Lost in Dal lake

by SHEHLA SHAFAT (India)

I didn't expect to find India

I have always been fascinated by doing adventure in my life and it was the same thing I was going to do when I reached the shore of Dal lake.Oh! You might not be familiar about the Dal lake so let me tell you about this beautiful lake. Dal in Kashmiri language means lake ,it's unlike any other lake of the world also called as lake of flowers.It is located in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir and that wooden shikaras(simple boat) and houseboats add to its beauty . I was so much mesmerized by its beauty that I was unaware of the fact that I have put my one foot into the fresh cold chilly water. Suddenly I realised I was already sitting in a shikara with one of my close friend mariyam who just pinched me because that shikaras person was asking us where we have to go .I asked that person if we can borrow his shikara for one day. At first he gave me that grave look that my Adrenaline rushed at such a speed that I was about to black out. I think it was because he thought we were theives or something else , nevermind I don't look like one. Then suddenly he started talking to us in our mother language that is Kashmiri ,at the back of my mind I got it that he was confused if we were pranking on him by speaking in English as by our get up he knew we were local. After listening to him I made a deal with him we settled down this matter with some amount of money and he agreed to lend his shikara to us. It was my first time to sail a boat rather my first time to handle the oar but my innocent friend who was all this time listening to my conversation with that man and moving her head right and left as if she had lost the screw holding her neck thought that I was proficient in sailing the boat because of my confidence .The way I was holding the oar made her think like this so it was not her fault either. We started our journey,i was struggling with the oar but the unfolded things that were coming for me kept me going and finally I was able to start my sailing smoothly...but what's the fun if everything in our life goes smoothly ,we won't be able to become who we are if we are not even touched by any trial .These thoughts were in my mind when suddenly our shikara was stuck in the middle of nowhere. Mariyum started to panic because she was known of the fact that only sky and and this chilled water can do us favour . It took me few minutes to realise that some thing was holding the shikara from beneath and when i dipped my hand into the lake just to check what was it....to my surprise it was the roots of a beautiful flower called as lotus who was holding our shikara from moving further. I pulled the whole thing from the water with force , the water drops sprinkled all over our face and the petals of the lotus flower was falling on us just like a fairytale.Little did we know what was awaiting for us . The strong wind turned our boat upside down waking me from that dream ,the only thing that came to my mind was I don't how to swim and how can I save my friend .I was able to hold the long wooden piece of shikara and tried every possible way to reach my friend who was struggling in the middle of lake . It was because I have watched so many Hollywood movies that I was finally able to reach to her actually I was fortunate enough that I saved her life . Finally we reached a small island hoping for someone to help us.