Born into a family that survived the Pahalgam terrorist attack on the very day the attack took place a year ago, a Chhattisgarh family names their newborn Pahal.
'God's Greatest Gift'
On April 22, 2025, the Agrawal family's Pahalgam holiday in Kashmir turned into the scariest day of their lives -- something they thought they would carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Exactly a year later, on April 22, 2026, the same date has brought joy and happiness that has helped the entire family to forget what happened a year ago, on this day.
This time, it brought a child.
A baby boy.
And the Agrawals have named the "God's Greatest Gift" to their family, to any parents, as Pahal which means (a new) beginning. The word Pahal also happens to be the first three syllables of a place where they could have easily fallen to the terrorists' bullets.
"God wanted us to see this day. So, we survived," says Arvind S Agrawal, who along with his wife and five-year-old daughter Samriddhi were caught in the crossfire of the terrorists' bullets in Pahalgam on this day that took lives of 26 tourists in the picturesque Kashmir town.
Terror Flashback: Tale Of Survival
At Pahalgam's Point Zero -- often called 'Mini Switzerland' -- that day had begun like any other holiday morning. There were photographs to be taken, horses to ride, laughter to be shared. Arvind and his family were doing what families do -- trying to hold on to a moment of happiness.
Then came the sound.
At first, it seemed like firecrackers. For a few seconds, no one quite understood. And then, almost instantly, everything changed.
Gunfire tore through the calm. Panic rippled across the meadow. Men in military fatigues shouted orders. People ran, stumbled, fell.
In the confusion, the family was split apart. Samriddhi -- just four-and-a-half then -- ran toward a swing in the middle of the ground. Arvind lost sight of his wife. His world, for those moments, narrowed to fear and instinct.
What followed was chaos, but also something else -- something that would stay with him just as strongly.
Nazakat Ahmed Shah a long-time family friend of the Agrawals, and also a pony operator from Pahalgam, stepped in.
Nazakat did not hesitate when it mattered most. When questioned by the attackers, he claimed Arvind's daughter as his own. It was a small sentence, spoken in a dangerous moment, but it likely saved her life.
Elsewhere, a Kashmiri horseman guided Arvind's injured wife through a forest route. Her clothes had torn in the scramble; he gave her something to cover herself. When she tried to hand over her gold ring in desperation, he refused.
'My Daughter Still Gets Scared'
A year has passed. But time, it turns out, does not erase everything, even as it fades past memories.
"Thinking about that day still gives us goosebumps," Arvind says, his voice steady but reflective.
Samriddhi, now six, remembers more than anyone would want a child to remember.
"She still gets scared," he says. "If she sees guns in movies, she just shuts her eyes."
The fear surfaces quietly, at such moments or when family and friends talk about the unfortunate day.
Congratulations... And Quiet Celebration
And yet, April 22, 2026, has changed the life of the Agrawal family.
This year, the date did not arrive with dread. It came with anticipation, hospital visits, and a steady stream of phone calls.
Arvind's wife gave birth to a baby boy in a nursing home in Chirimiri, Chhattisgarh -- on the very day that once threatened to take everything away.
"Friends kept calling, congratulating," he says. "They were reminding us -- this is the same day everything happened... and the day our child was born."
There is something almost difficult to grasp about this coincidence -- how a single date can hold terror and tenderness, memory and renewal.
The name they chose for their son is their way of holding all of it together.
Pahal -- a (new) beginning.
"All our memories are connected to that day," Arvind says. "It's been one year today, so it will stay with us for life."
For the Agrawals Pahal is not just a name. It is a quiet act of reclaiming what was lost. A way of ensuring that April 22 will never belong only to fear.
"We are all so happy today. A quiet celebration is in place."
There are moments, even now, when the weight of what could have been surfaces.
Asked how it feels to be here -- to see this day, to hold his son -- Arvind pauses before answering.
"That's true..." he says softly. "I just pray that after coming out of such a difficult time, we continue to receive God's blessings."
The words are simple. But behind them lies everything that almost didn't happen.
'We Have Plans to Visit Pahalgam Again'
Some connections, forged in crisis, have endured.
Arvind is still in touch with Nazakat -- the man who, in a moment of danger, chose courage over hesitation.
"He called today to congratulate me," Arvind said.
It is a small detail, but it says something larger -- about the kind of bonds that survive beyond fear.
Perhaps most striking is what the family has chosen not to do. They have not retreated.
In fact, they are planning to return to Kashmir and Pahalgam in the coming months -- this time with their newborn son.
"We had plans to visit Kashmir on this very day but Pahal's birth has slightly changed our plans," Arvind says.
"Nazakat was here to attend the wedding of my brother and invited us to come as soon as we can. I promised to him that we will be there two months later in June."
There is no grand declaration in that decision. Just a quiet resolve. A refusal to let one day be cowed down by the haunting memories of the past.
Pahal: A New Beginning
For many, Pahalgam will remain a place of beauty shadowed by tragedy.
For the Agrawal family, it is something more layered -- a place where fear and kindness arrived together, where survival depended on strangers, and where memory refuses to fade but also refuses to define everything.
A year ago, April 22 was about escape.
Today, it is about arrival.
And somewhere between those two defining moments -- between what was nearly lost and what has now begun -- lies the meaning of a name.
Pahal.
© 2026