Walvay gachavai handey, Come, let us gather Dandelions, Laanyum nyai kati andey, It was fate, not meant to be Loo’ka’ ma’ti ka’dnas randey, All that people now offer is abjection. Walo myaani poshey madano! Come back my flower, my God, my Love! cholhama He is gone roshey enraged madano My Love cholhama He is gone Walvay gachavai babrey, Come my friends, let us gather Basil, Chhokh me’ loinam tabrey, My beauty he threw to axe, it went to pieces, kahsa sooj nam na khabrey, No one he sent to enquire of me Walo myaani poshey madano! Come back my flower, my God, my Love! cholhama He is gone roshey, madano, cholhama enraged , My Love, He is gone Walvay gachavai aabas, Come my friends, let us go to the river, aabas to the river Dunya chhu nendri ti khaabas, While the world is still asleep and dreaming, khaabas dreaming Praaran tahindey jawaabas, I await, I wait your answer Walo myaani poshey madano! Come back my flower, my God, my Love! cholhama He is gone roshey, madano, cholhama enraged , My Love, He is gone
Video interview of Radio Kashmir legend Pushkar Bhan (1926- 2008) in “Bulaye na bane” for DDKashmir broadcast in late 90s. From personal collection of his son Ashok Bhan. Shared by Pratush Koul.
Some interesting bits on how the famous radio plays produced by Pushkar Bhan came into being.
The only surviving video interview of great Kashmiri Poet Dinanath Nadim (1916–1988) . Produced by Bashir Ahmed (?) for Doordarshan Kendra Kashmir and broadcast in 1987. This is a VHS copy made available by Ahinsa Kaul, son of Dinanath Nadim. Special thanks to Pratush Koul for reaching out to poet’s family. The family had asked their Muslim neighbour to record the interview at the time of broadcast as they had a VCR. Nadim never saw the video and the family kept the recording, digitalising it more than a decade back, but revisited and shared now.
Nadim remembers his childhood, his Bhagat Singh days, his early political and ideological influences, him finding his voice, he recites some of his famous works that enriched Kashmiri language with a verve that was uniquely Nadim.
It is 87. He has just been given a life time reward. There is an undercurrent of violence brimming in society. Maybe he knows what is coming. He breaks down reciting “peace”.
Friend, that beautiful one, I remember, I remember
Khoshrukh Khosh Andam Yaad Aam Yad Aam
That body beautiful, that beautiful face, I remember, I remember
Shahbad Achbal rozum tas tchiz kal
On my mind at Shahbad, Achabal
Lolaab Sagaam
Lolab and Sogam
Yaad Aam Yaad Aam
I remember, I remember
daren dareechan baladaren pyeth
on windows and pavilions
darkhaiyn parwaan
maker’s chisel fell in love
Yaad Aam Yaad Aam
I remember, I remember
Az Waadi dith tem karnas faramosh
You promised and then forgot
Az subhu ta shaam
from morning till night
Yaad Aam Yaad Aam
I remember, I remember
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‘Tanga Ride’ from the book ‘Kashmir’ by Shinya Fujiwara, 1978. The inspiration. Had seen this in the book back in 2013.
The audio version is based on the old original version sung by Khemlata Dhar for Radio Kashmir composed by and additional lyrics by Rasa Javedani. [via: Jaya Parimoo..music director was one sabherwal of Delhi working for Radio Kashmir. Check the version here ] -0-
A new audio-visual interpretation of Rasul Mir’s classic qalaam. The visuals are spin on works of Dali. The story is a bit of Adam-Eve, some elements of Joseph, and Dante. And then of course there is Kashmir. The Ka of water, the Ka of Kashyap the Kachua, the Ka of Kashmir.
In 1981 census there were about 124,078 Hindus in valley, bulk of them KP. Just 3.96 % of whole Kashmir valley population of about 31 Lakh. Down from 5 % pre-47 [In 1941 only about 85000 KPs were living in valley]. In 1981, 59449 Hindus were in Srinagar of total population of 708328. Thus about 8.39 % of Srinagar was Hindu down from 10.02% of 1971 [56,566/564,314]. In 1981, additional 0.96 of Srinagar was non-Muslim [bulk of them about 6,334 Sikhs].
Breakup of Hindus in other districts of valley.
Anantnag 24,731/656,351 = 3.76%
Pulwama 10,096/404,078 = 2.49%
Badgam 9,642/367,262. = 2.62 %
Baramula 13,513/670,142. = 2.01% [ Additional 9,806 Sikhs, this being the district with their highest presence]
Kupwara 6,647/328,743. = 2%
According to South Asia Terrorism Portal, based on media reports, in 1990 about 862 civilians were killed [According to MEA, 461 civilians killed in 1990. FIR in not more than 30+ cases] Of these about 177 were Hindu; a disproportionate 20%.
J&K State govt. figure for killed KPs in 3 decades is 216. Kashmir based KP body now gives the number as 670. Bulk of these are from year 1990. A KP civil organization in early 90s gives names, location of killed Hindus, mostly KPs. 298 killed in 1990. Of them 127 in Srinagar. Between 1987- March 1990, only 10 KPs assassinated. Yet, friends and foes alike warn of the doom impending. March onward KPs start leaving from valley. Killings start. April there is almost 1 KP killed each day. Bulk of KP leave by April. In summer 1990 genocide launched on few remaining KPs and those staying to work, May-June-July, 2 KPs killed each day. And this when bulk of 1 Lakh+ KPs had already left. By end of September 1990 KP genocide complete with change in demography of valley as only handful KPs remain who spend next few decades as nothing more than hostages.
The demographic profile of KPs tells us if KPs had stayed on and killings continued in same pattern (as later mass massacres in valley showed rate would have been much worse and no one would have been bothered), the community did not have the no. to sustain a healthy population and would have been annihilated.
In 1981, KP ethnic group had the highest no. of elderly per 100 among all the communities in entire state. It also has the lowest children per 100 among all the communities[ 0-14 years (28 percent)]. They had more old people and lesser children than any community percentage wise. It is profile of a community that on surface looks healthy but a community that is shrinking in a hostile environment but optimizing for survival by the only way it knows, adapting to modern ways. This progressive community after 100 years of struggle now had the best ratio of men to women working in state. For every 2 working men there was 1 woman. 86.6 percent women. 86.6 percent women were educated as compared to 84.5 men.
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Ref:
A Demographic Profile of the People of Jammu and Kashmir. M.K. Bhasin and Shampa Nag. J. Hum. Ecol., 13 (1-2): 1-55 (2002)
1981 Census Report
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124,078 KP may seem a small number. But, you just have to compare with right figure.
In 1981, 68376 was population of buddhists in Leh + Kargil. In 1941, the total population of the region now known as Union territory of Ladakh was about 40000 [compare with 85000 KPs in valley in 41 ]. In 1947-48, it is this Ladakh that also Pakistani forces tried to annihilate and claim. In 2011, Ladakh’s total population grew to about 274000 (H+M+Oth). And they are now a union territory. Free. By that account, it is very convincing to believe that since 1947 about 6 Lakh KPs are now floating internally displaced persons with no territory. Numbers hostage to fractions and percentage of whole valley. That should help people understand what has actually happened to Kashmiri pandits. Today there are about 6000 KPs in Kashmir.
Kashmiri Lullabies audio recorded by French travellers in 1954. Scrapped from a European archive. Voice of Mohan Lal Aima. Video Edit using footage from Penn Museum. 1950s.
When the Mughals arrived in Kashmir in 16th century, in their early writings we see them looking at it as a mythical land where the locals tell of many miraculous tales surrounding various sites riddled all across the valley as manifestations of God’s existence. They tell of miraculous springs whose waters appear, disappear, boil at will, they tell of caves with no end, they tell of mountain passes that bow to command of holy men, streams that were commanded into existence by saints and they talk about ice pole in a cave based on movement of moon. Kashmir was the land of “Hairat”/surprise.
Abu’l Fazl (1551–1602) in Akbar’s time writes in his Ain-e-Akbari about Amarnath:
Between Great Tibet and the above-mentioned parganah [Dachchhinparah,the territory along the right bank of the Liddar river] is a cave in which is an image in ice called Amar Nat. It is considered a shrine of great sanctity. When the new moon rises from her throne of rays, a bubble as it were of ice is formed in the cave which daily increases little by little for fifteen days till it is somewhat higher than two yards, of the measure of the yard determined by His Majesty [about 4.8 feet]; with the waning moon, the image likewise begins to decrease, till no trace of it remains when the moon disappears. They believe it to be the image of Mahadeva and regard it as a means (through supplication) of the fulment of their desires. Near the cave is a rill called Amraoti, the clay of which is extremely white. They account it auspicious and smear themselves with it. The snows of this mountainous tract nowhere melt, and from the extreme cold, the straitness of the defiles and the rough inequalities of the road, they are surmounted with great toil.
(Ain-i-Akbari of Abul Fazl Vol . II , p . 360)
In a Mughal painting [with Aga Khan Museum, tagged MUGHAL MEN ADMIRING THE MIRACULOUS ICE LINGAM AT AMARNATH”] from around 1600 (or later) painted in Agra we see a visual depiction of Abul Fazl’s text.
While we can see the expression of surprise on the faces on men, oddly, here the moon is replaced by sun. In the note to the painting at Aga Khan museum it is assumed the sun is meant to alude the summers when the pilgrimage to shrine begins (in fact it starts in the rainy season at end of summer). I believe the sun in this painting (and the absence of cave) is an attempt by the unknown painter to provide a “rational” explanation for the phenomena. In that sense, the painting essentially has the same function as the footnote to Amarnath section in English translation by Jarrett of Fazl’s work. There the modern reader is told in note that the ice lingam – “The ice bubble was doubtless a stalacite”. [The translator was making a guess. We now know that it is infact a stalagmite, as it grows from floor and not the roof.] Just like the english translator had the need to explain the miracle, perhaps the Mughal painter too was reading the text and trying to explain how the ice bubble could decrease in size. His explanation: the sun was melting the ice while the people just looked at miracle with awe and surprise.
Surprise and its relation with Amarnath can be seen in another painting centuries apart drawn in Kashmiri school of painting. By this time Hairat – Surpise, had come part of local lore of Herath as Shivratri (when infact Herath the festival is Hararatri)
Devotees in the Amarnath cave temple Jammu, Pahari, mid 19th century Collection: National Museum, New Delhi
Came across this painting at a miniature art exhibition in Jammu in 2011. There is a lot going on this painting: Gossains(?) drinking water (amrit) dripping from the ceiling of the cave; women devotees, one of them even carrying a child in her arms. On closer look one can see a Dejhoor dangling from this woman’s ear, a good indication that the lady depicted here is a Kashmiri Pandit woman in Pheran. And then outside all this delirious scene, one can see the Muslim Shepherds, one of them looking amused, and one of them looking outside the frame.
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“A Muslim Pilgrim Learns a Lesson in Piety from a Brahman”, Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Amir Khusrau Dihlavi 1597–98. Here, a Muslim pilgrim to Mecca meets a Brahman who travels to a Hindu temple by inching his way in a series of prostrations. Impressed by this religious zeal, the Muslim removes his own shoes and continues on his way barefoot. [metmuseum]
An early exploration on theme of meeting of two different forms of “faithfuls” in Akbar era painting. The Hindu way was still strange, but it was being understood and even adopted in part. A Sufi with a dog. A brahmin on way to Somnath [which had already been destroyed and rebult, destroyed again and rebuilt again by 13th century in which lived Khusrau]. By painter Basawan. The story of Brahmin pilgrim also occurs in an early version of Laila Majnu.
Thar Thar Cham I shiver and tremble Marr Bhe Shayad think I will die Shar Mye Jigruk Drav Nye the longing in my heart remains Khoshvun Nundbon Vesiye listen friend, that beautiful lover of mine Myon Dilbar Aav nye he never came Waad Kormut Yaad Cheyno Promises you don’t remember? Saad Keychha Zaenthas A Simpleton you think of me Aad-na-ad kona thovuth why then didn’t you Myon Yi Dil Samblavnye keep this heart of mine with you? Thar Thar Cham Marr Bhe Shayad I shiver and tremble, think I will die Shar Mye Jigruk Drav Nye the longing in my heart remains Khoshvun Nundbon Vesiye listen friend, that beautiful lover of mine Myon Dilbar Aav nye he never came Chhay ruzith Zay Karthas You stayed in shadows, I withered away Kyaz tche Mathiyo Mai myani Why you forgot your love for me? Telli tChe Pheri Na Mye wantam Will you have regrets, tell me Yelli Mye metchi tal Saavnye when they put me to sleep under the ground Thar Thar Cham Marr Bhe Shayad I shiver and tremble, think I will die Shar Mye Jigruk Drav Nye the longing in my heart remains Khoshvun Nundbon Vesiye listen friend, that beautiful lover of mine Myon Dilbar Aav nye he never came Suy mein Roothum aash Yam sinz turned away has the only hope of my life sath me aesam yath dilas the only succor of my heart Rasliya wanto kas che ruthuk Hey Rasul [the poet]!, with whom are you angry? wan kamo mann naavnye Who will come to please you?
