‘Cancel your tickets, it isn’t peaceful enough”But the tickets were non-refundable”Of course, it isn’t the first time they fear a loss’The grand exotica, that exists nowhere else, the behemoths that we are blessed with, after the miracles in the earthly alchemy that perhaps a lab still can’t replicate, Kashmir is yet to see the numbers in tourism. I know people who had to change their plans; they were coming from USA, UK, Germany.’But I wanted to see Kashmir’Kashmir of all places has been in news more for reasons other than what a traveler might want to hear. The charm in the name itself is such that overwhelmed with the Sahara deserts, Led Zeppelin couldn’t find a title better than ‘Kashmir’ for their exotic experience, without ever having been there. Nameless papers have written about it ever since, each talking about the disturbance but revealing the might and grandeur between the lines.Interestingly, Kashmir in small isolation is home to a rich influx of inheritance, speaking volubly of the diversity in the entire Indian subcontinent. Through history the land has gained on all fronts from every foot that touched the land. It has seen numerous scholars, travelers, explorers walk through it, some chose to give in to the charm and stay back. It was far easier a century back (and even earlier), hurdles might have been tough, bottles to carry water still might have meant a goat skin sack, but the crown of Himalayas was as much accessible to them as it is for the migratory birds now, the only ones that can go back every summer and hide in the mountains, to the envy of 21^st century explorers.’How much of Kashmir is still unexplored?”A lot’ said my friend, a professional Mountaineer in Alps, and I believe him. The vast expanse of the land has limitless realms of surprises. The land inhabited must still be fractions, because the rest is still subject to inhuman conditions, but that is what explorers, wanders and travelers call ‘exotic’. A traveler like me who takes as much pleasure in scaling a small peak, unknown, plain simple covered in rocks in summers and snow in winters, not expecting a medal, but pure solace through the journey, calls this King size life. It would be like a range of peaks to choose from, a family that has young kids could go for the bunny peak, with grownups a still larger one, again not for the sake of scaling but doing the act together. They promise each other then to come back in the winters and learn skiing. But the winters come and go, and they can’t make it. Why? It’s still too expensive. The regular interruption in the traffic hasn’t yet been able to bring costs down to what can be affordable for a middle class family in India, and unless the middle class learns how to ski, it will be tough to field a skier in the Olympics from India, simply meaning unless the middle class gets into traveling to Kashmir, the state can’t really start generating the large revenues, still in waiting.While people like me do with the alternatives, having Kashmiri food at a Kashmiri friend’s place in Delhi instead of Kashmir, listening to his grand father and his grand old explorer tales as a kid, my desire has further grown. I am supposed to visit a village 50 kms from Gulmarg in December, an invitation from a young friend who aspires to shine as a Sufi musician, to stay with his family and spin bukharas with the kids. All I plan to do is run around in snow, chase the kids and be chased in turn.People can certainly cancel their tickets, but my journey this December is on.