Travel has always been joyous occasions for me and my family. However, the visit to Kashmir, which I undertook with my parents, brother and sister in August 1988, was a memorable one -for more than one reason.

Apart from the pleasure derived, we also learnt an important lesson-that one should not reveal personal information without discretion.

After flying to Delhi from Thiruvananthapuram, we travelled to Srinagar by bus, only to find that violence had broken out in the morning, leading to a tense situation. We managed to reach our hotel. After this, it was sightseeing for the next two days- around Srinagar city and Gulmarg. We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly on both the days.
 
Next, we reached Pahalgam and came across a lake.  While my parents and sister moved on to have a closer view of the trees, I remained where I was, along with my brother.

It was at this juncture that two or three persons approached us. They began to converse in a friendly manner and asked us many questions. We also found it quite pleasant to chat with them.

These persons went on to seek our personal details, beginning with queries on the place from where we hailed. When we disclosed that we had come all the way from Thiruvananthapuram, they went on to seek details about our educational qualifications. They also enquired about our father's occupation. As we did not suspect anything amiss, we answered all their queries.

Sometime after they left, we happened to gaze at the other side. To our surprise, we saw them talking to our parents and sister. Both of us decided to find out if they had posed questions to our parents in the same manner. However, before we could reach the other side, the persons had vanished. It was only then that we realised that the family had been taken for a ride.

These fellows had surprised my parents, coming out with information that no stranger would normally possess. They told my father about his three children, their educational qualifications, their courses of study, etc. When they went on to add that all of us hailed from Thiruvananthapuram, my father immediately handed them some cash.

Though my parents, being educated, normally analyse things in a rational manner, here was an instance of a person coming out with information usually possessed only by insiders. Though the amount lost was meagre, we came out of the experience-a wiser lot.