 These times of strife, when differences between people, their thoughts and beliefs, are explained in terms of a clash between civilizations, it is difficult to believe that not so long ago lived a man many believed to be divine, who had the ability to effortlessly bridge this gap between seemingly different streams of belief. Nundrishi, Sheikh Nuruddin, Sahaja Nandrishi, Sheikh Holalam, as many names perhaps as followers, was born in Kaimu in 1375 A.D. in Kashmir. This spring is where he first bathed, this cave where he meditated for twelve long years. He emerged having immersed himself in the divine, but still a son of the soil who spoke to the people in their own language. Using metaphors they could identify with. He said, let the ploughshare be your bath and ablutions, perform them well. The yoke be thy conscience, abandon worry of kith and kin. Telling the land is equal to reading the Quran, read it correctly. For essentially, Nundrishi was a people saint, an icon both for the new faith Islam, which was taking root, and also for the soil in which it was taking root, which carried within it centuries of wisdom and spirituality of the pre-existing religion, Hinduism. He enshrined within himself as a living example, the best of both for his followers to follow. Ensuring there was no clash or collision between the two, and also a continuance of the Kashmiri way of life. He said, once you know the truth, then you will curb the five senses, otherwise you may continue to bend your body five times and call it namaz. But only when you have united Shiva and the void within you, will you have offered the true and inner namaz. Like all great bhakti and sufi saints preaching unity with the divine, harmony and equality, across India at that time, Nundrishi also epitomized the spirit of oneness, as he preached against dogma, ritual and hatred in the name of religion. He spent his last days at Rupavan, an idyllic spot on top of a hill, till his mortal remains were laid to rest at Charare Sharif. As in life, so also in death, he remained the people saint. Irrespective of religion, till today, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, pray to him as their very own, just as he had taught them, that love is the only ladder which can take them to God.