in bits and pieces
Video: A travel guide for Kashmir published in September 1960 by Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity,, Ministry of I&B., for the Deptt. Tourism, Govt. of India, New Delhi. Printed in Bombay.
Audio: Kashmiri music from film ‘Magic of the Mountains’ (1955) by Mushir Ahmed for Film Division. The first song is the famous lament of Habba Khatoon (16th century).
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| A woman at Gulmarg. The Place is supposed to have been discovered and patronized first by Habba Khatoon. |
Dil nith colham roshey,
Walo myaani poshey madano!
Wolai ve’si’ gachavai hiyey,
yus gav su katee yiyey,
Praaraan chhas channi ziyey,
Walo myaani poshey madano!
Wolai ve’si’ gachavai handey,
Laanyum nyai kati andey,
Loo’ka’ ma’ti ka’dnas randey,
Walo myaani poshey madano!
Wolai ve’si’ gachavai babrey,
Chhokh me’ loinam tabrey,
Zanh ti aam nai khabrey,
Walo myaani poshey madano!
Wolai ve’si’ gachavai krechhey,
Khalqav tuj has rechhey,
Timan tay myon hyu gachhey,
Walo myaani poshey madano!
Wolai ve’si khasavai vantai,
Khalqav b’ari’ has kan tai,
Tee booz ta’mi’ saadan tai,
Wo’lo myaani poshey madano!
Wolai ve’si gachhvai aabas,
Dunya chhu nendri ta khaabas,
Praaran chhas bo’ jawaabas,
Walo myaani poshey madano!
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Having snatched my heart you have gone far off,
Come, my love, my flowery Cupid!
Let us go, mu friend, to gather jasmine,
Once dead, none can enjoy life;
I hanker for your prosperity, Love,
Come, O Come, my flowery Cupid.
Let us go, friend, to gather dandelion,
The tangled strands of destiny cannot be freed,
The populace relishes my humiliation,
Come, O come, my flower Cupid.
Let us go, friend, to gather basil,
Wounding my heart with the axe,
Disdains he even to inquire of me,
Come, O Come, my flowery Cupid.
Let us go friend to gather herbs,
Heartless people make fun of me,
Would that they were in a similar plight!
Come, O Come, my flowery Cupid.
Let us go, friend, to the woods:
People poison his ears against me,
Naively he gives credence to these tales!
Come, O Come, my flowery Cupid.
Let us go, friend, to fetch water:
The world is fast aslumber, Love,
I yearn for a response from you,
Come, O Come, my flowery Cupid.
~ A Translation by S.L. Sadhu offered in his ‘Habba Khatoon’ written for Sahitya Akademi’s ‘Makers of Indian Literature’ series.
An interesting thing about the books on Kashmiris written by Kashmiris under this series is that they seldom actually offer the original Kashmiri lyrics. It’s like they (the publishers, not the writers as it does seems the original lyrics were left out in the final edit) never thought other Kashmiris might be interested in reading these books some day and might want to read the originals too.
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He stole my heart, then
enraged, he left.
Come back my flower, my God, my Love!
Come my friends, let us gather Jasmine,
One who is gone,
never returns.
And yet I wait on all your life.
Come back my flower, my God, my Love!
Come my friends, let us gather Dandelion,
It was fate,
not meant to be, they say.
All that people now offer is abjection.
Come back my flower, my God, my Love!
Come my friends, let us gather Basil,
My beauty
he threw to axes,
it went to pieces,
And he never even returned to know,
if I was alive
Come back my flower, my God, my Love!
Come my friends, let us gather wild herbs,
People mock and taunt,
Not if,
they too had gone through,
what I am going through,
Come back my flower, my God, my Love!
Come my friends, let us go to the woods,
People poison his two ears
That simple man,
what if he hears their tales of me,
what if he believes their falsehood!
Come back my flower, my God, my Love!
Come my friends, let us go to the river,
While the world is still asleep and dreaming,
I await,
I wait for an answer
Come back my flower, my God, my Love!
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Some additional verses. Sung by travelling bard Noor Mohammad of Handwara.
After Doordarshan Centre was established in Srinagar in 1972, a number of tele-films were made. These first few films were about things that all Kashmiris used to cherish, mytho-memories and words of their Habba Khatoons, Rasul Mirs and Badshahs. Among these tele-films Habba Khatoon by Basheer Badgami was probably the most popular and famous. The film had Reeta Razdan as heroine in the role of poet-queen of Kashmir and Ghani Khan as King Yusuf Chak. The songs were sung by Shamima Dev (who later went on to be Azad [previously]).
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This much I know from ‘A History of Kashmiri Literature’ by Trilokinath Raina. But till recently I hadn’t see any of these films ( who knew a few of them were shown in Kashmir Film festival organised by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in 2009 [.pdf of Films Schedule]).
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This morning [thanks to Mrinal Kaul] I came across the famous Habba Khatoon.
Uploaded to Youtube by 44x4x4x [who given his profile picture there, a painting called ‘A Beauty of the Valley’ by G. Hadenfeldt, found in ‘The Charm of Kashmir’ (1920) by V.C. Scott O’connor‘ , is probably already a reader of this blog or someone who somehow found a part of it. I big thanks to the uploader for sharing].
[Cross posted on my other blog about other thoughts that inundate my mind]
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| Dimple Kapadia puts on makeup as she gets ready to shoot for ‘Zooni’. A Kashmiri crowd, of mostly teenagers, looks on. 1989. |
Came across this beautiful image in ‘Mary McFadden: high priestess of high fashion : a life in haute couture, décor, and design’ [ at Google Books, check it out for her story about the film that never got finished]
In a New York Times article dated 1990 [link], she is quoted saying:
‘This is like a Cecil B. de Mille production, with 1,000 people in two village to dress. There are no records of how people looked, and no miniatures like other places. I took a melange of looks from the high courts of Persia and Suleiman the Magnificent in Constantinople, so they have more of a Persian feeling. The Mogul Empire had not yet influenced Kashmir.’
For much of late 1980s, Muzaffar Ali, back then already acknowledged a master filmaker for his cinematic rendering of Urdu novel “Umrao Jan Ada” (1905) by Mirza Haadi Ruswa telling the story of a 19th century Lucknow courtesan , was busy planning his next big project, cinematic rendering of the folklore surrounding 16th century Kashmiri poet-empress Habba Khatoon, known to her people as Zooni.
This film was going to be his masterpiece, a project so ambitious in its approach to the subject, an attempt so detailed in its planned execution that it would have been absurd to call it an Indian film at all. Who had heard of a well researched Indian film?
American designer Mary McFadden did the costume designs. Art historian Stuart Cary Welch was consulted for getting the feel of the era right. The two men behind Umrao Jaan’s musical soundtrack weaved something special for this one too: Akhlaq Mohammed Khan ‘Shahryar’ offered lyrics while Khayyam put those words to music. With his plans to shot the film on location in Kashmir, there was the need to capture the intrinsic beauty of the locale, its people and of the story on camera. The scenic beauty of Kashmir needs to be approached either with a certain restrain or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, with a feeling of Fanaa (not to be confused with that nasty ‘eye of needle meets I don’t know what’ film). Camera was handled by Basheer Ali, a new talent, a protegee of Ishan Arya, the cinematographer for M.S. Sathyu’s Garam Hawa (1975). You would have had to watch the film to know which way it went. The project had already taken some time in making. But it seemed like something worth waiting. Dimple Kapadia, was moving from her nadir of Zakhmi Aurat and on way to her zenith of Rudali. Maybe Zooni was going to be her zenith. Vinod Khanna was well past his peak and well passed his Osho days. But if he was still man enough to sell soaps, he was man enough to portray a king, he already looked the part, riding a horse in that popular soap ad, there was going to be much galloping in this film too (the age of galloping men was to end later with Khuda Gawah (1993) starring the better half of Amitabh-Vinod Khanna duo). Yes, there would have been fans and critics who would have judged their performance. There would have been verdict of the box-office. But we are getting too far. Who worries about the box-office while the film is still being made? (Don’t answer.)
The film never got finished even as all the songs had been recorded and a lot of scenes had been shot in Kashmir.
By the end of 1990, with the situation in Kashmir going from normal to bad to worse, to at one point seeming like the end, Muzaffar Ali must have got that terrible feeling in the gut that the film may never get finished.
Maybe it would have been just another film, ‘Oji he should have retired after Umrao Jaan. What point this Zooni? These indulgent directors, I tell you.’, that kind of thing and not something that Muzaffar Ali claims would have changed the history of India. Can films change history? Or maybe it would have been special. It would have found an appreciative audience. We may never know.
And perhaps this was the last Indian film to be called a Cecil B. de Mille kind of production.
A trailer of Zooni uploaded to youtube by Basheer Ali. In last couple of decades the world has got used to crisp images, only HD even on Rs.9000 camera. So the film was look dated now but at least the music can be digitally mastered. Song in the background ‘Rukh-e-Dildaar Deedam Daras Ko Aaye Preetam’. I read about this song at this blog post by Shahryar’s son about his father’s failing health. I do hope at least the soundtrack of this film gets released. But the way Zooni and Kashmir are intertwined. There is even little hope of that.
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Bombay film industry had long tried to make a film of Habba Khatoon. All attempts were doomed. First attempt was by Mehboob Khan in 1960s, it was going to star Saira Banu as the queen and Kamaljeet was the king. The project was shelved after Mehboob Khan’s death in 1964. Another attempt was made in 80s by Sanjay Khan who wanted to cast Zeenat Aman as the queen. The songs for the film were recored by Naushad with Rafi. The film was never completed and the songs from the film proved to be last collaboration between Rafi and Naushad.[song]
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“Yusuf left Kashmir, and on January 2, 1580, appeared before Akbar at Fathpur-Sikri, and sought his aid. In August he left the court armed with an order directing the imperial officers in the Punjab to assist him in regaining his throne. His allies were preparing to take the field when many of the leading nobles of Kashmir,dreading an invasion by an imperial army, sent him a message promising to restore him to his throne if he would return alone.
He entered Kashmir and was met at Baramgalla by his supporters. Lohar Chakk was still able to place an army in the field and sent it to Baramgalla, but Yusuf, evading it, advanced by another road on Sopur, where he met Lohar Chakk and, on November 8, 1 580, defeated and captured him, and regained his throne.
The remainder of the reign produced the usual crop of rebellions, but none so serious as those which had already been suppressed. His chief anxiety, henceforth, was the emperor. He was indebted to him for no material help, but he would not have regained his throne so easily, and might not have regained it at all, had it not been known that Akbar was prepared to aid him. The historians of the imperial court represent him, after his restoration, as Akbar ‘s governor of Kashmir, invariably describing him as Yusuf Khan, and he doubtless made, as a suppliant, many promises of which no trustworthy record exists. His view was that as he had regained his throne without the aid of foreign troops he was still an independent sovereign, but he knew that this was not the view held at the imperial court, where he was expected to do homage in person for his kingdom. In 1581 Akbar, then halting at Jalalabad on his return from Kabul, sent Mir Tahir and Salih Divana as envoys to Kashmir, but Yusuf, after receiving the mission with extravagant respect, sent to court his son Haidar, who returned after a year. His failure to appear in person was still the subject of remark and in 1584 he sent his elder son, Ya’qub, to represent him. Ya’qub reported that Akbar intended to visit Kashmir, and Yusuf prepared, in fear and trembling, to receive him, but the visit was postponed, and he was called upon to receive nobody more important than two new envoys, Hakim ‘All Gllani and Baha-ud-din.
Ya’qub, believing his life to be in danger, fled from the imperial camp at Lahore, and Yusuf would have gone in person to do homage to Akbar, had he not been dissuaded by his nobles. He was treated as a recalcitrant vassal, and an army under raja Bhagwan Das invaded Kashmir. Yusuf held the passes against the invaders, and the raja, dreading a winter campaign in the hills and believing that formal submission would still satisfy his master, made peace on Yusuf’s undertaking to appear at court. The promise was fulfilled on April 7, 1586, but Akbar refused to ratify the treaty which Bhagwan Das had made, and broke faith with Yusuf by detaining him as a prisoner. The raja, sensitive on a point of honour, committed suicide.
Ya’qub remained in Kashmir, and though imperial officers were sent to assume charge of the administration of the province, attempted to maintain himself as regent, or rather as king, and carried on a guerrilla warfare for more than two years, but was finally induced to submit and appeared before Akbar, when he visited Kashmir, on August 8, 1589.
Akbar’ s treatment of Yusuf is one of the chief blots on his character. After a year’s captivity the prisoner was released and received a fief in Bihar and the command of five hundred horse. The emperor is credited with the intention of promoting him, but he never rose above this humble rank, in which he was actively employed under Man Singh in 1592 in Bengal, Orissa, and Chota Nagpur.”
~ The Cambridge History of India:Turks and Afghans Volume 3 by Sir Wolseley Haig (1928).
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It is as story as it is not often told, for example the last of Bhagwan Das never made it to popular telling of the story.
Image: Collage based on K. Asif’s Mughal-e-Azam – a work essentially (derived form popular lore) about Akbar’s conduct and how he went about the business of running an empire and of course how this business ruins love. The popular Kashmiri story of Yusuf and Habba Khatun finds some parallels in that story. If one considers the ending of the film Mughal-e-Azam – Akbar providing a safe passage, an anonymous escape and a popular death, to Anarkali and if one considers the alternate (unpopular) ending of Yusuf Chak and Habba Khatun story – graves of the two lovers side by side at a desolate place in Biswak village in Nalanda, Bihar and not the version that sees Habba Khatun pinning for her lost King’s love till the last of her breath, the parallels, rather inversions, are unsettling. In popular memories, love stories with happy ending are no love stories at all.
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| A place near Khilanmarg, |
After being buried in his ancestral village Mitrigam, Mahjoor was later to be buried one more time. His body was exhumed and with full State honours reburied by the side of Habba Khaton’s grave in Athwajan on the outskirts of Srinagar, or by the side of what was believed to be the grave of Habba Khatoon.
Later research was to prove that the 16th century famous commoner-poet-queen Habba Khatoon, Zoon, was in fact buried at Biswak village in Nalanda, Bihar alongside the grave of her husband, Yusuf Shah Chak.*
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*Came across the info. in T.N . Kaul’s Poems of Mahjoor.
