Srinagar, May 4 -- At 67, Rehman lives alone in a modest corner of the city. He has no stable income or family to rely on. What he's carried instead is a dream that never let go.

"Every year I came just to watch," he said. "That was enough to bring me peace. I've been waiting for this call all my life."

The call finally came today.

After a short video of Rehman quietly standing outside the Hajj House went viral on social media, local journalists visited him. During their visit, they handed him a phone. On the line was a doctor from Kupwara. The caller was someone Rehman had never met, but he offered to sponsor his Hajj and medical expenses.

The doctor later explained that his brother, Ab Majeed Khan, had shared the video with him. "He...