Two faces of Kashmir

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I want to share two completely different scenarios happened on my one trip:

A.  Scenario 1 - It was our 4th day of travel to leh ladakh on our enfields. We were crossing the ladakh valley and were currently in the Rumtse village. People told me that it will be very difficult to ride your bike for so long but it was going very well for us. The best parts of the trip until then were the landscapes and the people. Every village we used to cross, kids used to come out of their homes after listening to the thumps of our enfields. All of them waved us with beautiful smiles on their faces. While riding, we hi5 with them and we used to get really happy after that. What made us happier was the indulgence of their parents. Even they joined their kids in waving us, smiled to us & gave us hi5. Whenever we stopped for some snacks, we used our every minute in talking to the people and playing with the kids.

B.  Scenario 2 - It was our 9th day of the trip and we were travelling from Kargil to Drass.  With lots of memories from Leh, we were travelling in a very good mood. There are lots of villages in the 50 kms ride from Kargil to Drass. We saw some kids playing there and all the earlier memories flashed in my mind. As soon we passed the kids, they started waving us but a strange thing happened. When I extended my hand to hi5 with the kids, their parents came running towards them and pulled them away from us. We were surprised to see that. It was not only one parent did that; every one pulled their kids away. No one in that area waved or even smiled to us.


Both the areas fall in the J&K and are only 150 kms apart + the landscapes are nearly same. But till now I am unable to find the exact reason for such differences. It can be the war history in Kargil area which has brought distrust in the people living there, it can be the government persisting there, it can be the religion difference or it can be the upbringing  of the people living there etc. but whatever, it has to be curbed. 

Comments

  1. Unknown23 April 2015 at 13:15

    Travelling can give you such mind boggling learning experiences! There is so much to explore and observe about people, nature, landscape...

    ReplyDelete

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