We visited the Kashmir valley in 2016, in the month of March because my mother was invited to give a lecture. It was a life-changing trip in my life and had a profound impact on how I thought about liminal territory later as an academic. The trip mirrors a tourist’s path, and just like Feluda and co., we visited Srinagar and Gulmarg. The mystery, whose Bengali name translates into ‘Paradise Dangerous’, follows the same model of the trio going on a vacation to Kashmir and then being involved in the murder case of a retired judge, Siddheswar Malik. Gulmarg is one of the first destinations they visit outside Srinagar, and on a trek from Gulmarg to Khilmarg, there is an attack on Vijay Malik, Siddheswar Malik’s son, which serves as a major clue later when Siddheswar Malik is murdered in Pahalgam. 

The photograph is taken in front of the snow slopes in Gulmarg, one that Topshe describes as a possible skiing place in the winter.