Gulmarg
About Gulmarg
A huge cup shaped meadow, lush and green with slopes where the silence is broken only by t....
Snow falling on the pines
Posted by sundayexpressSnow falling on the pines
By
Mufti Islah
The snow never fails Gulmarg. Every year, round about Christmas, it comes silently, draping the verdant meadows, gigantic pines and Gujjar dhoks (huts) in an egalitarian white sheet. And this year, in its wake came the first brave tourists, honeymooners from Maharashtra, holidaymakers from Karnataka, eagerly soaking up sights last seen in Mani Ratnams Dil Se.
As Sarita Rajan lobs a snowball at her husband Neeraj Munde, a smile lingers around the wizened mouth of Ghulam Nabi Lone, a sledge-owner. His eyes then follow Rani Maulik and Biswajeet as they pose for photographers. Its impossible to miss the conflicting emotions as they race across his face. I approach Lone, asking him if these four tourists augur well for the state. He frowns, adjusts his topi, and draws on his cigarette. Jenab, yeh tu ek chint hain samandar ki. Tera saal pehle, yeh baraf hamari ziyarat hua karte thi (This is a drop in the ocean. Thirteen years ago, this snowfall could have been our relic), he says ruefully.
I offer him tea at a nearby wood-and-three-tin-sheet restaurant. A bukhari (a huge sigri) by his side, Lone, 45, opens up. When I was a young boy, there would be thousands of picnickers in Gulmarg. Hotels would be full, often booked upto two years in advance. The richest people of the country would sit around the hearths and enjoy their champagne, whisky and brandy. They would dance and sing and offer local waiters hundreds of rupees in tips, but now .., his eyes move towards the Alipater peak, ... there are no tourists.
None perhaps, in comparison with the glory days, but there is cause for optimism. We are having a good opening, he considers. I see 30-40 domestic couples coming here everyday. Its a good omen, a new beginning. Maybe the new government and our leader Hassan Mir (Ghulam Hassan Mir, minister of urban development, is the PDP MLA from Gulmarg-Tangmarg constituency) have something to do about it, he says, his eyes lightening up. They have spread the word of peace to the outside world and perhaps their officials are busy roping in tourists for us. Otherwise, why would they come here?
Most of the local guides, ponywallas, skiing instructors and 
teashop owners at Gulmarg are performing the same balancing act between hope and cynicism. Tourists at any time are positive sign, but winter tourists are even more special, as Mohammad Sayeed, a manager with a leading hotel, explains. While both the rich and the middle-class came here during the summers, in winter it would be top political and business families who came. They would arrive in huge cavalcades, carrying their own wines and woollens, he remembers. They now holiday in Europe and Latin America, because no place in India can replace Gulmarg.
The official season extended from Christmas to March 23, but the tourists would inevitably linger till Baisakhi (April 13), providing, in Sayeeds words, a good account of Punjabi affluence.
A big mass of snow tumbles down from the roof, and conversation turns to the present. We have got some good advance bookings this year, and business seems to be picking up. In fact, some 8-10 of the old holidaymakers are coming in mid-January, says Sayeed.
On the 800-meters downhill trek from the main bus stand to Gandola, I catch up with Nazir Ahmad, a ski instructor from Hajbagh, Tangmarg. He shares Sayeeds cautious optimism, pointing towards Slope 85, where 50-60 youths are taking skiing lessons everyday. On the directions of the new government, the Youth Service and Sports and Tourism departments have employed 20 instructors to teach enthusiastic skiing hopefuls. Ahmad says there are 150 other private skiing experts, who expect good business in the coming season. Many have even bought new equipment. The rush is picking up, he says.
With an eye to propitiate the reluctant tourist, skiers, says Ahmad, have decided to keep their rats moderate. Last year we charged exorbitant amounts and scared away the few tourists who came. So this year, day-long skiing sessions will cost just Rs 250, while hour-long sledge rides will cost Rs 60.
I walk towards the Gandola, a prestigious Rs 27-crore project usually accessed by cable cars, which is connected by a ropeway to Kongdoori, 2.5 km uphill. The Rs 11-crore second phase, which will take the picnicker five km higher and straight into the Apparvat mountain belly an altitude of 9,000 meters is under construction. Beyond that lies the Line of Control.
The Gulmarg Gandola, swear tourism officials, is the key to wooing the tourist. We have no two opinions on announcing that the cable car project is our USP here, says Farooq Ahmad, managing director of Gulmarg Car Corporation. The corporation earned Rs 85 lakh in 1998-99 and Rs 115 lakh in 1999-2000; by July-end this year, it had already realised Rs 86 lakh, though its among the cheapest such rides (Rs 100 or $2 per person per ride, compared to $6 in Europe) in the world.
To capitalise on its best bet, the PDP government has promised to expedite work on the re-laying of the six-km stretch from Gondola to Gulmarg Club. Special soil is being used to raise the level of the road, which cracks up after every snowfall. The government has also announced special rebates in lodging and boarding tourists, and is said to be seriously thinking of arranging on-demand special chopper services from Srinagar to Gulmarg.
The Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government has sent people from the trade and travel division of the tourism department to placed all over the country to woo tourists to Gulmarg and Patnitop, says Kulbushan Jandial, J&K Director, Information.
To that end, the PDP government is constructing an amusement park and promises uninterrupted power supply to the holiday resorts. It is also working on augmenting accommodation, upgrading markets and building public loos.
Content Source:
This article originally appeared in The Sunday Express.
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