Peerzada Arshad Hamid 

Srinagar  

Staying in the houseboats is a unique experience and equally unique are the tales behind the foreign names displayed on these houseboats as sign boards.  

For 1200 odd houseboats inside the serene waters of Dal Lake, Nigin Lake and Chinar Bagh here, the names that identify them have interesting stories attached to them that form the basis of their nomenclature. 

These names have a great impact on tourism industry of Jammu and Kashmir, chairman of the Houseboat Owners Association (HBOA), Mohammed Azim Tuman says. "Tourism in the Jammu and Kashmir flourished only because of the houseboats as our names sell in the tourism industry and help in bringing lot of foreign exchange," Tuman says.

Till early fifties Englishmen visiting the valley as tourists used to name most of the houseboats, thereafter the trend gathered momentum and Urdu and Kashmiri names find their presence on the sign boars of houseboats.

Butterfly houseboat came in to being with the amusement of one German tourist, Hans Coatman. Its present day owner Mohammed Sultan Baktoo (58) traces the history of the houseboat as:

"My grandfather, Ghulam Ahmad Baktoo was a poor man and to make his ends meet was accompanying the tourists for doing the menial jobs besides providing them company. Once a German citizen, Hans Coatman on his visit to valley hired him for the company. On their trip to Phalgam, Coatman and his fellows went for fishing. Right on the bank when all of them had kept their lines in the running water of river Lidder for getting a catch, Coatman is said to have seen a butterfly taking flights nearby. The sight of butterfly prompted Cotaman and he ordered all his companions including Baktoo to stretch their hands.

"I am going to fulfill the wish of a person on whose hand, the butterfly will rest," he is said to have stated.

Suddenly the butterfly after hovering around the place rested on the hand of Baktoo and when his wish was sought, he asked for the houseboat. Thereafter as per the promise Coatman gave money for constructing the houseboat," relates Mohammed Sultan Baktoo.

"After paying the money, Coatman suggested my father to keep the name of the houseboat – Butterfly," and this is the story behind its name, Baktoo says contently. 

The name Shielaan was given to another houseboat by a British tourist. The Britisher   derived the name from mixing names of his two daughters Shiela and Ann . Likewise Isla, Katherine, Jasie, Marmaid, Monolisa, etc are all houseboats named by the foreigners after their daughters.

From 1955 onwards, houseboat owners of the valley started naming their houseboats on their own but the foreign influence continued.

Inspired by Bilquees (wife of Prophet Sulieman) from the holy Quran, M Y Chapri named his houseboat Helen of Tory. Another houseboat owner named his houseboat Joan of Arc who liberated France. A houseboat Alexandra is named after Alexander- the Great.

Today's Royal Gory was first given the name Hill View Queen By its owner, Abdul Khaliq Gassi. After getting mixed up with one of the tourists namely Benjeman Brown, Gassi had to rename his houseboat as Royal Gory to fulfill his wish. "Benjeman Brown was my client for several years. Our business relations ended up in friendship. Thereafter, once he requested me to rename the houseboat after the name of his beloved Gory, for it would make him happy. That is the story behind Royal Gory," relates Gassi.

Yasin Tuman's Houseboat Masacot means Good luck. The name was given by a British guest, General Dunlop to his great Grandfather. Tuman said another Briton named a houseboat Coronation because King George II's coronation was done in the same year in which houseboat was built.

One houseboat Australia was named by an Australian and another Austria by an Austrian. Houseboat Buckingam Palace, New York and Lake Victoria have similar stories to tell.

Speaking of the secret behind foreign names of the houseboats, Tuman says, "first factor was illiteracy and the other one was public relations. As our trade relies on the foreigners, so in order to keep them happy and in humour, I think this is a good technique."

And in between the cluster of western names one can find names like Vizmal (lightening), Tarakmall (Galaxy) and Dilruba (Heartthrob) displayed on the houseboats.