Badamwari — Where Forgotten Smiles Meet Bitter Realities

It was the last week of June. The sun was merciless, the kind of heat that makes you sweat even when you are sitting still. I was in my modest Alto 800 car, quietly parked outside the gate of Badamwari Garden, Srinagar's famous almond orchard. Like every Sunday now, it had become my routine, waiting there for my three beautiful children.

- BY SYED MAJID GILANI

It was nine in the morning. The sun was already high, and the heat unbearable. Sweat clung to my skin, my clothes stuck to my body, and my head felt heavy, yet my eyes remained fixed on the road leading to the garden gate, hoping to catch the beloved faces of my children. I was there to pick them up and take them home.

Then, amid the usual crowd, an ordinary scene took place. No one else noticed it, but it quietly shook my soul.

A young couple arrived on a scooty. The man was neatly dressed, with a small, well-kept beard, spectacles, a formal shirt and trousers, and polished black shoes. His wife sat behind him, modestly dressed, holding a little baby, hardly two years old, in her lap. The way both husband and wife lovingly looked at their child stirred something deep inside me.

I watched as the man glanced at his wife with warmth and care. He took her to a Malai Kulfi stall nearby and bought kulfis for both of them. Then, beside the garden gate, a small roadside stall sold chips, mineral water, chewing gums, and toffees. The man gently asked his wife to pick something for herself and the baby. They bought a few small things and placed them in a simple bag hanging from her shoulder. The man then tenderly took the baby in his lap, holding him close.

A little ahead, there was a food truck, a small roadside eatery with pots of biryani, fried rice, and kebabs. The aroma of food mixed with the hot summer air. The man asked his wife if she wanted some biryani or fried rice. She smiled politely and refused, saying they had already taken snacks and it was enough. He asked again, she declined once more with a gentle smile.