BANGALORE: Images help one cherish a vacation. But a bunch of Bangaloreans could not click pictures of their recent getaway as the weather was so harsh that their cameras wouldn’t work. These skiing enthusiasts hoped to escape the dry, dusty Bangalore, but ended up in the winter wilderness of Jammu and Kashmir, and unable to escape as all flights were cancelled. “One particular day, it was -22 degrees C,” Narendra, a city-based lawyer informed. Spoilt by Bangalore’s glorious climate, they didn’t expect to be caught in one of the most severe Kashmiri winters.
“We had enrolled for skiing classes but there were days when we had to be confined to the indoors,” he said. Trembling at the very thought of the cold there, they said even brushing their teeth was an ordeal, let alone bathing.
“Though the water was heated, when taps were opened, the water was freezing,” they said.
“It was the electric blanket that kept us warm as layers and layers of clothing were of no use,” Sharath, a software engineer said.
And as they thought their seven-day adventure had ended, there was news that Kashmir was cut off from the rest of the world and flights had not been able to land at Srinagar. Now safe in the comfort of their homes, these skiers recall the “goose bumps” from the cold. “We had a blast and want to go back if we can,” Sharath said.