My Kashmir Diary Is Full of Questions, Not Quotes

The truce may have stopped the shelling, but it did little to settle the fear or answer the troubling questions that hang over homes closest to the border.

- Sandeep Pandey

In early May, I travelled through border villages in Poonch, Rajouri, Uri. The visit came just days after the latest round of cross-border shelling ended as abruptly as it began.

There were no sirens, no briefings, no plans. Just silence, followed by explosions.

In Poonch, I met Sanjeev Kumar, a schoolteacher who no longer speaks in full sentences.

On May 7, before dawn, his family tried to flee after a night of tension.

His 13-year-old son, Vihan, had been anxious all evening. He solved a math worksheet to calm down. Minutes later, their car was hit by a shell.

When Sanjeev woke up, blood blurred his sight. His wife was unconscious. His son, gone. When he lifted Vihan’s chin, part of the boy's brain was on his hand.