When I landed at Srinagar airport, I expected to find the place crawling with security personnel considering it is known to be a sensitive zone and have a tense environment. But much to my delight I was totally wrong. It was bustling with tourists and extremely helpful ground staff. The crisp air and golden sunshine outside was exhilarating. Wide roads, open grounds with towering trees meet my eye as I drive along the Dal Lake en route to the hotel. Rows of houseboats anchored on the lake beckon visitors as also the beautifully decorated shikaras (boats) with their brilliant coloured seats. The distant mountains surrounding the valley are perfectly mirrored in the ever so still waters of the lake. Now I see the huge fort which is said to have been built by Mughal emperor Akbar atop the hill, Hari Parbat. I detour onto the winding driveway of the only heritage hotel in the city, the Lalit Grand Palace. This was earlier the palace of the Kashmir Maharaja Hari Singh and called Gulab Bhawan. However, the palace, sprawling across nearly 50 acres strategically placed in one of the city’s best sites on the slope of a hill, was turned into a hotel with its 112 rooms and 59 luxurious palace suites. Leaving my bags in one of its spacious heritage rooms, I step out into the front garden overlooking the lake. The view is spectacular. The lush green lawn hemmed in by rows of red dahlias bobbing their heads in the breeze, the magnificent chinar trees with the hills partly covered in green deodars and chinars.
Autumn leaves drift by my window, the autumn leaves of red and gold… The lines of the once popular Nat King Cole number come to my mind as I eat the delicious Kashmiri dishes like dum aloo, hacque saag, raajma and saffron-flavoured rice followed by almond saffron phirni and finally the aromatic steaming kahwa. Srinagar is a very large city I discovered. I am lucky to have a Kashmiri friend Hashmat Ullah Khan to drive me to the famous Mughal Gardens, the Nishat Bagh with its terraced lawns and fountains and the Shalimar Bagh that was built by Mughal emperor Jehangir for his wife Noor Jehan, also set in sprawling grounds with terraced lawns and a central water channel. Hashmat takes me through the meandering lanes of the old city to a shawl weaver’s house near Safa Kadal. Inside, the weaving loom is set up in an immaculately clean room, where the weavers are busy with their wooden spindles called kani briskly making a kani shawl. I look down at an exquisite, colourfully designed part of the shawl that has been completed. It can take a year or more to make one of the famous kani shawls, Hashmat says. The next day I drive up the hill skirting the botanical gardens to the Chasme Shahi, a natural water spring set amidst a terraced garden. I scoop up the water in my palms and drink. The crystal clear water tastes divine, especially after the hot climb. A side road from here and a drive higher up the hill takes one to Pari Mahal built by Shah Jahan’s son in the 17th century. The place that once housed a library has a fabulous view of the Dal Lake and the city below. After a day long outing it’s great to be back in the Lalit Grand Palace. The Darbar Hall, used as a dining area, is part of the old palace complex that is built on springs and is therefore earthquake proof. The palace has its old secrets and is said to have secret tunnels to the grounds outside. They have neither been explored and no one knows the exact route… As I leave the place, I promise myself that I will return soon.
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