The lines are etched deep on his face like some ancient calligraphy bearing witness to an epoch. Professor Rashid Nazki, however, carries his scholarship lightly. His eyes are luminous, smiling gently, without a trace of cynicism despite the personal tragedy of losing three members of his family one afternoon in a grenade blast. Muzamil Jaleel, bureau chief of a leading newspaper, represents, the immediacy of life in Kashmir; the sound of rockets and gun fire, the smell of burning flesh. Uncle and nephew, professor and journalist, the two have journeyed seperately through the most testing times. This is their journey together to Kashmir's past, and to Chrar-e-Sharif, a reafffirmation of plurality, of a composite culture, of Kashmiriyat.