Srinagar, June 27 -- Kashmiris often grow up believing that some jobs deserve more respect than others.

We hear it in conversations at home, in schools, and in marketplaces. Doctors, engineers, professors are the people we're taught to admire.

But the truth is, no work is small. The dignity of work is not tied to its title, but to the honesty and care with which it is done.

In life, food is what keeps us alive, but food is not the purpose of life. It's just fuel. Every creature, from the smallest insect to the tallest animal, looks for food in its own way. Some eat plants, some eat other animals, and some feed on waste.

But this search for food has always connected us. We all depend on each other. And this is true not just for food. W...