Life in Srinigar so far

First of all, yesterday when I was checking the internet, all the news was bombarded with the Malaysia airplane incident. At first I thought they found the other plane, but then I realized the unfortunate news. I wish all those who are directly affected by the incident a lot of Love and strength during this difficult time. For those who know anyone who have been affected, hope you can be a shoulder to cry on. May God have mercy on those who have fallen...Om Mani Padme Hum _/\_

To change the subject in a sudden matter..
Let me recap how we ended up in Srinigar. Marcus and I, were discussing on how to get to Dharamshala. After the very bumpy road and more than 15 hours of bus drive, we almost decided to fly back to Delhi and take the bus from there to Dharamshala. Then we met Altaf Kotroo, from "Same, same but different" shop in Leh, and his friend Marc from Holland (currently living in Germany) who actually suggested to go through Srinigar, as the roads are more comfortable, and everybody keeps on telling us how beautiful Srinigar is. 

So Altaf, arranged everything for us, he arranged a taxi driver, called his brother to have rooms ready, and called his cousin for us to chill at his house boat. Altaf even went so far to let us stay for free at his guesthouse. 

When we arrived, Mumbarak his younger brother told us to let him know if there is anything, you are like family now. It is actually amazing, the guy really gets upset if we want to do something ourselves, if we want to pay for something, haha. And his wife is even cooking every evening something else. And let me tell you, it is home cooked and excellent food. Apparently, Mumbarak's father was the best chef in Kashmir and passed on his skills to Mumbarak's wife. 

It is a bit weird at the same time, because Ramadan is going on, so all the Muslims are fasting until sunset and we are just eating, drinking coffee, drinking beer and so. We even had to go to Mumbarak's cousin to get new beer, because he knows a guy with a secret stash haha. 

Srinigar so far is good, Kotroo family is taking care of us, going on the boat, visiting factories, temples, aah I feel like a tourist. Today, we are resting and taking it easy. 

There is only one odd/interesting thing, the mosque at 2-3am in the morning starts to call everyone through loudspeakers to come to pray hahaha. And then through the speakers they have the whole prayer going through the city. Great...at 3am haha. But all is well, it gives me a peak inside the world of the Muslims. 

You know, my biggest lesson learned so far, it is not about having religion or having no religion defines us or so.. it all comes down to basic human nature, care and love. Now I've seen people from different religions some people are good, and some not so good. It doesn't matter, to categorize yourself to be or not to be of that group doesn't make you a better person, it is as His Holiness the Dalai Lama says, first and foremost I am a human being. It is not religion or non-religion that makes you a good person, it is being human, knowing Love and Care, and that is inherent in all of us, if we are missing that we can't even fulfill our basic nature.. instead we move away, and instead chase around our dreams, our money, our projections, our anger and so on. Interesting.