I visited Jammu and Kashmir recently, I thought I should share my observations:Visited Kashmir, the beauty is beyond words. There are delicate flowers in every hue, the mountains are overflowing with beauty and melody. The breeze is always fragrant with the sap of deep green devdars trees. Wild birds twitter in the forests and near rivers and lakes. In the nights Sonmarg valley was like a bowl surrounded on all sides by mountains, a bright moon bathed the night in blue light, the snow clad peaks shined bright in the night just as the stars shimmered in this inky blue bowl. The night was embraced by the serene melody of flowing Lidder river. An ancient Shiva temple is situated near Mansabal lake. It is partially submerged but the caretaker said that water was drained a bit and it was cleaned, there is a shivling inside the temple and many fish swim in the clear water of this spring, which is the source of this water. Observed that a mountain faces this temple, looks more like a swayambhu, the temple faces West and has immense vibrations-cool breeze that emanates from palms and fontanel bone area in head when visiting the 'jagrut' temples or sites. When we visit such places the water element present there has special propertes and can cleanes our subtle system of chakras and nadis( 7 chakras, three nadis of Ida, Pingla and Sushumna) if we pray to the creator to cleanse the system and dip our hands/feet in water. My Guru Shri Nirmala Ma taught us Sahaj Yogis to revere all such sites. There is abundance of water in Kashmir as many rivers flow through the region, the soil is fertile. Mother Earth blossoms here. There are Chinar trees in Srinagar and Devdars and pines in higher regions of Sonmarg, Gulmarg and Pehalgaon. Jhelum flows through Srinagar, Lidder flows through Pahelgaon and Indus through Sonmarg. Truly Himalayas are the living mountains. Just as the beauty leaves on breathless as one tries to imbibe the sweetness of nature, it makes the heart swell with pride to see our army protecting the Mother Land keeping the vigil in harsh terrains. While returning read many sour views that left a little bitter taste, these things were about separatist sentiment even while dynamics of the region are a bit complex, the special priviledges extended to the state should have encouraged unwavering loyalty. The Indian citizens here do not have to pay taxes like the citizens in the rest of the country. The laws of the land are different here- no one apart from the Kashmiri people is permitted to buy land in Kashmir while the Kashmiri people can buy land any where in India. While it requires a Kashmiri partner to do business in Kashmir, I came across hundreds of small entrepreneurs running shops of woolens, hotels, handicrafts who regularly travel to Northern plains like Delhi, UP etc in the months of Winter. There is a lot of debate going on Article 370, it seems logical to carry out an audit of the benefits/drawbacks of the special privileges extended to the state under this Article. Further, massive Development grants are released annually to the state, these should have resulted in unwavering loyalty towards the Mother Land. If there is still a separatist sentiment( by pure accident I picked up two news papers - 'Kashmir Observer and Precious Kashmir 'and came across some content that is objectionable in every sense, was surprised to see such things published openly) than for sure the extra effort on the part of the Government is being taken for granted. As we moved into the Sonmarg area there were massive clouds of dust swirling about against the silent beauty of devdars, on both banks of Indus/Sindhu river massive construction was taking place. It seems new hotels are being built in this ecologically fragile area, will not be surprising if the Uttarakhand tragedy is repeated here. I also observed that at the very source of rivers, where these originate from melting glaciers, open defecation is common practice. In Sonmarg on the banks of Indus river, came across people openly defecating on the banks and down the river small children were drinking the river water. All along the banks against the breath taking beauty, the stench of human excreta was a violent assault on the senses.There were biologically non degradable waste scattered every where-lays chips wrappers, polythenes and cold drink and packed water plastic bottles. I have some pictures of tourist spots surrounded by tons of these non degradable waste, it was painful to see the contrast. The problems are simple and so are the solutions, placement of non removable metal dustbins(as lighter ones get stolen), construction of toilets at a safe distance from source of water and implementing logical and just laws applicable to the rest of the nation. What the nature has so lovingly created, we humans have damaged and polluted. So, it was a bitter sweet vacation. I have seen now how important toilet construction is and why we need to create awareness at a large scale. सोनमर्ग रात बिखरी थी धवल शिखर पर सोती पंखुरियों पर, नदी की धार पर चांदनी को अंजुली में थामा था पर्वतो ने देवदारु धुले से शांत नीली रौशनी में गहराती शांत रात, दूर किसी मंदिर की कांसे की घंटियों की आवाज़http://www.searchkashmir.org/.../submerged-ancient-temple...