Srinagar, Oct. 31 -- Traffic moves along Delhi's A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Road, formerly known as Aurangzeb Road, as it does every day. Behind the thick canopies of old neem, tamarind and jamun trees lining both sides of the avenue, glimpses of sprawling bungalows emerge through the foliage. In a small portion of one such bungalow lived Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. It was a privately owned property at 1, Aurangzeb Road. It was here that Patel worked towards integrating 562 princely states into the Indian Union, helping consolidate the country in the turbulent years surrounding Independence.Two of his close associates, V.P. Menon and author Ramadhar, his adviser on Jammu and Kashmir affairs, frequently visit there. It was in this house, too, that P...