“Yeh jagah utni bhi buri nahi jitna aap News par dekhte ho” (This place is not so bad as they show it in the News); sitting on the deck of our Houseboat, soaking in early morning sun over Dal Lake; Bilal, our house boat owner spoke.
And that moment we realised what Kashmir has been through in the subtext of political turmoil. When I was little, my grandfather used to tell me stories from Kashmir. Kashmir that is “Heaven on Earth”, Kashmir that is breathtakingly scenic, Kashmir that is addictive. And here we are standing at the deck glancing at the beautiful Dal lake that mirrors the adjacent mountain and the first thing our houseboat owner worries about is our perception of Kashmir being “Unsafe”. Irony!
However, we can guarantee you one thing, even if you spend only a day in Srinagar and talk to locals like Bilal bhai; your views about Kashmir would change for ever. Let us tell you about places of visit in Srinagar in a day– What to see, where to eat, what to do and everything!!