The Magic of the Himalaya: Mystique and Allure

Abstract

My personal journeys to the Himalaya began in 1972 when I was eleven years old, and my father took us to Kashmir for the only family holiday I recollect. Back in 1972, Kashmir was truly the Paradise on Earth that Jahangir described: “Gar firdaus bar-rue zamin ast, hami asto, hami asto, hami asto,” which translates as, “If there be Paradise on Earth, it is here, it is here, it is here”. The placid waters of the Dal Lake, in the lap of the immensity of the mountains with its gliding shikaras, had a postcard picturesqueness that lingers in the memory so many decades later. The rippling stream in Pahalgam, the snow-blanketed slopes of Sonmarg, and the manicured golf course in Gulmarg made up the typical tourist trajectory we took, but that first Kashmir idyll ignited a visceral and emotional connection with mountains that has stayed with me to this day.