horse in pahalgam on friday
5:11 PM
salam alayk.
i'm back. sorry for not being updated here. guess i'm busy. macam la busy sangat. but, still, alhamdulillah, i'm still grateful that i'm able to spend my holiday wisely, insyaAllah. so, i will continue about kashmir. yeah, kashmir again. and the final place that we were roaming, pahalgam.
pahalgam is a off the beaten path, compared to gulmarg and srinagar. the journey to the town is approximately 2 hours from srinagar. on the night before, mr firdous told us that we must leave very early to pahalgam. because when our visit there, there was a curfew held in all over kashmir. guess we came at the wrong time, huh? but, i still think it's worth it. to experience what our brothers and sisters were feeling there.
since our journey to sonamarg started at 6am, we must leave for pahalgam at 5am. mr firdous said that he was afraid if there any strike, then he doesnt want anything bad happening to us. he will take any responsibilities, of course, but who wants things gone wrong right? since we will be moving before subh prayer, we stopped at the nearby mosque on our way and perform subh prayer.
i cant recall what's the name of the mosque, but when i wanna enter the prayer hall, there were 2 muslim ladies, both were very excited to see us. they cant speak english, but their gesture and body language seemed friendly. although we cant communicate well, but saying 'assalamualaikum' will never be enogh, considering kashmir is a muslim state (not officially). then, we prayed in room which had transparent glass all over the wall, and people are able to see us through it (we missed the jemaah though). and while i'm in tahiyat akhir, an old man banging the glass wall. he wanna tell us something.
he showed the other mecca direction, not the one we were pointing to. so, we prayed back. it was wonderful to see that the people here are care about each other, about the ibadah, about the sisters that they shared the same faith with, and there were more countless people we met then, in pahalgam.
our journey to pahalgam continue and we need to take a detour. because the road we were heading was blocked by the police. the police got here early. -.-" then, we took another one. and the police were there too. then, faruq, our driver headed to another less-car road, in which we got hit by a stone threw by some villagers. maybe they think we are the police huh? again, -.-". we reached pahalgam around 9 or 10 am. at first, the weather is quite rainy, but then the snow started to fall off. it was very nice.
the horse i'm riding called ----. i can't recall it, my bad. but i still remember the boy which took care of my horse, named Shaba or Saba. he considered the youngest of all the horsemen and he was quite good at taking care the horse. mine didnt cause much problem as others'. alhamdulillah. Shaba was very nice, but he's quite silent. the route we took was quite far and the weather was cold, there were no firepots for the horsemen as usual, so they were quite cold.
i looked at Shaba's boots. it was covered with snow and mud.his cheeks were very rosy and red. he was very cold. when we arrived at the location, the horsemen light up a fire, and started warming up. we joined then too, of course. indeed, at the end of his service, i gave him tip of rs100. he's a good boy, may Allah bless him and make him a better muslim, insyaAllah.
it was friday on the day we came to pahalgam. and we asked the horsemen, why they didnt go to the mosque for friday prayer. they said the authority people prevent the people in pahalgam from going to the mosque. they were afraid of the gathering and etc. in fact, pahalgam was affected the most when it comes to curfew. in here, there were many fights between the police and the people. so, we took the risk. hehe.
we were leaving pahalgam town around 2 pm, but we were able to come out of the town at 9 pm. and reached srinagar at 12am. the gate was guarded by the police and army, and they were kinda worried for the tourists. it was risky to go out there. meanwhile, we, in the car were so tired, boring, fed up with this thing. i felt asleep in the car. when we arrived, i opened my eyes, the car was aside the bank of dal lake, and it was super freezing! finally, bed!
pahalgam reminds me of the old bollywood movies telling the stories about so-called terrorists vs the indian army. yeah, it might be true. what the muslims in kashmir are fighting for is a good cause. but the way they did it, is not a good way. in fact, i believe that there should be another better way to do it. some of the muslims there although they are fighting for islam, they never fulfill their fardhu prayer. although the adzan can be heard from various mosque around dal lake, not all of its people go to perform prayer. it is very sad. similar. similar with malaysia.
i'm back. sorry for not being updated here. guess i'm busy. macam la busy sangat. but, still, alhamdulillah, i'm still grateful that i'm able to spend my holiday wisely, insyaAllah. so, i will continue about kashmir. yeah, kashmir again. and the final place that we were roaming, pahalgam.
pahalgam is a off the beaten path, compared to gulmarg and srinagar. the journey to the town is approximately 2 hours from srinagar. on the night before, mr firdous told us that we must leave very early to pahalgam. because when our visit there, there was a curfew held in all over kashmir. guess we came at the wrong time, huh? but, i still think it's worth it. to experience what our brothers and sisters were feeling there.
since our journey to sonamarg started at 6am, we must leave for pahalgam at 5am. mr firdous said that he was afraid if there any strike, then he doesnt want anything bad happening to us. he will take any responsibilities, of course, but who wants things gone wrong right? since we will be moving before subh prayer, we stopped at the nearby mosque on our way and perform subh prayer.
i cant recall what's the name of the mosque, but when i wanna enter the prayer hall, there were 2 muslim ladies, both were very excited to see us. they cant speak english, but their gesture and body language seemed friendly. although we cant communicate well, but saying 'assalamualaikum' will never be enogh, considering kashmir is a muslim state (not officially). then, we prayed in room which had transparent glass all over the wall, and people are able to see us through it (we missed the jemaah though). and while i'm in tahiyat akhir, an old man banging the glass wall. he wanna tell us something.
he showed the other mecca direction, not the one we were pointing to. so, we prayed back. it was wonderful to see that the people here are care about each other, about the ibadah, about the sisters that they shared the same faith with, and there were more countless people we met then, in pahalgam.
our journey to pahalgam continue and we need to take a detour. because the road we were heading was blocked by the police. the police got here early. -.-" then, we took another one. and the police were there too. then, faruq, our driver headed to another less-car road, in which we got hit by a stone threw by some villagers. maybe they think we are the police huh? again, -.-". we reached pahalgam around 9 or 10 am. at first, the weather is quite rainy, but then the snow started to fall off. it was very nice.
when we reached the guesthouse there, we were served by omelette and toast, together with coffee for breakfast. we took a decent rest there, as we were waiting for our horse to be prepared. yes, we were horse-riding. the route we took brought us near the himalayas as what the horsemen said. somehow, i did doubt that. due to the horse movements, some of the pictures seemed blur, but nevertheless, the view was stunning. it was very beautiful, subhanallah. :)
the horse i'm riding called ----. i can't recall it, my bad. but i still remember the boy which took care of my horse, named Shaba or Saba. he considered the youngest of all the horsemen and he was quite good at taking care the horse. mine didnt cause much problem as others'. alhamdulillah. Shaba was very nice, but he's quite silent. the route we took was quite far and the weather was cold, there were no firepots for the horsemen as usual, so they were quite cold.
i looked at Shaba's boots. it was covered with snow and mud.his cheeks were very rosy and red. he was very cold. when we arrived at the location, the horsemen light up a fire, and started warming up. we joined then too, of course. indeed, at the end of his service, i gave him tip of rs100. he's a good boy, may Allah bless him and make him a better muslim, insyaAllah.
pahalgam reminds me of the old bollywood movies telling the stories about so-called terrorists vs the indian army. yeah, it might be true. what the muslims in kashmir are fighting for is a good cause. but the way they did it, is not a good way. in fact, i believe that there should be another better way to do it. some of the muslims there although they are fighting for islam, they never fulfill their fardhu prayer. although the adzan can be heard from various mosque around dal lake, not all of its people go to perform prayer. it is very sad. similar. similar with malaysia.
 |
| shaba |
another conversation i can never forget is that.
"have you go for hajj?" the horsemen asked my father.
"not yet." my father replied.
"you should perform hajj before you come to kashmir." he replied.
it is again, a smack to us. sigh.
so, assalamualaikum. have a nice day!
0 comments