Ashok Gowher
There are different ways to express oneself. Sometimes these expressions make the recipient sad and sometime joyful. A person expresses his thoughts, feelings and emotions in different ways to the people. Similarly a writer talks through poems, short stories, novels, essays, dramas, etc. He decorates his creative writings just like a goldsmith who makes gold and silver jewelry. The design and decoration of the jewelry reveals the art of the goldsmith in the market.
It is a good thing to note that in Jammu the books of Kashmiri literature are continuously being written and released. Kashmiri Pandit community suffered the forced exodus from Kashmir in 1990 and are living in exile in different parts of India and abroad. After settling at these places these people took pains to preserve their mother tongue and culture. They brought to light the different aspects of their ancient civilization which is the root of their culture. This is an appreciable work.
Getting inspired by the senior literary persons, some youths of the community developed the passion and spirit to write. Many new poets and writers emerged on the scene who felt the importance of the literature. Among them Vinod Kumar has achieved his own status over the years.
From last five years Vinod’s continuous writing in Kashmiri indicates his deep passion to write preserve and promote Kashmiri literature. It seems that Kashmiri literature exists in his veins. Though he belongs to a different profession, being a Mechanical Engineer, his continuous writing has sharpened his skills and developed expertise to convey his good thoughts in a styled manner to the readers.
Vinod’s new book titled “Pott Aalav” is a drama written in Kashmiri. It is a great achievement on part of Vinod because among the Kashmiri writers in exile very few keep interest in the genre of drama writing. Vinod believes that just like poetry and short stories, drama writing is also an important part of the literature and this heritage must be preserved. Before this book, Vinod’s some books have already been published and come to the market. These include a book on the translation of vaakhs of Lal Ded in English and a collection of short stories in Kashmiri titled “Sheen”. It is a big achievement on part of him.
As far as this latest book of Vinod (Pott Aalav) is concerned, it is based on a drama in which the tradition of Hindu Muslim neighbour-relationship and communal harmony have been kept in mind. The requirements of drama genre have been beautifully applied in this book. The drama has been written in a structured manner which is very interesting and pleasing to the reader. No errors have been made, which could have made the drama a boring subject. The plot and expression of Vinod’s drama gives an idea to the reader to think deeply on the theme of the drama. The writer has succeeded in delivering the message on the subject.
Vinod’s book “Pott Aalav” comprises of 95 pages in which Nastaliq pages are 45 and Devnagri pages are 46. The plot of the drama has been written in English and it is summarized in 4 pages.
The drama has been divided into six scenes in which four scenes depict the love and affection, harmony, sympathy, care, friendship and neighbourhood relationship between a Hindu and a Muslim family. Last two scenes of the drama depict the eruption of untoward incidents, sloganeering, murder and loot, fire, turmoil, stone pelting, harassment and killing of minority community people and intrigue for the forced exodus of innocent people from their ancestral homes.
The printing of the book is clear and visible. The price of the book is Rs. 150 and the book was published in 2020.
The identity which Vinod has established in literary field is good and praise worthy. He has come up with his drama book “Pott Aalav” in which both happy and sad incidents have been penned down. Vinod believes that the soil relationship is very poise and unbreakable. His mind is full of memories of Kashmir. He remembers those dramas which he used to listen on radio or watch on television which gave him passion to write this drama. He is highly inspired by the dramas of Moti Lal Kemu, Pran Kishore, Avtar Krishan Rehbar, Prof. Majeed Muzamir, Makhan Lal Saraf, Ali Mohd. Lone, Pushkar Bhan, Bansi Nirdosh, Sajood Silani, Hari Krishan Koul, Akhtar Mahidin and Shanker Raina. This motivated him to write dramas since his childhood. His dream became true when he achieved the milestone of successfully writing this drama book.
It is worthwhile to mention here that Vinod Ji’s drama is not any fairytale or based on any borrowed plot. In fact in this drama right from the Rishi period upto the current black period the changing situations have been touched in depth. There is no ironical expression. It is based on real life situations. It is this honest expression which guides a person to become an unparalleled literary figure.
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