Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/05/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi Larry, It does look breathtakingly beautiful indeed, and the fact that the conflict is not only unresolved but probably getting worse, and certainly Pakistan can only be described as a borderline failed state now--sad. Cheers, Nathan On 16 May, 2011, at 13:00 , Lawrence Zeitlin wrote: > In the late 80s I had several lectures to give in Kashmir/Jammu and the > sponsors were kind enough to put us up in a houseboat on Lake Dal. These > houseboats are luxury accommodations, elaborately carved and richly > furnished. Apparently foreigners were not allowed to own property in > Kashmir > so the locals built rental houseboats for the tourist trade. I'm sure > Jayanand can furnish all the details. Ours was one of a small fleet owned > by > the Wangnoo family. It was built around 1900 and was the one used by > Theodore Roosevelt when he vacationed in the area. > > > Just about every surface of the houseboat interior is paneled with > intricately carved solid walnut. This type of wood is almost unobtainable > in the US and Western Europe but in Kashmir it was so plentiful in the > 1980s > that it was being burned as fuel. The following photos show both the > houseboats and the carved interiors in detail. The young lady is my > daughter > Karen who accompanied us on the trip. She enjoyed Kashmir, at least eating > there, more than the rest of India because she didn't like curry. The > pictures were taken with a Rollei 35SE and scanned from Fujichrome slides. > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Houseboats+on+Lake+Dal+_87.jpg.html > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Houseboat+interior+on+Lake+Dal.jpg.html > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Houseboat+carving+_87.jpg.html > > > Kashmir is one of the most naturally beautiful areas I ever visited. A > lovely blue lake surrounded by snowy mountain peaks. On the other hand, > there were thousands of Indian troops stationed in the area to quell social > unrest and every decade or so there was armed conflict on the border with > Pakistan. I took plenty of photographs of the area, the people, and the > boats on the lake - but none of the Wangnoo family. I was politely > discouraged by Mr. A. R. Wangnoo, the patriarch of the family. because he > said that it violated Islamic tradition. However the Wangnoos were > thoroughly modern in every aspect of their life so I suspect that his > hesitance was based on the fear that the Indian authorities might somehow > get access to the pictures. The Wangnoo family was very active in the "Free > Kashmir" movement and strongly lobbied for an independent state of > Kashmiristan. A quarter of a century later the problems are still > unresolved. > > > Larry Z > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > Nathan Wajsman Alicante, Spain http://www.frozenlight.eu http://www.greatpix.eu http://www.nathanfoto.com Books: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/search?search=wajsman&x=0&y=0 PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws Image licensing: http://www.alamy.com/search-results.asp?qt=wajsman Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog