It is autumn in Kashmir. Villagers are singing songs of harvest in the fields. We enter the gate into a small alley and stop in front of a typical Kashmiri house with colourful walls. We knock on the wooden door and a voice greets us from inside. ‘Oh, I was waiting for you.’

When we step in, we’re hit by the smell of fresh apples common at this time of the year. Zareefa Jan, sixty-five, in a white pheran robe and a hijab, greets us in her garden. ‘You know how hectic village life is in this season, but I couldn’t say no to you.’

We’re here to meet the Sufi poet who writes in a language of circles. We’d heard rumours about her. Kashmir—the land of Sufis—is home to many poetic and spiritual forms and there is much respect for these poets. Zareefa is no exception.

We ask her how she started writing poetry.

• Tags: Adil Amin Akhoon, Bisma Farooq, India, Issue 29, Kashmir