Gingal
The "Swedish" village in Kashmir.

Gingal is a little village at the river Jhelum in Indian Kashmir near the Pakistani border. When the Swedish Company "Skanska" built a hydroelectric tunnel in the area, Gingal was converted into a Swedish suburb where some hundred foreign employees, mostly Swedish people, were living for some years.

I, Erik, was here three times during the 1990s as part of an Environmental Impact Assessment.

Due to the political situation (two Swedish employees was previously kidnapped) the village was enclosed and guarded by armed people, no one was aloud outside the camp after dark etc. Inside the fence was an unexpected Swedish world. Arriving first time, looking forward to some delicious Indian curries, I was served as my first meal in Gingal "Biff á lá Rydberg". In the restaurant as well as in the little shop you could buy with gingle-money only - small tickets in fancy colours - without any value outside the camp. This was another act of security: nobody robs you for small green and red tickets! The very local newspaper was named "Gingle-Bells"!

Opposite the Swedish village in Gingal (Gingal included also an ordinary Kashmir village), is a small powerhouse, the oldest in Kashmir. If I remember correct the local Maharaja could use electricity from the 1910s. Between Gingal and the powerhouse is the powerful Jhelum River.

When the tunnel was built the "Swedish" village became property of the governmental Indian hydroelectric company (NHPC).

A surprise for a college and me, he also with an interest for cats, was all semi-wild cats we observed in Kashmir. They were in several colours, also with a lot of white, but no blotched tabby, no mackerel tabby, no solid-coloured. All were spotted!

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© 2004 Erik Åhlander & Suzanne Wejland.

Text: Suzanne Wejland (suzanne.wejland@telia.com)
Technical support: Erik Åhlander (erik.ahlander@telia.com)