTube and is also fond of artists featuring in tit-tok reels.  However, what makes her heart is about Kashmiri girls wearing stylish Bollywood type of Gowns and a dancing bride. The video she sent me is of a Kashmiri bride wearing a white embroidered wedding gown on her ‘Mahendiraat’ or the night of the Henna, western in cut and style. the fashionable western gown concept is being replicated by brides, in neighboring Punjab, although white in Punjabi weddings is a big no, no.

This white gown in Kashmir has become a rage and is a huge departure from the Tilla Pheran suit or Sarees or Lehangas, or Garara, Shararas, traditionally worn by Kashmiri brides. The flouncy white gown reminiscent of Christian weddings,  a ditto western copy with Victorian cancan below, is accessorized with a traditional red Dupatta stuck on a back-bun as the bride dances gracefully on the song – “Abb hum toh pardesi ho gaye..” . Ishrat says it’s a Gurezi bride, but after much research, she seems Kashmiri, not Gurezi. Several videos of Kashmiri brides dancing on “Palki mein hoke tayaar chali reh …”on their wedding functions is the fashionable trend in Srinagar, Kashmir and now in the remote pockets of Kashmir too; Gurezi girls are infected.

Ishret tells me, previously bride dancing was unheard of and looked down upon, now it’s changing. The opportunity of learning dance for boys-girls comes from preparing for the Army and Tourism sponsored Jashn-e-Gurez Festival, where children dance to traditional folk songs, besides Bollywood numbers which are a big attraction. These learnings manifest themselves during weddings as the trend of dance is catching on even in conservative Kashmiri societies. With easy access to mobiles, videos are created and many find their way to YouTube for public viewing.

Ishret who is studying science articulates – “Gurezi girls in earlier times were married in the same village with a near relative. The groom rode horseback and the bride was taken in a Doli. Now Doli is sometimes replaced by a car. Only a rich man’s daughter is adorned with silver jewelry worn by Kashmiris in traditional wear. In earlier times, Gurezi parents gave knitted socks, sweaters, cardigans, innerwear, coats, gloves cloth, sheep or goats in dowry. A bookkeeper aunt instantly noted details of gifts or money each invitee gifted to the mother of the groom or the bride. The money envelope or gift is swiftly opened, counted, and entered in a register by a cashier aunt, who sits behind the mother at the entrance of wedding Shamyana”.

While in fashionable Srinagar, a bride is laden with gold jewelry, many wearing gold rings on all ten fingers, unlike silver jewelry in Gurez. Another trend that has rebelled against tradition is weddings taking place in summer months, instead of winter’.

The reason for winter weddings in Gurez was practical -since outdoor work was not possible, precious time in long chilly, dreary months with almost 15-20 feet of snow, could be utilized in wedding preparations. “Households would keep busy as village wedding meant each home became contributory and tasked for something. Some merriment trotted in the otherwise cold, dull, immobile months”. Also, high-speed knitting competitions of sweaters, socks, caps, leggings, gloves, mufflers for dowry, plus entire paraphernalia of woolies for relatives were in full flow. The clickety-click music of handlooms weaving Pattu cloth flowed through the snow, adding exercise warmth, and vigor to the mundane life cooped up indoors.

Summer weddings are now attractive for youngsters, as the landscape is endearing and the charm of a wedding is manifold, a bit of silver jewelry has also been added to the dowry. The wedding feast consists of simple mutton or chicken curry or kofta, rice, potatoes, Rajma, Turnip, besides typical ‘Trumba ki roti’ and ‘Kalari’ or the sheep cheese of Gurez. Few prosperous ones also serve the Guchchi palav or Morchella rice. Winters however are left vague, mostly unexciting, leaving elders distressed as summer times mean workloads of agriculture, home repairs, firewood collections, wool shearing, sheep-goat-cow grazing, milking, vegetable plantation, harvest, drying vegs, and tons of other chores.

The army assists in every possible way for weddings in Gurez, including shamyana, snow clearance, heating, power and diesel generators, and providing facilities for wedding arrangements. Col Abhinav Goel the commandant here talks about a shooting of a wedding song in Gurez wherein the troupe had very little knowledge about the logistics of Gurez. the army assisted them to complete their schedule that otherwise would have been lost owing to the non-availability of several things including heaters, electricity generators, diesel, high-intensity focus lights, and wind cutters. We are well equipped as local weddings are assisted by us.

As Gurez gravitates towards modernism, weaving handloom Pattu is passé; it has given way to Tik-Tok videos. “A Pattu Chaddar used to take months to weave after the whole process of wool shearing, cleaning, beading, and finally wool balls, loading, and weaving “Javed Khan of Achoora, the only guy who “admitted” possessing a handloom, said. “Pattu or weaving Pattu wasn’t fashionable anymore; rather it labeled one as backward”, while showing a handloom packed for storage in winter. Javed and Amin of the same village told me with pride- “‘Pattu’ fetches a handsome sum than the normal wool cloth in Srinagar’s wholesale Koker Bazaar. Whereas normal wool ‘Pheran’ cloth lasts two or three years, Pattu’s Pheran could last upto 20-years, its warmth too was incomparable”.

Ishret voices me about a bygone era- “Older women reminiscence about times, not long back before internet infected Gurez when people sat together and genuine affection flowed. Gurez had no culture of jobs and no monetary payment. A barter system worked, wherein people were given grain, food, or study for their children, in lieu of odd jobs at home or some such compensation. As Gurez spread its wings and macadamized roads were laid, “Gurez looked out the world window. Only, then do monetary payments for work become the norm. “Trends are rapidly changing with the world of the internet a click away”, Ishret says with a glitter in her eye. Let’s hope it doesn’t wipe the quaint and unique culture of our tiny Gurez”, she prays with her hands raised in Dua, but soon enough puts on ‘clubhouse’ a Music Room  24×7 Bollywood Hollywood Lo-fi. 

Himalayas Morchella or Morel Mushroom

Encircled by Gurez’s protective snowcapped mountains, abundant with a diverse flora-fauna wealth of herbs, sits a rare mushroom – Morel or Morchella mushrooms (Guchhi or Haedar, Kangich, Kangesh, Kan Kuchii in Kashmiri, Kuchuli in Shina language ). Gurez protects it fiercely. Her locals reveal to me, that the  Morel grows in mysterious spaces; and is kept a closely guarded secret. Tracks are covered with an eagle eye; and secret locations are passed down through generations, in an oath of secrecy as a divine gift. No wonder the exquisite morsel fetches a whopping Rs 30,000 a Kg, and in foreign markets, it could fetch upto 400$ a Kg, depending on size and quality, and place of origin. Locals tell me it is collected at midnight where legend says ‘the Guchchi signals with a sparkle, a song, and beckons the harvester to collect them when ripe’. The sign of thunderstorms and lightning are signals in early spring, for a call by the Guchchi. During the 1960-70s I recall Punjab’s rich and famous weddings had a signature dish called the “Guchchi Pulav” or the Morel Rice that makes the family status stand above the riff-raff.

 A family member stands guard while the delicacy is cooked keeping count of Guchchis. Incidentally,  Guchchi is relished even in French cuisine.

“It would be surprising if the bride is not given Guchchis in her dowry!” Mohammed Muzzafar Lone of Badoab, Tulail, laughs loudly at his own joke. Along with Morel mushroom, Gurez also sources edible such as Fiddleheads and wild leeks, from the woods. These fetch a good price in bigger cities including Srinagar.

Gurez’s Log Hut Café

As Gurez comes into peeping view from my vantage point of descent, I see a crisscrossed yellow-white striped metal bridge stand. Moving closer, a signboard reads- “Log Hut Café- Best coffee in Gurez 3.2 km –Go! Go!”

‘Log Hut Café’ is dedicated to the people of Gurez by the Indian Army and as Area Commander Col Abhinav Goel would say “Log Hut café is a place you could go “an extra mile for”. ‘Surely!’- ‘It’s like a Jungle mein Mangal’, to find a café in a remote mountainous area. Overlooking the standout land feature of Habba Khatoon peak, the café certainly is a ‘Sangam’ – a confluence of Rivers where -ancient meets modern, ‘Desi’ meets ‘Pardesi’, or where ‘Kehwa’ meets Koffee. Travelers, explorers, mountaineers, trekkers, writers, army guys, and locals all throng the hotspot for its lighthearted showbiz and culinary delights. If Desi is your taste then dhabas in the Dawar bazaar close-by should satiate you with Kashmiri food, kebabs, Rogan Josh, Gustaba- mutton dumplings, and the quintessential rice or roti.Nurani or Noorani is a small restaurant-dhaba, that churns out delicious food. Interestingly in Gurez, the charges of a dish are according to the pieces of mutton /chicken and no extra cost is there was a piece left uneaten in the dish. Local ‘thelas’, selling fried chicken and kebabs, especially Tuji and Seekh kebab with yogurt chutney is true yum.

An outstanding feature of Log Hut café is dedicated wifi plus 24×7 electricity. I met Asha, a chartered accountant with a famed MNC, a compulsive traveler, vlogger, & planner. The smart youngistan told me “I wish I could thank someone else but I am forced to thank ‘Covid’ for getting a work-from-home, that gave me an opportunity to fulfill my passion for traveling,” Asha, uses Log Hut’s Wi-Fi and in exchange, takes video bytes of visitors and uploads on social networking sites to attract tourists to Gurez, highlighting the café. I mention a near failing battery bank and she brightens up and takes me to a shop a few steps away lo and behold it has pen drives and a ‘C’ type charger-pin cable, and more and more. The shop is stocked with the latest mobile accessories, sim cards, and mobiles. Owner of Dawar’s Iqbal Electronics smiles and speaks “Ask me anything mobile related and either I will produce it, or tell you about it”. I don’t fall for his challenge as I am somewhat tech-challenged, but it leaves me impressed.

We rush to the café as I am yet to explore it. Presenting a platter of national & international food, Log Hut is gleefully reasonable. Rolls and wraps, pizzas and pasta, coffee and shakes, idlis and wadas, walk with sandwiches and bread, samosas and jalebis, smilies and halwa, it had almost everything. Army guys are privileged with a 25% off which certainly is their deserving treat.

With LED lights shadowing the rough wood reception counter, a glowing bowl, glow-light glasses, rope lights, and LED neon strips, the place is hip-hop cheerful and fun, compared to the utter romance of moon-nights bathing the Habba Khatoon peak silvery in dark Gurez, where electricity is severely rationed.     Below the chairs and tables, my footrests on pure compressed mountain soil with some sand as flooring, making me completely enjoined with the earthiness. The café is unique and completely in congruence with ecology. And as Turkish lamps hang outside to add sparkle, tossing glints of multi-colors, on river waters through stained glasses; it generates a magical vibrancy in the valley. Nights of local melodies, campfire, and music are especially enthralling. Sometimes the café sees a light jolly jostle for front seats when a large screen is put on for a live show of IPLs and international matches. For tourists to catch the live cricketing broadcast in remote Gurez holding a hot Kehwa or Kaffee in hand, is nothing short of enchanting! For bikers, trekkers, and locals, the Café is a get-together oasis, to enjoy a mini-meal with a mesmerizing view of the Habba Khatoon peak.

“The response and feedback are very encouraging, not just tourists, locals also throng the Cafe. We have people coming in from breakfast to dinner. We serve fresh organic vegetables,” Hawaldaar Balwant Singh, Manager, Log Hut Café was seen telling a customer. The café, a role model for other young Gurezi entrepreneurs to emulate café business to stimulate tourism in Gurez, is indeed its outstanding factor,” expressed an army official. Log Hut throbs with local artists’ the majority of whom are repeated. Locals of course are keenly awaiting their own Aadil Gurezi- now a popular Bollywood singer, to perform here, Amin a local says, ‘Bolo na aap usko!’ he smiles endearingly. I laugh.

Pics of Gurez by Author

Rashmi Talwar, can be contacted at: rashmitalwarno1@gmail.com

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GUREZ SERIES -2 When October Kisses Gurez / Rashmi Talwar / Kashmir Images

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When October Kisses Gurez -2

RASHMI TALWAR

PEER BABA SHRINE

Four kilometres short of Razdan enroute Tragbal, towards Gurez, sits Peer Baba’s Shrine. Low clouds float like thoughts overlook a spectacular view of the shrine sitting atop a mountain; and it compels one to spend a few moments in silence speaking to the winds; for silence needs no language and words are weightless. Peer Baba’s shrine, is a spiritual spot where one can witness the landscape in 360 degrees, of Bandipore forest ranges and tiny hamlets locked in mountains gorges. The mystical precincts of Peer Baba, where the wind sings and the fluttering green flags on poles, play a spiritual symphony.

The almost flattened top jutting out into nothingness is where Peer Baba – the inimitable symbol of shared faiths, rests. Peer baba’s Mazar is a symbol of India’s syncretic culture with symbols and figures of each faith housed in a single premise atop a mountain pass with an overwhelming view of an ever-changing unique layered mountain-scape. “All security forces crossing the Razdan, religiously offer prayers at the feet of Peer Baba, as their divine guardian angel,” the Commanding officer of Gurez Col Abhinav Goel tells me. 

A tiny temple constructed by Army, shares space with a Dargah, syncretizing the spiritual aura of the Almighty. Within its premises, symbols, and pictures from all faiths adorn the pedestal. A picture of Jesus Christ in thorns, next to Baba Nanak with a deific halo, Muslim symbols of faith and Hindu deities embellish the House of God, collectively, adding the fragrance of inclusive culture of Indian ethos to the towering mountains.

Legend says Peer Baba came from Malsar (Pakistan) in 1933, and established himself in a cave at Durmat (Pakistan occupied Kashmir) at the age of 35. His religion, caste, and entity, were unknown; he was known to stay without food or water for months, spoke little, and was hard of hearing- popularly called ‘Nanga Baba’ in areas around; never refusing any alms offered by locals of Kanzalwan and accepted every offering with love. In February of 1940, amidst heavy snowfall, Peer Baba came to Razdan, where he breathed his last. His death came in the dream of his disciple Dilawar Malik, who sent men to fetch Peer’s body with help of locals. When they tried to move his body to Bandipore, they were attacked by a swarm of bees. Baba was then buried at Razdan Pass by his disciple Malik and the locals. In years 1950-1952/8 grenadiers of the Indian Army constructed Ziarat at the spot of Peer Baba and believe that Peer Baba was their protector and custodian with promises of blessings for wish fulfilment. Several high-ranking army officers have installed plaques and epithets of their regiments as a mark of respect to the mountain saint and to receive blessings for protection for their country, men and material from the Peer Baba of Razdan Top.

Money offered at the shrine by devotees goes towards the welfare of locals and the education of children. Indian Army maintains the shrine with the help of a detachment that offers tea and prasad to pilgrims. Visitors are known to be satiated and free of all their worries, in this hallowed spot; where the panoramic scene stuns with the beauty of the Harmukh mountain peak and the elephant hills of Bandipore are visible. The spiritual point is gifted with a lavish green meadow, where you feel child-like, where you wish to run, where you wish to play tumble-down and spread the innocent laughter of a child to the Universe.

Kishanganga Blues

A wistful 39Km drive in the curvy mountains follows the descent from Razdan Top to the cobalt water bowl. Unmindful of bumpy, snow-slashed, rutted road, it lulls me to sleep, awash in dreams of free-floating birds.

In a flash, Like a Titanic! A colossal vista of turquoise bursts upon the windscreen, making me breathless with its splendor. The vast intense blue of the Kishanganga River–envelopes and kicks me wide-awake, awe-struck, mesmerized. Emerging like an exquisite blue-sapphire studded in a ring of mountains, the road around is like longish rows of baguette diamonds, complimenting the edges of the bejeweled design.

The vast span of 245 Kms of Kishenganga joined by glacial streams is hypnotic and thence onwards the river becomes a constant companion of the road, to the first township Dawar, the ancient capital of the Dardistan, the land of the Shina speaking, Dards. Dawar is embellished uniquely by a perfectly triangular mountain called the Habba Khatoon peak. Ensconced in the Himalayas at 8000ft, in Dawar, the river having left her adolescence of tumbling- toppling-slipping journey of the mountains enters a mature phase- relatively stable, soft, and serene.

Many alpine springs merge, including the natural spring of Habba Khatoon, intensifying the river’s girth and might as we enter the stunning valley of Gurez spread along a part of the ancient silk route; touched on one side by Kupwara district and the other by Ladakh.  

Emerging from Krishansar Lake at 12,171 ft in the vicinity of Sonmarg, the Kishenganga River meanders to the Baruaab valley of Tulail in Gurez, where she meets a tributary from Drass, side-melts to enter the fertile near-flatland of Dawar. The river is lush with aquatic wealth and is rich in the famed brown and rainbow trout fish. Alongside, the entire route, the tall walls of coiled concertina razor wires remind me of being in a border area that has seen its share of shelling and bombardments during and after the turbulent Indo-Pak partition. 

October Colors

Adding splendor to Gurez, the nectar of Kishanganga feeds the herbal wealth of Gurez and creates magic in October, mirroring the autumn or ‘Harud’ shades of trees and plant life in her bosom. The mountains turn to daffodil gold, tangerines, oranges, and cherry shades gradually transferring the colors of summer flowers to trees and leaves, and Gurez shyly blushes, pregnant with autumn beauty- when every leaf turns into a flower. And as the overwhelming loveliness of the mighty 245 Kms of Kishanganga charmingly unfurls the fairyland of Gurez’s peerless beauty, I feel drenched in the shower of blessings of the Divine.

Kishanganga’s frolics

From India, Kishanganga sensually jingles along the LoC, teases awhile, and enters Pakistan crossing the border in wild abandon, unfettered by man-made boundaries from Kanzalwan. It merges with the Jhelum River near the Line of Control and is rechristened in the year 1956 as Neelum in Pakistan. Her exquisite blue perhaps is the reason, the river is named Neelum or the Blue Sapphire’ by Pakistan.

For Gurezis, she is their universe. True to this adage, is a scene that is unforgettable of a tiny rivulet of the mighty river being hugged and harnessed with a quaint “house-bridge” in a mountainside before it merges with the river down below, at the last Check post of Chakwali in Tulail; where the pure glacial waters can be scooped up in a cup of hands, within the house. (Pic added). The blue cap calls out -“Your eyes look mushy? “Yes!” I answer hiding the utter passion for the scenic paradise of alpine lodges covered with fir trees, with lapping blue waters below. “Do you know…?” “What?”, “Where the road moves upwards towards a South facing LoC, is a strange name- ‘Dahi Nallah’, “So?”  “It’s because it’s famed for its curds”! Papa laughs heartily through the cap, at his LS joke, and as my eyes open wide joining in his laughter, he merrily exclaims –“It’s True, Its True!”  And then adds “Let’s go to Khandiyal Point”! We excitedly drive through Dawar market towards a petrol bunk, turn left, up into the winding hillock road to reach a hilltop, stand on a rock, and watch the most spectacular sunset. We watch the light crawling up the mountain, turning peaks to gold. Before long, I am sandwiched in star-lights on the crown and below the feet as the city bathes itself in twinkling lights. Even as the meandering Kishanganga gushes and plays her endless -‘rock and roll’ music, I long for some blushing pink Nun Chai to complete the painting. 

Pics of Gurez by Author

Rashmi Talwar, can be contacted at: rashmitalwarno1@gmail.com

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