Pahalgam, May 21 -- On a May afternoon, as the sun plays hide-and-seek behind the clouds, Nadeem Ahmed enjoys a nap sitting on a chair inside a cabin at the toll plaza in Pahalgam. The fabled hill station in Anantnag is 90 kms south of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

On business-as-usual days, Ahmed would be busy all through his nine-hour shift in his capacity as a toll operator at the go-to tourist destination.

But these days are anything but business as usual. Not since 22 April, when terrorists killed 26 people, mostly tourists in Baisaran, a meadow seven kilometres from the toll gate.

Ahmed says he now falls asleep waiting for cars to pass by.

"Az aayi chour gaadi Kalkata pethi. Asi gouv reth pyaran tourist yin ...