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| When I mention the continuing war, Yaseen snaps back: “What war? Gulmarg has never been attacked.” I inquire further and Hamid counters, “The guidebooks and Indian government are giving the wrong impression of this area.” Yaseen reaches for the hookah, a water pipe he uses to smoke tobacco, draws a number of deep puffs from the pipe to rid himself of the ugly reminder, and continues: “Now people are coming back. New Zealand, Canada and Britain—I see new people every month. When the gondola is finished, it will be sooooooo good. ” I get the feeling that after living in this war-torn region for so long, Yaseen and every other Kashmiri I meet perceives safety in relative terms, since everyone in Gulmarg is caught up in this euphoria of hope and denial about the war. —from Greg Von Doersten’s Kashmir: Peace and Powder in the Last Shangri La |
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