Women are indeed a weaker sex!!!

Since we had reached early that evening, Jenny and I decided to go to exploring the Dal Lake region. There were shops all around the lake. We went to a Punjabi restaurant for dinner. We met the same family from Pondicherry at the restaurant. We had dinner together. We decided to go shopping. There was a shop attached to this restaurant. As it was a Punjabi shop I decided to try my luck to find ready made kurtas for my size. The salesman happily showed me good embroidered kurtas. He was particular that I had to try it out and he showed me the trial room and kept on pestering me to try it on. I have the habit of looking around before entering any room. The main reason is that I am scared of cockroaches and spiders. This was a small room under the staircase. There were a number of steel cupboards with mirrors. Since it was night I scanned the place. I entered the room and as I started to change, I noticed there was a small hole on the wall. I looked closely and realized there was a lens of the camera. I jumped out of the room and told Jenny that I didn’t want the kurta. She looked at me puzzled and asked,

“Xina, what is wrong?”

I am not sure if my face showed the fright.

“Come, we’ll go,” I turned and walked off and she followed me.

The salesman was talking to me in Hindi and I in my broken Hindi told him that I didn’t want it. Jenny was all confused. She kept on asking me why I was not buying the kurta. As I got out of the shop, I told her that there was a camera in the changing room. We were not in a position to create a scene as it was an alien land with an alien language. Above that, anything could happen to us if we were to create a problem.

I thanked my stars for protecting me from the biggest danger. I cannot imagine what would have happened if I didn’t notice it. My pictures or video would have been in the internet. Imagine students seeing their teacher's video or photograph!!! I was terribly disturbed and Jenny tried consoling me. This was one bad experience I had to undergo in that beautiful valley.

Next morning we were leaving Srinagar. So we had to pack up our bags and get ready. We left for Pahalgam. As it was not cold in the mornings I went out as usual. The journey to Pahalgam was very scenic. There was a river flowing on the one side of the road. Tourists could be seen on the sides of the road stopping by the river. It is from here that Hindu devotees went for Amarnath Yatras.

As we got out of the bus, there was a slight drizzle and the chilly wind made me shiver. I knew I could not withstand the cold without a sweater or a shawl. I pulled out a shawl from my suitcase and covered myself. Still I was shivering and could feel my jaws grinding against each other. We straight away got into a restaurant and ordered for hot tea. We also had our breakfast from there. By then I was feeling quite okay and could move. We walked down the valley. The lush grassland was beautiful. We went around shopping for the typical Kashmiri stuff. I bought a few chains and Kashmiri handicrafts for my daughter and myself.

We then went around the town. We wanted to have quaha before we left Kashmir valley. We asked a shopkeeper, from whom we bought almonds about quaha. He said he would make for us. Though we refused, he said we were his guests and rang up his wife and gave her instructions. Though we were feeling bad, he kept on talking to us and was very happy to learn that we were from Kerala. Finally our quaha arrived and he was very happy to see us enjoy the quaha.

The Kashmiris are nice people. There may be terrorism but the majority of them are good and very hospitable unlike us. They are sad that the media has always been rude to them by giving unwanted importance to the trivial problems there. One can see the army and police all around the place. Though initially I was a bit scared, I got used to it in course of time.

The Border Road Organisation (BRO) maintains the roads all over the Kashmir Valley. The signboards are indeed humorous and thought provoking. There were many signboards but a few that I managed to take down was

“Simplicity is the peak of civilization”

“Be gentle on my curves”…..This was a classic signboard by the BRO.

From Pahalgam we left for Kud. On the way the bus stopped at Patnitop. Willows were seen in plenty. We reached Kud in the evening. It was a great disappointment to find our hotel room. It was not at all clean. The door was not safe. The lamps did not work. Bed sheets were dirty. We complained that we wanted the bed sheets changed and the receptionist said he could send a boy.

Jenny and I went out for dinner. The place was not at all clean. The roads were narrow and big trucks moved up and down. The people there were mainly the labour class and so their behaviour was unrefined. We went to an over crowded restaurant for dinner. There they were frying fresh jellebies. I bought some to give my family members. The soan papadi was excellent. It was crisp and it melted into my mouth. It was indeed yummy!!!

By the time we got back, it was time to go to bed. I changed into my night wear. It was a deep pink knee length one piece night dress. Jenny wanted the sheets changed. I called for the boy. When he came with the sheets I opened the door for him. He raped me with his looks. He came in and on purpose he rubbed against me. While going out again he did the same. He came back knocking saying he wanted to replace the bulb. I asked Jenny to deal with that man and I went into the blanket. I realized that women were indeed a weaker sex when compared to men. In many places even if you wanted to react to sexual violence it was not possible. In a strange land with strange people and an alien language, a woman is totally helpless. I spent a sleepless night. I wanted to get back to my family.

Next morning, after breakfast we left to Wagah Border. It was a long journey from Kud.

The bus stopped near a shop and the guide told us we could buy cricket bats from the shop. He said the cricket bats were made in J&K state and it was very cheap. The children jumped out and their parents followed them. They came back as proud owners of the big bats and tiny bats.

The NH 1A highway was indeed excellent. When we reached Lakhanpur, the guide told us we were out of J&K state.

I got hold of my mobile phone. For nearly a week I was depending on the public call office to keep in touch with my family. Once we reached the town, both my dead phones became active. I immediately called home. Then I sent sms to my friends. I started feeling good. Jenny was telling me that my face was beaming with joy.

There were vast stretches of agricultural land on either sides of the highway. In the middle of the road laburnum was in full bloom. The NH 47 in Kerala is not even one-fourth the size of the Punjab- Haryana’s NH 1A. There were neither pot holes nor any traffic blocks. The journey was a very smooth one. The best thing about this highway was there were petrol bunks at regular intervals and toilet facilities were available at all these filling stations.

We reached Wagah Border around 3 pm. We had a cup of coffee from one of the eateries. We walked up to the border. It is a long walk from the parking area to the border.

Some problem had occurred to my camera and I had to take photographs with my mobile phones. As we walked we saw Pakistan territory. It was a nice feeling to see their territory. It was very hot and there was no much crowd at the time we arrived.

We sat on one the steps of the gallery. It was very hot that I felt that my bottom was getting baked. We did not have an umbrella. All of a sudden there was a surge of people and the place became crowded.

There were people from various strata and their patriotism could be seen.

The other side of the gate is Pakistan and even there people came to watch the ceremony

The soldiers warned the people not to shout slogans against Pakistan. They asked the mob to behave decently. I could see soldiers with a head dress similar to the ones worn by the waiters at the Indian Coffee House.

The Wagah Border ceremony began just before sunset. The Border Security Force organizes the ceremony. It is called the ‘lowering of the flag’ ceremony. I had never seen soldiers parade. The orderly and stately parade was a sight indeed!!! Even on the other side Pakistani soldiers have the same ceremony. Both sides have rigorous marching. At sunset the gates are opened and the flags lowered and folded. The soldiers of both sides shake hands and finally the gate is locked. This parade is a routine everyday.

After the parade we walked to the parking area where our bus was parked. It was already getting late. The bus set off to Amritsar.