176 GARDENS OF THE DAL LAKE 



delight both Indians and Kashmiris take in the 

 old Imperial gardens. Only the Europeanised 

 Indians have lost touch with these simple 

 pleasures : young Rajas, " doing " Kashmir or 

 the gardens at Lahore, accompanied by some 

 bored English tutor, and followed by a noisy 

 horde of retainers, walk hurriedly up one side of 

 the stream and down the other ; but even they 

 sometimes cast wistful glances back at the 

 flowers and the fountains, ere they whirl off again 

 in their motor cars. Bustling sightseers, however, 

 are a rare occurrence here, and the famous baghs 

 are always full of real garden lovers. All great 

 festivals and holidays are celebrated, if possible, 

 in a garden. Students bring their books, and 

 work under the trees. A day in one of these 

 great walled gardens is an event which appeals 

 as much to purdah ladies as to the very poorest 

 class. The great Emperors who planned them 

 and lived in them — Babar, Akbar, Jahangir and 

 his Nur-Jahan — are far more vivid personalities 

 in India than Elizabeth or the Stuart sovereigns 

 are in England. And every Indian speaks with 

 a lingering regret of the days of the older Bad- 

 shahi, " when the gardens were in their splendid 

 prime." 



