The Calm After The Storm

Moi getting some for myself.In March, the days in Gulmarg are long and relaxed. Since the crowds have left, town is almost deserted. The sun shines more often and the upper mountain is even more devoid of people than the bustling restaurants and hotels of January and February. For Will and I staying into April it not only allows us to enjoy some incredible skiing, but to savour some of the relationships we have developed this winter.

Colin, Forrest and Peter left at the start of March and in there absence Will and I took some time off from everything. Each other included. Before arriving in India, Will and I had never actually met, only chatting on Skype after Forrest introduced Will to the project. From the day he arrived in the first week of January, we shared a room, and truth be told, a double bed. For January and February we ate, worked, skied, travelled, and slept together through sickness and through health. Therefore some time left to our own devices was probably long overdue.

Will dancing with his shadow

February was hectic with athletes and friends coming through the revolving door of Gulmarg. We were also extremely busy exploiting the copious amounts of snow that fell, giving us the opportunity to catch up on the footage we failed to get in January due to no snow at all. We got lots of great shots and we had lots of days without any shots. We got rained on, we got snowed on, we got faceshots, we got sore legs. We all had a pretty amazing time.

Colin, Forrest and Peter picked a good day to leave; grey and rainy. Realizing that Will and I still had six weeks in Kashmir I had to wonder how we were going to keep our momentum. It feels like we have already been a long time here. And yeah, having our crew gone, it felt a little lonely.

Will gets framed

Last week I set my Facebook status to “lonely in Gulmarg.” The next day the manager of the hotel we eat dinner in commented that “Why was I lonely? We are still here.” I felt bad that my Kashmiri friends thought they weren't friends enough, but touched that we weren't just guests eating and sleeping in their hotels.

Since then, the sun has come out and I have come out of the funk of being overwhelmed by not knowing where to begin with finishing this film. It is really nice being in Gulmarg now with the time to drink tea above Yassin's ski shop, to spend the afternoon after skiing watching the trash melt out from the snow opposite Raja's, to finally make it to dinner at Farooz's after he and I being too busy to arrange it.

If you didnt figure it out, this is Farooz

I suspect Farooz is the cutest Kashmiri anywhere and knows a lot about a lot. He invited us to dinner in his bungalow a long time a go and on Monday night we finally made it. His bungalow is a crude abode, constructed from a sheet metal roof and plywood walls with newsparper headlines paper-maiched into the cracks. It is perhaps six by twelve feet with a gas stove for cooking, a bakari wood stove for warmth and a single light bulb connected in series with the other bungalows in the forest so that if next door turns on their light, Farooz's dims. The floor is lined with straw and on top are half a dozen blankets. The bedding is rolled up each morning against the rear wall and makes for a comfortable back rest when sitting.

Farooz's son Yussef and grandson Uri cooked us a dinner consisting of kebab, rista (a Kashmiri specialty of tenderized mutton balls) and mutton curry. It was without doubt the best food we have eaten since being in Kashmir. We sat crossed legged with our feet going numb from a lack of circulation and listened to Farooz divulge all matter of wisdom gleaned from the Qur'an and life. He answered our questions on Kashmir and how things were before militancy.

In the moments between cups of tea we have been skiing some of the best snow of the season. On Sunday we counted fourteen foreigners and fewer clouds in the sky. Up top the snow is perfectly preserved and below is good spring slush. We skied and filmed a day with Billa, “The Original Kashmiri Freerider” and on subsequent days relished some top to bottom laps not having to stop to film from the sun affected ridge opposite. We have the cloud of how much work we still have to get through hanging over us, but it is impossible to pass up riding like this. So until there is no powder left, there is a good chance this film will go on the back burner. And with a dozen foreigners and January temps, that might be never.

Yours truly fining some solitude

That line is 5 days after the storm. Truely.

-Anthony



Comments

[Dave]

Nice one Anthony. Glad the weather and conditions turned around for you. You guys certainly deserve to get the goods after committing so much to the project. Now you've got the Gulmarg everyone dreams about, cold smoke, sun, solitude.
Enjoy.