Srinagar Dec 1989

Srinagar as a tourist spot was definitely exciting. There was also an unspoken awe about it given the Indo-Pak relationships and it’s perennial effect on the people of Jammu and Kashmir. We were not really influenced by the same. We were looking forward to some good time and given the conferences I had attended earlier, I was keen to see the excitement that would be created.

Our Rajdhani Express reached New Delhi station in the morning and we hired a few cabs for transporting ourselves to the airport. On reaching the airport we were given to understand that the flight was in the afternoon and the whole Network India team was to travel on one flight. This was pure case of excitement taking over safety and perhaps the Business Continuity Plans that we implement these days. By God’s grace nothing did happen but why take such a risk putting ALL your important Golden Geese in one aircraft!!

The wait was long and tedious and the Delhi airport was not a terribly exciting place to be. We saw groups coming in like waves from different parts of the country depending upon the train timings. By midday I reckon we were full house and the airport had taken up a look of a Network Railway station!!

Some of the Head Office powerful personalities along with their regional stooges were already clamouring window seats since they wanted to have a dekko of the Himalayas. There were some debates about as to which side of the aircraft was a better proposition and while the Delhi gang and Bombay gangs made major progress in garnering seats for poorer cousins like Kolkata and Bhubaneshwar or Guwahati it was a pure matter of luck!! Our Kolkata office stalwarts of course had left us high and dry to fend for ourselves. It had to be. There were not enough girls in our team!!

There was also a clamour for the Executive Class seats versus the bathroom classes and we did find later on that the stooges had captured a bulk of the former. They always do!!

The aircraft was one of those A-300s and except a few there were only Networkers occupying the seats. The flight was on time and it was quiet when the plane took off. Once the seat belt signs were switched off it became a social melee. People got up from seats and met one another for general banter while others in coveted window seats on the right waiting to catch a glimpse of the snow clad mountains!! Inevitably, a few minutes later the captain announced that Mount Everest could be seen and immediately majority of the pax all huddled onto the right side of the aircraft to enjoy the sight. The commander perhaps did not anticipate this and to steady the aircraft we were promptly told to get back to our respective seats and the seat belts signs were once again on. In order to avoid risk, the signs were on throughout the flight.

Srinagar was cold when we deplaned and it was announced that we board the waiting buses while our luggage would reach the hotel directly. It was all a secret as to which hotel and what were the plans.

The buses left as a convoy and we dissected the city of Srinagar and reached near the DAL Lake where we de-boarded.

The ride to Centaur Hotel on the other side of the lake in a Shikara was fantastic and it was all kudos to the arrangement committee. The serene waters of the lake reflecting the shikara and our faces was quite opposite of the excited feelings we had about the conference.. While the journey was good I was a trifle disappointed with the extremely dirty water of the lake. The underbody was full of intersecting weeds and I would not dare touch the water!!

The other shore was ready to welcome us with bindis(a colour mark applied on the forehead) and diyas(Indian earthen ware candle) and the sound of drums and that was a thoughtful exercise. The next freebie was the Pullover that lasted me quite a few number of years!!

We were allotted our respective rooms and though we were tired, we were anticiaptiong the good barbecue dinner that was to follow. So far so good, but what turned out was historical in its own way!!!