 Ghulam Ahmad Bhatt is an ordinary man, but life has been good to him. His prayers this morning had a special intensity. It is autumn and he has just finished gathering another plentiful harvest. Equal access to agriculture has made life so comfortable in villages like this in the beautiful valley of Kashmir that it surprises many visitors. Kashmir is one of the most beautiful places in the world and its charm has drawn me back time and again since I was a little girl. Many of the films I've acted in were actually shot in Kashmir but I was never aware of the socio-economic transformation that is taking place in Kashmir's villages. Ghulam Ahmad and his wife are telling Shabana Azmi that all this prosperity and comfort is new. When we were born in Kashmir, we were born in Gulbata. We were born in the year of the seven children. The last year, the people came to us in the same way. The people were looking for a solution. This is what I have heard from the people of Kashmir. A lot of infrastructure was built in the early years after independence, particularly for power and irrigation. Development projects, such as roads and bridges, remain a common sight in Khrmir, not only in the cities, but also in villages like Salora. As horizons have expanded fast over the past two generations, all this infrastructure and development is not enough. Their grandparents may have been happy with the land they got through land reforms, but young Kashmiris aspire for life in the fast track of modernity. The revolution in education, in those early years after independence, focused particularly on girls. At a time when free primary education is a distant dream in many developing nations, in many developing societies, it's wonderful to see that the government of Kashmir has worked very hard to ensure free primary education for all right since the beginning of independence and I think that is one of the reasons that one is able to see this transformation.