Srinagar, Sept. 2 -- Almost all the guests were wearing Western outfits, garishly ill-suited and poorly carried, at least to my eyes. But two interactions stood out.

The first was with a middle-aged doctor, a man who reads, is interested in mysticism, and could also be described as a rationalist, a man of reason.

This doctor friend stood up and said, "The Karakul looks amazing and graceful." It was as genuine a compliment as one could expect in Kashmir, where people rarely give or receive compliments, both are often seen as false or insincere.

The other was my cousin, also middle-aged. After mingling with his brown-skinned cousins wearing sunglasses that looked out of place in the setting, some of them "Amreeka-returned", he noticed me...