Gulmarg: Photo by sunstone For months Mom and Dad had travelled and worked in hot and poverty blasted parts of India and then, for a fortnight or so, they came home to write up project reports and the Oxfam Newsletter. They really needed a break. The discomfort of the heat in New Delhi was compounded by the irritation caused by dust storms which left a fine red powder caked onto the window screens. The grit also got into your hair, your mouth and sometimes your eyes. The decision was taken to fly to Sri Nagar and then get a ride up to Gulmarg ...In fact Sri Nagar climbs up to meet your plane, you hardly descend down to it at all. It's like landing on a shelf. It is quite cold there and the town smells of woodsmoke. In the shops they sell silver plated hand warmers, which, in fact, are miniature braziers. You place a few live coals inside them and then put the hand warmer in your pocket. We go to carpet factories to admire the tight weave of Kashmiri carpets: 250 stitches to
Left wing commentary from the heart and the head