Faith is something which can help a person overcome the most difficult task which may seem impossible at first. Faith is the light which diminishes the dark alleys of Fear. It's faith that gives a person the strength and courage to be ready for any situation. It's Faith in the first step of an infant who overcomes all his fear of getting hurt looking at the reassuring smile of his parents. He knows that they will never let him fall. A person has faith in his family as he knows them. There is an emotional and blood bond between them. There are some examples of faith when a person puts faith in someone other than their family which is worth mentioning.

A bond of trust which a person keeps with strangers where he knows he will be sheltered and taken care of. It’s a silver lining of hope when a person keeps hope for returning from the shadows of terrorism and destruction. I was born in the land of immense beauty where the golden sunrays illuminated the surroundings with splashes of gold. The pure white snow added to the beauty of the mountains as if filling the golden canvas with purity of the soul. The snow-clapped mountains with green pasture were the painting of God where every stroke of the brush was used with a lot of love and care. The initial years of my childhood were filled with fun and frolic. Coming from the Gujjar Bakharwal community, we were wanderers of this beautiful land from one place to another. We used to tend our sheep and were well versed with the topographic of the land. Six months of the year, we usually make Kashmir our home and the remaining six we usually be stationed in a different place in a warmer climate. With our herd and we used to walk the trails which were unknown to a lot of people at the same time, were used as infiltration routes from across the borders,
Kashmir is a land with dense jungles, steep valleys and high mountains along with chilling water flowing through various places. After years and years of walking through this nature one becomes knowledgeable of every fall and danger in its beauty. We are prone to a lot of security checks and questions by various authorities due to the nature of our work.Few incidents in my growing years have taught me the value of faith against surrendering to one's fear. As we are nomads, we usually do not have a fixed place of residence. We move from one place to another depending on our needs. Once, we had camped ourselves in a dense jungle which had proximity to the neighboring country. We knew the risk we were taking, but since it was getting dark and winter chills were setting in, we thought about giving it a try.
It is said God is the magician who plays tricks on us human beings. He the almighty knows what strings to pull, everything is pre-decided according to his command. From my grandfather I have heard many stories of the gunfights between security forces and militants in these jungles. In their younger days they had witnessed a few operations. As a young child I could not understand why these Army people were fighting with the guys who were coming from across the border. They were also, like us, wearing Phirans and speaking Kasher, Pahari, but at the same time I was inquisitive why these young lads used to come only in the darkness of night.My grandfather narrated one incident of how his faith won against his fears. It must be the early 90’s when there was a lot of disturbance in the Valley. My grandfather with his nomads was resting for the night in one of the jungles. They heard as if crackers were bursting in some distance and then came the loud sound of an explosion.
He had heard about the militants in the valley and how local youths were sent for training across the borders so they could come and create panic and disturbance here. Very soon he realized that an operation was going on between the Army and militants. Panic stuck to him as the group he was travelling with had young women and children. I was also around 3-4 years of age at that time. But as it is said, faith is the one thing that gives you strength to face all fears. My grandfather was praying to God almighty that we should be safe. At the same time, he gathered the young men together and asked them to be ready with whatever they could strike, knife, anything that they could to defend themselves.
Suddenly, the firing increased, and the commotion was running towards our tents before my grandfather and the men could run forward. Two-3 militants entered the tent where my mother and I were hiding. They took us hostage and warned my grandfather to misguide the Army men who were chasing them. Helpless against the self-respect of his daughter-in-law and the safety of his grandson, my grandfather decided to do as the militants said. Even when obeying the dikats of these militants, there was a faith in his heart that the Indian Army would not let him down, even giving away their own lives, they would save the self-respect of his daughter and her son. Deep in his thoughts, suddenly a few officers approached him.
Looking at them, the officers questioned the tribe who they were and what they were doing in the dead of the night in this dangerous jungle. My grandfather introduced himself as the head of the community and informed the officers that, since it was getting dark, they were resting and would resume towards the village in the morning. He spoke to the officer with the utmost confidence and simplicity, thinking about the safety of his family. Kitne log haiaapkesaath the officer enquired. My grandfather said Saheb 20-25 hai hum auratoaurbaccho ko milakar. As soon as he uttered these words, he got tensed. What if the officer made a headcount and inquired about the absence of 2 members, his blood turned into ice? From the nearby tent the nozzle of the gun was pointed towards me and my mother with an occasional nudge towards me.