Srinagar, July 11 -- As I stepped out of my home in Rawalpora and made my way along the old airport road through the narrow lanes of Srinagar, something stirred deep within me.

It wasn't just another day. It was Ashura. A day of remembrance, sacrifice, sorrow. But above all, a day of humanity.

As I approached the solemn streets of Zadibal, I saw something that reached beyond the rituals.

I saw old men, their hands unsteady with age, standing beside children barely tall enough to hold a glass. They weren't asking for anything. They were giving.

They offered water, juice, sherbet, basil seed milk, with gentleness, to strangers and mourners alike. Their eyes held more than grief. They carried something deeper: a love that asked for nothi...