India, May 1 -- "Fortunate to be alive!" is a feeling which comes to my mind again and again. I was in Kashmir with my husband and we missed being on that fateful day at Baisaran valley in Pahalgam by 24 hours. That day, 26 innocent families lost their loved ones forever, but we as a nation lost much more than that.

This was our maiden visit to Kashmir and I was looking forward to it with excitement as well as a bit of nervousness. Since we were to visit multiple areas, we decided to hire a cab, along with a driver who was going to be with us throughout our trip. I was hoping and praying we get along well as he was not just our driver but also our companion on our nine-day visit.

Our driver's name was Raees and it turned out that his ye...