A Week On Dal Lake:Srinagar

When the Maharaja of Kashmir had to host the british at his court, he decided to build up residences for them on Dal Lake- this was more than a hundred years ago-or such is the folklore around the origin of houseboats on Dal Lake. Now the presence of houseboats, and the lifestyles set up around them are a major tourist draw to the romance and attraction of Srinagar- a not-to-be-missed experience on most tourist's agenda in Kashmir. The tourist houseboats range from the basic, budget options where a few hundred rupees allows you to squeeze into tiny a congested room, and still be rocked gently to sleep with the lulling movement of the parked houseboat. At the other extreme are the opulent, spacious, chandelier-ed and silk carpeted residences fit for the Maharajas of today.

Completely different from a system meant to draw tourist attention are the houseboat residences of kashmiris themselves. We were lucky to find one such "home" that we shared with our kashmiri hosts- Javed and his family. Unlike the tourist quarters, this was not crowded with western style furniture, or television. We were given a large spacious room with two double beds, while the family occupied the rest of this houseboat, and another adjacent houseboat. The boat had a large deck where my kids, Aman and Avani, hung around with the host family members, and had enough companions for play and fun. The kids also got very comfortable moving around Dal Lake using one of the three family kishtis . Our day began with an early morning ride across the canal to the Kashmiri bakery for fresh delicious hot breads that we brought back-breakfast everyday was these naans with a thick layer of butter and jam and a usual cup of black tea for me and chocolate milk for the kids. Day progressed with holiday homework that the children worked on, rides on Dal Lake for boating practice, lunch and dinner outside along the boulevard at our favorite Vaishno Dhaba-delicious rajma, rice, roti, salad, lassi.
Post lunches for me meant long siestas gazing at the distant hills, ducks squawking and hens clucking trying to escape the 4x4 feet floating platform to which they were confined. Javed's dad sat with a hookah,the women cooked and made endless cups of chai, salted pink concoction for the morning and the regular milk and sugared version for the rest of the day. Relatives visited, friends dropped by, vendors stopped hoping to sell merchandise to the family and also us. We quickly became at ease with our new family-the youngest child, a five year old, invariable came to wake me with an energetic "Utho,Utho (up, up..)" tugging away my blankets-I started waiting for this wake up call-while his mother would invariably tuck hot water bottles in our beds, to have them cosy warm at night. We ate a special vegetarian dinner cooked for us by the host family- delicious and different.

Aman worked on making a small model boat with wood donated by the family; Avani practised her Urdu skills and picked up basic alphabets and writing small words...such beautiful calligraphy, what beautiful language. What surprised me was there were no fat people here-everyone walked, rowed, worked. While we still went around in jackets, the weather was sufficiently warm for children here to be jumping off the boardwalk into the lake for a bath, a swim.

We were in no hurry to sightsee, and spent this week giving in to living differently, to the rythm of the water, rocked and comforted by its movement, to the colors in the sky, to the high mountains always visible, and mostly graced by affection and love granted to us by a family who so easily adopted us in their lives.

Dusk on the canal

Aman's boat

Flower Vendor's boat

Hanging out at the deck

Neighbours' boats and kishtis

Spring on the boardwalk

Bringing breakfast home

Floating farms on Dal Lake

Srinagar- A Jewel in the Crown

If Kashmir crowns India with stunning natural beauty, rich cultural heritage, astoundingly diverse geography,and sublime climate -then, surely, Srinagar is the singular jewel in this crown. Dominated by snow capped Pir Panjals, and irrigated by Jhelum with its network of canals, the city grew around the majestic blue-green Dal lake with its opulent houseboats, floating gardens, vegetable markets, and a maze of waterways leading to flourishing handicraft industries in finest form. It was here that influences from far and distant lands of Mongolia, China mingled with that from Persia, and Europe to emerge in a breathtaking tapestry of unique cultural identity with highly evolved forms of arts, crafts and architecture. Thus Srinagar became pivotal in evolution of finest carpet weaving, baroque paper mache, luxuriant silks and wools with refined needlework, and richly carved woodwork of the traditional walnut. Kashmiri architecture carved its own distinctive niche with wooden square steeples, wood inlaid work and simpler architectural forms in striking contrast to the development in the Indian plains to the south.[My two favorite mosques were the Shahi Hamdan with interiors made entirely of paper mache in gold and jewel tones, and Jamia Masjid with austere, refined interior made of cedar in wooden monochromes.]

Interior of Shahi Hamdan

Inside Shahi Hamdan

Inside of Jamia Masjid

Jamia Masjid

We arrived in Srinagar in spring this year-a time for change, flux, a visible alteration in the mood of the city. The Chinars (maples) were bursting in neon greens, the Safedas(poplars) again rustling. Doves circled overhead, and ducks splashed in the lake. Shikaras plied once more on Dal lake, in rich gaudy colors, kishtis crowded the waterways laden with produce, flowers. Mughal gardens reopened on Baishakhi-the first day of spring, and still competed for attention of admirers hundreds of years later. Shiraj - the tulip garden- put on an impressive show with nine hundred thousand tulips marking its opening.

People also racially merged in Srinagar and defined their own Kashmiri identity with distinctive clothing, food, and lifestyles. With spring, heavy woolen pherans that sheltered live kangris were shed, and lighter pherans with flashing tilla work, colorful headscarves and silver jewellery made a more flamboyant statement. Men could be seen sitting in groups in the courtyards, sharing a hookah, while longer lines of people relaxed and gossiped awaiting kashmiri bread outside bakeries.

phirens with tilla work

Along the lake front, shutters reopened after long winter months, Lal Chowk overflowed with merchandise, and travellers from distant lands could still be seen crossing the ancient wooden bridges over the Jhelum- tall Pathans with fiery beards, traders from buddhist Ladakh, portly merchants from the Indian plains. Srinagar accepted them all with a rakish laughter, a crinkled cunning look, ready to strike a bargain, acknowledging their historical role and ready once more to gain from it.