CHAPTER XXXVI
KASHMIR (Could.)

(i) The lake of the mind

Another day which was a Sunday, Amarnath Bakshi
took Ramdas out on an excursion to the famous gardens of
Kashmir, Shalimar and Nishad Bag. In order to reach the
gardens they had to slide over the glassy surface of the Dal
lake on a kisti. The boat passed through the river and the
canals that led up to the lake displaying as it proceeded,
willows and dense vegetation along the banks of the canals.
An hour's trip brought them at the landing of the Nishad

They made their way inside the garden. The scene that
now spread out before the gaze of Ramdas was of exquisite
charm and grace. The garden was symmetrical in its
formation, a wide sheet of pure sparkling water like a band
was running down, right through the middle of the garden
grounds. On both sides of this shallow stream were laid out
carefully designed beds of flower plants and trees of
various species. The yellow and blue, crimson and white,
violet and orange colours of the flowers vied with one
another in lending a bewitching charm to this floral
picture, painted in nature's own variegated tints. The rose,
the lily, the chrysanthemum, the marigold, the carnation,
the daisy, the violet and the bluebell displayed their
brilliant freshness in profusion,
The evergreen cone-shaped fir trees and the giant
chenar, a tree peculiar to Kashmir, cast their deep but
cool shade in the garden. As they walked up the plot which
is made up into several flats, he saw hundreds of fountains
at work sending forth their spray twenty feet up into the
air. On a higher level in the centre of the garden is situated
a solid structure supported on polished stone pillars. The
surrounding view of the garden is also most imposing. The