
SRINAGAR, India — Kashmiri poet Zareef Ahmad, 80, has unmatchable energy. He talks animatedly and feels passionately about his past. His study is filled floor to ceiling with books in Urdu, English and Farsi — some of which he has authored.
Ahmad won India's highest award for literature. But one of his most prized books is a small notebook filled with handwritten notes in Urdu.