“
Arré, let's go further, janaab. There is much to be seen in Pahalgam."
Mushtaq took a long time to understand that I hadn't actually wanted to come to Pahalgam. When we moved forward after having girda and kahwa, I saw a dense deodar forest beside the road. I asked him to park on the side, and we entered the forest.
"There are many such places in Kashmir,' Mushtaq said as he sat on the grassy ground.
"These places are so special.' I could lay bare my Kashmir in front of Mushtaq. There was something about him that put one at ease. I kept touching and looking at the deodar trees. How nice it was to roam with this form of life, hundreds of years old; what all they might have witnessed, and, in spite all that, they stood quietly, emanating so much peace and calm. I lay down under a tree. Mushtaq walked down to the river, washed his hands and sat down at a distance to perform the namaz. There could not be a more pious place than this to pray.
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