Sitting in a room overlooking the three ancient Chinar trees that overshadow The Grand Palace hotel in Srinagar on the eve of the Express Power Golf 2004, the first word that comes to mind is ‘peace’. However, the signs of trouble that has shattered the peace of this beautiful land can still be seen. Security guards, commandos and plain-clothes police stand about, observing every little movement. After an elaborate security check at the airport, the hustle and bustle of daily activity greeted us as we drove through the streets, headed for the hotel. Twilight is symbolised by armed soldiers with rifles in one hand and their tiffin boxes in another slowly walking through the narrow path between the lawns leading towards the entrance. But as Puneet Suri — the person behind all the arrangements — tells me, ‘‘It is all for our safety.’’At the hotel, things are quite the opposite. Old friends greet each other, formalities are dealt with and some dedicated golfers head out to the golf course to get in a practice round at the Royal Springs. The group also has some regular golf enthusiasts like Bharat Patel (Chairman, Proctor and Gamble), who remarked: ‘‘Have clubs, will travel.’’Almost a hundred golf enthusiasts will tee-off at the Royal Springs golf course for the 18-hole stableford competition at 9 a.m. on Saturday, which will be preceded by an inaugural tee-off by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed and the Minister for Tourism, Ghulam Hassan Mir.
