in bits and pieces
Shepherds of Paradise from rajakhan on Vimeo.
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Elliot Jacoby & His Orchestra – Kashmiri Moon (1928)
‘Chinna Chinna Kannile’ from Tamil film ‘Then Nilavu’ (1961)
‘Tu Navtaruni Kashmiri’ from Marathi film Madhuchandra (1967)
‘Chakkani chukkala’ from Telgu film Pasivadi Pranam (1987)
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“Under the direction of the Maharaja, G.E.C. Wakefield got a cinematograph film produced depicting the
unhygienic conditions under which women delivered children and the harsh treatment which was meted out
to them in the homes of their husbands. The scenario for the film was written by Ram Chandra Kak,
Political Secretary, (afterwards Prime Minister). It was an effective medium of propaganda for
social reform; but Pandits reacted unfavourably to the move and opposed the public exhibition of
the film. When an attempt was made to give a show of it in Srinagar, some young men resorted to
picketting. The Englishman was blamed for interference in the domestic affairs of the community.
Base political motives were ascribed to him. Ram Chandra Kak too came in for severe criticism.
Telegrams were dispatched to the Maharaja imploring him to intervene. Finally, Wakefield yielded to
the pressure and the film was withdrawn and never shown anywhere again.”
From ‘Daughters Of The Vitasta: A History of Kashmiri women from early times to the present day’ (1959), by Prem Nath Bazaz. More about the book and the complete book here.
G.E.C. Wakefield was Prime Minister of the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir from 1929 to 1931.
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Previously: Tamasha comes to Kashmir, on missionaries who traveled to Kashmir with Magic Lantern in around 1903.
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| Balraj Sahni in Garam Hawa (1974) |
“In those days the first mass upsurge of the people of Kashmir was taking place against the princely rule. Its objectives were not very clear then. and the middle-class young men felt quite bewildered and had little sympathy for the struggle of the people. Sometimes jokes were cracked at the expense of Kashmiris, who would stampede in the face of a lathi-charge and leave heaps of their chappals (footware) and lohis (warm blankets) behind on the ground. While the sentiment against the British was strong, there was little sympathy for the struggling Kashmiris. Balraj, therefore sprang quite a surprise one day, when he said, sitting among friends: “Why, all the purse-strings in the state are either in the hands of the Maharaja or the Punjabi traders who do not belong here and who exploit the local inhabitants.”
Balraj’s onservation was disturbing to many ears.
Balraj’s association with Kashmir, starting from early thirties, was to become deep and intimate. Kashmir became for him a kind of second home. He revelled deeply in its idyllic surroundings, long hikes, long swims in the lakes, and mountain-climbing. Kashmir was to become for him a place of deep personal attachments. It was here that he wrote some of his charming little poems and stories It was also to become a field for his cultural and literary activities in the years to come.”
~ Balraj My Brother by Bhisham Sahni (first published in 1981).
Along with Om Puri as the lead, the film had a lot of local names from the Srinagar station like Prana Shangloo, Shadi Lala, Kapil Warikoo, Vinay Raina and Mehraj Shah.
Here’s the film:
A young Mani Kaul and A.K. Haangal in Basu Chatterjee’s Sara Akash (1969).
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Haya ho
Hya ho
From Ek thi Ladki (1949), one of the earliest visit to Kashmir by Indian Cinema. [Came across it thanks to an awesome Kashmir Song compilation by dustedoff]
The boatmen in the song can be heard chanting ‘Ya peer Dastgir’, which is like the traditional chant for Kashmiri boatmen and the muslim working class. Also, the probable reason why we see more than two men rowing those boats is that around that time regattas organised on Jhelum river and Dal Lake by Christian Missionary School were an important part of the Srinagar experience.
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Previously:
Koshur British Rhymes: “There is indeed a “nursery rhyme thrill”, a certain Hickery-Dickery-Dock patter of rhythm, which anyone can hear (as Aldous Huxley heard it) any time, of day, in the streets of Kashmir…”
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Savoy Hotel Jammu. February 2012.
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First section of a Ranjit Hoskote essay titled ‘Winter Thoughts about Spring’ (link) starts with a conversation with Rahman Rahi and ends with part were Bollywood eats up culture.
Right, Rahman Rahi with Lata Mangeshkar.
In this film, perhaps the most ironic part is when one sees a young Kashmiri girl in middle of a discussion about future of Kashmiri Language, trying to make a strong point and then struggling to find a Kashmiri word for her point. Or perhaps most ironic part is watching the poet quote Koshur poet Mahjoor and Dilli poet Mir with just as much ease. Or perhaps it is hearing him worry about losing his memories: ASI protected Sun temple ruins of military campaigner Lalitaditya and Muslim Auqaf Trust run Charari Sharief of soul campaigner Alamdar-e-Kashmir Hazrat Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Wali/Nund Reshi.
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dyar hase chu saf’rasMonies, sirs, is for a journey.
A friend, sirs, is for when there is no money.
A near relation, sirs, is for when there is money.
That makes three things, and, sirs, there are two others : —
That woman is not for you
one not in know of herself
And, again, sirs : —
He only will win Raja Vikramaditya’s daughter
Who keepeth awake by night.
I never imagined I will read these Kashmiri stories. But here they are, preserved. Preserved complete with all the intellectual rigor that their listening induced among its recorders. The above lines form a mishmash of a particular verse in ‘Hatim’s Tales: Kashmiri Stories and Songs’ (1928), recorded with the assistance of Pandit Govind Kaul by Sir Aurel Stein. I created this mishmash based on the two version offered by Aurel Stein and Pandit Govind Kaul.
The Kashmiri songs and stories in this book were recited to Sir Aurel Stein in 1896, at Mohand Marg, high in Haramukh range, in Kashmir, by one Hatim Tilwon of Panzil, in the Sind Valley, a cultivator and a professional story- teller. They were taken down at his dictation by Sir Aurel Stein himself, and, simultaneously, by Pandit Govinda Kaul. The work is unique in the sense that (as the introduction to the book explains):
“[…] Hatim’s language was not the literary language of Kashmiri Pandits, but was in a village dialect, and Sir Aurel Stein’s phonetic record of the patois, placed alongside of the standard spelling of Kashmiri Pandits, gives what is perhaps the only opportunity in existence for comparing the literary form of an Oriental speech with the actual pronunciation of a fairly educated villager.”
The stories that Hatim told included not just a story of fabled Vikarmajit, but also of Mahmud of Ghazni, albeit in a familiar fabled grab of a benevolent king who goes around town at night in the grab of a poor man. He also tells the story of a farmer’s wife who complains to a Honey-bee about harshness of a revenue collector. The stories are told in songs and verses. The most amusing Kashmiri song offered by this book is the one about the turmoil created in lives of Kashmiri working class by Sir Douglas Forsyth‘s mission to Yarkand in 1873-4. The workers, cobblers, tillers, carpenters and all with a typical tongue-in-cheek Kashmiri humor sing:
Yarkand anan zenan
Khoni keth doda-not ware heth
bari drav
Lokan chu sapharun tav
Tahkhith doda-gur Jenatuk bagwan
Yarkand anon zenan
Watal dop watje bonay sara zah
Chim mangan dalomuy ta kah
Tsoratsh ta or heth met hay, pakanawan
I found Govinda Kaul’s translation (rather his pick of English works for certain Kashmiri work) a bit too easy on Imperialists, almost turning the song on its head. Here’s what the song conveyed to be:
Yarkand he is conquering
Carrying a milk-pail in his haunch,
earthern pots in a load
he goes forth
For people
journey is exhaustion
He , forsooth
White horse
Heavenly God
Yarkand he is conquering
Cobbler said to Cobbler’s wife
“I shall not remember forever,
they want my leather and lace,
leather-cutter and awl,
and they want me.
O, they are taking me too”
Yarkand he is conquering
You may read the complete book here at openlibrary.org
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Related Post:
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Pandit Govinda Kaul belonged to the clan of famous Birbal Dhar. Famous D.P. Dhar was a direct decedent of Birbal Dhar.
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Unrelated Post:
about short film that I was involved with in a minor way Raag Sarkari. (Nominated for IFFI, 2011).The story of a day in the life of a Jailer somewhere in U.P. and day happens to be D.P Dhar’s first death anniversary.
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