Adarsh Ajit
The mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from Kashmir in 1990 gave rise to a kind of writing which reflects the pain, pathos, displacement, anger, nostalgia and protest of the community. The books written during this painful and long displacement of Kashmiri Pandits form Literature in Exile. In the initial years of migration/displacement, the writers wrote prose and poetry in Kashmiri, Hindi, Urdu and English through which they made the readers aware about the pangs of the Kashmiri Pandits away from Kashmir. Mostly the poetry written in Kashmiri accumulated in abundance.
In Kashmiri Arjan Dev Majboor’s teol, P N Shad’s pot nazar, R L Jowhar’s haruf haruf gawah and the poems of Moti Lal Saqi, M L Aash, J L Saroor, M L Kanwal, Pyaray Hatash, Tej Rawal, Makhan Lal Bekas, Shamboo Nath Bhat Haleem, P N Kaul Sayil, Brij Nath Betab, Bal Krishen Sanyasi, Brij Hali and M L Masroof are of pivotal importance so far as exile consciousness is concerned. After some years there was a transparent change and transformation in themes, style and craft. These and other poets wrote poetry about human condition in a world of science and technology, nature, love, romance, erosion of values, politics and human suffering in a world of changing moorings. The change and shift of the content is also visible in English poetry of K L Chowdhury and K L Tiku in their books like A Thousand Petalled Garland and Yes and No respectively.
Though the trend of translation had started earlier but it has assumed greater importance now. R K Bharti translated the Kashmiri poetry of J L Saroor and Pyaray Hatash into English, Arvind Gigoo translated the selected poetry of Arjan Dev Majboor, P N Shad, Bimla Raina and Sunita Raina Pandit into English. R N Kaul and A N Dhar immortalised the works of the Kashmiri mystic poetess Bimla Raina by translating them into English. Shakti Kak, Ranjit Hoskote and Tej Raina have translated Lal Ded into English. The fact on the ground is that there is dearth of good translators among Kashmiri Pandits.
R L Shant writes in Kashmiri, Hindi and English as well. Besides he is a very good translator and critic. He wrote ravmaet maanay, tsen and trikunjal….short story collections about exile and many other aspects of life. Hriday Kaul Bharati, Hari Krishan Kaul and Autar Krishan Rahbar, apart from writing about exile, wrote/write about contemporary things which are universal in nature. The themes and craft of their stories are experimental and modern. Chaman Lal Hakhoo’s novel in Kashmiri vastrvanuk saeh is gripping. O N Kaul’s and Avtar Krishen Hugami’s short stories and other literary writings are an important addition to literature produced by Kashmiri Pandits. Pushkar Nath Dhar’s chetinav is a collection of essays of wit, satire and humour in Kashmiri.
Hindi poets Agnishekhar and Khema Kaul have come out with the English renderings of their selected poetry. P L Waguzari is translating Khema Kaul’s samay kay baad into English. R L Bhat translated the Kashmiri poetry of Abdul Ahad Azad into English. Neerja Mattoo, Pankaj Bhan, Gowri Shankar and Shashi Shekhar Toshkhani are some of the most important authors whose contribution to translation, literature and culture is profound, immense and lasting. Apart from other things we find lovely translations of Kashmiri short stories and poems in Meeras and Praznath. The research papers published in Praznath are brilliant.
Siddhartha Gigoo in his two books of verse Fall and Other Poems and Reflections talks about human relationships, dreams, love, loss, union, memory, etc. Some of the poets and writers shifted their focus slowly from exile to other issues. Siddhartha Gigoo’s first novel in English The Garden of Solitude, his essays and K L Chowdhury’s book of excellent short stories, Faith and Frenzy show that the writers prefer prose to poetry now. Veerinder Patwari’s short stories are interesting.
Tej N Dhar’s Under the Shadow of Militancy (The Diary of an Unknown Kashmiri), Sudha Kaul’s brilliant memoir The Tiger Ladies, H K Kaul’s Firdous in Flames (a novel in sonnets), Ashok Kaul’s novel Kashmir…Nativity Regained, Autar Nehru’s Clouds on Fire and Sharmishta’s Endless Longings are other additions to the Literature in Exile. B K Dass writes essays about various issues of life (on internet). Sushil Pandit, Kashi Nath Pandita, Shyam Kaul, M L Kak and Susheela Bhan wrote books about Pandits and their remembrance of their homeland. But they also wrote/ write about things of life which are away from exile.
In Hindi MK Santoshi published a book of stories named hamaaray ishwar ko tairna nahein aata, and Agnishekhar composed dozakh, a book of short stories in Hindi about exile. Khema Kaul’s third novel nikki tawi par rehearsal reminds us of the ‘Amaranth agitation’. Sanjana Kaul, Rajni Pathre, Meera Kant, Beena Budki, Shyam Behari and Chanderkanta have written much about the problems and happenings which are close to life in general. Their deft handling of plots and themes shows their larger vision and understanding of life.
In Urdu Deepak Budki wrote/writes short stories with various and varied plots, and Premi Romani writes poems and write-ups on many aspects of life, and critical pieces on literary books. Prashant also dwells upon certain issues like criticism and translation of Abdul Ahad Azad. And this writer published an anthology of Urdu poems yaad jo aatay hain woh din.
In exile, another trend was set by writing cameos and commenting upon political and social events in a few lines. Arvind Gigoo’s Ugly Kashmiri (Cameos in exile) was the first of its kind. The book can be termed as an exceptional outflow of the historical and political happenings or a poetic expression written in gestures, nods or most appropriately: a word to the wise. This book was followed by another book of cameos, A Misanthrope from Kashmir, written by R N Kaul. He makes fun of the behaviour of the ‘actors’ but in actuality feels sad for their actions. He is critical of the corrupt and the wicked. His satire, wit and humour have the purpose of correcting the follies of all the Kashmiris. He makes a veiled reference to a die-hard separatist leader and names him as Mr. Hartal. The third book of cameos, A New Lexicon of Kashmiris written by B L Saraf came out soon after. The author has given new definitions to terms that expose the masked men with deceptive faces who exploit the commoners in the name of religion and politics. Cameos like “Conscription”, “Weapons of Mass Distraction” and “Suffrage” project the government’s inefficiency, impotence and lack of interest in solving the problems of the exiles. Cameos written by Rajesh Dhar are highly critical, and project and record the true and disturbing happenings in Kashmir in crisp and condensed prose.
Deepak Raj has come out with a trendsetter, In Wanderland. The word ‘wanderland’, which he has coined, shows that for the displaced people the whole country India is a wanderland because they have been wanderers for so many years. The book is a bizarre blend of satire, humour, irony and comedy. He has initiated a new kind of writing which abounds in black humour. In the garb of satire and humour Deepak raises the burning issues of the lack of interest of the Pandit community youths in humanities, fine arts, culture, music, etc. and their obsession with only engineering. From its first page Deepak Raj starts punching Kashmiri Pandit leaders who have erroneously mushroomed in exile, dividing the KP community into micro-units. For example by writing ‘selfless’ he means ‘selfish’ and likewise by ‘honourable’ he virtually means ‘disrespected’. Having full command on the developments of the last twenty-two years of the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits, Deepak rockets the sardonic blows by creating a matchless department of ‘Directorate of Directionless Community in Exile’ and advertises for filling up the post of a leader who possesses the proficiency in pushing his community further into obscurity. The tales at the end are pathetic and sad. The technique of the book is original and the ideas are true and disturbing.
R L Bhat produced his Randomly Yours in two volumes. His Rationalized Roman for Kashmiri is useful for those who want to learn, read and write Kashmiri in Roman script. M L Kemmu has also come out with many plays in Kashmiri. His contribution to theatre and revival of Kashmir’s folk theatre band paethar is, beyond doubt, great and worthy of praise. But to reach to the broader circles his plays need to be translated. Ramesh Tamiri wrote on the history of theatre and art in Kashmir. Geetika Kaw Khar writes on philosophy and art. Makhanlal Saraf and Ashok Jailkhani wrote on the history of theatre in Kashmir.
It is wrong to say that the Kashmiri youths are not interested in writing books. Many books written by the young reveal the other side of the story. The young Rinku Koul has added a book of short stories molale rishta to the treasure of Literature in Exile. Rahul Pandita, Parineeta Khar, Sharmishta, Meenakshi Watts, Smriti Kak Ramchandran, Anshul Aima, Nitasha Kaul, Vimarsh Zutshi, Radhika Kaul, Neelima Wazir, Pankaj Dhar and Neeraj Santoshi are other young writers who are writing, and from whom the readers expect much more.
Kashmiri Pandit writers, both men and women, who composed devotional poetry in abundance get their poems sung by Pandit as well as Muslim singers. The discs are for sale not only in Jammu but in some other metropolitan cities of India. The songs are played from Radio Kashmir and Radio Sharda. Badri Nath Abhilash, Santosh Nadaan, R L Jowhar, J L Saroor, Brij Hali, P N Kaul Sayil and P N Bhat Gharib are few among them.
Radio Sharda shows to what extent nature, devotional and romantic poetry is written in Kashmiri. Its attempt to introduce Kashmiri lyrics to the listeners is commendable.
Though the pain which Kashmiri Pandits have been facing for last twenty-five years is unforgettable, their protest will be vividly visible in the literature written in exile in whatever form but it is evident that the literature in exile is experiencing a new change away from the stereotyped content. Life moves and has to move. So will literature in exile move forward and be different from what we have been reading for the past so many years. The trend has started and will not and should not end. The new beginning in the change of content and form promises hope. Life without good literature is hollow and meaningless.
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