Lost In The Wonderland of Snow: My Memories of Kashmir’s Winter Wonderland.

Unforgettable memories of the winter wonderland.

Memories can lodge you into the past and make you feel rejuvenated.

“A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.” — E. Welty

Last week, while cleaning my bookshelf, I found old photograph albums my father gave me. It has pictures of the locations my father took me for vacation during summer and winter school breaks.

As I flipped through the photo album pages, I was transported back to those moments in time. It fills me with a sense of nostalgia and wonder.

One of the best holidays I had was in Kashmir. My father’s elder brother was posted in Kashmir in the mid1970s. During the 1970s, Kashmir was considered a paradise on earth, and tourist footfall was at its peak.

I visited Kashmir with my parents and stayed with my uncle for almost a month in December 1973.

My favourite memories are taking the Shikara in the Dal Lake and walking on the lake’s promenade.

I remember visiting the Shankaracharya temple located on the hill opposite Dal lake. While climbing the hill, my slippers broke, and I trekked all the way up barefoot.

Each photograph is like a time capsule taking me back to a moment in time when I was experiencing the beauty and wonder of nature.

Four decades later, things have changed when I visited Gulmarg and Srinagar last year. The entire route from Srinagar to Gulmarg now has alert army jawans, CRPF and multiple check post.

Gulmarg is home to Asia’s seventh-best skiing resort and the world’s second-highest and largest cable car conveyance, locally known as the Gondola.

During the 1970s, we had taken the pony rides in Gulmarg and also trekked through the deodar and pine forest.

The snow is so pure and pristine.

Pahalgam is another beautiful location in Kashmir.

I sat on the banks of the river Liger in Pahalgam. The stillness and quietness of the environment is only broken by the sound of the wind or a distant bird. The surrounding landscape is lush and green.

I was lost in thoughts watching the rocks and pebbles on the bottom of the river bed. I remembered visiting the place with my parents and uncle in the 1970s.

The memories that were captured in the old photo albums and the recent photographs of the snow-clad mountains, valleys and rivers taken by me during my trip to Gulmarg and Pahalgam last year are a testament to the beauty and power of the natural world.

“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.” — Aaron Siskind

I loved some of the nature post written by William J Spirdione, B.R. Shenoy, Aarti Tailor