Mission Accomplished!

The Kashmir mission has been a resounding success. Members of the group walked in valiantly this morning to a heroes’ welcome – just that they were not back from war, but from a pleasure trip that had transported them to the seventh heaven. “We all had a great time,” gushed Hari Singh Shekhawat, at whose initiative the 33 predominantly senior citizens could venture out for the Club’s first-ever upcountry expedition.
On this man (in yellow T-shirt, above) rests the credit of making the impossible, POSSIBLE.
“Everything went absolute first class!” endorsed Srichand Arora, who also had a special word of praise for Mumtaz Jahan to have organized the stay and sight-seeing in and around Srinagar so efficiently. “The people she had entrusted the job with took good care of us,” he added.
The group had left Bombay by train on August 31 (see post) and reached Jammu the following day. After a 10-hour bus ride, they checked into their hotel in Srinagar from where trips were lined up for Gulmarg, Pahalgham and Sonmarg. Only at Pahalgham did they face inclement weather and had to perforce remain indoors.
There were some initial hiccups as well, particularly when Fehmida Khan (left) did the vanishing trick at Jammu and delayed the bus ride to Srinagar by over two hours. According to Ved Prakash Grover, on another occasion, she placed an order for ten plates of pakodas from a roadside vendor (who mistook her for a film heroine from Bombay) and disappeared without taking delivery or paying!
On a sadder note, Santosh Tyagi (right) was robbed of Rs15,000 and other valuables from the train to Jammu. Around 3.00 a.m. (between Agra and Mathura) when most passengers were fast asleep, a rascal entered her cabin and on the pretext of checking seat numbers, spotted her purse unattended and decamped with it. By the time she could gather her wits, it was too late.
We understand what Santosh-ji must have gone through – to be left without cash at the very start of the trip and not be able to talk about it. But more than the loss of money, the feeling of utter foolishness and helplessness can be completely devastating. Our heart goes out to her.
Harish Wadhwa:
* Welcome back friends. I am very happy for them to have met and enjoyed with our brethren in Kashmir. There is no doubt that Kashmir is the 'Crown of India' and no less than Alps in Switzerland for us Indians.
* Santosh-ji, we can empathise with what you must have gone through when you lost your purse. But don't worry for the money loss. What you have got and seen from this trip is far more valuable. It also goes to say that Delhi has more thugs than other parts of our country.
* Thanks also to Mumtaz-ji for making the arrangements so well, as I hear.