Srinagar, June 30 -- As Muharram begins, the streets of Kashmir come alive with a familiar sight: wooden stalls, steel tubs, plastic glasses stacked in rows, and young volunteers calling out to passersby to stop for a drink.

These areSabeel-e-Hussain,the water stalls that appear each year as symbols of service and remembrance.

The tradition runs deep. It honours Imam Hussain (A.S.) and his companions, who faced unbearable thirst under the blazing sun of Karbala.

In Kashmir, where Muharram often arrives with days of relentless heat, sometimes crossing 35degC, the Sabeels offer more than water. They offer belonging.

In downtown Srinagar, near the old Imambaras, teenage boys in black kurtas scoop sherbet into glasses and offer them to st...