Nearly a week ago, he lived his dream when he left home as a part of the Sadhbhavana XI, a motivational tour organised under the aegis of the 17 th Infantry Brigade of the Dagger Division by the 16th Battalion, the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry.

His co-passenger, 55-year-old Ghulam Sheikh’s face glows with a child-like animation as he remembers how three days ago, when he first landed at the Howrah station. “I had seen pictures of the Howrah Bridge on TV. My heart lept when I saw it for real,” says Sheikh.

For the 15 elderly people from Naugam region in Kupwara, Kolkata has more to it than just the magnificent Howrah Bridge — the ‘best fish in India’, steamer ride in Hooghly, just to name a few. “We have always had a close links with Kolkata. Several of our relatives used to come here to sell shawls,” says Mir.

And stories about the city, its warmth and cultural milieu, were among the ones that lighted up evenings for Mir and his friends in their villages. “There were several contract labourers from Bengal in our area. We have fond memories of our interaction with them,” says sexagenarian Mir Mohammad Tanchi.

The Kashmiri visitors remember Bengali tourists also. “Bengali tourists used to throng Kashmir, though there aren’t many from Bengal who come visiting now. Over the years, the number dwindled due to terrorism. But now there’s no reason why they should fear visiting Kashmir,” says Mir.

Kashmir, assert the visitors, is as safe, as hassle-free, as other Indian states are. The past still haunts, though. Something that still echoes among the repeated assurances of peace.

“We want to live in peace. We want peace in the Valley,” says Ghulam Hasan Mir, a schoolteacher. The terror, they say, went away with the ‘90s. “Those were the bad days. We wouldn’t leave home, lived on little food,” recounts Tanchi.

Children too, were not sent to schools under the shadow of insurgency. Before the conversation turns grim, however, an effusive Mir breaks in. “Whatever attacks and problems are reported in Kashmir are a handiwork of the people of enemy countries. Kashmiris carry their loyalty only for India,” he asserts.

Kolkata, apart from the Victoria Memorial and its ‘British swords’, is a model city for several of them. “We want our children to grow up like children in Kolkata do. Disciplined, smart and self-assured,” says Tanchi, referring to the Army School students they observed during their stay. “Schools are more organised here. Education, sport, cultural activities —everything is encouraged by the school. We just hope things turn out to be the same in our villages,” says Mir.

The organisers are hopeful too. “We want people from the once strife-torn and shunned Kashmir to identify with the rest of the country and vice-versa,” says Major Vipul Yadav, 16 J&K Light Infantry, who accompanied the fifteen on the tour, which also had Jammu and Lucknow in its itinerary.