The Wheelchair Word Builder of Kashmir

By Gowher Bhat

Dooru sits at the base of gentle hills in South Kashmir, a town shaped by orchards, winding lanes and the steady hum of daily life.

At the edge of this place stands a modest house with one room that wakes earlier than the rest.

Before most families begin their morning routines, a lamp is already on inside. The light falls on a young man seated in a wheelchair with a book resting across his lap.

This is Aamir Rasool Khan, a thirty-year-old proofreader and editor who has lived with a paralyzed left leg since he was twelve.

His hands move across books with ease. Reading is the first thing he does each day, and often the last. “People think I live far from everything,” he says, “but books keep my world open.”

From his window he can see children running after a football