By Kaisar Ahmad Malla

I grew up hearing one invitation repeated across Magam and Beerwah:“Walsa Baab Soebun Gasow.”

It always felt larger than its words. It pulled us toward a hill that seemed to hold something steady at its centre.

The shrine of Baba Hanneef U Din Reshi [R.A.] sits on Daresh Hill with a natural ease. People call him Baab Sob as if he were part of the family.

The mystic followed the path of Hazrat Zain Ud Din Wali [R.A.] of Ashmuqam, who followed Sheikh Noor Ud Din Noorani [R.A.].

That line of devotion travelled across the valley and settled on this rise in Rathsun Magam.

I often picture Baab Sob choosing the spot for its calm and letting prayer shape the place.

Reaching the hill feels simple. Roads curve up from Budgam, Beerwah, Radbugh, and Magam. The Budgam-Beerwah road glides along its slope, revealing the shrine as if introducing it. Srinagar is about an hour away. Magam and Beerwah sit close enough for a short detour after tea.

At the top, the world opens in clear lines. Srinagar lies to one side, Baramulla and Bandipora in the distance, Gulmarg's hills resting like folded cloth. Tosamaidan and Doodhpathri stretch out in long swells, and the Pir Panjal stands straight across the horizon. Villages below look tucked into the land, their rooftops catching the light.

Seasons redraw the hill with confident strokes. Spring wakes the slopes with green and small flowers that seem to arrive without effort. Summer brings steady breeze under the pines where families settle with baskets and stories. Autumn deepens the sky and fills the ground with amber leaves. Winter lays a clean sheet of snow across everything, making the shrine seem even more certain.

Many of my earliest memories sit here. School picnics, steel flasks of tea, grass stains on trousers, and the sense that the hill would outlast our tiny worries.

Even now, the place holds the same pull. Families still climb up with food packed in newspaper, and children still race toward the trees as if the hill were made for them.

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