Srinagar, July 10 -- When the call came, Owais Ahmad Bhat was sitting with a textbook open on his lap.

It was about cell biology, part of his preparation for a medical entrance exam. His father had collapsed at work. By the time Owais reached the hospital, it was too late.

That winter evening in Pulwama's Chewakhurd village would mark the end of one life and the beginning of another.

At just 20, Owais stepped into a void no teenager is prepared for: the sudden responsibility of keeping a household from falling apart.

"There was no choice," he said, recalling the moment his future changed. "I had to close the books and open my eyes."

In the months that followed, the boy sold vegetables in the local market, dug fields for neighbouring ...