Beauty on the fringes

4

Not many sightseers know they are being cheated on Kashmir. They hear more about it but end up seeing little. Very little. Trust me, the Valley is not a postcard of the gurgling Lidder river, the rustling streams melting from the Thajiwas glacier, the snow peaks that rise seemingly to touch blue skyline or the lush green meadows linked through mountains. Kashmir is not Pahalgam, Gulmarg or Sonamarg, Kokernag. Neither the series of the Mughal gardens that lord the emerald Dal lake. It is more. It is an undiscovered wonderland, offering itself to be explored. Gradually as the plant of Indo-Pak thaw will grow into a tree of peace and trust, Kashmir would start revealing itself to the world. More enchanting places, never seen, never heard of before. To a true holiday-maker, Kashmir would unravel its dreamlands, hitherto blurred by the Line of Control. He would surely get used....