Diversions of a Busy Lawyer continues....

After attending the celebrations at Mathura, RaiBahadur Durga Das and I went to visit Agra and see the Taj. We were lucky to see it in its full grandeur on a full moon night when it is seen at its best.

My daughter Krishna was born in March next. Unluckily she is now dead.

In July 1926 I paid my first visit to Kashmir. I had bought a car in 1921, and it came handy. We travelled by car, the luggage and the servants following in a tonga. We moved in short stages so as to keep our luggage and the servants in the tonga with us at every halt. Our first stop after Jammu was at Udhampur, an ancient town, mainly inhabited by Mahajan Sahukars and situated on the top of a small hillock. The Maharaja of Kashmir had a small palace here where members of the royal family stayed occasionally on their journey to or from Srinagar. We stayed for the night in the dak bungalow on the roadside. It was full of mosquitoes. The next day we stopped for lunch at Kud, a picturesque town with a nice cool climate. We prepared our own lunch at one of the rest houses and spent a delightful afternoon. In the evening we drove to Batote, another charming stop on the way to Kashmir. Our next halt was Ramsu in a small Dak Bungalow overlooking a tiny rivulet of sparkling water. We enjoyed bathing in its waters. We crossed the Chenab lower down at Ramban which was very warm.

From Ramban we drove to Banihal and spent the night in the dak bungalow. The small trout here is delicious. The waters of the spring here are supposed to possess tonic qualities. Next morning we moved through the. pass at a height of 9000 ft. into Kashmir.

After crossing the Pir Panchal range, we halted at Verinag, the source of the river Jhelum. Here the water gushes out of the spring with great force and forms into a stream.

to be continued...

( This account is maintained by Har Anand Publication)