Srinagar, June 6 -- The first time I travelled from Jammu toward Srinagar, something inside me shifted. The warmth of the plains faded behind me. The air turned cool and sharp. Pine trees appeared like sentinels on the slopes, and fog hung low like a secret trying not to spill.

This wasn't just a drive. This was something else.

NH-44, as it's officially called, is the main road connecting the Kashmir Valley to the rest of India. For most people, it's a highway. For me, it's more like a companion, one that breathes with the weather, sighs with the hills, and speaks in the language of tunnels, rivers, and forests.

You begin low, in the dust and heat of Jammu. Slowly, the road climbs, curling through mountains like it's thinking its way f...