Roopa Ganguly seen with the jawans on her trip and (below) Roopa, armed and dangerous

Day I

We reached Srinagar airport in the afternoon and drove straight to the officers? mess at Camp Humhama, which was to be our halt for the next few days. From a window in my room I could see the snow-capped Pir Panjal range. It was a spectacular view.

That very evening we were scheduled to take the stage to mark the CRPF Valour Day. The venue was a packed Tagore Hall in Bakshi Stadium.

We sang a few Hindi film songs, and they clamoured for more. Back at the mess, a get-together with the officers awaited us. The interaction turned out to be very exciting as they all remembered me as Draupadi!

Day II

It was a cold crisp morning when we headed for the CRPF Mahila battalion deployed at Srinagar airport and at Bemina. I met several women soldiers, chatted with them and listened to their stories. And there were quite a few Bengali among them.

It?s a very difficult life they lead, far away from their families. There?s no certainty of life and one has to be alert all the time. It?s indeed very stressful. Patriotism is not the only factor that has made so many choose this life; it?s also a matter of livelihood.

From there we paid a visit to the Shankaracharya temple and interacted with the jawans posted there. It was time for lunch, with the officers, and then a trip around the Dal Lake. We boarded a shikara to enjoy a wholesome view of the breathtaking beauty all around. But it?s sad the waters of the lake have turned dirty.

The evening was reserved for yet another programme hosted by RTC-IV CRPF jawans, where our band belted out some popular numbers.

Day III

We started the day by meeting a few more CRPF men and then headed towards Gulmarg. En route, we met a CRPF team posted at Kheer Bhawani in Tullamulla. Gulmarg, which means the meadow of flowers, is located about 56 km from Srinagar. It?s a breathtaking spot of scenic beauty with the ice-capped Himalayas surrounding it from all sides. What made it more exciting for us was the fact that it started snowing when we reached. By evening, we were back at Baramullah to attend a programme for the officers.

Day IV

Our tryst with the Valley was coming to an end; it was time to fly back home. The last day began very eventfully ? we met some more jawans over tea and then tried our hand at AK-47 rifles; I fired three rounds and hit the target thrice!

But little did we know that there was even more excitement in store for us; in fact a close brush with death. We were driving down from Baramullah to Srinagar as one of our boys had to catch a flight. Midway, near a place called Pattan, which is surrounded by mountains, our convoy was stopped.

The CRPF men had detected a car bomb! So, a huge hi-tech vehicle, something that looks like a truck, was brought in and it traced the explosive to a Maruti van parked some distance away ? there was a member of a suicide squad in it. The man was gunned down.

We were still reeling under the impact of this sudden encounter with the perils of the place as we went further down the cool Valley though a long dark tunnel. Once out of it, the hot and dry Jammu/Katra weather hit us.

Such extreme temperatures at two ends of the tunnel seemed to sum up our experience of terror in the land of beauty.