Malla Khaliq was still squatting in prayer, when a shikaarah stopped near the outer trellis of Gul. A tall man, dressed in a Jodhpuri suit, stepped out from the shikaarah. He was Narayan Joo, the proprietor of Kashmir Travel Agency. He was a few years younger to Malla Khaliq.
Narayan Joo’s father, Madhav Kaul, earlier lived on the right bank of the river Vyeth, known to the world as the river Jhelum; the lifeline of the Kashmir valley, on whose banks lies the city of Srinagar. Madhav Kaul’s three-storey house was on the water-front and down below Malla Khaliq’s father Samad Haji’s barge was anchored in the river.
Narayan Joo was born a couple of years after Malla Khaliq. The two grew up together, spending their days on the riverbank playing hopscotch. It was Malla Khaliq who taught Narayan Joo how to swim. Malla Khaliq’s mother, Maal Dyad, always visited Narayan Joo’s mother, Dyaka Dyad, to seek her counsel on various household matters. Seeing the friendship between the two women, Malla Samad and Madhav Kaul also developed a close bond. There was another reason for their friendship. Khaliq’s father was a God-fearing man, who could recite a large number of mystic poems of the Muslim saint poets of Kashmir, which he would recite with a purity of heart. This bridged the gap in their monetary status.
Madhav Kaul initially worked with Cock Burn’s Travel Agency, but when the first German war began, the agency was closed. Madhav Kaul then established his own travel agency which he named Kashmir Travel Agency. God helped him and his agency prospered at the end of the war, when his business expanded.
Thus Madhav Kaul became a big businessman, by local standards. Having disposed of his house in the old city, he shifted to Wazir Bagh in the new city. This separation was very painful for the two friends, but it did not last very long. Madhav Kaul advised Samad Haji to try his luck, too, in business. In the beginning, he was not strong enough to withstand the stress, but gradually he agreed to shift his barge from the old city to Gagribal in the Dal Lake, where the houseboats had started to do good business. Madhav Kaul used his clout in getting Samad Haji to erect a houseboat in the lake. That was how Gul came into existence.
Madhav Kaul sent Narayan to Bisco School which taught its students swimming and boating. This helped him develop a kinship with the waters of the Dal Lake. Narayan Joo and Malla Khaliq grew up, got married and became fathers themselves. Time’s merciless wings snatched away their fathers from them and placed the burden of their families on their shoulders. They witnessed many changes in their lives. The changes in prosperity, adversities, nothing affected their friendship.
The Second World War was a boon to those who were connected with tourism. Narayan Joo remained engaged in booking accommodation for Western tourists, mostly comprising British soldiers who preferred to spend their furloughs in Kashmir than other resorts, and Malla Khaliq was there to extend his hospitality to them. The business expanded so fast that Malla Khaliq, like many other houseboat owners, had to construct his second houseboat – Gulshan.
Time flowed fast as a river of no return. The war ended. The surge of tourists waned. The freedom struggle of the country culminated in the independence of the country whose outcome was the Partition. The upheaval of 1947 that followed. It was the beginning of a very dark period for Kashmir. Pakistan sent hordes of savage tribesmen followed by its soldiers to capture Kashmir by force. All the routes were blocked. And with this, the whole tourism business collapsed. But even in that terrible crisis, the two childhood friends stood by each other.
Thus the times took a new turn. The frost thawed and spring filled the gardens with fresh flowers. New avenues opened and the joint business of Narayan Joo and Malla Khaliq flourished again. On his son Vijay Kumar’s suggestion, Narayan Joo established an office of his travel agency in Bombay to attract visitors from other parts of the country, that way they would not have to depend only on foreigners. Since Narayan Joo’s spouse Leelavati passed away, he spent the six winter months away from Kashmir with his son. He not only looked after the business there but also arranged for tourist parties for Malla Khaliq’s houseboats. Thus with time, the number of tourists to this paradise on earth increased year after year. Even the forbidden land of Ladakh was opened to tourists which gave tourism a further fillip.
But Kashmir had always attracted misfortune; stability never lasted for long. After a couple of decades of peace and prosperity, the neighbouring Punjab was overwhelmed by a long period of turmoil. This affected Kashmir too. The number of tourists coming to Kashmir decreased day by day as the route to Kashmir was through Punjab and people did not want to take any risks. Malla Khaliq and Narayan Joo therefore had to rely on what they had earned earlier. By God’s grace, the violence in Punjab subsided and everyone began to look forward to having a fruitful tourist season.
With this hope, Malla Khaliq finished his nimaz and was about to fold the prayer mat when Gula Chooncha’s shikaarah stopped near the shore, and Narayan Joo came out of the boat and walked up the stairs leading to the isle. Narayan Joo was a graceful man – tall, bearing an almond-shaped saffron tilak, the sign of a devout Kashmiri Pandit, on his forehead. He looked as fresh and happy as a newly-wed groom.
‘As-salaam-alaikum!’
‘Wa-alaikum-salaam,’ Malla Khaliq responded without turning.
‘What! Are you now hesitant to even turn your face to me?’
Seeing his friend, Malla Khaliq flung the prayer mat on a branch of the willow tree, and gave him a tight hug. Aziz Dyad, who was walking over to the water tap, saw them. She left the basket of utensils there and rushed towards the two.
*Excerpted from Gul Gulshan Gulfam by Pran Kishore (translated by Shafi Shauq with Pran Kishore) with permission from HarperCollins India*
