On the afternoon of Tuesday, April 22, a salty mutton rogan josh, a persistent chef, and the spirit of Kashmiri hospitality came together to save Lavanya and her family when the terrorist attack hit Pahalgam.
Lavanya, an entrepreneur from Kerala’s Kannur, who runs a boutique called Laavyz Designs, had gone to Kashmir with her extended family — a group of 11 that included her husband Aby Jose and their three children. “We reached here on April 19 and spent the first two days in Srinagar. On Tuesday morning, we checked out and began our journey to Pahalgam,” she told TNM.
It was peak tourist season, and most restaurants were occupied above capacity. For two days, the family skipped lunch because of the rush. “We started from Srinagar around 10.30 in the morning. Around 1.15 pm, while we were travelling, my husband suddenly said we should go and have lunch. None of us were really hungry, but we agreed anyway,” Lavanya recalled.
They stopped at a small, quiet restaurant named Moon Wok, just a few kilometres from Pahalgam. “Everyone had told us to try mutton rogan josh when in Kashmir. So we ordered that. But the meal didn’t turn out the way we expected. The portion served was full of bones and very salty. We just couldn’t eat it,” she said.
Seeing the untouched plates, the restaurant staff asked them what was wrong. “When they tasted it themselves, they felt so bad and insisted on making it again for us. We said it’s okay, we’ll pay and leave, but they said we must have a good meal,” Lavanya added.
It took nearly an hour and a half for the fresh meal to be made and served. “If we hadn’t spent that time at the restaurant, we would have been at the exact spot where the terrorist attack happened,” Lavanya explained, her voice shaking.
‘Saved not just by luck, but by kindness’
After the meal, the family resumed their journey towards the Baisaran Valley. “We were just five minutes away from the spot when we saw over 100 horses running in panic. It was scary — we were on a ghat road, and if any of those horses had hit our vehicle, we could have fallen into the gorge,” Lavanya said.
At first, they thought it was a landslide or some kind of natural disaster. But their driver confirmed that was not the case. They then checked with some of the vehicles returning from the Baisaran Valley and were told there was some issue between CRPF officials and tourists.
“We saw Army vehicles rushing to the spot. That’s when we decided to turn back,” Lavanya said.
Only after reaching their resort in Pahalgam did the gravity of the situation hit them. The shooting incident in Pahalgam left many shaken. But what followed for Lavanya and her family was something she never expected — the warmth and protection of complete strangers.
“The resort staff told us to stay inside and assured us of safety. They even brought more of their friends and relatives to the resort to make sure nothing would happen to us,” Lavanya said.
Despite the shock, Lavanya and her family decided to stay back in Kashmir.
“It is only because of the love and support of the Kashmiri people that we stayed back. The way they treated us, like their own family, gave us strength. We are still in Srinagar,” she told TNM.
Lavanya’s husband, Aby Jose, is the northern regional head of the HDFC Bank. With them were their three children, Aby’s parents, his cousin and her family. Lavanya said that on Tuesday, they narrowly escaped tragedy– not just by luck, but by the kindness of people.