Pushkar Bhan's immensely popular Machama series was first broadcast on Srinagar Station of All India Radio in 1950s 1960s and went on to have more than 54 installments in coming decades. A selection of the series was published in book format in 1977 and won Pushkar Bhan a Sahitya Akademi Award in 1978.
Till recently, not any of the recordings were available publicly, but then last year Kashmiri Pandit community radio station Radio Sharda based in Jammu, thanks to family of Pushkar Bhan, re-broadcast a story from the Machama series. The story was Sindbad Machama:
Machama has a hearty meal served by his wife Khatij, goes to sleep and then dreams himself a modern day Sindbad out on fantastical sea adventure with his friends Sula Gota and Rehman Dada to seek distant strange islands, a quest that will may him immensely rich but only after running into a lord of Jinns, a baby Jinn named Tua, a strange giant bird named Rakh and two love-struck Jinn hoorie sisters Zangari-Singari, and somewhere along the journey Machama establishes democracy among Jinns.
A recording of the radio show is now available for purchase in Jammu (at the store 'Vir House', Sarwal...best place in town for Kashmiri recordings). I am sharing the radio play here:
[archiveorg SindbadMachama width=640 height=140 frameborder=0 webkitallowfullscreen=true mozallowfullscreen=true]
The satirical Kashmiri employed in the play by Pushkar Bhan had me in splits. Pure LMMOF.
Listen and Enjoy. Sindbad Machama Zindabaad! Tau! Tua!
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Something about the cast of the drama by an original cast member. From a comment (touched up here) on Facebook page Moderate Voice of Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh where it was shared [link]:
Bansi Raina: Sindbad Machama series was scripted and produced by Pushkar Bhan in 1968-1969 for Radio Kashmir. It became extremely popular, so much so that a mobile magistrate was deployed outside woman college on MA Road because the students from the adjoining SP College used to eve tease girls by calling them, 'Zingari-Singari'. It became a law and order problem. Besides the main characters i.e Machama (played by Pushkar Bhan), Sulla Gota and Rehman Dadda...M.L.Saraf was Zingari, P.L. Handoo was Singari...Bansi Raina (Tuwa's father, the main Jinn) and Shariefudin (Jinn Bacha, Tuwa). The cast had other characters as well which I am unable to recall. Some of the popular dialogues were, 'Walla..maiyani Shoga', 'hatai Zingari wa'ne Singari'.
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Word 'Machama' is a Kashmir dish of yore consisting of rice, vegetables, raisins, coloring matter and sugar.
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9th March 2023
Update
English transcript of Kashmiri Radio play 'Machama' by Pushkar Bhan that first was broadcast in 1960s. Translation by Trilokinath Raina, unpublished manuscript. Shared by Pratush Koul
algebra nay jabar kiya
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| From an image published in 1952 |
A popular old ditty from Kashmir on Maths and its mind befuddling mysteries.
Algebra Nay Jabar Kiya
Waqt Ki Rahi Tangi
Kalam Bechara Kya Likhay
Kakaz Rahi Nangi
Algebra unleashed terror.
There wasn’t enough time.
What could the poor pen cover?
Naked, was left the Paper.
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In Kashmir, Kagaz is Kakaz.
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I first came across that ditty thanks to my grandmother who would use bits of it to taunt me while I would fall asleep while reading. Then, recently, I came across two lines in book ‘Srinagar: My City My Dream’ by Zahid G. Muhammad‘, a complete ‘Kashmir Nostalgia’ trip, (first and only book that someone actually bought from Flipkart based on a recommendation on this blog). Then, today, I came across the full ditty in ‘Cashmere: Kashir That Was Yarbal’ compiled by Somnath Sapru. [PDF download link].
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Mess in Kangri
Mess or the water chestnut (G’aaer). Once the staple winter food of Kashmir. Part of winter life. One of the best things about winter. And the best way to have them…
Roasted in a Kangri.
I don’t even remember clearly when I last had them. I think I was eight and still in Kashmir.
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Previously:
Panjayeeb G’aaer
Zov Tcharaan
Zov Tcharaan. Picking lice in warmth of winter sun.
December 2012. Jammu.
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Play Harishchandra in Kashmir, 1903
“Satich Kahvit (Kashmiri) is a play (1929) by Nandlal Kaul [Nana] (1870-1940). It marks the beginning of the modern age of the history of Kashmiri drama. We are told some plays were written in Kashmiri prior to Satich kahvit and Zaina vilas (The play of Zaina) is often quoted as an instance. This was written when Zainaul Abidin (1420-1470) ruled Kashmir, but the original manuscript of the play has not been located so far. This means that Satich kahvit revived the tradition of drama in Kashmiri after a lapse of almost six hundred years.
The play is based on the famous story of Harishchandra and Taramati. Harishchandra was the 28th king of the Solar line and the son of the famous king Trishanku. The story of Harishchandra is included in Aitrya Brahmana, Mahabharata, Markandeya purana.
This drama, though based on an old story, enjoyed great popularity and was staged again and again at Rughnath temple (Srinagar) and at Sheetalnath (Srinagar). The play was seen through the press in 1935 after it had been staged at various places between 1929 and 1932.
As far as the technique of the play is concerned, the author has to a large extent followed the tradition of both Sanskrit drama and Hindustani drama of the twenties of this century. At certain places the play comes very close to the Parsi theatre. Besides the sutradhara, we find the character of vidushaka in the play. The language is a mixture of Sanskrit and Kashmiri, and for this reason perhaps its appeal is restrictive. Besides the theme, its diction is nowhere close to the present day Kashmiri. However, the author has made good use of mythology and Hindu tradition and has delineated well the characters of Harishchandra, Taramati, Rohit and Vishvamitra. The story of Harishchandra was made the basis of yet another drama, Satich vath (Path of truth) written by Tarachand Bismil in 1936 and published in 1939.
Satich kahvit represents the third phase of prose writing in Kashmiri. Its dialogues are in rhythmic prose, but its influence was short-lived as it attracted the attention of only a few writers, and came to an end with Tarachand Bismil (1948).
The author has to his credit three other plays, entitled Ramun raj (The period of Rama’s reign), Paz pativrata (A fathful wife) and Dayilol (Devotion of God).”
~ Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: sasay to zorgot By Mohan Lal. Based on works of: B.B. Kachru, Kashmiri Literature (Wiesbaden, 1981); J.L. Kaul, Studies in Kashmiri (Srinagar, 1968); S.K. Raina, Kashmiri bhasha aur sahitya ka itihas (Delhi, 1968)
Recently, I had an interesting discussion with a culture vulture writer friend from down south Bangalore. In the second hand-book market of Bangalore he had picked an old book by J.L. Kaul (front page missing, most probably ‘Studies in Kashmiri’) and was now researching for a paper on drama history between 1900 – 1950. He wanted to know what was the story in Kashmir. He wanted to know about the pre-IPTA days of Kashmiri Drama and if women were involved with it and if yes, who were they. I told him about a couple of books, sent some links, told him about Bhands, Bacchhas, Hafeezas, told him I don’t think any women were involved in any of this. I wasn’t much help but managed to learn about things like: Krod Thirath Sabha Dramatic club in Baramula that staged a play in 1938 called grisy sund gari (‘A Peasant’s House’) by Mohi-ud-Din Hajani (1917-93) (also published in Pratap magazine that year).
I wondered what it must have been like to be in audience of one of these plays. Then a couple of days ago, I came across this passage by one Edmund Russell (a follower of Madame Blavatsky) in ‘Everybody’s Magazine, v.8, 1903, Jan-Jun:
“Connected with the temple the Maharajah keeps a company of players, as has been the custom of his ancestors. In that weird courtyard, by the light of torches, a Sanskrit drama was given for me. The performance was preceded by a procession of priests bearing flowers and gifts. My choice was the heart-rendering “Harischandra,” and given with the simplest surroundings, it was played with an intensity and spirit we could not excel. The audience itself was a thing of wonder as I, the only European present, looked on those upturned, tear-swept faces lit by the torches’ glare. A sea of emotion swept of all conventionality. It told what the old-world spectacles must have been.”
This was in around 1903, a couple of decades before what is believed to be the antiquity of Nandlal Kaul’s play on Harishchandra and beginning of modern play in Kashmir.
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Akus Bakus Ad
video link
Imagine walking into a bank about your existing account and the guy behind the counter asking you questions like: Tell me who that guy in the corner is? Do you know who I am? Now, tell me who are you?
A kashmiri would probably run out of the bank saying, ‘ye bank hasa gov dheg’he dyun layak.’
Akus Bakus/Okus Bakus is a non-sensical childrens’ ditty that most Kashmiri Pandit children of a certain era grew up on, and probably still do, playing a certain little game in group with their fingers. Most words don’t mean anything. But these words evolved from hukus bukus telli wann che kus (Who’s he? Who am I? Now, tell me who are you?) by Lal Ded, the great poet-saint of 14th century Kashmir, who can rightly be credited for giving birth to modern Kashmiri language.
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I don’t know the number in the state but I think the big shots waking up to the emerging tier-2 market at the borders. Kashmir is suddenly the in thing. Some ads from recent years certainly point to this.
I think the first one was the Tata Nano Ad from 2010 that had definitive Kashmiri music with Rabaab and all. video link
Then there was Visa Ad from earlier this year with the definitive Kashmiri talking in Hindi Ad. The accent was made mainstream (or maybe parallel stream) decades ago by M.K. Raina and K.K. Raina.
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And now some native ads
kuja boodi, kahan tha, kati osukh
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| Kashmiri Bakery, 2008 |
Kuja boodi, kahan tha, kati osukh?
Dere tha, khana boodam, gari osus.
Chi khordi,kya khyot, kya khaya?
Du nano, do rotian, tsochi jorah.
Where were you?
At home.
What did you eat.
Couple of loaves.
One of the tri-lingual ditties developed by Kashmiri pandits in old days to learn Persian. I think I have often heard parts of it from my grandfather, but always employed in humorous situations, he would say, Kuja boodi Tau Tau (Kuja boodi Blah Blah).
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Found the complete ditty in ‘Kashmiri Pandit Community: A Profile’ by Triloki Nath Dhar.
brother’kanas’manz’zov
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Broken
“Bewada“
Around two weeks ago my mother fell down from a rickshaw. And on top of it, the rickshaw fell down on top of her. As she lay on the ground, the riskshaw-puller, seemingly unhurt, came running to pick her up.
“Shikaslada-Kaula,” my mother screamed as she now picked the scent of alcohol in his breath. She tried to kick him. But she couldn’t move. Instead a pain moved into her right shoulder. A crowd gathered. In her anger, she wanted to say something else to the riskshaw-man. But she just couldn’t find the right word. She knew the word, but just couldn’t recall it. A young guy dropped her home in his car, neighbours took her to the hospital.
A week later, as they brought her out of the operation theater, on a stretcher, in her anesthesia induced delirium, I heard her say,”Heya, me chuv nasti sakh kashun yewaan.” I couldn’t help laughing out loud. Sometime later, she had me scratching her nose. In her delirium, I promised her I will get married, buy a car and even get back my ‘Kashmiri’ skintone that I had when I was four, get back the apples of my cheeks.
Two weeks later, adjusting to a metal plate in her shoulder, she finally remembered what she wanted to say to the rickshaw-walla. ‘Bewada Kahi Ka!’
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A Rage Comic: A Kashmiri Metal Head.
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