{"id":349437,"date":"2025-12-18T11:09:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T11:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/in-the-valley-of-tulips-and-shadows-of-fear\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T11:09:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T11:09:08","slug":"in-the-valley-of-tulips-and-shadows-of-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=349437","title":{"rendered":"In the Valley of Tulips and Shadows of fear"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<h2 data-start=\"247\" data-end=\"276\"><em data-start=\"251\" data-end=\"276\">The Dream That Chose Me<\/em><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"278\" data-end=\"515\">Kashmir had always lived in my dreams. Before Switzerland, before Europe, I longed to see our Himalayas. Spiti Valley was the plan-flights booked, group trip confirmed. But then one casual conversation with a friend flipped everything.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"517\" data-end=\"757\">She spoke about her Kashmir trip. The next day, my phone showed me tulips, Srinagar, the Tulip Festival. And then, one photo stopped me in my tracks\u2014the Indira Gandhi Tulip Garden. Thousands of flowers swaying like a scene from <em data-start=\"745\" data-end=\"755\">Silsila.<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"759\" data-end=\"803\">Spiti was forgotten. Tulips had chosen me.<\/p>\n<blockquote data-start=\"805\" data-end=\"862\">\n<p data-start=\"807\" data-end=\"862\"><em data-start=\"807\" data-end=\"860\">\u201cSome journeys, you don\u2019t choose. They choose you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3 data-start=\"869\" data-end=\"892\"\/>\n<h2 data-start=\"869\" data-end=\"892\"><img data-lazyloaded=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-146354\" src=\"https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5-1011x675.jpg\" alt=\"In the Valley of Tulips and Shadows of fear\" width=\"1011\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5-1011x675.jpg 1011w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5.jpg 1068w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1011px) 100vw, 1011px\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-146354\" src=\"https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5-1011x675.jpg\" alt=\"In the Valley of Tulips and Shadows of fear\" width=\"1011\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5-1011x675.jpg 1011w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5.jpg 1068w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1011px) 100vw, 1011px\"\/><\/h2>\n<h2 data-start=\"869\" data-end=\"892\"><strong data-start=\"873\" data-end=\"892\">A Chaotic Start<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"894\" data-end=\"1038\"><em data-start=\"894\" data-end=\"1036\">(Insert your saree picture here, standing against the Himalayan backdrop. Caption: \u201cCarrying chaos in my heart, but beauty on the outside.\u201d)<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1040\" data-end=\"1081\">Nothing about this trip started smooth.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1083\" data-end=\"1299\">A bandh in Karnataka meant no buses. I paid triple for a cab, only to miss my flight. I begged my way onto another at more cost, exhausted and restless. In Delhi, flights to Srinagar were overpriced or unavailable.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1301\" data-end=\"1574\">So I boarded a shabby sleeper bus to Jammu. Suffocating, filled with smoke and stares, I fought claustrophobia by sitting near the driver. After tea at a roadside dhaba, I survived the night and reached Jammu\u2014tired, frustrated, but still holding onto the dream of tulips.<\/p>\n<blockquote data-start=\"1576\" data-end=\"1643\">\n<p data-start=\"1578\" data-end=\"1643\"><em data-start=\"1578\" data-end=\"1641\">\u201cEvery setback made me wonder\u2014was Kashmir even meant for me?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 data-start=\"1650\" data-end=\"1682\"><strong data-start=\"1654\" data-end=\"1682\">The Stranger Named Javed<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"1684\" data-end=\"1922\">At Jammu, while searching for a taxi to Srinagar, I noticed him\u2014a bearded man with curious eyes and an innocent smile. His name was Javed, a Kashmiri artisan who sold shawls and hand-embroidered crafts at Bangalore\u2019s winter exhibitions.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1924\" data-end=\"2107\">I asked him casually about the availability of taxis to Srinagar. He smiled and said, \u201cWe are also going there. Why don\u2019t you join us? We\u2019ve booked a cab, you can share it with us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2109\" data-end=\"2267\">Exhausted from the long journey and already burning through my wallet, I hesitated for a moment. Then something\u2014maybe faith, maybe instinct\u2014made me say yes.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2269\" data-end=\"2493\">I don\u2019t know why, but I trusted him. Perhaps it was fatigue. Perhaps it was faith. On the way, he introduced me to <em data-start=\"2384\" data-end=\"2398\">namkeen chai<\/em>\u2014salted Kashmiri tea\u2014and stories of his life. I smiled, but my heart whispered: <em data-start=\"2478\" data-end=\"2491\">Be careful.<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote data-start=\"2495\" data-end=\"2564\">\n<p data-start=\"2497\" data-end=\"2564\"><strong><em data-start=\"2497\" data-end=\"2562\">\u201cTrust is never given. It is borrowed, for a moment at a time.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 data-start=\"2571\" data-end=\"2609\"><strong data-start=\"2575\" data-end=\"2609\">Embracing the Beauty of Tulips<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img data-lazyloaded=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-146351\" src=\"https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-1-1011x675.jpg\" alt=\"In the Valley of Tulips and Shadows of fear\" width=\"1011\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-1-1011x675.jpg 1011w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-1-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-1-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-1.jpg 1068w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1011px) 100vw, 1011px\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-146351\" src=\"https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-1-1011x675.jpg\" alt=\"In the Valley of Tulips and Shadows of fear\" width=\"1011\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-1-1011x675.jpg 1011w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-1-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-1-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-1.jpg 1068w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1011px) 100vw, 1011px\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2611\" data-end=\"2811\">The first time I saw the pictures of <a href=\"https:\/\/digpu.com\/dilpaziir\/tulip-garden-opens-in-srinagar-after-pm-modi-calls-it-jks-special-day\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kashmir\u2019s Tulip Festival<\/a>, something inside me shifted. It wasn\u2019t just flowers I was looking at\u2014it was a sea of colors that seemed to breathe life into my dreams.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2813\" data-end=\"2941\">For years, I had imagined Switzerland, but in that one moment, I realized we had our own Switzerland nestled in the Himalayas.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2943\" data-end=\"3309\">Standing there, surrounded by tulips in full bloom, I felt like I had stepped into a painting. The flowers weren\u2019t still\u2014they swayed, they danced, as if they knew I had come searching for them. Each shade told a story: red for passion, yellow for warmth, pink for tenderness, and white for peace. Together, they created an ocean of emotions that wrapped around me.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3311\" data-end=\"3455\">I closed my eyes, let the soft breeze brush against my face, and felt as though the tulips were whispering: <em data-start=\"3419\" data-end=\"3453\">You belong here, in this moment.<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3457\" data-end=\"3811\">For a while, the chaos of travel, the fear of being alone, even the shadows of doubt\u2014all disappeared. Tulips became more than just flowers for me. They became a reminder that beauty can exist even in the most unexpected corners of the world, that dreams don\u2019t always need to take you far away\u2014they can be right here, in your own land, waiting to bloom.<\/p>\n<h2 data-start=\"3818\" data-end=\"3852\"><strong data-start=\"3822\" data-end=\"3852\">Finding Safety in Srinagar<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"3854\" data-end=\"4043\">Srinagar felt safer once I checked into Zostel. At that time, it wasn\u2019t about luxury or charm\u2014it was about safety. Traveling solo, I didn\u2019t want to risk being isolated in an unknown city.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4045\" data-end=\"4186\">Zostel gave me the comfort of community, where I could see other travelers like me\u2014backpackers, women, techies, doctors\u2014all under one roof.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4188\" data-end=\"4351\">My original plan was simple: stay one night, see how it feels, and then decide. But that one night turned into ten. Zostel became my base, my anchor in Srinagar.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4353\" data-end=\"4609\">Dave and Ash from Bangalore became friends. Irfan, the hostel manager, treated everyone with warmth, always looking out for us. We explored together, shared taxis to Gulmarg and Pahalgam, and split costs. For the first time, fear loosened its grip on me.<\/p>\n<h2 data-start=\"4616\" data-end=\"4645\"><strong data-start=\"4620\" data-end=\"4645\">The Pull of Innocence<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"4647\" data-end=\"4794\">But Javed lingered in my mind. On the third day, curiosity pulled me to his shop. He walked in a little later, his innocent smile still the same.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4796\" data-end=\"4944\">His shop was filled with warmth\u2014rows of shawls, embroidered jackets, handmade bags, each piece carrying the delicate touch of Kashmiri <em data-start=\"4931\" data-end=\"4942\">karigari.<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4946\" data-end=\"5033\">As I moved through the shelves, picking shawls one by one, his eyes followed quietly.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"5035\" data-end=\"5246\">\u201cMadam, this color looks good on you,\u201d he said, almost shy, as if the words had slipped out by accident. Whenever I picked something elegant, he would gently insist, \u201cKeep this one for yourself, it suits you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"5248\" data-end=\"5447\">In the end, I picked up a few things for my sisters and friends too\u2014though honestly, the way he kept flattering me, I started wondering if it was kindness\u2026 or just a very clever marketing strategy!<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"5449\" data-end=\"5743\">My friend Aish, a fellow traveler from Zostel who understood the local language, leaned closer and whispered, \u201cHe\u2019s charging you very fairly.\u201d Her words made me stop for a moment. In a place where outsiders are usually seen as tourists to bargain with, his honesty felt rare\u2014almost disarming.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"5745\" data-end=\"5993\">I walked out with bags full of shawls, dresses, jackets, and embroidered bags\u2014but carried heavier questions inside me. Why did his words linger? Why did his simple kindness feel so different in a place where I had been guarding myself so tightly?<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"5995\" data-end=\"6221\">Later, I realized Javed often keeps his Kashmiri collections stall in Bangalore\u2019s exhibitions. Maybe it was that Karnataka connection that made him treat me a little better, a little special. Or maybe it was just who he was.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"6223\" data-end=\"6373\">Before I left, Javed looked at me with that same soft smile and said, almost hesitantly, \u201cMadam, you must visit my home one day and meet my family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"6375\" data-end=\"6555\">The way he said it\u2014without pretense, without expectation\u2014felt deeply innocent. It wasn\u2019t just an invite; it was a gesture of trust, one that gently unsettled my walls of caution.<\/p>\n<h2 data-start=\"6562\" data-end=\"6615\"><strong data-start=\"6566\" data-end=\"6613\">The Invite: A House of Fear, A Hug of Faith<\/strong><\/h2>\n<blockquote data-start=\"6616\" data-end=\"6671\">\n<p data-start=\"6618\" data-end=\"6671\"><em data-start=\"6618\" data-end=\"6669\">\u201cThe home that tested both my fear and my faith.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p data-start=\"6673\" data-end=\"6834\">On my last day, Javed called to check if I was still there.<br data-start=\"6732\" data-end=\"6735\"\/>\u201cMadam, please come home. My family would love to meet you,\u201d he said with his usual gentle smile.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"6836\" data-end=\"7089\">But as soon as I told my cab driver where we were heading, his face stiffened.<br data-start=\"6914\" data-end=\"6917\"\/>\u201cMadam, this area is not safe. Just a few days ago, there were murders\u2026 even a terrorist attack nearby. You should not go there at this hour. Don\u2019t trust strangers here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"7091\" data-end=\"7264\">My heart began to pound. Every warning I had heard about Kashmir came rushing back at once. The car felt smaller, the night heavier. I almost told the driver to turn back.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"7266\" data-end=\"7461\">But then, Javed\u2019s innocent face flashed in my mind\u2014his stories, his honesty, the way he had treated me with kindness when he didn\u2019t have to. Was I being foolish? Or was this trust being tested?<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"7463\" data-end=\"7684\">To be safe, I shared my live location with Irfan from Zostel and another friend, begged the driver to walk in with me, and held onto the bag of fruits and chocolates I had brought for his children like it was my shield.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"7686\" data-end=\"7891\">As we drove deeper into narrow lanes, my mind screamed at me to run. Shadows of houses looked like threats, and every turn of the road made me wonder\u2014<em data-start=\"7836\" data-end=\"7889\">what if this was a trap? What if I never came back?<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"7893\" data-end=\"7957\">But when the door opened, the scene was nothing like my fears.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"7893\" data-end=\"7957\"><img data-lazyloaded=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-146353\" src=\"https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4-1-1011x675.jpg\" alt=\"In the Valley of Tulips and Shadows of fear\" width=\"1011\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4-1-1011x675.jpg 1011w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4-1-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4-1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4-1-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4-1.jpg 1068w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1011px) 100vw, 1011px\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-146353\" src=\"https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4-1-1011x675.jpg\" alt=\"In the Valley of Tulips and Shadows of fear\" width=\"1011\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4-1-1011x675.jpg 1011w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4-1-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4-1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4-1-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4-1.jpg 1068w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1011px) 100vw, 1011px\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"7959\" data-end=\"8227\">Javed\u2019s family welcomed me with warmth. His mother wrapped me in an embrace, whispering blessings in Kashmiri I couldn\u2019t understand but could feel in my heart. His sisters smiled shyly from the corner, his children peeked out curiously, and the air smelled of iftar.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"8229\" data-end=\"8361\">Javed offered me <em data-start=\"8246\" data-end=\"8260\">namkeen chai<\/em> and snacks, his voice calm and reassuring. Before I left, he handed me a handwoven Kashmiri shawl.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"8363\" data-end=\"8397\">\u201cFor you, madam. Stay in touch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"8399\" data-end=\"8591\">I smiled-part faith, part fear-and hurried back to Zostel. My body was safe, but my heart was still racing, trying to make sense of how a place could hold both terror and tenderness at once.<\/p>\n<blockquote data-start=\"8593\" data-end=\"8661\">\n<p data-start=\"8595\" data-end=\"8661\"><em data-start=\"8595\" data-end=\"8659\">\u201cSometimes the scariest choices lead to the kindest embraces.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<hr data-start=\"8663\" data-end=\"8666\"\/>\n<p><img data-lazyloaded=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-146352\" src=\"https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3-1-1011x675.jpg\" alt=\"In the Valley of Tulips and Shadows of fear\" width=\"1011\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3-1-1011x675.jpg 1011w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3-1-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3-1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3-1-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3-1.jpg 1068w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1011px) 100vw, 1011px\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-146352\" src=\"https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3-1-1011x675.jpg\" alt=\"In the Valley of Tulips and Shadows of fear\" width=\"1011\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3-1-1011x675.jpg 1011w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3-1-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3-1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3-1-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/digpu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3-1.jpg 1068w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1011px) 100vw, 1011px\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 data-start=\"8668\" data-end=\"8702\"><strong data-start=\"8672\" data-end=\"8702\">A Goodbye Shadowed by News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"8704\" data-end=\"8865\">Twenty days later, I heard of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam. The same valleys where I laughed, sang, and walked among tulips were now stained with violence.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"8867\" data-end=\"9069\">I froze. Fear flooded back. Yet, when I close my eyes, I don\u2019t remember the fear. I remember tulips swaying in the wind, strangers becoming friends, and a mother\u2019s hug in a home I almost didn\u2019t enter.<\/p>\n<h2 data-start=\"9076\" data-end=\"9094\"><strong data-start=\"9080\" data-end=\"9094\">In the End<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"9096\" data-end=\"9218\">Kashmir is not just mountains and valleys. It is contradictions-fear and warmth, suspicion and trust, shadows and light.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"9220\" data-end=\"9389\">I went chasing tulips, but I came back with something else: a reminder that even in places marked by conflict, humanity blooms quietly-like tulips after a long winter.<\/p>\n<blockquote data-start=\"9391\" data-end=\"9490\">\n<p data-start=\"9393\" data-end=\"9490\"><em data-start=\"9393\" data-end=\"9488\">\u201c<strong>Kashmir stays\u2014not in fear, but in flowers and in the arms of mountains, in faces, in faith.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Dream That Chose Me Kashmir had always lived in my dreams. Before Switzerland, before Europe, I longed to see our Himalayas. Spiti Valley was the plan-flights booked, group trip confirmed. But then one casual conversation with a friend flipped everything. She spoke about her Kashmir trip. The next day, my phone showed me tulips, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":349438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[171293,201,171294,171295],"tags":[171296,3191,4430,171297,171298,57393,4751],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-349437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dil-paziir-digpu","category-travel","category-tulip-garden","category-tulip-garden-kashmir","tag-dil-paziir-digpu","tag-fear","tag-shadows","tag-tulip-garden","tag-tulip-garden-kashmir","tag-tulips","tag-valley"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>In the Valley of Tulips and Shadows of fear - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=349437\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In the Valley of Tulips and Shadows of fear - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Dream That Chose Me Kashmir had always lived in my dreams. Before Switzerland, before Europe, I longed to see our Himalayas. Spiti Valley was the plan-flights booked, group trip confirmed. But then one casual conversation with a friend flipped everything. She spoke about her Kashmir trip. 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