JAMAAL has been working as a gardener with an Army camp since last 20 years in North Kashmir. He has seen violence, hartals, militants, security forces all through his adult life. While troops are busy on the LoC and fighting militancy, Jamaal is rather indifferent to what is happening around him. He appears to have limited his universe to plants, trees and his two daughters and son Tanvir. I was intrigued by his silent dedication to work and decided to decode his muteness. ‘Mere saath ke bahut se ladke zaaya ho gaye hain is militancy me’he said once, talking about militancy. Perhaps he knows the irrelevance of having an opinion and disagreement on the social and political discourse. He was concerned about the future of his three children. He wanted either peace should return to Kashmir or his children should move out of there. It has been seven years since I left Kashmir. We speak every few days. He always seems to downplay major incidents of violence. At the peak of the unrest, he would say ‘halat bahut ache nahin’ and would quickly change the topic to family, children, weather and other mundane issues.Two years back when peace seemed to be prevailing in Kashmir, his son had passed Class X with high grades, and he was very pleased. But all that changed in the last few months. Jamaal is fidgety and wants his son out of the Valley to join the National Defence Academy (NDA) and become an Army officer. I sent him books to prepare for the written test and have offered to arrange for his coaching and training for the exam this September.As I watched the news of the kidnapping and murder of a young Kashmiri Army officer, Lt Fayaz, I instinctively called Jamaal. As usual, he sidestepped the subject, talking only of good weather, paddy cultivation, apples and walnut trees and beginning of the holy month of Ramzan after two weeks. When I prodded about his son, Jamaal was buoyant, ‘Bahut mehnat kar raha hai aur NDA ki tayari bhi karta hai, aapki madad aur dua chahiye (He is working very hard and is also preparing for NDA, need your help and blessings).’The shrill debate on nationalism and Kashmiriyat on a television channel is getting acrimonious; a ‘proud Indian’ friend has given a clarion call on Whatsapp and Facebook to come to India Gate to light candles and sing the National Anthem in the memory of young Lt Fayaz. I switch off the television and my mind wanders to 17-year-old Tanvir and I see a thousand splendid lights in the beautiful misty Valley.