Venice In India

I am sure everyone has a dream travel destination that they always want to visit at least once in their lifetime. For me, it has to be Venice. The idea of boats being the basic mode of transport is just too exciting! Imagine telling your teacher, “Sorry for being late ma’am, no boat was stopping for me.” , and you’ll know what I am talking about.



I visited Kashmir in July, this year and got a taste of it at the serene Dal Lake in the heart of Srinagar. Believe me, you have no idea of what the word ‘relaxing’ means until you have sat in one of the shikaras that move ever so slowly on the still waters of Dal, that you won’t even hear the sound oars of the boatman hitting the water.



The Dal Lake is a thriving floating city, with clinics, chemist shops, schools, groceries, and even massage parlours right in the middle of the lake. Also there are mobile shops on boats, which sell all sorts of things, like jewellery, food, clothes, etc. Pretty Kashmiri children move about in their own personal shikaras, using the oars with startling skill.
There are beautiful boat houses, with vintage furniture and huge crystal chandeliers. Half of the lake’s surface is covered with floating gardens, which are literally portions of floating grass with all sorts of colourful flowers growing on them. The first picture is of the breathtaking sunset at Dal Lake. The second has been clicked from one of the boat houses in which I stayed for a night. We had the luxury of having a shikara at our call at all times. The whole concept of using your own shikara to get things resulted in me purposely forgetting my things at my parents’ boathouse, just so that I can sit in the shikara!