wooWhen we recovered from COVID-19, we felt that our wings had grown. We were ready to travel far and wide because we were confident that we would not be infected again anytime soon. And, we hired Forever Blissful Kashmir, our first long journey to heaven on earth. After half a day’s flight we reached Srinagar. At the airport we read, “You are in heaven on earth!”
Our driver was waiting for us and he took us to Dal Lake. The lake was terrible, and full of tourists. However, we started the evening with bliss shikara Ride. Staying the night on a quiet houseboat with homely food was the cherry on the top!
The next day, we traveled to Pahalgam to witness the poetic views of the Kashmir Valley. We checked in at the hotel, had lunch, and despite exhaustion after the afternoon trip, we went for sightseeing. Then we realized that we should ride on horses and see the beautiful valleys. Initially, we didn’t find the idea very romantic, but later decided to jump into it after being convinced that it was the only option left.
We got two horses, Badal and Raja. Badal took my daughter and me and the king, my husband and son. We got on horseback amidst a huge crowd of tourists. When the horse started climbing the hill, my husband jumped off it because he felt there was little room for him and our son. He started walking, but the terrain was really bad for him. Later I got down and my husband along with our daughter rode on the cloud. I started walking and realized it was too busy for me. I climbed on the king. We had done it for about 2 km by then.
Despite the natural beauty, I felt terrible. My son was crying and asking me to get down and walk. My eight-year-old warned me that if I didn’t get down he would jump down and start walking. I was trying to console him, telling him that we would not be able to trek through uneven terrain. Suddenly, our horse, Raja, fell down while trying to climb a steep slope. The king was tired!
My son jumped off the horse and I found he was safe. My hand hit a hard rock and it broke. I was shocked to learn that there was no hospital nearby. My husband was worried; However, he managed to tie my hand to the shawl. Children were crying. No vehicle could reach there and we had to get down from where we started horse riding.
this is when we started seeing Jannati, Everyone around us, even the poorest of the poor, was extending a helping hand. We saw the purest heart. He helped me get on the same horse and he started leading me downstairs. Our driver did his best by this time and brought the car uphill. That night, I had surgery and we were recovering with the help of those around us!
In the midst of that crisis, we saw the holy spirit of Kashmiris. Drivers, doctors, hoteliers and staff, all considered us as their family. We could see our sadness on their faces. He helped us in every way and protected us. We enjoyed their love and warmth.
We were in safe hands, they considered our children as their own. They did everything in the name of God, when we gave them money or even thanked them they were shocked. They said they would get what they deserved Jannati, I wanted to tell them, “This is Jannati, Any place would be heaven for people like him.”
We all had tears in our eyes when we left Srinagar. It was difficult to say goodbye to our younger brother, our driver, who took great care of our children during the crisis. I would say we haven’t seen much of Kashmir, but we have seen Jannat!
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