Knit India Through Literature Volume IV - The North - Kashmiri

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Knit India Through Literature Volume IV - The North – Kashmiri

Author:

Sivasankari

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Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface- I

Preface – II

Preface – III

Preface - IV

But for whom this project would not been possible...

Travelling Through Jammu & Kashmir

Rahman Rahi

Poems

R.L. Shant

Earth Under Your Feet

Naseem Shafai

Poems

Neerja Mattoo

Transforming Gaze - Some Kashmiri Women Poets

Modern Kashmiri Literature

Vision of Literature

awart form

The Tamil Literary Gardaen, Canada

Foreword

As the last volume of her Magnum Opus ‘Knit India Through Literature’ nears publication, Sivasankari is bound to feel overwhelmed by the sense of fulfilment. One can easily gauge how excruciating the task was. Sixteen years, a tapa, of her creative life, has been spent in mapping multilingual literary India. By taking this project to its logical conclusion, she has substantiated Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan’s assertion that though we write in many languages our literature is one.

I had earlier read the first three volumes and now am privileged to go through the fourth one, even before it has gone to press. The reading has helped me to learn immensely about the other languages and their literatures. As Sivasankari herself put it, her work introduced me to other fellow countrymen like never before. It is said that Mahatma Gandhi, in order to understand the people of his country, undertook a tour of entire India before plunging into the nationalist movement. Sivasankari’s travels across the length and breadth of the country and the interviews with some of the celebrated creative minds assumes similar significance, as they not only project the glorious literary scenario prevailing in India but also throw light on the shortcomings and the problems faced by literature in India.

I have known Sivasankari much before she embarked on this ambitious project. I knew her as an eminent fiction writer. But these four volumes have revealed to me the other facets of her creativity. The brilliant account of her travels through various terrains is so amazing that I am sure, if compiled, the travelogue can be termed as ‘Another Discovery of India.’ If the Discovery of India has introduced the history and culture of India in its entirety, Sivasankari’s work is a discovery of literary India that thus far was unexplored so exhaustively.

The account of her travel experiences is vivid and descriptions absorbing. She so vivifies her journeys and sojourns as to give the reader a feeling of travelling and meeting people along with her. Laced with anecdotes, folktales and historical sagas, the travelogues are very informative. She has not missed to mention the architectural genius of Robert Lutyens who built the modern city of New Delhi or Le Corbusier, the Swiss architect who designed the planned city of Chandigarh and the marvel of 1,500 – year - old iron pillar near Qutub Minar built by Chandragupta that has not caught any rust so far. She has also enlightened her readers by going to the roots of the names of places, rivers or monuments. How did the Urdu language get its name? From what was the name Kashmir derived? How Bhopal is a derivative of Bhojpal, the kingdom of Raja Bhoj. And Punjab is the Land of Five Rivers. Etymology somehow makes reading remarkably interesting.

Folklore is a record of the socio - cultural history of the people of a region. The selected anecdotes she came across during her travels have been presented in a gripping manner. We are familiar with the legend of Parshurama who created the Gomant - Bhumi (Goa) or the coastal Kerala by reclaiming land from the sea. But here is a totally different story behind the formation of the valley of Kashmir. Jalod Bowa, a demon who hid in a hill - side lake tortured the people living on the slopes of the hills. Kashyap, a sage, carved a hole to the hill in a manner that caused the water of the lake to be drained out. The demon was exposed and then vanquished. The valley created by the drained-out lake was allowed to be inhabited by the people living on the slopes and came to be known as Kashmir, after the sage Kashyap. Similarly, the story of King Avanti Verma who streamlined the waters of river Vishishtha to overcome the fury of the floods remind us of Bhagirath who relocated the course of the River Ganges.

Yes! The Qutub area of New Delhi adorns the look of a grazing place for cattle and goats. Why? It is because of the curse of the Saint Nizam – ud - din who was stopped by the emperor Tughlak from constructing a mosque in that area. Yet another tale tells about the barbaric Hun king, Mahir Gul, who drew sadistic pleasure in pushing a hundred elephants off a cliff just because their death cries sounded like music to his ears. The tragic story of Mummal and Mahendra as told in Rajasthan is a heart - rendering one. Princess Mummal of Jaisalmer fell in love with Prince Mahendra of Sindh. Mahendra’s father was against the union. The day Mahendra was to go to meet Mummal, the king drove nails into the shoes of the camel he was riding. Meanwhile, Mummal’s sister, eager to catch a sight of the prince, accompanied Mummal dressed up as a male drummer. As the time of meeting approached, Mummal started dancing to the tune of her sister’s drumbeats. Mahendra’s arrival was delayed as his camel could not keep up the pace. Tired, both the sisters fell asleep. Mahendra, enraged by the sight of his love sleeping in the embrace of a male drummer, returned to Sindh never to meet her again. The sad episode has found place in Rajasthani folklore.

The account is replete with attention - grabbing information. The only temple of Lord Brahma is in Pushkar because his wife Saraswati, furious over Brahma’s infidelity, cursed him that there would be no temple of Brahma anywhere in the world other than in Pushkar. Kwaja Moin – ud - din Chisti, the famous saint had travelled from Persia to Ajmer in 1192. Sivasankari goes on to describe some strange sights too. While in Bikaner, she visits the Karni Matha temple where, apart from the presiding deity, thousands of rats that are considered as divine, live freely climbing all over the idol, sipping milk in the plates and eating the sweets offered by the devotees.

Sivasankari’s travel writings are not mere objective narratives. She is very much subjective in her approach. She opens up her mind to share her personal experiences with the readers. How for example, one feels scared at Manikarnika Ghat of Kasi - Benaras where bodies are being cremated twenty - four hours a day. The sight leads her to confirm her belief that ‘the death is the absolute and ultimate truth... the essence of life.’ The view of Patna, where the ugly appearance of the large scale unfinished houses, believed to have left half-finished to avoid the taxes, leaves a bitter taste in one’s mouth. The appalling state of the city of Gaya shocks her. And the plight of 2000 - odd widows dumped in Brindavan Ashram stings her creative mind prompting her to make a decision to write on this subject at a later date. There is a brighter side to it too when she joyfully describes the pleasant ritual of aarati offered to the River Ganga at the Dasaswamedha Ghat at Kasi. During a boat ride in the serene waters of the Ganga, she has a feeling of being on a time machine... transported several years back in time.

The vivid memories that came back to her of her earlier visits also make interesting reading. Her two visits to Kashmir so different from each other, to Rajpath in Delhi that reminds her of her first visit to Delhi as a student where she represented the State Natioanl Cadet Corps in the Republic Day Parade; to Lucknow where a film was shot on her novel; to Jamshedpur where she was invited to lecture on the evils of drug abuse; to Rashtrapati Bhavan where she met the President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and most importantly the warm reception she received when she interviewed the then Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi at the South Block.

The lucid descriptions of places like Pushkar, Sanchi, Kasi, Ladakh are greatly absorbing As I read them I myself revisited many places like Shimla, Kulu - Manali, Sanchi, Agra, etc., and developed an urge to visit those I have missed. Sivasankari’s compassionate appeal to writers to visit the places like Delhi, Kasi, Ladakh amply proves her faith in sharing.

***

Sivasankari is a literary activist. And she is an adventurer. She believes in first - hand experience of every slice of life, not missing any novelty. I may share some advice she once gave to me. On one of her visits to Goa she wanted to visit Caravels, the off - shore casino of Goa. She wanted some details from me. When I told her that I have not visited the casino nor can I afford to visit it, she promptly told me, Damodar, you are a writer. You must experience the night life aboard the casino, just once. You may find the cost exorbitant. But it is an investment. Yes! I changed my attitude since then.

Each language has its own historical past and geographical present. My own language Konkani has a history that created the geography of Konkani. The exodus of the people from in and around Goa in the 13th century threatened by the invasion of Alla – ud - din Khilji and later in the 16th and 17th centuries to escape the conversions and soon thereafter to flee from the clutches of the ecclesiastical law of Inquisition. The consequence is the present diaspora of Konkanis settled in Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra. This also posed a threat to the language. As I go through the Knit India Through Literature I find similarities in the languages like Sindhi, Kashmiri or Nepali. Even languages like Punjabi and Urdu have suffered the pangs of history. The silver lining to this dark cloud is the strong desire to develop the languages and scale new heights in literature.

As the project comes to an end, Sivasankari will have covered eighteen languages and nearly a hundred and odd writers. The range of writers and their works is as extensive as their geographical distances, their background of histories, and the social diversities. She has so brilliantly presented us the prevailing sensibilities not sparing the Women or Dalit susceptibilities. The life of Dalits of India is full of deprivation and segregation, of rejection and rebuff, of pain and agony. It has been a life that has no signpost. As I read Mohandass Nemishray’s outburst I felt guilty for the wrongdoings of our forefathers. I am glad that the Dalit voice of dissent and protest against the injustice is finding an expression in literature today and more importantly, that it is taken very seriously. Nemishray’s concern for his community is admirable. Asserting their right to equality he says, Reservations must continue until all attain equality. He himself has refused to avail of the reservations for himself, his wife or his three children, so that more deserving Dalits may get the benefit.

The most loud and clear is the Kashmiri resentment over their language and their land. It is sad that the land where Sufism progressed is now getting an image of a terrorist state, just because of the few playing spoilsports. The interview of Naseem Shafai is very touching, emotionally depicting the sensibility of Kashmiri women. The poet aptly describes the woes of Kashmiri women in the following words. Imagine a mother’s state of mind when, of her six sons, three are good, two non - committal and one bad... we are in the same frame of mind. Kashmir has never in its history sported any fundamentalism. Women were never discriminated against. Yashomati, a Kashmiri ruler, is considered to be the first empress of the world. It is also astonishing to know that sex education was imparted to women in the olden day Kashmir. The poet saint Shaikh – u - Alam, also known as Shaikh Nuruddin Noorani, is adored by all Kashmiris and is called as Nundh Rishi.

***

In the course of my reading this volume, many unexpected facts have been revealed to me for the first time. That the enunciator of Gayatri Mantra was Vishwamitra, or that the 4th century sage, Bharat Muni, the founder of