Story: The Jhelum Waters

Shinu lives in the Avantipura village in the beautiful Kashmir valley with his grandmother. Their house is surrounded by lush green fields on the banks of the Jhelum. The Himalayas overlook their house and the surrounding fields. Shinu’s favorite pass time is to graze the cattle at the meadow beyond the fields and then sit on the banks of Jhelum gazing at the roaring waters and the multiple cascades it forms flowing through the big rocks in its path. 
Shinu’s parents died when he was two years old and since then his grandmother has been looking after him. The best part of being with the Grandmother was her bed time stories. He loved her stories but they were often interrupted by the sound of bullets and explosions far away in the distance. He had often seen men carrying guns going around in Army uniforms and often in civilian dresses. But he never understood who they were and he was too scared to talk to them. Whenever he saw anyone with a gun he held his breath and waited for them to pass and go out of sight. 

One such night he asked his grandmother, “Dadi, who are these gun carrying men?”

“Strangers”, his Dadi replied.