Aashish Kaul
The picturesque state of Jammu and Kashmir has for long been reeling under the dark shadows of terror and communal hatred.
Some would say, “Warvyan seeth warraey chas nao Malinao ho… (nothing is well and I am not treated well by my in-laws, oh dear parents, please do something and save me)…” echoes similar sentiments. For centuries, Habba Khatoon’s songs have woven a fabric of peace and eternal bliss across the cultural spectrum of the Kashmir valley. From the lonely boatman to the artisans of the valley, from bereft girls to the festivities in the valley, the peasant girl turned queen of Kashmir allures every soul. She introduced sense of longing and sweet pain to poetry so relevant today and the times to come. So why isn’t the education board introducing such literature and literary figures to the young students of the J&K State ?
Habba Khatoon (1554-1609) also famously known as ‘Nightingale of Kashmir’ was a 16th-century Kashmiri Muslim poet and austere. The legendary figure was not only known for her poems but also for her boundless beauty that earned her the nickname Zoon (the Moon). Born in a small village of Chandhara, she used to learn portions of Persian poets such as Sadi’s Gulistan and Bostan. She resonated a rare combination of poetic capacity blessed with a melodies voice.
Habba Khatoon’s talent and grace attracted a lot of attention from the village youths. Her parents got her married to an ordinary village boy in her early teens. The nightingale was unhappy at her husband’s where none appreciated her poetic gift. After a difficult first marriage which ended in divorce, she got married to Kashmir’s last independent King, Yousuf Shah Chak. She became an ascetic soon after the Mughal emperor Akbar captured her husband never to return. She roamed through Kashmir singing songs of separation and longing while Yusuf died alone in ambiguity.
The fierceness of emotions echoed in her verses was as comprehensive as it was personal. She did not simply sing the agony of separation from the lover or their disloyalty, she was also concurrently telling thelistener’s story back to them. She also brought forth lifelike images through her poetry.
Lalleshwari was an outright contrast to Khatoon. Born in the 1320’s she was a creator of mystic poetry called Vakhs, which literally means “speech” and represented the Kashmiri Shaivite sect. Her verses remain theearliest Kashmiri compositions and play an integral part in the history of modern Kashmiri literature. Lalleshwari was not just a poet but an epitome of a revolution that broke through the shackles of a strong Bhrahaminical society of pre-Islamic India. In her one of the most thought provoking Vakhs she says ” TheTemple is but stone, from top to bottom, all is but stone Whom will you worship, O stubborn Pandit?” “O fool, right action does not lie in fasting and other ceremonial rites O fool right action does not lie in providing for bodily comfort and ease in contemplation of the self alone is right action and right council for you.”
Born in a small village called Padmanpur, she interacted and drew her inspiration from many Sufis of theKashmir valley. Owing to the torture inflicted by her mother-in-law on her at the tender age of 12, she renounced her married life at 24. She dedicated her life to Shaivite tradition and became a mendicant under her mentor Guru Shrikanth. She stood out as a woman as she practiced mystic Shaivism during an era where women held no status in a patriarchal Brahmin set up. Lalleshwari was the first true bridge between the two acute spiritual doctrines; one that had evolved in Kashmir for centuries and the other that had established the true uniquely secular Sufi order of the Kashmir valley.
In one of her famous pieces, she rebukes the bigoted followers of the so-called “religions” in the following apt saying: “The thoughtless read the holy books, as parrots in their cages recite “Ram, Ram” Their reading is like churning water, Fruitless effort, ridiculous conceit.”
Lal-Vak forms the foundation not only of the contemporary Kashmiri literature but also of Kashmiri culture. Lal-Vak was not written during her life span. It was because of her capacity to influence her listeners that people heard and formed her sayings into mantras which continue to be sung even till date. She rebelled against all the overbearing structures that choke the human spirit and examined practices of inequality and abuse that were current during those times.
Her dissent was unprecedented. There is no mention of her in any of the historical accounts written in Sanskrit during and after her times, as some protectors of tradition termed her to be insane. In a period of ritualistic domination Laleswari very rightly says: If while alive you cannot see him; how can you see Him after death?
She articulated the spiritual path and message she had inherited; in Kashmiri language, which was thelanguage of the common man. She used Kashmiri language as the vehicle for spreading her message of universal brotherhood through her poems. These beautiful lines written by her, just sum what a revolutionary she was: “O fool, right action does not lie in fasting and other ceremonial rites O fool right action does not lie in providing for bodily comfort and ease in contemplation of the self alone is right action and right council for you.”
“The pilgrim sanyasin goes from shrine to shrine, seeking to meet Him Who abides within herself. Knowing the truth, O soul, be not misled; it is distance that makes the turf look green”
Over the last years, the Kashmir valley has partially erased the unique secular wisdom that prevailed and nurtured the whole of central Asia. Poets such as these brought out the astounding beauty of nature comprising of rivers, mountains, valleys, flowers, and birds. They talked about how Kashmir’s imbibe in them an amicable outlook towards nature and society. Wise words said by these poets have been forgotten that would help heal the present tumultuous minds in a distressed Kashmir. Lalleshwari and Habbakhatoon represent the extremes of religious, intellectual and spiritual spectrum of our country that was once dominated by wise women, sadly the baton is now in hands of few unwise men running amock with nothing but hatred and intolerance. These poets have described the harmony of nature and man in the most beautiful way that would deeply help the youth to rationalize and impart them with wisdom and peace. Blinded by pellets, irrational diktats and the communal hatred, Kashmir needs to bask in the glory of eternal wisdom that is long forgotten. A step in opening the doors to the sacred light will not only bring in peace but also shower respite on the souls burning in ignorance. I just hope that the Government unlocks the wisdom of our forgotten literary giants. While they learn the Keats let them not forget our own ‘Khatoons’.
(The author is a media & entertainment veteran, currently CEO of an emminent film production & out of home entertainment company)
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
Follow our WhatsApp channel