‘Ek Kashmiri Bachche Ke Khat’ And Other Poems From Kashmir And Himachal ‘Ek Kashmiri Bachche Ke Khat’ And Other Poems From Kashmir And Himachal Ek Kashmiri Bachche Ke Khat (Letters From A Kashmiri Boy)

iTake this land, its trees, mountains, rivers, and snow,pieces of our lives you came for, blazing guns and grenades.

Traces of these I might find somewhere,but my father, I shall never find again.

In the same place where I buried my milk teeth,I have buried my father.

A finger was all we could find,among the scattered flesh after the explosion

that my mother’s quick eye spottedby the wedding ring still twisted around it.

I have buried the remainder of him in my imagination.Loving my father would be picking up handfuls of him in my memory.

They say when a father dies, he becomes a tree,spreading and growing shade.

My father became a finger,forever pointing up towards you

from beneath the soil.Silent. Thoughtful. Alive.

iiEchoes are more powerfulthan the sounds that form themand last a lifetime.

From here to there,from snow to soil,the sound of my weeping resonates in the valley,takes root, turns into a flower.

Now, I understandwhy so many flowers bloom in Kashmir.

—Translated from Hindi by Anita Gopalan

Geet Chaturvedi, Madhya Pradesh

(Geet Chaturvedi is a Hindi poet, short story author, lyricist, screenwriter and novelist. He lives in Bhopal and is active both as a fiction writer and critic. His poems have been translated into 22 languages worldwide. He has translated the work of the great Spanish Poet Pablo Neruda in Hindi and many others.)

Himachal Apples

A day lost, but the days won’t come back,The days when wheat was burned,And the day when apples grew.Later greedy farmers learned.

All harvest was a waste,Red apples, like blood with sweet tastes.Oh! Apples Kashmiri,We can sell it for more if you change your ethnicity.

“Himachal Apples,”Calling for help now.Don’t separate me from my motherland,Where will money take you now?

Slapped stickers on its face,“100% authentic Himachal Apples,”My motherland found no trace betweenHer children and Himachal apples.

Oh, I taste Kashmir,Kashmir as it is,The texture of wool cashmere,And the designs of paper mache.Red like the soil it was made on,Sweet like the language of their mom.Why shall I not protestWhen I eat Himachal apples?

—Translated from Kashmiri

Abdullah Bin Zubair, Jammu & Kashmir

(Abdullah Bin Zubair is a 10th standard student from Kashmir with two passions: poetry and film. In 2020, he released his first book of poems titled No 'Place for Good'.)

Khodaya! (Lord)

Kathi Zan Aasi ni waar karaw kyahWyetryeni waenij baar karaw kyah Hochi maxhi koli phaet lookh, wanan kasBochi bochi xhop asi gaar karaw kyah Kaxhi tael shraak chye soori gosaenispari phokh syehri phukaar, karaw kyah

 Kani moorexh balidan dodi moosimYachi pootyen pachiwaar karaw kyah

Yeli raechi karo looth asasasgari laesh dee nanzi naar karaw kyah

What if the expressions lack broadcast, what to do?What if the inner heart carts not the burden, what to do?

In a dried stream people were drowned, whom shall they addressIn a state of hunger we only chewed the unchewable, what to do? An ash-laden sage is carrying a hidden sword under his pitsThe holy breath of a saint, a sorcery but turned, what to do?

The innocents sacrificed their lives to an idolA ceremonial remembrance of lost youth, what to do?

When the guardian of peace shall loot the national propertyWhat if he will light the houses, what to do?

—Translated from Kashmiri by Mushtaq Barq

Rehman Rahi, Jammu & Kashmir

(Rehman Rahi, born as Abdur Rehman Mir in Srinagar7up gaming, remains an iconic figure in Kashmiri literature. He played a pivotal role in reshaping the literary landscape of the Kashmiri language. Rahi received several honours, including the Sahitya Akademi Award; the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 2000, recognising his contributions to Kashmiri literature and culture; and the Jnanpith.)

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