An unusual, happy quiet has settled along border villages in Jammu and Kashmir -- after all, it has been a full year since the Indian and Pakistani armies were ordered to silence their guns and declare a ceasefire.
The first anniversary Friday of the ceasefire between the two uneasy neighbours, signalling some kind of normalcy for the villagers for whom the pounding of guns and destruction had become a way of life, brings with it optimism of a lasting peace.
That it comes on the day when the Sikh community celebrates the birth of Guru Nanak, the founder of their religion, has added a festive note to the occasion.
On a more politic note, the anniversary comes just two days after Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz left India after a two-day visit bringing more hope for the villagers who have been making the most of the ceasefire since Nov 26, 2003.
If it is Gurupurab this year, last year it was Eid, a happy coincidence. And for the first time since partition, troops on either side had exchanged sweets.
The truce was effective along the 744-km the Line of Control (LoC) that divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan and nearly 200-km international border.
Now, the border residents are looking for something more substantive than the silencing of the guns.
Their fields, which were once scattered with artillery and mortar shells, have been harvested. But people like Virender Prakash, a resident of Kullan village close to the border, is optimistic that the silence would be permanent and lead to the opening of roads and people to people contact just like it was before partition.
It might be naïve, but that's how it is.
"This is a re-discovery of our lives," Prakash said emotionally.
"Only we can tell you what peace means," added Surinder Singh who lived in a migrant camp in a school building in Domana with his family for months together.
"There were 30 people living, breathing, cooking and sleeping in a much smaller room than this," he said pointing to his small granary, now full of grains.
Being back home is just one of the many things to celebrate. There are other joys as well. The children have resumed schooling and the boisterous weddings have resumed at night, bringing about a dramatic change in what was for years a non-existent 'social life'.
Children have found new hope and life as well.
Amit is now confident that he can now fulfil his dream of becoming a doctor. "At least I have regular schooling now," said the young student who missed out on school for over two years.
As for the women, the very normalcy of everyday life of cooking, cleaning and milking cattle, of children going to schools and husbands leaving for the fields is a huge achievement. "Life is the way I wanted it," said Ameena Bee.
A profound statement of hope that the two governments, just about beginning the knotty task of negotiating peace, have to live up to.