A Kashmiri Man Has Been Coming For 45 Years to See Others Off for Hajj, Still Waiting for His Turn For forty-five years, he has stood at the Haj House in Srinagar—never as a pilgrim, always as a well-wisher. While others depart for the sacred journey, he returns home with an unfulfilled dream and unwavering faith. Now in his seventies, this Kashmiri man continues to believe that one day, his name too will be called—his heart still turned toward Mecca, his hope undimmed. For the past forty-five years, a Kashmiri man has been visiting Haj House in Srinagar every year, not to leave for Haj but to say goodbye to others. Every year he sees that while the dreams of others take flight, his dream stays stuck. Now I am over seventy years old but hope is still alive. Every time he returns with the same old unfulfilled wish in his eyes and the the same prayer in his heart. Not one complain, nor he pleads, he just waits for his dream, a dream that hasn’t been fulfilled yet. But he is sure that one day his name will be called. One day he too will join the Hajjis. A faith that never falters. The cry of a heart that is still looking towards Mecca.