Srinagar, Aug. 4 -- In March 2020, I watched my four-year-old son burst into tears. We were in a hospital in Srinagar, and his cochlear implant had just been activated. It was the first time he had ever heard sound.

He was stunned. His eyes searched the room, his face trembled. Then, he smiled.

That moment still lives with me. It was when everything changed.

My son, Mohammad Numaan, was born in April 2015, two months early. He spent 15 days in an incubator at LD Hospital. His lungs were weak, and each hour felt like a wait.

When we finally brought him home, we thought the worst was behind us.

But as he grew, we noticed the silence.

By the time he turned two, he hadn't said a single word. We saw doctors in Srinagar, then in Chandigar...