Mohammad Iqbal was working the nightshift at a power plant when he got a frantic call from his family saying artillery shells were exploding around their home.

Poet Zareef Ahmed Zareef has watched India and Pakistan fight for decades over his homeland, the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. He was born in 1947, the same year India and Pakistan became independent nations and British colonial rule ended.

Many in the region are preparing for a possible military confrontation between India and Pakistan because of a terrorist attack two weeks ago.