Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Kashmir


Relations are under a cloud of suspicion
And the fragrance is dissipating from the surroundings
Why the grounds are becoming red
And why the sky is turning sad?


So much is the connect in my heart
O Kashmir!
That the slogans of separation
Are causing my eyes to rain!

Kashmir is mine too…
I’ll go on whispering even under the threat of terror and even in my death!
Kashmir was yours only…
I heard this and I froze, and then, the flowers fell, got crushed in the rampage!

More than a billion are there on this land called Hindustan
Should we now fight and debate -
That Srinagar has a different identity ?
If you can divide the Nur of Allah, then only, press for this!

Jhelam and Dal have been yours and mine since our childhood
So what, if you have a different Shikara!
Oh, how you would get freedom from me
When I never subjugated you?

A gloom spreads around
Why you talk of partition again…
The Kafan is being needed too often and becoming too difficult to sell for these shopkeepers,
Let us go to Dargah and offer a Chadar rather.

Common is our heritage
Walking together would heal you and me,
Let there be prayers in the mosques and worship in the temples
Kashmir belongs to us all – Hindustan repeats this on every beat of its heart !








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Notes:
Help on native words...

Hindustan: India
Nur: The Divine Light

Allah: God, The Supreme Being

Jhelam: A river in Kashmir, also known as Vyeth in Kashmiri language and as Vitasta in Sanskrit
Dal: A lake in Kashmir
Shikara: A special boat to ferry people over Dal lake
Kafan: A piece of cloth to cover a dead body
Dargah: Shrine built over the grave of a reverred person, spiritually enlightened being, usually sufi saints in India and some other countries
Chadar: A piece of cloth offered as a symbolic form of cover conveying thankfulness for a Dargah