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