The Smile that Killed me
I’m not someone who gets excited when I see a plane in the sky or feels a rush of hormones when I meet a beautiful girl. My life changed completely the day I met her for the first time. It felt as though my soul had left my body, gone for a cleansing, and then returned to me—lighter, calmer, more human. People often say that when you meet the right person, your entire life transforms. That’s exactly what happened when I encountered her—this little girl, all alone on the outskirts of Kashmir. She was just six years old. And I was holding a gun. Did I kill her parents? I’m not sure. God, I hope not. All I know is that she was a victim in a land occupied by Pakistan. I was supposed to either shoot her or walk away and let one of the soldiers I called my mates put a bullet through her head. But something within me changed that day. What emerged from that moment wasn’t the soldier I had been trained to be, but the man I used to be. What emerged was my humanity. She was barely six year...