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demise of Shri Piyaray Lal RainaSaadhak He was an asset to ourcommunity He believed inpreserving our traditions andrituals He did a lot of work in thisfield May his soul rest in peace
We are going through anelection season and witnessing celebrations anddemonstrations One thing that is very prominent isthat people of different areas and groups praisetheir leaders past and present and highlight theircontribution in the field of service to the nation andeconomic and social progress of its people We theKashmiris lag behind in this task If at all we belittleour past leaders for those mistakes which may bethere in hind sight but cannot be termed asmistakes if seen in the context of the circumstancesprevailing then In the process we overlook thegreat sacrifices they have made and thecontribution they have made in laying thefoundation for this great nation Let us ponder overthis aspect and give credit to those greatpersonalities of Kashmir who deserve it Politicalaffiliations are not important service to the nationand the work done for the good of the motherlandare
Let us also not forget that Kashmiri Panditsare displaced now for nearly three decades Isthere anyone who is concerned about their plightIf anyone has helped them all these years in theirdistress gratitude should be shown towards him forhis help In the end it seems that they have to solvetheir problems themselves only for which theyhave to be united and act in unison
Project Zaan is the Literary Initiative of Kashmiri Panditsrsquo Association Mumbai
At the phonological level there is sufficientdivergence among the Dardic languages The
( stop has been borrowedfrom Arabic and is confined to Standard UrduStandard Sindhi and a few Dardic languages(Sawi Indus Kohistani Swat-Dir KohistaniKhowar Pashai and Katarqalai) The voicedaspirates are not attested in some of theNorthern languages namely Panjabi DogriKashmiri Pahari Dardic (Khowar ShinaShumashti Dameli Tirahi Swat-DirKohistani and Katarkalai) Sinhala andDardic (Grangali and Pashai) do not haveaspirated stops in fact aspiration iscompletely lost in these languages All the fiveunaspirated nasals are phonemic in a fewlanguages only namely Sindhi Kalasha(Dardic) Seraiki and Dogri The bilabialand alveolar are present across the familySome languages like Maithili Bangla Dardic(Khowar amp Tirahi) employ just these twoOriya Dardic (Gawarbati Pashai ShumashtiGrangali Dameli Swat-Dir KohistaniTorwali) and Sinhala employ four nasalsOdia and some Dardic languages exclude thepalatal Torwali (Dardic) aspirates andStandard Hindi Gujarati Marathi KonkaniPanjabi Pahari Dardic ( Watapuri-KatarkalaiIndus Kohistani) have three nasal phonemes-
and N The largest number of fricatives(ten) is employed in Torwali (Dardic) Thevoiceless cerebr is present as acontinuation of Sanskrit sound system inMarathi and a few Dardic languages (TorwaliKalasha Indus Kohistani and Shina) the latteremploy its voiced cerebral counterpart also
Kashmiri has an additional series ofaffricates and its aspirated counterpart Marathi Konkani and some Dardic languageshave voiced as well and the aspirated
uvular alijihviya) q
mn
ntilde m n
m n
ts ts
dz
al fricative ş
h
Dardic - What Does The Label Denote - 2
counterpart of the latter (is available in Marathi andKonkani The lowest number(two) of affricates is availablein Sinhala and the highest(eight) in Konkani Marathihas seven Kashmiri fiveGrangali (Dardic) has four -the palatal and the alveolar Retroflexfricatives and ofShina can be linked to Sanskrit Thesesegments and features are non-existent inKashmiri
It seems reasonable to abandon thelabel Dardic completely and refer to these IAlanguages independently
A glance at some basic lexical entities -numerals body parts and verbs would enableone to draw conclusions regarding thelinguistic affinity of Kashmiri (See table at theend)
One can easily relate Kashmirifoot-print-s to Sanskrit The
Kashmiri verbs pick and cookhave a strong phonetic-semantic echo inBengali
E stands for schwa I for high central vowel Sfor palatal fricative sh for cerebralretroflexfricative TDN stand for cerebralretroflexvoicelessvoiced stopsnasal ts for lamino-alveolar affricate following a consonantindicates aspiration of the C concernedstands for palatalization
One finds mention of Darads in the
knowledge+history text Mahabharata whichwas not authored by a Kashmiri historianMahabharata is a pre-historic -text
means wave The
dz )
c j ts dz
podpEdy padatul-un ran-un
itihasaTaranga Rajatarangini
h
contrastive pitch accent
Transcription
Notesn
a
h
y
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 02
comprises eight -s RSPandit hasrightly translated the work as ldquoThe River ofKingsrdquo
Daradas of K (Kalhana) are the Dards-Aryans who inhabit the mountainous regionfrom Chitral across the Indus extending toGilgit and Kishanganga ValleyhellipSee S PPandit p43
During this campaign K mentions non-intelligibility of unknown language betweenthe forces (RS Pandits Tr p 631)
Following Cardona amp Jainencompasses a group of languages spoken inparts of India (Ladakh) Pakistan andAfghanistan The languages are GawarbatiKalasha Torwali Indus Kohistani PalulaKhowar Shina Shumashti Dameli TirahiSwat-Dir Kohistani Katarkalai [Katarkalai isreportedly extinct]
Kafiristan (now Nuristan) ldquoenclosedbetween Chitral and Afghan territory is theland of Pagan mountaineers who maintainedtheir independence until 1895 when by theterms of an agreement entered into betweenthe British Government and Abdur RahmanAmir of Kabul the whole of Kafir territorypassed under the sway of Kabulrdquo The Kafirlanguage is of Prakrita origin (See R S Panditp 631)
RSPandit (1935) in a footnote in histranslation of Kalhanas Rajataragini reflects aview of the linguistic scholarship of the erathus Kashmiri is closer to Pushto as bothhave evolved from the Paishachi PrakritP734
Cardona and Jain (2003) carries anindependent essay on Kashmiri (pp 895-952)where the non-committal author shifts theonus on Historical linguist who according tohim are in agreement regarding the geneticaffiliation of Kashmiri that it ldquobelongs to the
rdquo (P898) Masica (1991) presents a chronologicaloverview of Griersons opinion with regard toDardic and remarks that ldquoEven less should
Taranga
1
2
3 Dardic
4
5
6
Dardic branch of Indo-Aryan family
Griersons tentative classification be taken asthe last word on the lsquoDardicrsquo question (pp460-462) The oft-repeated loaded statementthat Kashmiri is close to Shina is found in thesetexts as well
E Bashir in Cardona amp Jain(2003)mentions Kashmiri in a different contextldquoPresent linguistic interactions in Pakistaninvolve Balti and Kashmiri with the easterndialects Burushaski and Khowar with theGilgit dialecthelliprdquo(p 878)
A couple of examples comparing Shina(from Bashir 2003) and Kashmiri are givenhere1 (Shina)
(Kashmiri) lsquoDont say a word
( Shina)
(Kashmiri) lsquoEven theirgrandfather cannot eat you
Bhaskararao Peri and others 2009APhoneticStudy of Kashmiri Palatalization In MinegishiM et al (eds)
[Working papers in Corpus based Linguisticsand Language Education No3] Tokyo TokyoUniversity of Foreign Studies 2009 pp 1-17Bhat Raj Nath 2008 Palatalization A Note onKashmir i Morpho-Phonology
Vol 69 pp43-50Bhat Raj Nath 2010 A Note on Indo-AryanPhonology In ON Koul (ed) Mysore CIILCardona George and Dhanesh Jain (eds)2003 London ampNew York RoutledgeFussman Gerard 1972 Atlas Linguistique desparlers dardes et kafir Vol2 CommentaireParis Ecole Francaise dextreme-OrientGhatage AM 1962
University of BombayMasicaColin P 1991
Cambridge Cambridge Univ
tu-s hiish nee t etsI ma van ak laphIztsI maa van kenh ti
2 riney dado-s ga tu k ook dubeytihund buDibab ti hekii nI tse k et tse hekii nItihund buDibab ti k et
Field Research CorpusLinguistics amp Linguistic Informatics
IndianLinguistics
Indo-Aryan
The Indo-Aryan Languages
Historical Linguistics andIndo-Aryan Languages
The Indo-AryanLanguages
h
h
h
h h
h h
References
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 03
I donrsquot doubt your understanding Rather I have appreciated it all alongThe fact of the matter is There is something intrinsically wrongWith my phrasesThey donrsquot speak my heartRather they prove dissemblersOne they reach your earsHow can they express my reality That is the question Is there a way to tame themSo that they only emit the meaningThat blossoms in my feelingAnd withers in the thought process
Prof Majrooh Rashid is Head of theDepartment (Kashmiri) KashmirUniversity He writes poetry in Englishand Kashmiri
Prof Majrooh Rashid
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 05
to have been composed between 6th to 8thcentury AD many vratas and other religiouspractices were prevailent in ancient timesthroughout the length amp breadth of KashmirAccording to various historians amp also thecritics of Nilmat Puran more than one third ofNilmat deals mainly with vratas utsavas ampother religious practices by the realinhabitants of Kashmir
According to Nilmat Puran the first dayof the dark fortnight of Margashirsh called
( ) in Kashmiri was celebrated in
ancient Kashmir as the New year day ofSaptrishi calendar prevalent those days inKashmir Main reason to celebrate this NewYear Day is that according to Nila who used toinstruct the people of Kashmir Rishi Kashyaphas brought the land of Kashmir out of wateron this very day thus clearly indicating that thecalender year in Kashmir started those daysnot from April but from October (according toGregorian calendar)
Another auspicious festival in thehistory of ancient Kashmir was not observedonly but celebrated also throughout the lengthamp breadth of Kashmir amp according to NilmatPuran the festival was called kryshaarambbut during 14th-15th century this rural festival
was renamed in Kashmiri as lsquo
According to Nilmat Puran this auspicious daywas being celebrated after the 8th of darkfortnight of Lunar calender month of Chaitrawith the commencement of cultivation On thisday the Goddess Earth two bulls cow horseBaladeva Mahadeva Vamadeva the Sunthe Moon Indra Rama Kashyapa VahiniVayu and Ganga were worshipped on thisoccasion The Brahamans were given
मोजहोर
गोगलrsquo
sacrificial feeA festival fullof songs amp dances wascelebrated af ter theploughing of the fields ampsowing of the seeds
Another auspiciousday celebrated in ancientKashmir as described inNilmat Puran was on the first day of the brightfortnight of Chaitra amp was called Nav SamvatSara On this auspicios day worship ofBrahma amp the performance of Mahashantiwas conducted in ancient days Mahashantibeing the worship of the Trinity ie BrahmaVishnu amp Maheshwara the planets ampconstellations amp also the divisions of timefourteen Devendras fourteen Manus thesages the daughters of Daksa othergoddesses seven continents nine divisionsof Bharat seven worlds seven nether worlds five elements the intelligence the soul thePurush the mountains the rivers theVinayaks the nymphs theAdityas the Vasusthe Rudras the Maruts etc amp also the hearingof the year the month amp the day amp the deitiespresiding over them amp also the feasting of theBrahmanas amp the relatives (Ref Nilmatv650ndash651)
With the passage of time thisauspicious day lsquoNavsamvat Sararsquo has beenrenamed lsquoNavrehrsquo the first day of the SaptrishiSamvat year of Kashmiri Pandits amp that is whythe Kashmiri Panchang or Calender called
starts from the first of the bright
half of the month of Chaitra Kalhan Pandit thecourt historian of Kashmir during the 11th-12th century AD amp also some of the eminentscholars amp researchers like PNBamzai ProfJ L K a u l P r o f P N P u s h p P r o f SKToshKhani amp PNBazaz (the author of
काशिरजनतरी
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 09
Daughters of Vitasta) Master Zinda Kaul ampothers have been time amp again emphasizingthat Sanskritised Kashmiri was the colloquiallanguage of all the Kashmiris in addition toSanskrit which was the court language up to12th centuary in Kashmir Some of the KP girlswere extraordinarily intelligent not only in theSanskrit language but in advancedMathematics also One such example is thatGargi Gosha (ref Daughters of Vitasta by PNBazaz ) Several eminent mathematicians ofthe West are still trying to decipher herMathematics Similarly Bilhana the renownedSanskrit poet had authored Vikrama Devacarita XVIII 23 29 where he describes thetheatrical performances by the then Kashmiriartists using Sanskrit dialogues (Ref Nilmatv414527766863)
Even in 10th Century there had beenone renowned Kashmiri Pandit Sitikanth whohas enriched the then prevailing language bygiving vaakhs in Sanskritised Kashmirilanguage for the first time Some of theeminent persons already mentioned aboveare of the opinion that Sitikanth must havetrancedentally initiated Lalded in Vaakhparampara
Another ancient Kashmiri traditionalceremony is still in vogue on the third day of
the bright half of the Chaitra called lsquo
rsquo With the passage of time this word
has got corrupted amp is called As
recorded in some historical chronicals ofancient Kashmir on this auspicious daymarried KP Ladies used to visit (on invitation)their parental homes where their parents usedto enquire whether they were still abreast withthe knowledge of MahaGayatri Mantra or not
With reference to Nilamata vv644ndash646Sri Panchmi day was celebrated in ancientKashmir on the 5th of bright fortnight ofChaitra for the worship of Sri (GoddessLakshmi) so that worshipper is endowed withprosperity throughout his or her life amp attains
ज़ान
गायतरी
जग तराइ
Vishnu Loka after death Again with referenceto Nilmat vv647ndash649 Chaitrasasti wasdedicated to the worship of Skanda on the 6thof the bright half of Chaitra for endowingheathy children to the worshipper
Chaitra Navmi was observed with fast ampworship of Goddess Bhadrakali with flowersincense amp food on the 9th of the bright Chaitra( refNilamat vv652ndash653)
Vastu Pooja was observed on the bright11th day of Chaitra by worshipping Vastu thedeity of architecture (ref Nilamat vv652ndash53 )Some of the researchers refer Vaastu as GharDevta in Kashmiri traditional culture
Chaitra Dvadashi (the 12th day) of thebright half of Chaitra was dedicated byKashmiri Pandits in ancient Kashmir to LordVasudeva(ref Nilmat v654 )
Madantriyodashi was celebrated inancient Kashmir on 13th bright half of Chaitra(ref Nilmatvv384 amp also 655ndash58) On this daythe married Kashmiri ladies were beinghonoured by their respective husbands
Author can be contacted at
(To be continued)
parimoomkgmailcom
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 10
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 12
About the Author Born in 1943 Zareef Ahmed Zareef is a Kashmiripoet writer social activist and environmentalist He is best known forhis satirical poetry and efforts to highlight various social and politicalproblems He has been working for preservation of the environmentculture and heritage of Kashmir This write up is the transcript of hisvideo clip recently circulated on social media to showcase his love forKashmir and its cultural heritage First part of this transcript hasalready appeared in the January 2019 issue of Praagaash
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
demise of Shri Piyaray Lal RainaSaadhak He was an asset to ourcommunity He believed inpreserving our traditions andrituals He did a lot of work in thisfield May his soul rest in peace
We are going through anelection season and witnessing celebrations anddemonstrations One thing that is very prominent isthat people of different areas and groups praisetheir leaders past and present and highlight theircontribution in the field of service to the nation andeconomic and social progress of its people We theKashmiris lag behind in this task If at all we belittleour past leaders for those mistakes which may bethere in hind sight but cannot be termed asmistakes if seen in the context of the circumstancesprevailing then In the process we overlook thegreat sacrifices they have made and thecontribution they have made in laying thefoundation for this great nation Let us ponder overthis aspect and give credit to those greatpersonalities of Kashmir who deserve it Politicalaffiliations are not important service to the nationand the work done for the good of the motherlandare
Let us also not forget that Kashmiri Panditsare displaced now for nearly three decades Isthere anyone who is concerned about their plightIf anyone has helped them all these years in theirdistress gratitude should be shown towards him forhis help In the end it seems that they have to solvetheir problems themselves only for which theyhave to be united and act in unison
Project Zaan is the Literary Initiative of Kashmiri Panditsrsquo Association Mumbai
At the phonological level there is sufficientdivergence among the Dardic languages The
( stop has been borrowedfrom Arabic and is confined to Standard UrduStandard Sindhi and a few Dardic languages(Sawi Indus Kohistani Swat-Dir KohistaniKhowar Pashai and Katarqalai) The voicedaspirates are not attested in some of theNorthern languages namely Panjabi DogriKashmiri Pahari Dardic (Khowar ShinaShumashti Dameli Tirahi Swat-DirKohistani and Katarkalai) Sinhala andDardic (Grangali and Pashai) do not haveaspirated stops in fact aspiration iscompletely lost in these languages All the fiveunaspirated nasals are phonemic in a fewlanguages only namely Sindhi Kalasha(Dardic) Seraiki and Dogri The bilabialand alveolar are present across the familySome languages like Maithili Bangla Dardic(Khowar amp Tirahi) employ just these twoOriya Dardic (Gawarbati Pashai ShumashtiGrangali Dameli Swat-Dir KohistaniTorwali) and Sinhala employ four nasalsOdia and some Dardic languages exclude thepalatal Torwali (Dardic) aspirates andStandard Hindi Gujarati Marathi KonkaniPanjabi Pahari Dardic ( Watapuri-KatarkalaiIndus Kohistani) have three nasal phonemes-
and N The largest number of fricatives(ten) is employed in Torwali (Dardic) Thevoiceless cerebr is present as acontinuation of Sanskrit sound system inMarathi and a few Dardic languages (TorwaliKalasha Indus Kohistani and Shina) the latteremploy its voiced cerebral counterpart also
Kashmiri has an additional series ofaffricates and its aspirated counterpart Marathi Konkani and some Dardic languageshave voiced as well and the aspirated
uvular alijihviya) q
mn
ntilde m n
m n
ts ts
dz
al fricative ş
h
Dardic - What Does The Label Denote - 2
counterpart of the latter (is available in Marathi andKonkani The lowest number(two) of affricates is availablein Sinhala and the highest(eight) in Konkani Marathihas seven Kashmiri fiveGrangali (Dardic) has four -the palatal and the alveolar Retroflexfricatives and ofShina can be linked to Sanskrit Thesesegments and features are non-existent inKashmiri
It seems reasonable to abandon thelabel Dardic completely and refer to these IAlanguages independently
A glance at some basic lexical entities -numerals body parts and verbs would enableone to draw conclusions regarding thelinguistic affinity of Kashmiri (See table at theend)
One can easily relate Kashmirifoot-print-s to Sanskrit The
Kashmiri verbs pick and cookhave a strong phonetic-semantic echo inBengali
E stands for schwa I for high central vowel Sfor palatal fricative sh for cerebralretroflexfricative TDN stand for cerebralretroflexvoicelessvoiced stopsnasal ts for lamino-alveolar affricate following a consonantindicates aspiration of the C concernedstands for palatalization
One finds mention of Darads in the
knowledge+history text Mahabharata whichwas not authored by a Kashmiri historianMahabharata is a pre-historic -text
means wave The
dz )
c j ts dz
podpEdy padatul-un ran-un
itihasaTaranga Rajatarangini
h
contrastive pitch accent
Transcription
Notesn
a
h
y
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 02
comprises eight -s RSPandit hasrightly translated the work as ldquoThe River ofKingsrdquo
Daradas of K (Kalhana) are the Dards-Aryans who inhabit the mountainous regionfrom Chitral across the Indus extending toGilgit and Kishanganga ValleyhellipSee S PPandit p43
During this campaign K mentions non-intelligibility of unknown language betweenthe forces (RS Pandits Tr p 631)
Following Cardona amp Jainencompasses a group of languages spoken inparts of India (Ladakh) Pakistan andAfghanistan The languages are GawarbatiKalasha Torwali Indus Kohistani PalulaKhowar Shina Shumashti Dameli TirahiSwat-Dir Kohistani Katarkalai [Katarkalai isreportedly extinct]
Kafiristan (now Nuristan) ldquoenclosedbetween Chitral and Afghan territory is theland of Pagan mountaineers who maintainedtheir independence until 1895 when by theterms of an agreement entered into betweenthe British Government and Abdur RahmanAmir of Kabul the whole of Kafir territorypassed under the sway of Kabulrdquo The Kafirlanguage is of Prakrita origin (See R S Panditp 631)
RSPandit (1935) in a footnote in histranslation of Kalhanas Rajataragini reflects aview of the linguistic scholarship of the erathus Kashmiri is closer to Pushto as bothhave evolved from the Paishachi PrakritP734
Cardona and Jain (2003) carries anindependent essay on Kashmiri (pp 895-952)where the non-committal author shifts theonus on Historical linguist who according tohim are in agreement regarding the geneticaffiliation of Kashmiri that it ldquobelongs to the
rdquo (P898) Masica (1991) presents a chronologicaloverview of Griersons opinion with regard toDardic and remarks that ldquoEven less should
Taranga
1
2
3 Dardic
4
5
6
Dardic branch of Indo-Aryan family
Griersons tentative classification be taken asthe last word on the lsquoDardicrsquo question (pp460-462) The oft-repeated loaded statementthat Kashmiri is close to Shina is found in thesetexts as well
E Bashir in Cardona amp Jain(2003)mentions Kashmiri in a different contextldquoPresent linguistic interactions in Pakistaninvolve Balti and Kashmiri with the easterndialects Burushaski and Khowar with theGilgit dialecthelliprdquo(p 878)
A couple of examples comparing Shina(from Bashir 2003) and Kashmiri are givenhere1 (Shina)
(Kashmiri) lsquoDont say a word
( Shina)
(Kashmiri) lsquoEven theirgrandfather cannot eat you
Bhaskararao Peri and others 2009APhoneticStudy of Kashmiri Palatalization In MinegishiM et al (eds)
[Working papers in Corpus based Linguisticsand Language Education No3] Tokyo TokyoUniversity of Foreign Studies 2009 pp 1-17Bhat Raj Nath 2008 Palatalization A Note onKashmir i Morpho-Phonology
Vol 69 pp43-50Bhat Raj Nath 2010 A Note on Indo-AryanPhonology In ON Koul (ed) Mysore CIILCardona George and Dhanesh Jain (eds)2003 London ampNew York RoutledgeFussman Gerard 1972 Atlas Linguistique desparlers dardes et kafir Vol2 CommentaireParis Ecole Francaise dextreme-OrientGhatage AM 1962
University of BombayMasicaColin P 1991
Cambridge Cambridge Univ
tu-s hiish nee t etsI ma van ak laphIztsI maa van kenh ti
2 riney dado-s ga tu k ook dubeytihund buDibab ti hekii nI tse k et tse hekii nItihund buDibab ti k et
Field Research CorpusLinguistics amp Linguistic Informatics
IndianLinguistics
Indo-Aryan
The Indo-Aryan Languages
Historical Linguistics andIndo-Aryan Languages
The Indo-AryanLanguages
h
h
h
h h
h h
References
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 03
I donrsquot doubt your understanding Rather I have appreciated it all alongThe fact of the matter is There is something intrinsically wrongWith my phrasesThey donrsquot speak my heartRather they prove dissemblersOne they reach your earsHow can they express my reality That is the question Is there a way to tame themSo that they only emit the meaningThat blossoms in my feelingAnd withers in the thought process
Prof Majrooh Rashid is Head of theDepartment (Kashmiri) KashmirUniversity He writes poetry in Englishand Kashmiri
Prof Majrooh Rashid
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 05
to have been composed between 6th to 8thcentury AD many vratas and other religiouspractices were prevailent in ancient timesthroughout the length amp breadth of KashmirAccording to various historians amp also thecritics of Nilmat Puran more than one third ofNilmat deals mainly with vratas utsavas ampother religious practices by the realinhabitants of Kashmir
According to Nilmat Puran the first dayof the dark fortnight of Margashirsh called
( ) in Kashmiri was celebrated in
ancient Kashmir as the New year day ofSaptrishi calendar prevalent those days inKashmir Main reason to celebrate this NewYear Day is that according to Nila who used toinstruct the people of Kashmir Rishi Kashyaphas brought the land of Kashmir out of wateron this very day thus clearly indicating that thecalender year in Kashmir started those daysnot from April but from October (according toGregorian calendar)
Another auspicious festival in thehistory of ancient Kashmir was not observedonly but celebrated also throughout the lengthamp breadth of Kashmir amp according to NilmatPuran the festival was called kryshaarambbut during 14th-15th century this rural festival
was renamed in Kashmiri as lsquo
According to Nilmat Puran this auspicious daywas being celebrated after the 8th of darkfortnight of Lunar calender month of Chaitrawith the commencement of cultivation On thisday the Goddess Earth two bulls cow horseBaladeva Mahadeva Vamadeva the Sunthe Moon Indra Rama Kashyapa VahiniVayu and Ganga were worshipped on thisoccasion The Brahamans were given
मोजहोर
गोगलrsquo
sacrificial feeA festival fullof songs amp dances wascelebrated af ter theploughing of the fields ampsowing of the seeds
Another auspiciousday celebrated in ancientKashmir as described inNilmat Puran was on the first day of the brightfortnight of Chaitra amp was called Nav SamvatSara On this auspicios day worship ofBrahma amp the performance of Mahashantiwas conducted in ancient days Mahashantibeing the worship of the Trinity ie BrahmaVishnu amp Maheshwara the planets ampconstellations amp also the divisions of timefourteen Devendras fourteen Manus thesages the daughters of Daksa othergoddesses seven continents nine divisionsof Bharat seven worlds seven nether worlds five elements the intelligence the soul thePurush the mountains the rivers theVinayaks the nymphs theAdityas the Vasusthe Rudras the Maruts etc amp also the hearingof the year the month amp the day amp the deitiespresiding over them amp also the feasting of theBrahmanas amp the relatives (Ref Nilmatv650ndash651)
With the passage of time thisauspicious day lsquoNavsamvat Sararsquo has beenrenamed lsquoNavrehrsquo the first day of the SaptrishiSamvat year of Kashmiri Pandits amp that is whythe Kashmiri Panchang or Calender called
starts from the first of the bright
half of the month of Chaitra Kalhan Pandit thecourt historian of Kashmir during the 11th-12th century AD amp also some of the eminentscholars amp researchers like PNBamzai ProfJ L K a u l P r o f P N P u s h p P r o f SKToshKhani amp PNBazaz (the author of
काशिरजनतरी
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 09
Daughters of Vitasta) Master Zinda Kaul ampothers have been time amp again emphasizingthat Sanskritised Kashmiri was the colloquiallanguage of all the Kashmiris in addition toSanskrit which was the court language up to12th centuary in Kashmir Some of the KP girlswere extraordinarily intelligent not only in theSanskrit language but in advancedMathematics also One such example is thatGargi Gosha (ref Daughters of Vitasta by PNBazaz ) Several eminent mathematicians ofthe West are still trying to decipher herMathematics Similarly Bilhana the renownedSanskrit poet had authored Vikrama Devacarita XVIII 23 29 where he describes thetheatrical performances by the then Kashmiriartists using Sanskrit dialogues (Ref Nilmatv414527766863)
Even in 10th Century there had beenone renowned Kashmiri Pandit Sitikanth whohas enriched the then prevailing language bygiving vaakhs in Sanskritised Kashmirilanguage for the first time Some of theeminent persons already mentioned aboveare of the opinion that Sitikanth must havetrancedentally initiated Lalded in Vaakhparampara
Another ancient Kashmiri traditionalceremony is still in vogue on the third day of
the bright half of the Chaitra called lsquo
rsquo With the passage of time this word
has got corrupted amp is called As
recorded in some historical chronicals ofancient Kashmir on this auspicious daymarried KP Ladies used to visit (on invitation)their parental homes where their parents usedto enquire whether they were still abreast withthe knowledge of MahaGayatri Mantra or not
With reference to Nilamata vv644ndash646Sri Panchmi day was celebrated in ancientKashmir on the 5th of bright fortnight ofChaitra for the worship of Sri (GoddessLakshmi) so that worshipper is endowed withprosperity throughout his or her life amp attains
ज़ान
गायतरी
जग तराइ
Vishnu Loka after death Again with referenceto Nilmat vv647ndash649 Chaitrasasti wasdedicated to the worship of Skanda on the 6thof the bright half of Chaitra for endowingheathy children to the worshipper
Chaitra Navmi was observed with fast ampworship of Goddess Bhadrakali with flowersincense amp food on the 9th of the bright Chaitra( refNilamat vv652ndash653)
Vastu Pooja was observed on the bright11th day of Chaitra by worshipping Vastu thedeity of architecture (ref Nilamat vv652ndash53 )Some of the researchers refer Vaastu as GharDevta in Kashmiri traditional culture
Chaitra Dvadashi (the 12th day) of thebright half of Chaitra was dedicated byKashmiri Pandits in ancient Kashmir to LordVasudeva(ref Nilmat v654 )
Madantriyodashi was celebrated inancient Kashmir on 13th bright half of Chaitra(ref Nilmatvv384 amp also 655ndash58) On this daythe married Kashmiri ladies were beinghonoured by their respective husbands
Author can be contacted at
(To be continued)
parimoomkgmailcom
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 10
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 12
About the Author Born in 1943 Zareef Ahmed Zareef is a Kashmiripoet writer social activist and environmentalist He is best known forhis satirical poetry and efforts to highlight various social and politicalproblems He has been working for preservation of the environmentculture and heritage of Kashmir This write up is the transcript of hisvideo clip recently circulated on social media to showcase his love forKashmir and its cultural heritage First part of this transcript hasalready appeared in the January 2019 issue of Praagaash
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
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Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
At the phonological level there is sufficientdivergence among the Dardic languages The
( stop has been borrowedfrom Arabic and is confined to Standard UrduStandard Sindhi and a few Dardic languages(Sawi Indus Kohistani Swat-Dir KohistaniKhowar Pashai and Katarqalai) The voicedaspirates are not attested in some of theNorthern languages namely Panjabi DogriKashmiri Pahari Dardic (Khowar ShinaShumashti Dameli Tirahi Swat-DirKohistani and Katarkalai) Sinhala andDardic (Grangali and Pashai) do not haveaspirated stops in fact aspiration iscompletely lost in these languages All the fiveunaspirated nasals are phonemic in a fewlanguages only namely Sindhi Kalasha(Dardic) Seraiki and Dogri The bilabialand alveolar are present across the familySome languages like Maithili Bangla Dardic(Khowar amp Tirahi) employ just these twoOriya Dardic (Gawarbati Pashai ShumashtiGrangali Dameli Swat-Dir KohistaniTorwali) and Sinhala employ four nasalsOdia and some Dardic languages exclude thepalatal Torwali (Dardic) aspirates andStandard Hindi Gujarati Marathi KonkaniPanjabi Pahari Dardic ( Watapuri-KatarkalaiIndus Kohistani) have three nasal phonemes-
and N The largest number of fricatives(ten) is employed in Torwali (Dardic) Thevoiceless cerebr is present as acontinuation of Sanskrit sound system inMarathi and a few Dardic languages (TorwaliKalasha Indus Kohistani and Shina) the latteremploy its voiced cerebral counterpart also
Kashmiri has an additional series ofaffricates and its aspirated counterpart Marathi Konkani and some Dardic languageshave voiced as well and the aspirated
uvular alijihviya) q
mn
ntilde m n
m n
ts ts
dz
al fricative ş
h
Dardic - What Does The Label Denote - 2
counterpart of the latter (is available in Marathi andKonkani The lowest number(two) of affricates is availablein Sinhala and the highest(eight) in Konkani Marathihas seven Kashmiri fiveGrangali (Dardic) has four -the palatal and the alveolar Retroflexfricatives and ofShina can be linked to Sanskrit Thesesegments and features are non-existent inKashmiri
It seems reasonable to abandon thelabel Dardic completely and refer to these IAlanguages independently
A glance at some basic lexical entities -numerals body parts and verbs would enableone to draw conclusions regarding thelinguistic affinity of Kashmiri (See table at theend)
One can easily relate Kashmirifoot-print-s to Sanskrit The
Kashmiri verbs pick and cookhave a strong phonetic-semantic echo inBengali
E stands for schwa I for high central vowel Sfor palatal fricative sh for cerebralretroflexfricative TDN stand for cerebralretroflexvoicelessvoiced stopsnasal ts for lamino-alveolar affricate following a consonantindicates aspiration of the C concernedstands for palatalization
One finds mention of Darads in the
knowledge+history text Mahabharata whichwas not authored by a Kashmiri historianMahabharata is a pre-historic -text
means wave The
dz )
c j ts dz
podpEdy padatul-un ran-un
itihasaTaranga Rajatarangini
h
contrastive pitch accent
Transcription
Notesn
a
h
y
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 02
comprises eight -s RSPandit hasrightly translated the work as ldquoThe River ofKingsrdquo
Daradas of K (Kalhana) are the Dards-Aryans who inhabit the mountainous regionfrom Chitral across the Indus extending toGilgit and Kishanganga ValleyhellipSee S PPandit p43
During this campaign K mentions non-intelligibility of unknown language betweenthe forces (RS Pandits Tr p 631)
Following Cardona amp Jainencompasses a group of languages spoken inparts of India (Ladakh) Pakistan andAfghanistan The languages are GawarbatiKalasha Torwali Indus Kohistani PalulaKhowar Shina Shumashti Dameli TirahiSwat-Dir Kohistani Katarkalai [Katarkalai isreportedly extinct]
Kafiristan (now Nuristan) ldquoenclosedbetween Chitral and Afghan territory is theland of Pagan mountaineers who maintainedtheir independence until 1895 when by theterms of an agreement entered into betweenthe British Government and Abdur RahmanAmir of Kabul the whole of Kafir territorypassed under the sway of Kabulrdquo The Kafirlanguage is of Prakrita origin (See R S Panditp 631)
RSPandit (1935) in a footnote in histranslation of Kalhanas Rajataragini reflects aview of the linguistic scholarship of the erathus Kashmiri is closer to Pushto as bothhave evolved from the Paishachi PrakritP734
Cardona and Jain (2003) carries anindependent essay on Kashmiri (pp 895-952)where the non-committal author shifts theonus on Historical linguist who according tohim are in agreement regarding the geneticaffiliation of Kashmiri that it ldquobelongs to the
rdquo (P898) Masica (1991) presents a chronologicaloverview of Griersons opinion with regard toDardic and remarks that ldquoEven less should
Taranga
1
2
3 Dardic
4
5
6
Dardic branch of Indo-Aryan family
Griersons tentative classification be taken asthe last word on the lsquoDardicrsquo question (pp460-462) The oft-repeated loaded statementthat Kashmiri is close to Shina is found in thesetexts as well
E Bashir in Cardona amp Jain(2003)mentions Kashmiri in a different contextldquoPresent linguistic interactions in Pakistaninvolve Balti and Kashmiri with the easterndialects Burushaski and Khowar with theGilgit dialecthelliprdquo(p 878)
A couple of examples comparing Shina(from Bashir 2003) and Kashmiri are givenhere1 (Shina)
(Kashmiri) lsquoDont say a word
( Shina)
(Kashmiri) lsquoEven theirgrandfather cannot eat you
Bhaskararao Peri and others 2009APhoneticStudy of Kashmiri Palatalization In MinegishiM et al (eds)
[Working papers in Corpus based Linguisticsand Language Education No3] Tokyo TokyoUniversity of Foreign Studies 2009 pp 1-17Bhat Raj Nath 2008 Palatalization A Note onKashmir i Morpho-Phonology
Vol 69 pp43-50Bhat Raj Nath 2010 A Note on Indo-AryanPhonology In ON Koul (ed) Mysore CIILCardona George and Dhanesh Jain (eds)2003 London ampNew York RoutledgeFussman Gerard 1972 Atlas Linguistique desparlers dardes et kafir Vol2 CommentaireParis Ecole Francaise dextreme-OrientGhatage AM 1962
University of BombayMasicaColin P 1991
Cambridge Cambridge Univ
tu-s hiish nee t etsI ma van ak laphIztsI maa van kenh ti
2 riney dado-s ga tu k ook dubeytihund buDibab ti hekii nI tse k et tse hekii nItihund buDibab ti k et
Field Research CorpusLinguistics amp Linguistic Informatics
IndianLinguistics
Indo-Aryan
The Indo-Aryan Languages
Historical Linguistics andIndo-Aryan Languages
The Indo-AryanLanguages
h
h
h
h h
h h
References
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 03
I donrsquot doubt your understanding Rather I have appreciated it all alongThe fact of the matter is There is something intrinsically wrongWith my phrasesThey donrsquot speak my heartRather they prove dissemblersOne they reach your earsHow can they express my reality That is the question Is there a way to tame themSo that they only emit the meaningThat blossoms in my feelingAnd withers in the thought process
Prof Majrooh Rashid is Head of theDepartment (Kashmiri) KashmirUniversity He writes poetry in Englishand Kashmiri
Prof Majrooh Rashid
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 05
to have been composed between 6th to 8thcentury AD many vratas and other religiouspractices were prevailent in ancient timesthroughout the length amp breadth of KashmirAccording to various historians amp also thecritics of Nilmat Puran more than one third ofNilmat deals mainly with vratas utsavas ampother religious practices by the realinhabitants of Kashmir
According to Nilmat Puran the first dayof the dark fortnight of Margashirsh called
( ) in Kashmiri was celebrated in
ancient Kashmir as the New year day ofSaptrishi calendar prevalent those days inKashmir Main reason to celebrate this NewYear Day is that according to Nila who used toinstruct the people of Kashmir Rishi Kashyaphas brought the land of Kashmir out of wateron this very day thus clearly indicating that thecalender year in Kashmir started those daysnot from April but from October (according toGregorian calendar)
Another auspicious festival in thehistory of ancient Kashmir was not observedonly but celebrated also throughout the lengthamp breadth of Kashmir amp according to NilmatPuran the festival was called kryshaarambbut during 14th-15th century this rural festival
was renamed in Kashmiri as lsquo
According to Nilmat Puran this auspicious daywas being celebrated after the 8th of darkfortnight of Lunar calender month of Chaitrawith the commencement of cultivation On thisday the Goddess Earth two bulls cow horseBaladeva Mahadeva Vamadeva the Sunthe Moon Indra Rama Kashyapa VahiniVayu and Ganga were worshipped on thisoccasion The Brahamans were given
मोजहोर
गोगलrsquo
sacrificial feeA festival fullof songs amp dances wascelebrated af ter theploughing of the fields ampsowing of the seeds
Another auspiciousday celebrated in ancientKashmir as described inNilmat Puran was on the first day of the brightfortnight of Chaitra amp was called Nav SamvatSara On this auspicios day worship ofBrahma amp the performance of Mahashantiwas conducted in ancient days Mahashantibeing the worship of the Trinity ie BrahmaVishnu amp Maheshwara the planets ampconstellations amp also the divisions of timefourteen Devendras fourteen Manus thesages the daughters of Daksa othergoddesses seven continents nine divisionsof Bharat seven worlds seven nether worlds five elements the intelligence the soul thePurush the mountains the rivers theVinayaks the nymphs theAdityas the Vasusthe Rudras the Maruts etc amp also the hearingof the year the month amp the day amp the deitiespresiding over them amp also the feasting of theBrahmanas amp the relatives (Ref Nilmatv650ndash651)
With the passage of time thisauspicious day lsquoNavsamvat Sararsquo has beenrenamed lsquoNavrehrsquo the first day of the SaptrishiSamvat year of Kashmiri Pandits amp that is whythe Kashmiri Panchang or Calender called
starts from the first of the bright
half of the month of Chaitra Kalhan Pandit thecourt historian of Kashmir during the 11th-12th century AD amp also some of the eminentscholars amp researchers like PNBamzai ProfJ L K a u l P r o f P N P u s h p P r o f SKToshKhani amp PNBazaz (the author of
काशिरजनतरी
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 09
Daughters of Vitasta) Master Zinda Kaul ampothers have been time amp again emphasizingthat Sanskritised Kashmiri was the colloquiallanguage of all the Kashmiris in addition toSanskrit which was the court language up to12th centuary in Kashmir Some of the KP girlswere extraordinarily intelligent not only in theSanskrit language but in advancedMathematics also One such example is thatGargi Gosha (ref Daughters of Vitasta by PNBazaz ) Several eminent mathematicians ofthe West are still trying to decipher herMathematics Similarly Bilhana the renownedSanskrit poet had authored Vikrama Devacarita XVIII 23 29 where he describes thetheatrical performances by the then Kashmiriartists using Sanskrit dialogues (Ref Nilmatv414527766863)
Even in 10th Century there had beenone renowned Kashmiri Pandit Sitikanth whohas enriched the then prevailing language bygiving vaakhs in Sanskritised Kashmirilanguage for the first time Some of theeminent persons already mentioned aboveare of the opinion that Sitikanth must havetrancedentally initiated Lalded in Vaakhparampara
Another ancient Kashmiri traditionalceremony is still in vogue on the third day of
the bright half of the Chaitra called lsquo
rsquo With the passage of time this word
has got corrupted amp is called As
recorded in some historical chronicals ofancient Kashmir on this auspicious daymarried KP Ladies used to visit (on invitation)their parental homes where their parents usedto enquire whether they were still abreast withthe knowledge of MahaGayatri Mantra or not
With reference to Nilamata vv644ndash646Sri Panchmi day was celebrated in ancientKashmir on the 5th of bright fortnight ofChaitra for the worship of Sri (GoddessLakshmi) so that worshipper is endowed withprosperity throughout his or her life amp attains
ज़ान
गायतरी
जग तराइ
Vishnu Loka after death Again with referenceto Nilmat vv647ndash649 Chaitrasasti wasdedicated to the worship of Skanda on the 6thof the bright half of Chaitra for endowingheathy children to the worshipper
Chaitra Navmi was observed with fast ampworship of Goddess Bhadrakali with flowersincense amp food on the 9th of the bright Chaitra( refNilamat vv652ndash653)
Vastu Pooja was observed on the bright11th day of Chaitra by worshipping Vastu thedeity of architecture (ref Nilamat vv652ndash53 )Some of the researchers refer Vaastu as GharDevta in Kashmiri traditional culture
Chaitra Dvadashi (the 12th day) of thebright half of Chaitra was dedicated byKashmiri Pandits in ancient Kashmir to LordVasudeva(ref Nilmat v654 )
Madantriyodashi was celebrated inancient Kashmir on 13th bright half of Chaitra(ref Nilmatvv384 amp also 655ndash58) On this daythe married Kashmiri ladies were beinghonoured by their respective husbands
Author can be contacted at
(To be continued)
parimoomkgmailcom
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 10
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 12
About the Author Born in 1943 Zareef Ahmed Zareef is a Kashmiripoet writer social activist and environmentalist He is best known forhis satirical poetry and efforts to highlight various social and politicalproblems He has been working for preservation of the environmentculture and heritage of Kashmir This write up is the transcript of hisvideo clip recently circulated on social media to showcase his love forKashmir and its cultural heritage First part of this transcript hasalready appeared in the January 2019 issue of Praagaash
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
comprises eight -s RSPandit hasrightly translated the work as ldquoThe River ofKingsrdquo
Daradas of K (Kalhana) are the Dards-Aryans who inhabit the mountainous regionfrom Chitral across the Indus extending toGilgit and Kishanganga ValleyhellipSee S PPandit p43
During this campaign K mentions non-intelligibility of unknown language betweenthe forces (RS Pandits Tr p 631)
Following Cardona amp Jainencompasses a group of languages spoken inparts of India (Ladakh) Pakistan andAfghanistan The languages are GawarbatiKalasha Torwali Indus Kohistani PalulaKhowar Shina Shumashti Dameli TirahiSwat-Dir Kohistani Katarkalai [Katarkalai isreportedly extinct]
Kafiristan (now Nuristan) ldquoenclosedbetween Chitral and Afghan territory is theland of Pagan mountaineers who maintainedtheir independence until 1895 when by theterms of an agreement entered into betweenthe British Government and Abdur RahmanAmir of Kabul the whole of Kafir territorypassed under the sway of Kabulrdquo The Kafirlanguage is of Prakrita origin (See R S Panditp 631)
RSPandit (1935) in a footnote in histranslation of Kalhanas Rajataragini reflects aview of the linguistic scholarship of the erathus Kashmiri is closer to Pushto as bothhave evolved from the Paishachi PrakritP734
Cardona and Jain (2003) carries anindependent essay on Kashmiri (pp 895-952)where the non-committal author shifts theonus on Historical linguist who according tohim are in agreement regarding the geneticaffiliation of Kashmiri that it ldquobelongs to the
rdquo (P898) Masica (1991) presents a chronologicaloverview of Griersons opinion with regard toDardic and remarks that ldquoEven less should
Taranga
1
2
3 Dardic
4
5
6
Dardic branch of Indo-Aryan family
Griersons tentative classification be taken asthe last word on the lsquoDardicrsquo question (pp460-462) The oft-repeated loaded statementthat Kashmiri is close to Shina is found in thesetexts as well
E Bashir in Cardona amp Jain(2003)mentions Kashmiri in a different contextldquoPresent linguistic interactions in Pakistaninvolve Balti and Kashmiri with the easterndialects Burushaski and Khowar with theGilgit dialecthelliprdquo(p 878)
A couple of examples comparing Shina(from Bashir 2003) and Kashmiri are givenhere1 (Shina)
(Kashmiri) lsquoDont say a word
( Shina)
(Kashmiri) lsquoEven theirgrandfather cannot eat you
Bhaskararao Peri and others 2009APhoneticStudy of Kashmiri Palatalization In MinegishiM et al (eds)
[Working papers in Corpus based Linguisticsand Language Education No3] Tokyo TokyoUniversity of Foreign Studies 2009 pp 1-17Bhat Raj Nath 2008 Palatalization A Note onKashmir i Morpho-Phonology
Vol 69 pp43-50Bhat Raj Nath 2010 A Note on Indo-AryanPhonology In ON Koul (ed) Mysore CIILCardona George and Dhanesh Jain (eds)2003 London ampNew York RoutledgeFussman Gerard 1972 Atlas Linguistique desparlers dardes et kafir Vol2 CommentaireParis Ecole Francaise dextreme-OrientGhatage AM 1962
University of BombayMasicaColin P 1991
Cambridge Cambridge Univ
tu-s hiish nee t etsI ma van ak laphIztsI maa van kenh ti
2 riney dado-s ga tu k ook dubeytihund buDibab ti hekii nI tse k et tse hekii nItihund buDibab ti k et
Field Research CorpusLinguistics amp Linguistic Informatics
IndianLinguistics
Indo-Aryan
The Indo-Aryan Languages
Historical Linguistics andIndo-Aryan Languages
The Indo-AryanLanguages
h
h
h
h h
h h
References
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 03
I donrsquot doubt your understanding Rather I have appreciated it all alongThe fact of the matter is There is something intrinsically wrongWith my phrasesThey donrsquot speak my heartRather they prove dissemblersOne they reach your earsHow can they express my reality That is the question Is there a way to tame themSo that they only emit the meaningThat blossoms in my feelingAnd withers in the thought process
Prof Majrooh Rashid is Head of theDepartment (Kashmiri) KashmirUniversity He writes poetry in Englishand Kashmiri
Prof Majrooh Rashid
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 05
to have been composed between 6th to 8thcentury AD many vratas and other religiouspractices were prevailent in ancient timesthroughout the length amp breadth of KashmirAccording to various historians amp also thecritics of Nilmat Puran more than one third ofNilmat deals mainly with vratas utsavas ampother religious practices by the realinhabitants of Kashmir
According to Nilmat Puran the first dayof the dark fortnight of Margashirsh called
( ) in Kashmiri was celebrated in
ancient Kashmir as the New year day ofSaptrishi calendar prevalent those days inKashmir Main reason to celebrate this NewYear Day is that according to Nila who used toinstruct the people of Kashmir Rishi Kashyaphas brought the land of Kashmir out of wateron this very day thus clearly indicating that thecalender year in Kashmir started those daysnot from April but from October (according toGregorian calendar)
Another auspicious festival in thehistory of ancient Kashmir was not observedonly but celebrated also throughout the lengthamp breadth of Kashmir amp according to NilmatPuran the festival was called kryshaarambbut during 14th-15th century this rural festival
was renamed in Kashmiri as lsquo
According to Nilmat Puran this auspicious daywas being celebrated after the 8th of darkfortnight of Lunar calender month of Chaitrawith the commencement of cultivation On thisday the Goddess Earth two bulls cow horseBaladeva Mahadeva Vamadeva the Sunthe Moon Indra Rama Kashyapa VahiniVayu and Ganga were worshipped on thisoccasion The Brahamans were given
मोजहोर
गोगलrsquo
sacrificial feeA festival fullof songs amp dances wascelebrated af ter theploughing of the fields ampsowing of the seeds
Another auspiciousday celebrated in ancientKashmir as described inNilmat Puran was on the first day of the brightfortnight of Chaitra amp was called Nav SamvatSara On this auspicios day worship ofBrahma amp the performance of Mahashantiwas conducted in ancient days Mahashantibeing the worship of the Trinity ie BrahmaVishnu amp Maheshwara the planets ampconstellations amp also the divisions of timefourteen Devendras fourteen Manus thesages the daughters of Daksa othergoddesses seven continents nine divisionsof Bharat seven worlds seven nether worlds five elements the intelligence the soul thePurush the mountains the rivers theVinayaks the nymphs theAdityas the Vasusthe Rudras the Maruts etc amp also the hearingof the year the month amp the day amp the deitiespresiding over them amp also the feasting of theBrahmanas amp the relatives (Ref Nilmatv650ndash651)
With the passage of time thisauspicious day lsquoNavsamvat Sararsquo has beenrenamed lsquoNavrehrsquo the first day of the SaptrishiSamvat year of Kashmiri Pandits amp that is whythe Kashmiri Panchang or Calender called
starts from the first of the bright
half of the month of Chaitra Kalhan Pandit thecourt historian of Kashmir during the 11th-12th century AD amp also some of the eminentscholars amp researchers like PNBamzai ProfJ L K a u l P r o f P N P u s h p P r o f SKToshKhani amp PNBazaz (the author of
काशिरजनतरी
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 09
Daughters of Vitasta) Master Zinda Kaul ampothers have been time amp again emphasizingthat Sanskritised Kashmiri was the colloquiallanguage of all the Kashmiris in addition toSanskrit which was the court language up to12th centuary in Kashmir Some of the KP girlswere extraordinarily intelligent not only in theSanskrit language but in advancedMathematics also One such example is thatGargi Gosha (ref Daughters of Vitasta by PNBazaz ) Several eminent mathematicians ofthe West are still trying to decipher herMathematics Similarly Bilhana the renownedSanskrit poet had authored Vikrama Devacarita XVIII 23 29 where he describes thetheatrical performances by the then Kashmiriartists using Sanskrit dialogues (Ref Nilmatv414527766863)
Even in 10th Century there had beenone renowned Kashmiri Pandit Sitikanth whohas enriched the then prevailing language bygiving vaakhs in Sanskritised Kashmirilanguage for the first time Some of theeminent persons already mentioned aboveare of the opinion that Sitikanth must havetrancedentally initiated Lalded in Vaakhparampara
Another ancient Kashmiri traditionalceremony is still in vogue on the third day of
the bright half of the Chaitra called lsquo
rsquo With the passage of time this word
has got corrupted amp is called As
recorded in some historical chronicals ofancient Kashmir on this auspicious daymarried KP Ladies used to visit (on invitation)their parental homes where their parents usedto enquire whether they were still abreast withthe knowledge of MahaGayatri Mantra or not
With reference to Nilamata vv644ndash646Sri Panchmi day was celebrated in ancientKashmir on the 5th of bright fortnight ofChaitra for the worship of Sri (GoddessLakshmi) so that worshipper is endowed withprosperity throughout his or her life amp attains
ज़ान
गायतरी
जग तराइ
Vishnu Loka after death Again with referenceto Nilmat vv647ndash649 Chaitrasasti wasdedicated to the worship of Skanda on the 6thof the bright half of Chaitra for endowingheathy children to the worshipper
Chaitra Navmi was observed with fast ampworship of Goddess Bhadrakali with flowersincense amp food on the 9th of the bright Chaitra( refNilamat vv652ndash653)
Vastu Pooja was observed on the bright11th day of Chaitra by worshipping Vastu thedeity of architecture (ref Nilamat vv652ndash53 )Some of the researchers refer Vaastu as GharDevta in Kashmiri traditional culture
Chaitra Dvadashi (the 12th day) of thebright half of Chaitra was dedicated byKashmiri Pandits in ancient Kashmir to LordVasudeva(ref Nilmat v654 )
Madantriyodashi was celebrated inancient Kashmir on 13th bright half of Chaitra(ref Nilmatvv384 amp also 655ndash58) On this daythe married Kashmiri ladies were beinghonoured by their respective husbands
Author can be contacted at
(To be continued)
parimoomkgmailcom
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 10
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 12
About the Author Born in 1943 Zareef Ahmed Zareef is a Kashmiripoet writer social activist and environmentalist He is best known forhis satirical poetry and efforts to highlight various social and politicalproblems He has been working for preservation of the environmentculture and heritage of Kashmir This write up is the transcript of hisvideo clip recently circulated on social media to showcase his love forKashmir and its cultural heritage First part of this transcript hasalready appeared in the January 2019 issue of Praagaash
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
I donrsquot doubt your understanding Rather I have appreciated it all alongThe fact of the matter is There is something intrinsically wrongWith my phrasesThey donrsquot speak my heartRather they prove dissemblersOne they reach your earsHow can they express my reality That is the question Is there a way to tame themSo that they only emit the meaningThat blossoms in my feelingAnd withers in the thought process
Prof Majrooh Rashid is Head of theDepartment (Kashmiri) KashmirUniversity He writes poetry in Englishand Kashmiri
Prof Majrooh Rashid
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 05
to have been composed between 6th to 8thcentury AD many vratas and other religiouspractices were prevailent in ancient timesthroughout the length amp breadth of KashmirAccording to various historians amp also thecritics of Nilmat Puran more than one third ofNilmat deals mainly with vratas utsavas ampother religious practices by the realinhabitants of Kashmir
According to Nilmat Puran the first dayof the dark fortnight of Margashirsh called
( ) in Kashmiri was celebrated in
ancient Kashmir as the New year day ofSaptrishi calendar prevalent those days inKashmir Main reason to celebrate this NewYear Day is that according to Nila who used toinstruct the people of Kashmir Rishi Kashyaphas brought the land of Kashmir out of wateron this very day thus clearly indicating that thecalender year in Kashmir started those daysnot from April but from October (according toGregorian calendar)
Another auspicious festival in thehistory of ancient Kashmir was not observedonly but celebrated also throughout the lengthamp breadth of Kashmir amp according to NilmatPuran the festival was called kryshaarambbut during 14th-15th century this rural festival
was renamed in Kashmiri as lsquo
According to Nilmat Puran this auspicious daywas being celebrated after the 8th of darkfortnight of Lunar calender month of Chaitrawith the commencement of cultivation On thisday the Goddess Earth two bulls cow horseBaladeva Mahadeva Vamadeva the Sunthe Moon Indra Rama Kashyapa VahiniVayu and Ganga were worshipped on thisoccasion The Brahamans were given
मोजहोर
गोगलrsquo
sacrificial feeA festival fullof songs amp dances wascelebrated af ter theploughing of the fields ampsowing of the seeds
Another auspiciousday celebrated in ancientKashmir as described inNilmat Puran was on the first day of the brightfortnight of Chaitra amp was called Nav SamvatSara On this auspicios day worship ofBrahma amp the performance of Mahashantiwas conducted in ancient days Mahashantibeing the worship of the Trinity ie BrahmaVishnu amp Maheshwara the planets ampconstellations amp also the divisions of timefourteen Devendras fourteen Manus thesages the daughters of Daksa othergoddesses seven continents nine divisionsof Bharat seven worlds seven nether worlds five elements the intelligence the soul thePurush the mountains the rivers theVinayaks the nymphs theAdityas the Vasusthe Rudras the Maruts etc amp also the hearingof the year the month amp the day amp the deitiespresiding over them amp also the feasting of theBrahmanas amp the relatives (Ref Nilmatv650ndash651)
With the passage of time thisauspicious day lsquoNavsamvat Sararsquo has beenrenamed lsquoNavrehrsquo the first day of the SaptrishiSamvat year of Kashmiri Pandits amp that is whythe Kashmiri Panchang or Calender called
starts from the first of the bright
half of the month of Chaitra Kalhan Pandit thecourt historian of Kashmir during the 11th-12th century AD amp also some of the eminentscholars amp researchers like PNBamzai ProfJ L K a u l P r o f P N P u s h p P r o f SKToshKhani amp PNBazaz (the author of
काशिरजनतरी
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 09
Daughters of Vitasta) Master Zinda Kaul ampothers have been time amp again emphasizingthat Sanskritised Kashmiri was the colloquiallanguage of all the Kashmiris in addition toSanskrit which was the court language up to12th centuary in Kashmir Some of the KP girlswere extraordinarily intelligent not only in theSanskrit language but in advancedMathematics also One such example is thatGargi Gosha (ref Daughters of Vitasta by PNBazaz ) Several eminent mathematicians ofthe West are still trying to decipher herMathematics Similarly Bilhana the renownedSanskrit poet had authored Vikrama Devacarita XVIII 23 29 where he describes thetheatrical performances by the then Kashmiriartists using Sanskrit dialogues (Ref Nilmatv414527766863)
Even in 10th Century there had beenone renowned Kashmiri Pandit Sitikanth whohas enriched the then prevailing language bygiving vaakhs in Sanskritised Kashmirilanguage for the first time Some of theeminent persons already mentioned aboveare of the opinion that Sitikanth must havetrancedentally initiated Lalded in Vaakhparampara
Another ancient Kashmiri traditionalceremony is still in vogue on the third day of
the bright half of the Chaitra called lsquo
rsquo With the passage of time this word
has got corrupted amp is called As
recorded in some historical chronicals ofancient Kashmir on this auspicious daymarried KP Ladies used to visit (on invitation)their parental homes where their parents usedto enquire whether they were still abreast withthe knowledge of MahaGayatri Mantra or not
With reference to Nilamata vv644ndash646Sri Panchmi day was celebrated in ancientKashmir on the 5th of bright fortnight ofChaitra for the worship of Sri (GoddessLakshmi) so that worshipper is endowed withprosperity throughout his or her life amp attains
ज़ान
गायतरी
जग तराइ
Vishnu Loka after death Again with referenceto Nilmat vv647ndash649 Chaitrasasti wasdedicated to the worship of Skanda on the 6thof the bright half of Chaitra for endowingheathy children to the worshipper
Chaitra Navmi was observed with fast ampworship of Goddess Bhadrakali with flowersincense amp food on the 9th of the bright Chaitra( refNilamat vv652ndash653)
Vastu Pooja was observed on the bright11th day of Chaitra by worshipping Vastu thedeity of architecture (ref Nilamat vv652ndash53 )Some of the researchers refer Vaastu as GharDevta in Kashmiri traditional culture
Chaitra Dvadashi (the 12th day) of thebright half of Chaitra was dedicated byKashmiri Pandits in ancient Kashmir to LordVasudeva(ref Nilmat v654 )
Madantriyodashi was celebrated inancient Kashmir on 13th bright half of Chaitra(ref Nilmatvv384 amp also 655ndash58) On this daythe married Kashmiri ladies were beinghonoured by their respective husbands
Author can be contacted at
(To be continued)
parimoomkgmailcom
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 10
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 12
About the Author Born in 1943 Zareef Ahmed Zareef is a Kashmiripoet writer social activist and environmentalist He is best known forhis satirical poetry and efforts to highlight various social and politicalproblems He has been working for preservation of the environmentculture and heritage of Kashmir This write up is the transcript of hisvideo clip recently circulated on social media to showcase his love forKashmir and its cultural heritage First part of this transcript hasalready appeared in the January 2019 issue of Praagaash
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
I donrsquot doubt your understanding Rather I have appreciated it all alongThe fact of the matter is There is something intrinsically wrongWith my phrasesThey donrsquot speak my heartRather they prove dissemblersOne they reach your earsHow can they express my reality That is the question Is there a way to tame themSo that they only emit the meaningThat blossoms in my feelingAnd withers in the thought process
Prof Majrooh Rashid is Head of theDepartment (Kashmiri) KashmirUniversity He writes poetry in Englishand Kashmiri
Prof Majrooh Rashid
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 05
to have been composed between 6th to 8thcentury AD many vratas and other religiouspractices were prevailent in ancient timesthroughout the length amp breadth of KashmirAccording to various historians amp also thecritics of Nilmat Puran more than one third ofNilmat deals mainly with vratas utsavas ampother religious practices by the realinhabitants of Kashmir
According to Nilmat Puran the first dayof the dark fortnight of Margashirsh called
( ) in Kashmiri was celebrated in
ancient Kashmir as the New year day ofSaptrishi calendar prevalent those days inKashmir Main reason to celebrate this NewYear Day is that according to Nila who used toinstruct the people of Kashmir Rishi Kashyaphas brought the land of Kashmir out of wateron this very day thus clearly indicating that thecalender year in Kashmir started those daysnot from April but from October (according toGregorian calendar)
Another auspicious festival in thehistory of ancient Kashmir was not observedonly but celebrated also throughout the lengthamp breadth of Kashmir amp according to NilmatPuran the festival was called kryshaarambbut during 14th-15th century this rural festival
was renamed in Kashmiri as lsquo
According to Nilmat Puran this auspicious daywas being celebrated after the 8th of darkfortnight of Lunar calender month of Chaitrawith the commencement of cultivation On thisday the Goddess Earth two bulls cow horseBaladeva Mahadeva Vamadeva the Sunthe Moon Indra Rama Kashyapa VahiniVayu and Ganga were worshipped on thisoccasion The Brahamans were given
मोजहोर
गोगलrsquo
sacrificial feeA festival fullof songs amp dances wascelebrated af ter theploughing of the fields ampsowing of the seeds
Another auspiciousday celebrated in ancientKashmir as described inNilmat Puran was on the first day of the brightfortnight of Chaitra amp was called Nav SamvatSara On this auspicios day worship ofBrahma amp the performance of Mahashantiwas conducted in ancient days Mahashantibeing the worship of the Trinity ie BrahmaVishnu amp Maheshwara the planets ampconstellations amp also the divisions of timefourteen Devendras fourteen Manus thesages the daughters of Daksa othergoddesses seven continents nine divisionsof Bharat seven worlds seven nether worlds five elements the intelligence the soul thePurush the mountains the rivers theVinayaks the nymphs theAdityas the Vasusthe Rudras the Maruts etc amp also the hearingof the year the month amp the day amp the deitiespresiding over them amp also the feasting of theBrahmanas amp the relatives (Ref Nilmatv650ndash651)
With the passage of time thisauspicious day lsquoNavsamvat Sararsquo has beenrenamed lsquoNavrehrsquo the first day of the SaptrishiSamvat year of Kashmiri Pandits amp that is whythe Kashmiri Panchang or Calender called
starts from the first of the bright
half of the month of Chaitra Kalhan Pandit thecourt historian of Kashmir during the 11th-12th century AD amp also some of the eminentscholars amp researchers like PNBamzai ProfJ L K a u l P r o f P N P u s h p P r o f SKToshKhani amp PNBazaz (the author of
काशिरजनतरी
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 09
Daughters of Vitasta) Master Zinda Kaul ampothers have been time amp again emphasizingthat Sanskritised Kashmiri was the colloquiallanguage of all the Kashmiris in addition toSanskrit which was the court language up to12th centuary in Kashmir Some of the KP girlswere extraordinarily intelligent not only in theSanskrit language but in advancedMathematics also One such example is thatGargi Gosha (ref Daughters of Vitasta by PNBazaz ) Several eminent mathematicians ofthe West are still trying to decipher herMathematics Similarly Bilhana the renownedSanskrit poet had authored Vikrama Devacarita XVIII 23 29 where he describes thetheatrical performances by the then Kashmiriartists using Sanskrit dialogues (Ref Nilmatv414527766863)
Even in 10th Century there had beenone renowned Kashmiri Pandit Sitikanth whohas enriched the then prevailing language bygiving vaakhs in Sanskritised Kashmirilanguage for the first time Some of theeminent persons already mentioned aboveare of the opinion that Sitikanth must havetrancedentally initiated Lalded in Vaakhparampara
Another ancient Kashmiri traditionalceremony is still in vogue on the third day of
the bright half of the Chaitra called lsquo
rsquo With the passage of time this word
has got corrupted amp is called As
recorded in some historical chronicals ofancient Kashmir on this auspicious daymarried KP Ladies used to visit (on invitation)their parental homes where their parents usedto enquire whether they were still abreast withthe knowledge of MahaGayatri Mantra or not
With reference to Nilamata vv644ndash646Sri Panchmi day was celebrated in ancientKashmir on the 5th of bright fortnight ofChaitra for the worship of Sri (GoddessLakshmi) so that worshipper is endowed withprosperity throughout his or her life amp attains
ज़ान
गायतरी
जग तराइ
Vishnu Loka after death Again with referenceto Nilmat vv647ndash649 Chaitrasasti wasdedicated to the worship of Skanda on the 6thof the bright half of Chaitra for endowingheathy children to the worshipper
Chaitra Navmi was observed with fast ampworship of Goddess Bhadrakali with flowersincense amp food on the 9th of the bright Chaitra( refNilamat vv652ndash653)
Vastu Pooja was observed on the bright11th day of Chaitra by worshipping Vastu thedeity of architecture (ref Nilamat vv652ndash53 )Some of the researchers refer Vaastu as GharDevta in Kashmiri traditional culture
Chaitra Dvadashi (the 12th day) of thebright half of Chaitra was dedicated byKashmiri Pandits in ancient Kashmir to LordVasudeva(ref Nilmat v654 )
Madantriyodashi was celebrated inancient Kashmir on 13th bright half of Chaitra(ref Nilmatvv384 amp also 655ndash58) On this daythe married Kashmiri ladies were beinghonoured by their respective husbands
Author can be contacted at
(To be continued)
parimoomkgmailcom
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 10
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 12
About the Author Born in 1943 Zareef Ahmed Zareef is a Kashmiripoet writer social activist and environmentalist He is best known forhis satirical poetry and efforts to highlight various social and politicalproblems He has been working for preservation of the environmentculture and heritage of Kashmir This write up is the transcript of hisvideo clip recently circulated on social media to showcase his love forKashmir and its cultural heritage First part of this transcript hasalready appeared in the January 2019 issue of Praagaash
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
to have been composed between 6th to 8thcentury AD many vratas and other religiouspractices were prevailent in ancient timesthroughout the length amp breadth of KashmirAccording to various historians amp also thecritics of Nilmat Puran more than one third ofNilmat deals mainly with vratas utsavas ampother religious practices by the realinhabitants of Kashmir
According to Nilmat Puran the first dayof the dark fortnight of Margashirsh called
( ) in Kashmiri was celebrated in
ancient Kashmir as the New year day ofSaptrishi calendar prevalent those days inKashmir Main reason to celebrate this NewYear Day is that according to Nila who used toinstruct the people of Kashmir Rishi Kashyaphas brought the land of Kashmir out of wateron this very day thus clearly indicating that thecalender year in Kashmir started those daysnot from April but from October (according toGregorian calendar)
Another auspicious festival in thehistory of ancient Kashmir was not observedonly but celebrated also throughout the lengthamp breadth of Kashmir amp according to NilmatPuran the festival was called kryshaarambbut during 14th-15th century this rural festival
was renamed in Kashmiri as lsquo
According to Nilmat Puran this auspicious daywas being celebrated after the 8th of darkfortnight of Lunar calender month of Chaitrawith the commencement of cultivation On thisday the Goddess Earth two bulls cow horseBaladeva Mahadeva Vamadeva the Sunthe Moon Indra Rama Kashyapa VahiniVayu and Ganga were worshipped on thisoccasion The Brahamans were given
मोजहोर
गोगलrsquo
sacrificial feeA festival fullof songs amp dances wascelebrated af ter theploughing of the fields ampsowing of the seeds
Another auspiciousday celebrated in ancientKashmir as described inNilmat Puran was on the first day of the brightfortnight of Chaitra amp was called Nav SamvatSara On this auspicios day worship ofBrahma amp the performance of Mahashantiwas conducted in ancient days Mahashantibeing the worship of the Trinity ie BrahmaVishnu amp Maheshwara the planets ampconstellations amp also the divisions of timefourteen Devendras fourteen Manus thesages the daughters of Daksa othergoddesses seven continents nine divisionsof Bharat seven worlds seven nether worlds five elements the intelligence the soul thePurush the mountains the rivers theVinayaks the nymphs theAdityas the Vasusthe Rudras the Maruts etc amp also the hearingof the year the month amp the day amp the deitiespresiding over them amp also the feasting of theBrahmanas amp the relatives (Ref Nilmatv650ndash651)
With the passage of time thisauspicious day lsquoNavsamvat Sararsquo has beenrenamed lsquoNavrehrsquo the first day of the SaptrishiSamvat year of Kashmiri Pandits amp that is whythe Kashmiri Panchang or Calender called
starts from the first of the bright
half of the month of Chaitra Kalhan Pandit thecourt historian of Kashmir during the 11th-12th century AD amp also some of the eminentscholars amp researchers like PNBamzai ProfJ L K a u l P r o f P N P u s h p P r o f SKToshKhani amp PNBazaz (the author of
काशिरजनतरी
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 09
Daughters of Vitasta) Master Zinda Kaul ampothers have been time amp again emphasizingthat Sanskritised Kashmiri was the colloquiallanguage of all the Kashmiris in addition toSanskrit which was the court language up to12th centuary in Kashmir Some of the KP girlswere extraordinarily intelligent not only in theSanskrit language but in advancedMathematics also One such example is thatGargi Gosha (ref Daughters of Vitasta by PNBazaz ) Several eminent mathematicians ofthe West are still trying to decipher herMathematics Similarly Bilhana the renownedSanskrit poet had authored Vikrama Devacarita XVIII 23 29 where he describes thetheatrical performances by the then Kashmiriartists using Sanskrit dialogues (Ref Nilmatv414527766863)
Even in 10th Century there had beenone renowned Kashmiri Pandit Sitikanth whohas enriched the then prevailing language bygiving vaakhs in Sanskritised Kashmirilanguage for the first time Some of theeminent persons already mentioned aboveare of the opinion that Sitikanth must havetrancedentally initiated Lalded in Vaakhparampara
Another ancient Kashmiri traditionalceremony is still in vogue on the third day of
the bright half of the Chaitra called lsquo
rsquo With the passage of time this word
has got corrupted amp is called As
recorded in some historical chronicals ofancient Kashmir on this auspicious daymarried KP Ladies used to visit (on invitation)their parental homes where their parents usedto enquire whether they were still abreast withthe knowledge of MahaGayatri Mantra or not
With reference to Nilamata vv644ndash646Sri Panchmi day was celebrated in ancientKashmir on the 5th of bright fortnight ofChaitra for the worship of Sri (GoddessLakshmi) so that worshipper is endowed withprosperity throughout his or her life amp attains
ज़ान
गायतरी
जग तराइ
Vishnu Loka after death Again with referenceto Nilmat vv647ndash649 Chaitrasasti wasdedicated to the worship of Skanda on the 6thof the bright half of Chaitra for endowingheathy children to the worshipper
Chaitra Navmi was observed with fast ampworship of Goddess Bhadrakali with flowersincense amp food on the 9th of the bright Chaitra( refNilamat vv652ndash653)
Vastu Pooja was observed on the bright11th day of Chaitra by worshipping Vastu thedeity of architecture (ref Nilamat vv652ndash53 )Some of the researchers refer Vaastu as GharDevta in Kashmiri traditional culture
Chaitra Dvadashi (the 12th day) of thebright half of Chaitra was dedicated byKashmiri Pandits in ancient Kashmir to LordVasudeva(ref Nilmat v654 )
Madantriyodashi was celebrated inancient Kashmir on 13th bright half of Chaitra(ref Nilmatvv384 amp also 655ndash58) On this daythe married Kashmiri ladies were beinghonoured by their respective husbands
Author can be contacted at
(To be continued)
parimoomkgmailcom
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 10
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 12
About the Author Born in 1943 Zareef Ahmed Zareef is a Kashmiripoet writer social activist and environmentalist He is best known forhis satirical poetry and efforts to highlight various social and politicalproblems He has been working for preservation of the environmentculture and heritage of Kashmir This write up is the transcript of hisvideo clip recently circulated on social media to showcase his love forKashmir and its cultural heritage First part of this transcript hasalready appeared in the January 2019 issue of Praagaash
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
to have been composed between 6th to 8thcentury AD many vratas and other religiouspractices were prevailent in ancient timesthroughout the length amp breadth of KashmirAccording to various historians amp also thecritics of Nilmat Puran more than one third ofNilmat deals mainly with vratas utsavas ampother religious practices by the realinhabitants of Kashmir
According to Nilmat Puran the first dayof the dark fortnight of Margashirsh called
( ) in Kashmiri was celebrated in
ancient Kashmir as the New year day ofSaptrishi calendar prevalent those days inKashmir Main reason to celebrate this NewYear Day is that according to Nila who used toinstruct the people of Kashmir Rishi Kashyaphas brought the land of Kashmir out of wateron this very day thus clearly indicating that thecalender year in Kashmir started those daysnot from April but from October (according toGregorian calendar)
Another auspicious festival in thehistory of ancient Kashmir was not observedonly but celebrated also throughout the lengthamp breadth of Kashmir amp according to NilmatPuran the festival was called kryshaarambbut during 14th-15th century this rural festival
was renamed in Kashmiri as lsquo
According to Nilmat Puran this auspicious daywas being celebrated after the 8th of darkfortnight of Lunar calender month of Chaitrawith the commencement of cultivation On thisday the Goddess Earth two bulls cow horseBaladeva Mahadeva Vamadeva the Sunthe Moon Indra Rama Kashyapa VahiniVayu and Ganga were worshipped on thisoccasion The Brahamans were given
मोजहोर
गोगलrsquo
sacrificial feeA festival fullof songs amp dances wascelebrated af ter theploughing of the fields ampsowing of the seeds
Another auspiciousday celebrated in ancientKashmir as described inNilmat Puran was on the first day of the brightfortnight of Chaitra amp was called Nav SamvatSara On this auspicios day worship ofBrahma amp the performance of Mahashantiwas conducted in ancient days Mahashantibeing the worship of the Trinity ie BrahmaVishnu amp Maheshwara the planets ampconstellations amp also the divisions of timefourteen Devendras fourteen Manus thesages the daughters of Daksa othergoddesses seven continents nine divisionsof Bharat seven worlds seven nether worlds five elements the intelligence the soul thePurush the mountains the rivers theVinayaks the nymphs theAdityas the Vasusthe Rudras the Maruts etc amp also the hearingof the year the month amp the day amp the deitiespresiding over them amp also the feasting of theBrahmanas amp the relatives (Ref Nilmatv650ndash651)
With the passage of time thisauspicious day lsquoNavsamvat Sararsquo has beenrenamed lsquoNavrehrsquo the first day of the SaptrishiSamvat year of Kashmiri Pandits amp that is whythe Kashmiri Panchang or Calender called
starts from the first of the bright
half of the month of Chaitra Kalhan Pandit thecourt historian of Kashmir during the 11th-12th century AD amp also some of the eminentscholars amp researchers like PNBamzai ProfJ L K a u l P r o f P N P u s h p P r o f SKToshKhani amp PNBazaz (the author of
काशिरजनतरी
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 09
Daughters of Vitasta) Master Zinda Kaul ampothers have been time amp again emphasizingthat Sanskritised Kashmiri was the colloquiallanguage of all the Kashmiris in addition toSanskrit which was the court language up to12th centuary in Kashmir Some of the KP girlswere extraordinarily intelligent not only in theSanskrit language but in advancedMathematics also One such example is thatGargi Gosha (ref Daughters of Vitasta by PNBazaz ) Several eminent mathematicians ofthe West are still trying to decipher herMathematics Similarly Bilhana the renownedSanskrit poet had authored Vikrama Devacarita XVIII 23 29 where he describes thetheatrical performances by the then Kashmiriartists using Sanskrit dialogues (Ref Nilmatv414527766863)
Even in 10th Century there had beenone renowned Kashmiri Pandit Sitikanth whohas enriched the then prevailing language bygiving vaakhs in Sanskritised Kashmirilanguage for the first time Some of theeminent persons already mentioned aboveare of the opinion that Sitikanth must havetrancedentally initiated Lalded in Vaakhparampara
Another ancient Kashmiri traditionalceremony is still in vogue on the third day of
the bright half of the Chaitra called lsquo
rsquo With the passage of time this word
has got corrupted amp is called As
recorded in some historical chronicals ofancient Kashmir on this auspicious daymarried KP Ladies used to visit (on invitation)their parental homes where their parents usedto enquire whether they were still abreast withthe knowledge of MahaGayatri Mantra or not
With reference to Nilamata vv644ndash646Sri Panchmi day was celebrated in ancientKashmir on the 5th of bright fortnight ofChaitra for the worship of Sri (GoddessLakshmi) so that worshipper is endowed withprosperity throughout his or her life amp attains
ज़ान
गायतरी
जग तराइ
Vishnu Loka after death Again with referenceto Nilmat vv647ndash649 Chaitrasasti wasdedicated to the worship of Skanda on the 6thof the bright half of Chaitra for endowingheathy children to the worshipper
Chaitra Navmi was observed with fast ampworship of Goddess Bhadrakali with flowersincense amp food on the 9th of the bright Chaitra( refNilamat vv652ndash653)
Vastu Pooja was observed on the bright11th day of Chaitra by worshipping Vastu thedeity of architecture (ref Nilamat vv652ndash53 )Some of the researchers refer Vaastu as GharDevta in Kashmiri traditional culture
Chaitra Dvadashi (the 12th day) of thebright half of Chaitra was dedicated byKashmiri Pandits in ancient Kashmir to LordVasudeva(ref Nilmat v654 )
Madantriyodashi was celebrated inancient Kashmir on 13th bright half of Chaitra(ref Nilmatvv384 amp also 655ndash58) On this daythe married Kashmiri ladies were beinghonoured by their respective husbands
Author can be contacted at
(To be continued)
parimoomkgmailcom
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 10
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 12
About the Author Born in 1943 Zareef Ahmed Zareef is a Kashmiripoet writer social activist and environmentalist He is best known forhis satirical poetry and efforts to highlight various social and politicalproblems He has been working for preservation of the environmentculture and heritage of Kashmir This write up is the transcript of hisvideo clip recently circulated on social media to showcase his love forKashmir and its cultural heritage First part of this transcript hasalready appeared in the January 2019 issue of Praagaash
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
to have been composed between 6th to 8thcentury AD many vratas and other religiouspractices were prevailent in ancient timesthroughout the length amp breadth of KashmirAccording to various historians amp also thecritics of Nilmat Puran more than one third ofNilmat deals mainly with vratas utsavas ampother religious practices by the realinhabitants of Kashmir
According to Nilmat Puran the first dayof the dark fortnight of Margashirsh called
( ) in Kashmiri was celebrated in
ancient Kashmir as the New year day ofSaptrishi calendar prevalent those days inKashmir Main reason to celebrate this NewYear Day is that according to Nila who used toinstruct the people of Kashmir Rishi Kashyaphas brought the land of Kashmir out of wateron this very day thus clearly indicating that thecalender year in Kashmir started those daysnot from April but from October (according toGregorian calendar)
Another auspicious festival in thehistory of ancient Kashmir was not observedonly but celebrated also throughout the lengthamp breadth of Kashmir amp according to NilmatPuran the festival was called kryshaarambbut during 14th-15th century this rural festival
was renamed in Kashmiri as lsquo
According to Nilmat Puran this auspicious daywas being celebrated after the 8th of darkfortnight of Lunar calender month of Chaitrawith the commencement of cultivation On thisday the Goddess Earth two bulls cow horseBaladeva Mahadeva Vamadeva the Sunthe Moon Indra Rama Kashyapa VahiniVayu and Ganga were worshipped on thisoccasion The Brahamans were given
मोजहोर
गोगलrsquo
sacrificial feeA festival fullof songs amp dances wascelebrated af ter theploughing of the fields ampsowing of the seeds
Another auspiciousday celebrated in ancientKashmir as described inNilmat Puran was on the first day of the brightfortnight of Chaitra amp was called Nav SamvatSara On this auspicios day worship ofBrahma amp the performance of Mahashantiwas conducted in ancient days Mahashantibeing the worship of the Trinity ie BrahmaVishnu amp Maheshwara the planets ampconstellations amp also the divisions of timefourteen Devendras fourteen Manus thesages the daughters of Daksa othergoddesses seven continents nine divisionsof Bharat seven worlds seven nether worlds five elements the intelligence the soul thePurush the mountains the rivers theVinayaks the nymphs theAdityas the Vasusthe Rudras the Maruts etc amp also the hearingof the year the month amp the day amp the deitiespresiding over them amp also the feasting of theBrahmanas amp the relatives (Ref Nilmatv650ndash651)
With the passage of time thisauspicious day lsquoNavsamvat Sararsquo has beenrenamed lsquoNavrehrsquo the first day of the SaptrishiSamvat year of Kashmiri Pandits amp that is whythe Kashmiri Panchang or Calender called
starts from the first of the bright
half of the month of Chaitra Kalhan Pandit thecourt historian of Kashmir during the 11th-12th century AD amp also some of the eminentscholars amp researchers like PNBamzai ProfJ L K a u l P r o f P N P u s h p P r o f SKToshKhani amp PNBazaz (the author of
काशिरजनतरी
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 09
Daughters of Vitasta) Master Zinda Kaul ampothers have been time amp again emphasizingthat Sanskritised Kashmiri was the colloquiallanguage of all the Kashmiris in addition toSanskrit which was the court language up to12th centuary in Kashmir Some of the KP girlswere extraordinarily intelligent not only in theSanskrit language but in advancedMathematics also One such example is thatGargi Gosha (ref Daughters of Vitasta by PNBazaz ) Several eminent mathematicians ofthe West are still trying to decipher herMathematics Similarly Bilhana the renownedSanskrit poet had authored Vikrama Devacarita XVIII 23 29 where he describes thetheatrical performances by the then Kashmiriartists using Sanskrit dialogues (Ref Nilmatv414527766863)
Even in 10th Century there had beenone renowned Kashmiri Pandit Sitikanth whohas enriched the then prevailing language bygiving vaakhs in Sanskritised Kashmirilanguage for the first time Some of theeminent persons already mentioned aboveare of the opinion that Sitikanth must havetrancedentally initiated Lalded in Vaakhparampara
Another ancient Kashmiri traditionalceremony is still in vogue on the third day of
the bright half of the Chaitra called lsquo
rsquo With the passage of time this word
has got corrupted amp is called As
recorded in some historical chronicals ofancient Kashmir on this auspicious daymarried KP Ladies used to visit (on invitation)their parental homes where their parents usedto enquire whether they were still abreast withthe knowledge of MahaGayatri Mantra or not
With reference to Nilamata vv644ndash646Sri Panchmi day was celebrated in ancientKashmir on the 5th of bright fortnight ofChaitra for the worship of Sri (GoddessLakshmi) so that worshipper is endowed withprosperity throughout his or her life amp attains
ज़ान
गायतरी
जग तराइ
Vishnu Loka after death Again with referenceto Nilmat vv647ndash649 Chaitrasasti wasdedicated to the worship of Skanda on the 6thof the bright half of Chaitra for endowingheathy children to the worshipper
Chaitra Navmi was observed with fast ampworship of Goddess Bhadrakali with flowersincense amp food on the 9th of the bright Chaitra( refNilamat vv652ndash653)
Vastu Pooja was observed on the bright11th day of Chaitra by worshipping Vastu thedeity of architecture (ref Nilamat vv652ndash53 )Some of the researchers refer Vaastu as GharDevta in Kashmiri traditional culture
Chaitra Dvadashi (the 12th day) of thebright half of Chaitra was dedicated byKashmiri Pandits in ancient Kashmir to LordVasudeva(ref Nilmat v654 )
Madantriyodashi was celebrated inancient Kashmir on 13th bright half of Chaitra(ref Nilmatvv384 amp also 655ndash58) On this daythe married Kashmiri ladies were beinghonoured by their respective husbands
Author can be contacted at
(To be continued)
parimoomkgmailcom
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 10
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 12
About the Author Born in 1943 Zareef Ahmed Zareef is a Kashmiripoet writer social activist and environmentalist He is best known forhis satirical poetry and efforts to highlight various social and politicalproblems He has been working for preservation of the environmentculture and heritage of Kashmir This write up is the transcript of hisvideo clip recently circulated on social media to showcase his love forKashmir and its cultural heritage First part of this transcript hasalready appeared in the January 2019 issue of Praagaash
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
to have been composed between 6th to 8thcentury AD many vratas and other religiouspractices were prevailent in ancient timesthroughout the length amp breadth of KashmirAccording to various historians amp also thecritics of Nilmat Puran more than one third ofNilmat deals mainly with vratas utsavas ampother religious practices by the realinhabitants of Kashmir
According to Nilmat Puran the first dayof the dark fortnight of Margashirsh called
( ) in Kashmiri was celebrated in
ancient Kashmir as the New year day ofSaptrishi calendar prevalent those days inKashmir Main reason to celebrate this NewYear Day is that according to Nila who used toinstruct the people of Kashmir Rishi Kashyaphas brought the land of Kashmir out of wateron this very day thus clearly indicating that thecalender year in Kashmir started those daysnot from April but from October (according toGregorian calendar)
Another auspicious festival in thehistory of ancient Kashmir was not observedonly but celebrated also throughout the lengthamp breadth of Kashmir amp according to NilmatPuran the festival was called kryshaarambbut during 14th-15th century this rural festival
was renamed in Kashmiri as lsquo
According to Nilmat Puran this auspicious daywas being celebrated after the 8th of darkfortnight of Lunar calender month of Chaitrawith the commencement of cultivation On thisday the Goddess Earth two bulls cow horseBaladeva Mahadeva Vamadeva the Sunthe Moon Indra Rama Kashyapa VahiniVayu and Ganga were worshipped on thisoccasion The Brahamans were given
मोजहोर
गोगलrsquo
sacrificial feeA festival fullof songs amp dances wascelebrated af ter theploughing of the fields ampsowing of the seeds
Another auspiciousday celebrated in ancientKashmir as described inNilmat Puran was on the first day of the brightfortnight of Chaitra amp was called Nav SamvatSara On this auspicios day worship ofBrahma amp the performance of Mahashantiwas conducted in ancient days Mahashantibeing the worship of the Trinity ie BrahmaVishnu amp Maheshwara the planets ampconstellations amp also the divisions of timefourteen Devendras fourteen Manus thesages the daughters of Daksa othergoddesses seven continents nine divisionsof Bharat seven worlds seven nether worlds five elements the intelligence the soul thePurush the mountains the rivers theVinayaks the nymphs theAdityas the Vasusthe Rudras the Maruts etc amp also the hearingof the year the month amp the day amp the deitiespresiding over them amp also the feasting of theBrahmanas amp the relatives (Ref Nilmatv650ndash651)
With the passage of time thisauspicious day lsquoNavsamvat Sararsquo has beenrenamed lsquoNavrehrsquo the first day of the SaptrishiSamvat year of Kashmiri Pandits amp that is whythe Kashmiri Panchang or Calender called
starts from the first of the bright
half of the month of Chaitra Kalhan Pandit thecourt historian of Kashmir during the 11th-12th century AD amp also some of the eminentscholars amp researchers like PNBamzai ProfJ L K a u l P r o f P N P u s h p P r o f SKToshKhani amp PNBazaz (the author of
काशिरजनतरी
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 09
Daughters of Vitasta) Master Zinda Kaul ampothers have been time amp again emphasizingthat Sanskritised Kashmiri was the colloquiallanguage of all the Kashmiris in addition toSanskrit which was the court language up to12th centuary in Kashmir Some of the KP girlswere extraordinarily intelligent not only in theSanskrit language but in advancedMathematics also One such example is thatGargi Gosha (ref Daughters of Vitasta by PNBazaz ) Several eminent mathematicians ofthe West are still trying to decipher herMathematics Similarly Bilhana the renownedSanskrit poet had authored Vikrama Devacarita XVIII 23 29 where he describes thetheatrical performances by the then Kashmiriartists using Sanskrit dialogues (Ref Nilmatv414527766863)
Even in 10th Century there had beenone renowned Kashmiri Pandit Sitikanth whohas enriched the then prevailing language bygiving vaakhs in Sanskritised Kashmirilanguage for the first time Some of theeminent persons already mentioned aboveare of the opinion that Sitikanth must havetrancedentally initiated Lalded in Vaakhparampara
Another ancient Kashmiri traditionalceremony is still in vogue on the third day of
the bright half of the Chaitra called lsquo
rsquo With the passage of time this word
has got corrupted amp is called As
recorded in some historical chronicals ofancient Kashmir on this auspicious daymarried KP Ladies used to visit (on invitation)their parental homes where their parents usedto enquire whether they were still abreast withthe knowledge of MahaGayatri Mantra or not
With reference to Nilamata vv644ndash646Sri Panchmi day was celebrated in ancientKashmir on the 5th of bright fortnight ofChaitra for the worship of Sri (GoddessLakshmi) so that worshipper is endowed withprosperity throughout his or her life amp attains
ज़ान
गायतरी
जग तराइ
Vishnu Loka after death Again with referenceto Nilmat vv647ndash649 Chaitrasasti wasdedicated to the worship of Skanda on the 6thof the bright half of Chaitra for endowingheathy children to the worshipper
Chaitra Navmi was observed with fast ampworship of Goddess Bhadrakali with flowersincense amp food on the 9th of the bright Chaitra( refNilamat vv652ndash653)
Vastu Pooja was observed on the bright11th day of Chaitra by worshipping Vastu thedeity of architecture (ref Nilamat vv652ndash53 )Some of the researchers refer Vaastu as GharDevta in Kashmiri traditional culture
Chaitra Dvadashi (the 12th day) of thebright half of Chaitra was dedicated byKashmiri Pandits in ancient Kashmir to LordVasudeva(ref Nilmat v654 )
Madantriyodashi was celebrated inancient Kashmir on 13th bright half of Chaitra(ref Nilmatvv384 amp also 655ndash58) On this daythe married Kashmiri ladies were beinghonoured by their respective husbands
Author can be contacted at
(To be continued)
parimoomkgmailcom
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 10
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 12
About the Author Born in 1943 Zareef Ahmed Zareef is a Kashmiripoet writer social activist and environmentalist He is best known forhis satirical poetry and efforts to highlight various social and politicalproblems He has been working for preservation of the environmentculture and heritage of Kashmir This write up is the transcript of hisvideo clip recently circulated on social media to showcase his love forKashmir and its cultural heritage First part of this transcript hasalready appeared in the January 2019 issue of Praagaash
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
Daughters of Vitasta) Master Zinda Kaul ampothers have been time amp again emphasizingthat Sanskritised Kashmiri was the colloquiallanguage of all the Kashmiris in addition toSanskrit which was the court language up to12th centuary in Kashmir Some of the KP girlswere extraordinarily intelligent not only in theSanskrit language but in advancedMathematics also One such example is thatGargi Gosha (ref Daughters of Vitasta by PNBazaz ) Several eminent mathematicians ofthe West are still trying to decipher herMathematics Similarly Bilhana the renownedSanskrit poet had authored Vikrama Devacarita XVIII 23 29 where he describes thetheatrical performances by the then Kashmiriartists using Sanskrit dialogues (Ref Nilmatv414527766863)
Even in 10th Century there had beenone renowned Kashmiri Pandit Sitikanth whohas enriched the then prevailing language bygiving vaakhs in Sanskritised Kashmirilanguage for the first time Some of theeminent persons already mentioned aboveare of the opinion that Sitikanth must havetrancedentally initiated Lalded in Vaakhparampara
Another ancient Kashmiri traditionalceremony is still in vogue on the third day of
the bright half of the Chaitra called lsquo
rsquo With the passage of time this word
has got corrupted amp is called As
recorded in some historical chronicals ofancient Kashmir on this auspicious daymarried KP Ladies used to visit (on invitation)their parental homes where their parents usedto enquire whether they were still abreast withthe knowledge of MahaGayatri Mantra or not
With reference to Nilamata vv644ndash646Sri Panchmi day was celebrated in ancientKashmir on the 5th of bright fortnight ofChaitra for the worship of Sri (GoddessLakshmi) so that worshipper is endowed withprosperity throughout his or her life amp attains
ज़ान
गायतरी
जग तराइ
Vishnu Loka after death Again with referenceto Nilmat vv647ndash649 Chaitrasasti wasdedicated to the worship of Skanda on the 6thof the bright half of Chaitra for endowingheathy children to the worshipper
Chaitra Navmi was observed with fast ampworship of Goddess Bhadrakali with flowersincense amp food on the 9th of the bright Chaitra( refNilamat vv652ndash653)
Vastu Pooja was observed on the bright11th day of Chaitra by worshipping Vastu thedeity of architecture (ref Nilamat vv652ndash53 )Some of the researchers refer Vaastu as GharDevta in Kashmiri traditional culture
Chaitra Dvadashi (the 12th day) of thebright half of Chaitra was dedicated byKashmiri Pandits in ancient Kashmir to LordVasudeva(ref Nilmat v654 )
Madantriyodashi was celebrated inancient Kashmir on 13th bright half of Chaitra(ref Nilmatvv384 amp also 655ndash58) On this daythe married Kashmiri ladies were beinghonoured by their respective husbands
Author can be contacted at
(To be continued)
parimoomkgmailcom
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 10
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 12
About the Author Born in 1943 Zareef Ahmed Zareef is a Kashmiripoet writer social activist and environmentalist He is best known forhis satirical poetry and efforts to highlight various social and politicalproblems He has been working for preservation of the environmentculture and heritage of Kashmir This write up is the transcript of hisvideo clip recently circulated on social media to showcase his love forKashmir and its cultural heritage First part of this transcript hasalready appeared in the January 2019 issue of Praagaash
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 12
About the Author Born in 1943 Zareef Ahmed Zareef is a Kashmiripoet writer social activist and environmentalist He is best known forhis satirical poetry and efforts to highlight various social and politicalproblems He has been working for preservation of the environmentculture and heritage of Kashmir This write up is the transcript of hisvideo clip recently circulated on social media to showcase his love forKashmir and its cultural heritage First part of this transcript hasalready appeared in the January 2019 issue of Praagaash
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 12
About the Author Born in 1943 Zareef Ahmed Zareef is a Kashmiripoet writer social activist and environmentalist He is best known forhis satirical poetry and efforts to highlight various social and politicalproblems He has been working for preservation of the environmentculture and heritage of Kashmir This write up is the transcript of hisvideo clip recently circulated on social media to showcase his love forKashmir and its cultural heritage First part of this transcript hasalready appeared in the January 2019 issue of Praagaash
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 18
Dr KLChowdhury
From Ritual to Renaissance
It sounds strange to speak in past tense
about a person whom I liked loved andlooked up to He was a sage imbued with adeep intuitive knowledge he understood life alot more than me and seemed to have theanswers to all problems
He was my brother-in-law but ourrelationship had transcended the social andcultural mores and theunwritten rules that guidesuch a delicate relationshipHe was for me much moreintimate than formal andthere was mutual respectand affection and a lot ofunwavering faith in eachother
A doyen in theGeology Department PLRas I fondly refer to him wenton to explore the unchartedgeological terrains and tolook for the mineral wealthhidden in the bowels ofKashmir He was highlyr e s p e c t e d f o r h i sknowledge dynamism andwork culture He neverbossed over his subordinates and nevercompromised on quality and industry
But his interest and engagement didntstop with his profession He was astute andversatile he was widely read a creativethinker and an experimenter of sorts whoworked on new ideas and projects to meetlifes unfolding challenges When we wereforced into exile and rendered practicallydefunct he delved into real estate and
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
rehabilitated all his displaced relatives andfriends creating opportunities for them Healso turned into an educationist with the helpand guidance of my sister Kitty Chowdhurywho was the Head Mistress of a school andtogether they started a school for children atDLF Gurugram where kids receive educationin the best traditions of upbringing and spiritual
growthPLRs life is an example
of a spiritual journey thatstarted right from hischildhood when he cameunder the influence of hismaternal uncle a devout tow h o s e c a r e h e w a sentrusted during the periodhis mother was undergoingtreatment for tuberculosis adreaded disease in thosedays He carried thatreligious proclivity with himas he grew into an adult andfor all his life It was ajourney along tough terrainsstarting with a long epoch ofritualism when he wouldvisit temples and seek
ashrams wherever his profession or travelscarried him He spent hours in the practicing austerity and discipline in his dailyworship It was amusing to find him deeplyabsorbed silhouetted in the gentle glow of theflame from an earthen lamp the sacred threadhooked around the arm a towel across hishead a rosary in his hand the fragrance ofincense and the flowershellip
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 19
ambience and profoundly impressed by theunique precepts and practices of hiscommunity he was led into an 8-year odysseyto write his monumental book
that went on to become an importantreference book of our beliefs and customs
But his search for the divine seemedincomplete Since he was a scientist by
training and temperament he foundsomewhere on the way of his scientific andspiritual pursuits that there were vast greyareas in the understanding of life and thenatural phenomena that neither science norspirituality could provide the answers on theirown and that there had to be a synergism ofthe two as a way forward The two togethercould work wonders in the physical mentaland spiritual growth of humanity The resultwas another book
which hebrought out in 2017 In the process herealized that truth and happiness laysomewhere else than ritual alone - in deepknowledge in understanding the outer worldand the inner self in harnessing the immense
Socio-Culturaland Religious Traditions of Kashmiri Pandits
Scieno-spirituality -connecting science with spirituality
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spiritual energythat lies coiledwithin us In hisme taphys i ca lpursuits and hise x p e r i m e n t swith spiritualityhe came out oft h e n a r r o w
con f i nes o finto
t h e v a s tc o s m i cinfinitude andevolved from aritualist to arena issanceperson
PLR was not only a sage but a seer aswell Nearly six years back he once confidedin me ldquoI wonder why my son insists that I
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 20
become a US citizen I dont like the idea ofdying in foreign land but I also dont like todisappoint himrdquo As the events unfolded hedid acquire US citizenship returned to India tospend time here and wrote his last will andtestament on 31 December 2018 at his homein Gurugram as if he knew the end of hisearthly sojourn was near He was in the best ofhealth and no one could have imagined hehad come to India to bid farewell to everyoneJust three months later on 26 March 2019 heattained Nirvana His will and testament is anemotional and philosophical piece on life anddeath with quotes from the Gita andinstructions about a brief simple and serenefuneral ceremony and the cessation of post-funerary functions on the 4 day after deathall of which was adhered to in letter and spiritby his children
PLR traveled a lot discussed debatedand lectured on dharma religion and
th
With Dr Chowdhury his father LateJLChowdhury and his brother
Robin
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
spirituality and put it into practice all through hislife He wrote for various community journalsincluding Milchar Haarvan and PragaashBefore his he completed themanuscript of (simplified) that isbound to serve as an easy guide forin the KP Diaspora for the performance ofvarious rituals from birth to death which heconsidered of utmost importance for family andsocial cohesion in the community
PLR lived honorably he lived every dayfully He seemed healthy and bubbling withenergy full ofv i b r a n c y o v e r f l o w i n gwith love forhumanity Hisliveliness andoptimism wereinfectious youcould neverbrood in hispresence Hewas at peacewith every onea friend of alland enemy ofnone He wasa m a n o fchar i ty whohelped the needy and made liberal donationsto institutions He was truly a noble soul agreat who inspired every one with hissimplicity and charm
Let his life be the beacon light foreveryone
Yes you will always find himin that nook or cornerin his chair and everywherewherever he left his imprint
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 21
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
For my PapajiDr Jyoti Raina
We are born of our
parents in the genes theypass on What my fatherhowever passed on was thefoundation of karmic genesto my brother and I ndash theones we call Sanskarswhich in essence is tohave to purify to refine tosupplement to brightenand to adorn the inner conscience
The foremost Sanskar we acquired wasof bonding love and duty We imbibed allthese basics of being human by his examplesand the environment we grew up in Living inan extended family with grand parents andc o u s i n s w e w e r e p r o g r a m m e dsubconsciously to naturally love and bond Hedemonstrated this aspect of his capacity tolove again and again wherever he went andwhosoever he met
His sense of duty was obvious more tous when we were older and as we understoodhow important duty or dharma was for himAmongst his innumerable acts of dharma theone that stands out for me and which he often
fondly recalled was one incident which gavehim immense pride and joy This was when hereturned from his long exploration of theSapphire mines at Paddar (Kishtwar JampK) in1962 an assignment that brought him muchacclaim as well as monetary reward Hepromptly handed the money to his father whohad been in chronic debt due to familycircumstances That picture of pleasure andthe happy face of my grandfather whoremarked that the first time in my life I am inPlus was echoed every time Papa spokeabout him For me it was a feeling of greatpride in my father and a deeply emotionalexperience which set a lifetime standard ofduty and the contentment that comes fromfulfilling it
I recall his reading to us the lives ofSocrates Joan of Arc Plato etc that sowedthe seed of the reading habit in us and theintense desire for knowledge He always giftedus books on birthdays and other celebratoryoccasions Researching for a particularsubject became a passionate frenzy for both ofus But truth be told I could not match his thirstintensity and perseverance for knowing moreand more
I must have been seven when while on avisit to one of the Mughal gardens he namedall the flowers for me That was the beginningof romance with gardening and growing forme We continued to share gardening notesthrough out His job as a geologist meant weshared outdoors and nature in plenty and thattoo in Kashmir with abundance of naturalbeauty
The most important Sanskar was havinghim as a parent immersed in spirituality He notonly recited but also followed the teachings ofBhagavad Gita to the core in his day to day lifeGita was his how to lead life practical manualespecially its central theme of Karma without
You will find him in your heartswhere he will always reside
He will return to you again and againin your fond recollectionsHe will be there when you feel stuckand need his guiding spirit mostHe will be there when you feel lonely or lowto hold your hand and comfort you
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 22
Homage to Piyaray Lal Raina (Saddhak) 1936-2019
any expectation of rewards In a sense hewas the quintessential Karma yogi whotouched many lives with his compassion andactive support The teachings of Gita and thedaily loud rendering of mantras has providedme with a solid foundation and shaped myspiritual journey of life We discussed andevolved into different dimensions ofspirituality as he wrote his book
His evolution from worshiping inside aroom full of the images of gods andgoddesses to moving out in the open gazingat the crystal meditating and the dailyrendition of Shivoham is the Divinity he self-realized as he shed the burden of bindingrituals and traditional prayers
He was liberated I feel he could sensethe all-pervading consciousness - the Shiva-as he melodiously sang Shivoham everysingle day I will miss his being my soundingboard I pray my thoughts can sense hisguiding spirit always I bow down again andagain to this eternal conscious spirit who tookon the physical form of my fatherI feel truly blessed
(Dr Jyot i Ra ina Trakroo is anophthalmologist based in London)
MKRaina Editor Praagaash adds
I knew Piyaray Raina Sahib for a long time Iwas editing Milchar the official organ ofKashmiri Pandits Association Mumbai wayback in early 2000rsquos when I got introduced tohim through the good offices of DrKLChowdhury Sahib I was on the look out ofwriters for Milchar and my contact with RainaSahib proved to be a boon for the magazineLater when I started Haarvan the firstKashmiri e-journal in India Raina Sahibrsquos
writings used to be a regular feature under thetitle lsquoSamarpan by Saddhakrsquo
Raina Sahibrsquos writings mostly delvedupon simplifying the long and cumbersome KPrituals and I must confess it is because of hisworks I have been able to perform most of therituals concerning birth or death on my ownwithout any help from a professional guruji Iam personally indebted to him
Raina Sahibrsquos book lsquoSocio-cultural andReligious Traditions of Kashmiri Panditsrsquopublished in USA in the year 2006 isundoubtedly a treasure of our religiouscustoms and rituals I have yet to see anotherKashmiri rituals book in this form bothcontent-wise and presentation-wise
Raina Sahib also contributed to mypresent e-journal Praagaash (Haarvan with anew name) His departure from the scenemarks a great loss to the community and theliterary works concerning our customs andbeliefs May God bless his soul Om Shanti
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
Known widely asKheer Bhawaniand RagnyaAsthapanaTullamul issituated 22 Kmsnorth of Srinagarin GandherbalTehsil It is saidthat Mata Ragnyacame to Kashmirduring the timesof Ramayana
T h e h o l yspring of Tullamulis situated on thebank of a branch of river Sindh calledaccording to Nilamat Purana TsandaraBaga It is approachable both by road and byriver The main temple is in the midst of aspring the water of which is observed to bechanging its colour
The present temple was constructed byMaharaja Partap Singh in 1912 AD on thefoundation of an ancient temple said to havebeen destroyed in 14th or 15th century Thestone image of Devi in the temple is believedto be more than 600 years old The annualfair is held on 8th day of the lunar fortnight ofJestha It is said that the present diety wasinstalled on this day The devotees usuallyvisit the Shrine on every lunar asthami TheShrine is managed by Jammu and KashmirDharmarth Trust Devotees visit the shrineonly when on vegetarian food
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
Content Source Kashir Talmih amp Kashir Luka Katha ~ Publications of JampK Academy of ArtCulture amp Languages Transliteration amp Re-written for Children by MKRaina
Manut amp Paanzuv
Image 1mobilecomImage 1mobilecom
Children were right ontime Kishmish had aschool friend named
with her She alsowanted to hear Grandmaand had come here withher parentsrsquo permissionGrandma was pleased tomeet Huma She kissedher forehead andblessed her In factHuma lived in the vicinityonly a few houses awayfrom Grandmarsquos homeHer parents were closelyknown to Grandma andother members of thehouseholdYesterday Grandma hadtold them story of lsquoVudarGaadrsquo in KashmiriTodayrsquos story was
inEnglish
Huma
lsquoManut amp Paanzuvrsquo
Grandma started thus
There was an old mother She had two sonsElder one was named Paanzuv and theyounger one Manut Paanzuv used to lookafter his farms and Manut was studying inschool Paanzuv had to toil hard to run hishome so the old mother would feed him a littlemore than Manut Manut would always cry inhis heart against this step-motherly treatment
Grandmarsquos Stories
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 31
of his mother and also be angry at PaanzuvHe could not get to the root of his mothersdisliking for him when he and Paanzuv wereboth her sons and should have been equallydear to her But he did not ever muster enoughcourage to question his mother
ldquoI have heard a relation of ours tellinghis son lsquobata manut chhukh khevaanrsquo Howcan Manut be a namerdquoAsked Huma
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 32
ldquoYou are rightrdquo said Grandma ldquoIn factManut and Paanzuv are two weights inKashmiri language Manut is one and a halfseer and Paanzuv is three seers Seer againis a weight A seer weighs slightly less thantodayrsquos kilogram Since their parents hadchosen these names only for them nobodyshould have any objectionrdquo Children noddedtheir heads
Coming back to the story one daymother had kept enough quantity of food forPaanzuv in a plate and a small quantity forManut in another plate and was herself busyspinning yarn Manut came from his schoolgrabbed his plate and ate the food He lookedat Paanzuvs plate and noticed it containedmore food than his He took a little food fromPaanzuvs plate and put it in his mouthMother saw it She abused him for doing soTo show his mother down Manut took anotherhandful of food from Paanzuvs plate andthrusted it into old mothers mouth like he usedto feed cows The food got stuck in her foodpipe and she collapsed in a few moments
ldquoOh that was very bad for Manut Howcould he do thatrdquo Said Kishmish
ldquoBad it was but he did it He was not agood sonrdquo Said Grandma
Manut noticed that mother was deadHe went running to his brother Paanzuv at thefarms On reaching nearer he shouted Ohmy brother mother is dead Paanzuvshouted back How did she die Manut saidI reached home from my school and saw herdead at the spinning wheel Paanzuv camerunning and crying to his home and found thathis mother was really dead He wept bitterly
Paanzuv gave some money to Manutand asked him to get shroud and some oil forburial of their mother Manut got the items andon his way home saw a tree trembling due towinds He thought the tree was shivering withcold So he wrapped the shroud around itstrunk Few yards ahead he saw a piece offarm land with surface cracks He poured the
oil into the cracks and returned to his homeempty-handed Paanzuv was waiting for himWhen asked where was the shroud and oilManut replied Fathers tree was shiveringwith cold I wrapped the shroud around it Thenagain the farm land had developed cracks dueto scarcity of water so I poured oil into itscracks Paanzuv was annoyed He rebukedhis brother and went to get the things himself
ldquoWhat happened thenrdquo asked BablooldquoI am telling you that Listen carefullyrdquo
Said GrandmaIn a few days Paanzuv went back to his
normal work and Manut resumed going to hisschool But they could not go along well andstarted quarreling with each other on pettyissues This led them to part ways and liveseparately They shared their assets equallyThey had two bulls and each of them got one
One day Manut had to feed salt to hisbull He asked Paanzuv How much saltshould be fed to the bull Paanzuv saidFeed it a seer and half So Manut did exactlythat a seer and half instead of half a pau Bulldied Manut was now sure his brother had ill-advised him He now hated Paanzuv
ldquoWhat is a paurdquoAsked RajuldquoPau is quarter of a seerrdquo Said GrandmaldquoOh You mean cow was given twelve
times what was actually requiredrdquo SaidKalhan
ldquoYes and that is why the cow diedrdquo saidGrandma ldquoNow listen what happened thenrdquo
Manut got the dead bull skinned and keptthe skin safely at his place When skin was dryhe took it to the city for selling There was nocustomer for his skin On his way back he hadto rest for the night at a place where there wasnobody living He climbed up a tree and tookthe skin also with himAt the dead of night fourthieves came that way They sat under thisvery tree and started distributing their lootedmoney One of the thieves said to otherthieves First keep eleven rupees aside forKahnov Then distribute the balance If we
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 33
dont do that some divine thunder will strikeus Another thief said First let us distributethe money then we will see what to do forKahnov
ldquoWho was KahnovrdquoAsked BilooldquoKahvnov is one who has eleven
names In Kashmir Peer Dastgeer Sahib issaid to have eleven names and he is calledKahnov as well In Hindu mythology Rudra (aform of Shiva) appears under eleven formsand he is also called Kahnov Keepingsomething for Kahnov while we take up a newwork is an old tradition in Kashmirrdquo Grandmaexplained
Manut was watching He hit a plan Hedropped the animal skin on them Thievesthought it was some divine calamity They leftthe money there and ran away as fast as theycould Manut climbed down the tree collectedall money and left for his home
When he reached his home Paanzuvcame to meet him Paanzuv asked Did yousell the animal skin Manut replied Ohdont you see this money here A trakh ofleather fetches a trakh of notes there
ldquoWhat is trakhrdquoAsked PinkildquoTrakh is a weight of five seersrdquo said
GrandmaHearing this Paanzuv got curious He
spoke to his wife and both agreed to kill thebull they had and to sell its skin in the city In afew days when the skin was dry Paanzuv leftfor the city to sell it There were no takers Hesomehow sold it for some money and cameback to his home His wife asked Did you getmoney equal to the skin weight Paanzuvreplied Oh Manuts head He did a fraud onus He decided to take revenge
One night Paanzuv put Manuts houseon fire House and whatever was there insidegot reduced to ashes Manut knew it was themischief of his brother He hit another plan Hecollected charcoal of the burnt wood from theashes in a bag He hid four currency notes inthe four corners of the bag and left for city On
reaching city he went to a grocer and said tohim Brother can I keep this bag here in yourshop I will collect it back in some time Groceragreed Manut left In some time Manut cameback to collect the bag He opened the baglooked inside it for a moment and then startedshouting Oh my God this grocer has replacedmy notes with charcoal Grocer was takenaback People gathered Manut explained Ihad kept this bag full of currency notes hereThis grocer has replaced my notes withcharcoal Shopkeeper tried to tell his side butnobody was ready to listen An elderly personintervened He said Let us empty the bag Ifeven a single note is found inside the bag wemust trust Manut otherwise not Everybodyagreed Bag was emptied And Lo four noteswere found in the corners of the bag Provedthat the bag contained currency notes theshopkeeper had to fill Manuts bag withcurrency notes
ldquoBut this is gross cheating How could hedo this to an innocent person Said Huma
ldquoCheating it is Let us promise not to doany cheating in our livesrdquo said GrandmaChildren promised
On reaching home Manut went to seehis brother Paanzuv asked What did you dowith the charcoal Did you get any customerManut replied Oh dont ask any questionsmy brother People there pay moneyequivalent to the weight of charcoal I got abagfull of notes Paanzuv was lured to burnhis house and collect the charcoal to sell in thecity But there were no takers again Paanzuvreturned back almost empty-handed havingsold his charcoal for a petty amount He sworeagain to teach Manut a lesson
One day Paanzuv said to Manut Youare alone and I cant see you doing everythingby yourself I have seen a beautiful homely girlfor you I want you to get married now ThoughManut was not ready for the marriage as yetPaanzuv managed to convince him Day ofwedding was fixed Manut wore bridegrooms
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 34
apparels As per custom a sedan was alsoarranged for him They set towards brideshome early morning It was a long journeyThey reached a plain ground midway Sedancarriers and Paanzuv were all tired Theyplaced the sedan under the shade of a treeand started eating food they had carried withthem some distance away There was ashephered with his sheep nearby Manutcalled him and said to him Listen my brotherwants to get me married against my wishesCan you take my place and get married Youonly need to wear my clothes Shepheredgot a boon He had not even dreamt of gettingmarried any day He said to Manut I wouldbut what to do with my sheep Manut saidYou leave that to me I will reach sheep totheir ownerrsquos home
Shephered put on the bridegroomsclothes and sat inside sedan Manut took hissheep and left In the meantime Paanzuv andthe sedan carriers finished their meals Insome time they reached the bank of a riverPaanzuv with the help of sedan carriers liftedthe person in the sedan and drowned him inthe deep waters Satisfied that Manut was nomore now Paanzuv returned to his home
ldquoI feel sorry for the poor shepheredrdquosaid Kishmish Other children seconded her
ldquoSorry yes But he too was a greedyperson He did not think twice before sitting insedan and did not care a fig for the cattle andits ownerrdquo said Grandma
Manut returned to his home along withthe Sheep When Paanzuv saw him healmost fell on the ground He asked hisbrother Where did you get these sheepfrom Manut said My brother there weresheep everywhere under the water Icollected some of them and got them here Ifsomeone stronger than me goes there hecan collect more of them
Paanzuv got to the river site along withhis wifes two brothers On reaching the spothe advised them to jump into the river as soon
as he (Paanzuv) signalled them Paanzuvjumped into the water but did not see anysheep there Instead he started to drown Hesignalled to his brothers-in-law to rescue himPoor fellows thought he was signalling them tojump into the water So they also jumped intothe river and all of them drowned
Grandma finished the story and askedchildren to go to sleep promising a new storynext day
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 35
Pushpa Koshal HonouredPushpa Koshal a member of the Mumbai biradari has beenawarded by Asian African Chamber of Commerce in theLeadership Forum for her work in post production industry fordoing hundreds of films in the last 25 years
Pushpa has been in the post production of films since last 25years and considering that she was an English lecturer in WomensCollege Jammu for few years her journey has been fromShakespeare to Studios Pushpa believes that if you want you can doanything All you need is a strong will and hard work So when thisKashmiri woman was offered to market the Post-production Studiosshe just did it
From first promo of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna film Barsatto Ranveer Singh film Gully Boy Pushpa has come a long way Youcan say she is a pioneer in marketing of these Studios The digitizationof the films gave birth to her career and vice versa Some of thehighlights of her career are films with Shahrukh Khan for whose filmMain Hoon Na Rajtaru Studio got the best IFFA award for VFX inAmerstdam and Pushpa received it there
After heading Studios likeCrest Rajtaru Avitel Shemaroo After Studio Film LabPushpa now heads the Operations of Pixel Digital Studio aleading post production Studio Its recent films are RAW GullyBoy and many Marathi Punjabi and Gujrati films besides somegood web series like Made inHeaven on Netflix Pushparecently got Panache Imageaward for excellence in postproduction for her work in theindustry And now Asian AfricanC h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c erecognized her work forhundreds of films and gave herthe Trophy and Certificate
I just want totell them If I can you can Justdo it rdquo
Since Pushpa couldnt attendthe event in Delhi the awardwas handed over to her in herStud ios Pushpa has amessage for the youngKashmiri woman ldquo
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 36
Inscribed Stone Tablet found inUranhal area of Anantnag districtImage courtesy Shakeel Hamid
ShakeelSpeaks
This stone tablet has been found duringexcavation in Uranhal area of Anantnagdistrict Tablet is said to have been buriedunder water in river Jhelum Stone size is7 inches by 5 inches searchkashmirsays the inscription is the famous mantralsquoOm Mani Padme humrsquo in Tibetanlanguage
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
Thanks for Praagaash April2019 issue It can be rated oneof the best Kashmiri journalsno doubt about it
Dear Raina SahibNamaskar amp all the goodwishes Some time back afriend of mine forwarded me thedigital copy of your magazinePraagaash via WhatsApp Iliked its getup as well as itscontents My heartiest congratulations to you
I would like to give you a brief of myprofile During mid sixties l did MSc(Physics) and also BEd After that I joinedJampK Education Deptt and in seventies Ijoined AIR (Radio Kashmir Srinagar) up to1990 I was planning producing directingand also presenting a Non FormalEducational progrmme PRAGAASH daily at12 40 pm from AIR Srinagar in addition toother Radio progrmmes In July 90 I had toleave Srinagar and was transfered to AIRAlmora (NW of UP) Therefrom l got myselftransfered and was posted at AIR JammuThere I used to handle again a Kashmiriprogramme PAMPOSH in addition to otherradio programme and also administrativeassignments In 2004 l retired as a seniorprogramme officer
Getting infatuated by the beautiful titleof your magazine Im sending you a writeup(first instalment of a special series on theancient cultural history of our home landKashmir) I hope it finds a space in the digitaledition of your Magazine
Lastly l would also like to add that for thelast decade l had been writing for otherpublications like Koshur Samachar etc also
With regardsMKParimoo
Mahra Namaskar
Nirmal BhattMalaysia
Namaskar Raina Saeb
Bharat PanditMumbai
Dear Editor
Thank you so much for keeping us allconnected by your regular issues oflsquoPraagaashrsquo We may have lost the home butour these initiatives keep us connected to rootsAlso reminds me of my Engineering days in1995-99 when we used to meet up at KashyapBhawan in Marol regularly I am in Malaysia forlast 5 odd years and miss those gatherings andwould like to appreciate your efforts to keep thecommunication ongoing
Always feels like Home away from Homeafter reading these issues monthlyBest Wishes
nirmalsbhatyahoocom
Month after month managing andpublishing Praagaash even onnet) is a commendable feat Praagaash is becoming robustwith every issue encompassingvarious articles of interest foreveryone Once again thank youso much for putting in great effort and providingall of us a great read More power to you and Kashmiri language Orzuv
Aadab It was really one of the most pleasingsights to see on line Magazine Praagaashwhich gave me immense feel of how ourKashmiri brothers love our mother tongue andhow despite odds they work for itsdevelopment It turned me nostalgic as I was
(
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 38
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 39
editing Kashmiri MagazineP r a a g a a s h o f P r e s sInformation Bureau Srinagarand was instrumental to getpermission for its offset printingas it was earlier brought out inlitho format I was alsoassociated with EducationalBroadcast Praagaash of Radio Kashmir alongwith Rafique Raaz in its initial stage I wentthrough several issues of Praagaash broughtout by some Kashmiri lovers particularly MrMKRaina a well known short story writer andscholar The magazine a multi languagepublication is really maintaining its highstandards creative ingenuity variegationbesides encouraging endowed youngstersalongside the established writers The contentincluded is well edited and it is obvious that alot of care is being taken in its selection Thismagazine has the potential to lead amovement for giving Kashmiri language itsdue place which it has lost due to onslaught ofother alien languages I would only requestand expect to bring out more material inNastaliq and Devanagri than EnglishHowever it does not mean there is any irritantin including English material Credit goes to MrMK Raina and his colleagues to bring out suchlovely designed online magazine whichserves our mother tongue and showers it withmultifaceted art pieces I am in fact short ofwords to express my gratitude to its creatorsfor bringing out such a lovely on linemagazine My good wishes
With warm regards
Allah kerey zoreqalam ore ziada
Former Director (News) Doordarshan amp AllIndia Radio
Malik BashirAtharSrinagar Delhi
Sir
RKMattooBangalore
Dear Respected Raina Sahib
Dr G N QasbaSrinagar
Dear Raina Sahab
Passionate People like youkeep this community in the limelight otherwise the communitywould not have been existingnow You and Kundan Ji used towork on aalav magazine whichhad a Kashmiri section I think inearly 2000God bless you and your family Do plan a visitto BangaloreRegards
Thank You so much for sharingthis e-copy of Praagaash I readwith deep interest the storyabout Pt Saligram Kaul Sahiband also the write-up of Dr(Prof) KLChowdhury KindlyKeep me on the mailing list forlsquoPraagaashrsquo Look forward tosee you in Srinagar this summer RegardsSincerely
Namaskar Kudos for yourefforts in bringing forth the Aprilissue of net-journal Praagaashin time which as usual providedus with a rich reading materialmay it be our culture history orthe current issues The editorialby respected Sh TNDharKundan ji about the celebration of our mainfestival Herath was quite interesting which
SeniorAdviser IRADeF o r m e r V i c e C h a i r m a n S r i n a g a rDevelopment Authority
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 40
delved upon how the festival used to becelebrated in yesteryears about which ouryoung generation knows very little Likewisethe story on My Medical Journey byesteemed Dr Chowdhury was touchingdepicting the bond of love and respect between theyoung and the old which we find missing in thepresent times
Lalla laxmans Merhami Saal Kashmiristory Aanakh by Sh R L Shant grandmas storiesand a beautiful ghazal zakham by dear RajeshRaina added a great flavour to the journalMoreover writers from Valley have added newflavour to the journal be it Bashir Athar or NighatSahiba or Majrooh Rashid Though I am not soknowledgeable in Nastaliq script but its inclusionhas certainly given it a broad canvass Thesewritings and some other poetic presentations andstories in Kashmiri language is a tribute to yourtireless efforts for keeping the language alive Yourwrite-up on Kalhan Pandit and his Chronicle-2was a great insight into our historical pastTo sumup all whatever is in the journal is very substantialand informative Moreover the positive sign ofjournals success is that all my WS groups keepeagerly waiting for posting the new issueI wish you great success in your determinedendeavour to carry forward the legacy of Kashmiriculture and historyM K DharJammu Pune
Dear Maharaj KishenStream of Consciousness fromSharda PeethThanks for the April 2019 issueof Praagaash The front coverpicture of the imposing MartandSun Temple even in its ruinousstate evokes a strong feeling ofadulation That it has survivedthe savagery of iconoclasts andweathered the ravages of timeand still stands as a beacon of immortality is
proof of the divinity that resides in the templeand the ambience in which it stands Alasneither the Dogra kings nor the successivedemocratic governments of JampK bothered torenovate this great historical and religiousmonument that has an enormous potential todraw tourists from across the country andglobally I have been to this place but onceand the visit is etched in sunset colours in mymemory as I fixed my gaze at it in the settingsun
Besides the usual fare that your journaldishes out to our enjoyment I liked the write-up on Rajesh Raina by Bashir Athar andSunita Raina Imagine I had not even heardabout the multifaceted personality Thanks forintroducing this column in the journal
But what I most lapped up was the letterby Raja Benaras Khan from Kotli (POK) Itwafts a fragrant breeze from the NeelumValley and brings forth a stream of spiritualvibrations from Sharda Peeth We need haveno reason to disbelieve what Mr Khan haswritten about the efforts being made to putpressure on POK government to requestImran Khan for opening Sharda Peeth visa-free for Kashmiri Pandits I hope this dream ofKPs is realized soon It will be a great step inpeople-to-people contact that is so essentialfor ending hostilities and engendering goodneighborliness I also hope there are manymore like-minded people across the borderwith the same candour and spirit of affability asMr Khan has displayed in his letter It was apleasant surprise to learn that some schools inPOK have started teaching the Kashmirhistory of Pandits Under the prevailing hostileconditions it needs a big heart and exemplarycourage to acknowledge that Pandits are theoriginal Kashmiris that the whole of undividedKashmir belongs to them as to others and thatwithout KPs even POK is incomplete (not to
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot
OgraveccedilccediliccedilccedilMccedil May 2019 ~ cccedilFampamp 2019 41
speak of the Kashmir we have been houndedout from) I remember my grandfather Pt ShivJi Raina speaking nostalgically of his dayswhen he was a school teacher atMuzaffarabad long before the tragic partitionof JampK after the tribal raids Let us thank MrKhan and reciprocate his kindly gesture inmany ways
Finally I take this opportunity to applaudyou as the editor with a vision to have openedchannels of communication and interactionacross borders as evidenced by theincreasing participation from poets writersand readers from the Valley and from POKK L ChowdhuryJammu
Views expressed in the signed articles are not
necessarily those of or
We invite writers to write for Praagaash Write
ups can be in Kashmiri Hindi Urdu or English
concerning Kashmir Kashmiri language and
Kashmiri culture Write ups on Science Medical
Science Health Humour and topics of general
interest are also welcome
Write-ups generating hatred demeaning
anybody or any religion or with political
overtones will not be accepted for publication
We request writers in Kashmiri (Nastaliq amp
Devanagari scripts) Hindi Urdu to send us their
write-ups on a Microsoft WORD document or in
a Cdr file Also attach fonts wherever
necessary
lsquoYour Own Pagersquo is for you Kindly donrsquot