The ‘all smiles’ Spice Jet airhostess approached me and said, “Here starts Kashmir!” It was aboard the flight from Delhi to Srinagar. Right from Delhi, I had made it a point not to miss a single bit of aerial view on Kashmir — and I had requested the beautiful lady to let me know when the plane hit the Kashmiri sky.

One hurried dekko out, and I had the impression of brushing the cool and fluffy patches of clouds with my face. And what the eyes met with below was just gorgeous and breathtaking: greenery at its best, meandering rivers and streams, tilled lands, green rolling hills, farmlands, sprawling open countryside — the beauty hard to capture in pictures and harder to describe in words.

It was virtually a green carpet with umpteen mosaics — I was green with envy to be in the green below there, rather than in claustrophobic inside of a plane, flying precariously at such a dangerous height and speed. The aerial view, though great, was giving just a vicarious pleasure — and though it was my personal choice, I had deprived myself of touching that green, rolling on it, observing every leaf of trees, blade of grass and petal of alpine flowers, and bathing myself in the silvery waters...

The jet finally touched the Srinagar runway and rolled to a stop. No sooner I had walked out of the airport, one refreshing scene greeted the eyes: those giant and leafy evergreen chinar trees (Platanus orientalis) — an emblem of Kashmir — greening the gardens and parks in Srinagar: from Nehru Park to Dal Lake, from Shalimar Garden to Nishat Bagh. The next

enchantment was, of course, the legendary Dal Lake and its houseboats. Awestruck by the beauty all around, I stayed put for hours on the Dal Lake Bank — even without seeking to know which houseboat I should be staying in.

At sunset, I made an hour-long ride in shikara, the local boat. The boat moved slowly through the rolling waves of Dal Lake, in the vale of Kashmir, now golden with crepuscular sunlight. The first impression of Kashmir was fascinatingly uplifting. The shikara owner recommended me a cosy houseboat on the water — where I slept like a log, floating in dreams to see Gul Marg, Shalimar Garden and Nishat Bagh next day.