The new version is a soulful track. The original was was a slow-to-fast-to-slow rhythm of a Chakri. One version was dedicated to Goddess Sharika [Inder jI and Mohd. Yaseen. Lyrics Alok. For Ravi Mech Studios]. This one is based on the version dedicated to Shankar [ by Alok Bhan]. Find the original lyricist is always a struggle, in this case I am told a reader [Hiralal Bhan] that the song was written by one Maharaj Krishan Kaul.
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Lyrics and Translation
Halmo Halmo gulaab, Shankaras pooz laagavhems full of roses, in homage, let’s offer to Shankara Shankaras Basmadharas pooz laagav to Shankara, to Ashen Lord, in homage, let’s offer Rozaan chukh Amarnath chay Womadevi tche saath You live at Amarnath, along with Umadevi chay Womadevi tche saath Umadevi is with you Soorymat Basmadhar Shankaras Pooz laagav Ashen Mad, Ashen Lord, in homage, let’s offer Bhangmayt ha Soorymayt rozaan chukh tche kyati Lord of mad highs, O Ashen mad, tell me where do you live Wantam sa kyati chon ghar, Shankaras Pooz laagav Tell me where is your house, in homage, let’s offer Sharmand chus be syetha naam choun surmaiy ne zah Ashamed I am, your name, I never remembered Galti cham me sara sar, Shankaras Pooz laagav It is my mistake, to Shankara, in homage, let’s offer Halmo Halmo Gulaab, Shankaras Pooz laagav hems full of roses, in homage, let’s offer to Shankara
Rahul Wanchoo and Hempreet Kour team up to give us a mix of Dogri/Pahari folk song with an old Kashmiri sufi song. Together capturing a certain beauty of the two languages. The Dogri song was made famous by Malika Pukhraj ( and later by her daughter Tahira Syed), whose origins are in Jammu and the Kashmiri one is by Sufi poet Wahab Khar (19th century)
A lot of Kashmiri Pandits are now running Youtube Channels where some great new content is coming up. The range of topics are as far and wide as: music, comedy, food, literature, language, culture, short films etc.
Given the small number of the community, I see a lot of them struggling for audience and reach. The insignificant number means it takes Youtube lot more time to start recognising and recommending the content to the right people for the community. Result: a lot of them get buried under the general Kashmir content produced in Kashmir. For algo. to recognize the sub-set data, there are some basic things that can be done, and that I see a lot of these channels not doing. Good ol’ – networking. Recognise each other, like, subscribe, comment and importantly create playlists. Overtime you will see discovery getting better. Algo. will understand this sub-cultural set better. It will understand this Kashmiri content is not coming from Kashmir. I am actually surprised most of these channels don’t subscribe to many Kashmiri channels! Guys, you don’t lose anything by subscribing, it just better contextualises your content. Creates a pool of viewers of “similar”.
[And for those who watch – download and whatsapp the content or FB upload to their own personal walls, all is not helping anyone. You may get to be star of your family whatsapp group for it, but this aping just discourages the new content producers. Just be nice and support them on Youtube.]
To help people discover such Kashmiri channels, I am creating a list of some channels which are actively generating content and treating Youtube seriously as a platform. Most of these channels have content primarily in Kashmiri or about Kashmir. This is not a definitive list, and in no order, if you believe you should be on the list, do write in:
[Kashmiri Bhajans sung beautifully at home by Sangeeta Wattal. And she is solving a problem, as she explains: “My experience with kashmiri bhajans on youtube so far has been that during poojas/festivals if we r listening to these bhajans and singing along, we are forced to sit and listen to instrumental pauses in between stanzas. Since my bhajans are recorded with few instruments and without the instrumental pauses in-between they are made for singing along during occasions /poojas without having to wait for the breaks in between.”]
A SearchKashmir production.
Second in the series on Kashmiri poetry
Rahul Wanchoo brings alive an old forgotten work of Abdul Ahad Azad (1903–1948). Azad’s work titled “Shikwa-e-Kashmir” had imagined Kashmir as a figure narrating its own tumultuous history, all that it witnessed in all the centuries, concluding that world is always in constant motion, always has been, always will be, sometimes for good, sometimes for bad, that man has to learn from history, from mistakes and hope for a better future. The video puts the poem in context of present history of Kashmir, and reimagines it as a lament by a Kashmiri Pandit. In the end, optimism of Azad (of 1940s) is contrasted by pessimism that surrounds us in present times.
I asked Rahul, we need to shoot this in an abandoned Kashmiri Pandit house. I want to see you sing it in those ruins. Finding the house proved to be a challenge, not that there are not many such houses in Kashmir. Fear. There is fear. The people visiting are afraid. The “guardians” and in some cases, the pandits still in Kashmir, are afraid what camera might be used for and how it would impact them. Something so simple became tricky. In the end, Rahul mentioned his mother’s birth house is still there in Kashmir. I asked him, “What about your own house?” He replied, “It is a rubble.” So, the song was shot in Rahul’s matamaal, or what remains of it. Once the song was done, I asked him to give me some Sahir Ludhianvi.
Rahul Wanchoo sings Asad Mir’s “Yeli Janaan Ralem”. Asad Mir (d. 1930) in mystical verses describes love, act of meeting the beloved, as a feeling similar to being reborn, to be a new human, again.
When I meet my beloved
My ailing heart will come alive again
Bruises carved on it will go
My ailing heart will come alive again
When I meet my beloved
Someday, I will lose my speech
Cage around me will fall apart
I will lose all my senses and sheen
My ailing heart will come alive again
When I meet my beloved
zamzam water will purify me
Asad Mir has this surmise
He will decorate me with the graceful attire
My ailing heart will come alive again
When I meet my beloved
My ailing heart will come alive again
In episode 2, we look at the stories associated with the Kashmiri proverb “Kasheer Kah Ghar” (Only 11 houses in Kashmir) that has its origins in the beginning of the Islamic rule in Kashmir.
Retelling the 15th century tale of a Pandit woman who became sister of a Muslim Prince. Re-interpreting the undying symbols of mixed masala culture. This is SearchKashmir video Dastangoi Episode 1.
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