Comfortable trousers and strings of beads “took the place of business suits and wrist-watches . . . long hair, bare feet, and bralessness for women ... modern-day romanticization of the hippies ...

Most women wore saris. Even the hippies, whom residents called “gareeb ... the Srinagar the former grew up with. It was diverse, modern, and welcoming. “Neerja saw the disbelief in my eyes.