The first mosque in Kashmir, where I didn't feel very welcome.

Old Town Srinagar

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2003-08-18 - Srinagar (Day 125)

Showkat offered to take me on a City Tour, as it seems my photos still lacked much of the "real Srinagar" which he offered to show me. Before that fun though I had to deal with getting rid of 10kg of gifts that had accumulated since the trip started and some more things which Showkat convinced me to buy. I have to put it that way as the guy is a dammed persistent salesman but even so, he showed me some nice things and I am glad I purchased them. Now of course before I could buy anything, it was time to get more money and I visited the only bank in town that does cash advances, on the second day since they started the service. That was lucky as I would not only have not been able to buy anything but I'd probably be begging on the road for gas and food. So first stop was the bank and it took a good hour and a half to get the money processed - they had the service but no one said anything about efficiency. The second stop was DHL, which did allay my worries about all the items disappearing in the mail, but DHL insisted on full inspection and count of every item in the box (there were 30 or so small items so this was a bit of a pain) but it got all packed and another US$ 100 disappeared on mailing. [ Not to complain as the box and another sent a few days later arrived in good condition in just a couple of days in Taiwan.]

In Kashmir, one has to try the Lassi's according to Showkat so our first stop is a street stall for a lassie, which is something like a shake but made with fresh curd instead of ice cream. The Kasmiri's also take them differently then most of India in that they add salt instead of the sugar, which is common elsewhere. Showkat ordered us two but as they were being finished I saw that the stall vendor was adding straight tap water and I had to do the very rude move of refusing the Lassie as I'm tired of the runs which have come every time I've had any water in India. Still, I wanted to try it and wandering to the end of the street, I found come mineral water and had another made. I have to say it was very good and the salt was a unique taste, which I quite liked.

Next stop was to the ancient Mosque, which was the place where Islam was founded in Kashmir. The Mosque itself was beautiful in its wooden construction and walls covered by papier-mache. However, the sign at the door put me off completely on the mosque and unfortunately had a very negative opinion on the area as a whole. The sign on the front said "No Women or Non-Islams Behind Here." Considering the culture has already placed women as at best a "second-class" or in Simon de Bouvier's viewpoint an inferior class, I was offended not only to be thus designated but also to be excluded when I came with open interest. This is a point in time when the friction between the Muslim world and American's is at a peak and both cultures preach a culture of tolerance and openness to others. As I came with interest in the religion and its beliefs, I was very put off to be excluded at the door. The Muslims are fond of saying that "Christianity, Judaism, and Islam really don't have major differences as the core belief is that there is one God, just different names for him." This I find an admirable sentiment, but apparently it isn't taken to heart when one is left out at the front door with the dogs.

To make it worse, some young urchins in the mosque grounds started throwing rocks at me on the way out. They missed me but hit Showkat. Army soldiers that were scattered around the Mosque caught the boys and gave them a balling out and sincere apologies to us, but still the point seemed clear that my presence even in good faith wasn't wanted. Now, I don't hold the boys at fault, with the war in Iraq and how it is viewed in Muslim areas its not surprising that the children would act thusly, but the sign on the door of the mosque I found very sad.

We went to another mosque in the city, which is the largest in Kashmir - a stunning structure built of hundreds of wooden columns. This I was allowed in to see and I found the people inside, men and women very accommodating which I liked. One of the items I really appreciated as I left, an old man at the door offered me a flyer on the basic precepts of Islam. It was not forced or pressured just held out in offering with a smile, which I found the best of all possible actions. To not offer any information on Islam or any religion at a place of worship is to imply that my understanding is of no value, however to force it on me or insist on proselytizing is to not accept that I might have other beliefs. This small gesture of offering I found very pleasing and respectful.

Afterwards we wandered through the old town buildings that with their centuries old wooden structures were nice, but a bit sad in their run down condition. One of the buildings quite old Showkat pointed out as an old rich family's home. Then he added it was a Buddhist home at which I was searching the building's architecture, windows and structure for clues on how he could tell. Coming up empty I asked how he knew it was a Buddhist thinking there would be a giveaway in the windows or ceiling, but after a somewhat awkward pause, he said,"Because it was burned..." somehow I realized I was looking at the equivalent to a Jewish shop in Nazi Germany.

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