Prof. Rahman Rahi passed away a couple of days back after a service and contribution of at least a century to Kashmiri language and literature. The late poet, critic and littereteur will be remembered most for the internationalization of Kashmiri literature. His art and expertise, although inimitable for now, because of the grandiose experiments he put forth to enrich the mother tongue, will remain a yardstick for the current and coming generations anxious and ambitious to serve the Kashmiri language.
As a mother’s lap remains open for all her children irrespective of their stature and status, so does the canvas of the mother tongue, because it gives them an ocean’s vastness and depth to feel and express their consciousness vis-à-vis the world they live in. So, an expert (poet, critic, etc.) of any language, pretty conscious of the intricacies of the language and the tendencies of development thereof, always tries to utilize the consciousness borrowed from the language for the enrichment of the very language which he has been mothered by with respect to his understanding of things and phenomena around and inside him!
It is but natural that the poet’s compositions and the critic’s contributions appeal one and all of those people who are concerned or connected with the language in one way or the other. Since, even the lay people attach and resemble themselves with the literary output put forth by the poet or critic, therefore, all the “speech community” embraces the poet/critic and whatever comes from him becomes popular. As the “otherness” vanishes, the song becomes everybody’s own “hymn!” Sometimes the composer/poet/artist himself becomes a “whirling dervish” after seeing the joy expressed by the general public on listening to his song.
Although it is very difficult to single out any one popular song of Prof. Rahi for explanation and analysis, but Beholding that Rosy Face (Su Golab Roye Duothum) would indeed be a good choice for a general reader like the author. By dint of the aesthetic consciousness behind the song, it is indeed eternal and its fragrance and beauty, like the rose (golab), mentioned in the very first couplet is universal and transcendental.
Thus goes the song:
su golab roye duothum, bayi az golab chhawan
mai chhi waen misal-nei manz rambiwien khayal rawan
That is, I saw that rosy face, playing with roses (once again);
I am confused; how can I express its similitude?
It means, the poet’s imagination is “dancing” and in this dance, the thought of any similitude is getting mixed up with diverse and multiple other (beautiful) things and, as such, the comparison of the beholden beauty with any other beauty is not possible! In a sense, the whole scene has become beauty itself and it is a fact that mere beauty is but beauty which can be thought of in the abstract sense. Thus the sense of beauty felt can only be internalized and enjoyed.
lawi chha paiwan golalas kini lahar woutzch hawawas
nati tzchaw bagh kustam madimaet puer trawan
That is, either dew is pouring over a tulip or there is a light wind breeze;
Or, someone entered the garden with soft steps!
This second couplet has been so artistically interwoven in the first one that the beauty and fragrance felt in couplet one, have been given an outward (material) movement (or explanation). This explanation, however, is so “soft” (pouring of dew), “gentle” (movement of breeze) and “sober” (light steps) that the entrance of “someone” into the garden has given an elevated and sublime picture of the whole scene. Or, it could be put in such words as “beauty has beautified the process of beautification” or “fragrance has become fragrant!”
tzchi paiwan mai-kun ti bazay algaeb duri nazra
bei karan dilas shakayat tzchi chhuham ni hosh thawan
That is, you (someone) look towards me too, from a distance, by chance;
I complain my heart that you become ignorant (intentionally)!
So, in such an atmosphere of heightened beauty the “beauty” is self-engrossed though not arrogant. The beauty is thus gazing and staring at things beautiful which, naturally, are worth seeing. Being “down to earth” the artist knows that the beauty would hardly gaze at him. So, a “chance gaze” would have been enough for him but alas, he misses this chance either because of the ignorance of his heart. Had his heart been alert and vigilant, he would not have missed this beautiful gaze that passed like a “flash of light!”
Dim kath bi wath wantam chhun choun kanh tarah siyoud
bomi chani khashim hawan aechh chani tambilawan
That is, I cannot put together the scattered threads of your style;
Your eyebrows are threatening; your eyes are attracting (me)!
So, the artist wants a close proximity with the beauty in order to appreciate the beauty fully. However, being a novice in the field, he notices some contradictions which are irreconcilable with the beauty as a whole. What he feels is that the beauty invites for appreciation but it is enough conscious to preserve itself for its own sake.
kuni sati youd zamanas chhu khasan buthis srihuel hui
mai chhu dil choun nur tzchati-wun daeki choun yad pawan
That is, whenever the world disrespects and agonizes me;
My heart reminds me of your resplendent forehead (that had accepted me as I had been)!
Naturally, one doesn’t expect selfless respect, honour and love from everyone and from every quarter. There come moments in one’s life when one feels ignored by one and all. In such desperate moments one is compelled to turn one’s attention towards the one who had been selfless and sincere. So, our poet, in such circumstances, remembers the attention and care of the one who had respected him the most.
meiti toug ni zanh yi bozun andi kar yi niyayi aakher
ni chhu husun puri ralwun ni chhu ashiq aash trawan
That is, I never understood when this battle would end;
Neither do the beauties match nor does the love get disappointed!
So, the whole matter has become a battle instead of an affair of love. Naturally, it could have ended in two ways; one, had the beauties been matching and two, had love got disappointed and left it before fruition. Both these things have kept the issue live and our poet is enjoying the battle.
chhani zahidas ti rindas bayi kanh faraq mai basan
hu chhu qatri dadi kraishan yi chhu malri malri chawan
That is, to me, there is no difference between a holy man and a drunkard;
One is sighing (searching for) sips, other is enjoying cups brimful!
Perhaps Mirza Ghalib’s following couplet explains the situation in other way round:
kahan mai-khanah ka darwazah Ghalib aur kahan wa‘iz
par itna jantay hain kal woh jata tha ki ham niklay
Prof. Rahi’s memorable song ends with this couplet:
mat wanti Rahiyas kaenh su chhu azti prani paethan
gati manzi pragash tzcharan tzchati manz shikaeri trawan
That is, don’t reprimand Rahi because he, like the past, is still;
Searching for the light amid darkness and rowing the boat amid the whirpool!
Naturally, quite contrary to the allegations leveled by some people on him, Rahi still treads the path of progress and hope and strives and waits for the light of overall progress development. Undoubtedly, songs like this become heartbeat of both the common masses as well as those who form the intelligentsia of a society. A person from any strata of the society attaches himself with such poetic pieces sentimentally as well as intellectually. These pieces thus appeal the head and heart of the society.
(The author is Assistant Professor, Islamic Studies, Department of Higher Education, Govt of Jammu & Kashmir. Email: [email protected])
