PART III
The third day of our
trip was for Gulmarg ! Eager appointment
with Gondola ride, Afarwat Peak and lots of snow. However, "no pony rides" was our
collective verdict. Shahid assured we
would not take horses but instead have to deal with persistent horse men who
would stop our vehicle from going beyond a point and force us to hire them despite
the short walk. Out of the blue Shahid zeroed
onto me for putting up an act of getting annoyed for not taking us right up to
the Gondola point. I would have to show
anger and be very upset with his sudden desertion. Well, once again I was on teeter hooks with
all the briefing about the rogue horsemen, disorganised rides pesky hawkers and
the works, I was quite worried of what lay ahead.
As we once again
drove past towns, villages and meadows the mountains moved on ahead of us. As though beckoning constantly to scale the
heights and embrace its splendour. Our first
stop was Tanmarg, at the foot of the hills.
Shahid encouraged us to hire the special gear required for getting on to
the snow at this point since they cost a fortune at Gulmarg.
Our little Missy
Baba screwed up her nose as she realised she would have to wear some hired
clothes. Since I am unable to wear any
other footwear other than my "self engineered" sandals, I chose my
overcoat and waited for my family to get their shoes. It is here that I had a touching
experience. The young boy who was
helping did not quite notice my deformed foot so he pressed hard till I told
him my problem. After a few moments to
my amazement he fished out two different sizes of boots. He coaxed me saying there were enough lying
around and it wouldn’t hurt him to spoil the pairing for a few hours but it
would be a shame for him if I got back without even stepping on the snow. I was speechless. I had never experienced such acceptance of my
iniquity. Such generosity to make me a
part of main stream and not discourage was rarely experienced by me. I was moved to tears. But smiled and blest him for his affection.
And then, at
Gulmarg, the drama unfolded with the ghodawallas, Shahid and me. My son has since awarded me couple of Dada
Saheb Falke’s and Filmfare awards. With
much ado we finally did take ponies for a walking distance of just ten
minutes. Here too I was much assisted
and welcomed. I am amazed how this part
of the country has been so generous and accepting towards my disability. My respects and gratitude to this region has
gone up several notches.
When we reached the
ticket counter, there was a serpentine queue.
While Sam and Ranjit waited at the general counter; a ladies counter
opened up on the other side. So Ranjit
asked me to make my way to it with Sam’s help.
Suddenly out of nowhere a group of “supposedly smart” “monkey-capped” women
from my very own city ran, jumped and barged ahead to the counter; almost
toppling me over looking quizzically and contemptuously at my stupidly slow
pace. And when I reached the counter
they looked at me triumphantly. However,
I got to buy my tickets before them as they were indecisive and broke into
parliamentary discussions. The BSF
personnel would have none of it and asked them to move aside. So, I was ultimately the first to buy my
tickets. Sam who is always infuriated
with these attitudes blurted out his newly learnt terms “burn” “bring some
alovera” brought a smile to my lips but I chided him saying “forget it...we
aren’t in competition”. My only regret from
these incidents is that I wish my fellow Kolkattan’s behaved as cultured as
they felt.
Eventually, we made
it to the Gondola’s. The last hitch; we
were made to miss one entire round for an Army Officer who was on his
honeymoon. Never mind...the next was
just round the corner. So finally in the
Gondola were four of us. And lo and
behold as we went up and away, breathtaking beauty, gasps of awe and a wee bit
of fear made it a heady mix of pleasure unmatched. My God, My God was all that I could say and
yes reminded me of the wonderful Creator who created the whole Universe.
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