A Letter to the Departed Love

Dear Love,

I am writing this to you from the slant of the desolated Jhelum shipping the restless water. Beneath the infinite sky of motionless clouds. Where our trysts had flourished into daisies. Where our kisses would vaporize and return back to us through rain. I know not the scene you are watching but here it is same as it was on our last meeting. Yes it is same like – these golden rays dancing on the maple leaves, these clouds floating across the firmament, this passing breeze departs its chilliness on my face, these birds singing chorus of love and lullabies to their offspring’s – and the only strange thing is your absence whispering around.

I am ill at easy at heart my life is all dark and lonesome. I know not whether I should write this to you and send you the poignant prayers and make you cry or should I else seek the hidden treasure in the memories you left enfolded inside me and perish myself into oblivion. Then there is a happy fisherman sailing his boat and singing in ecstasy – should I lend some euphoria from him and leave him displeased? Then there comes a silent dusk when moon come into sight to shine upon the earth – should I lend some light from the moon and make her glum?

The world is knitting the poetry of love and your nonappearance is adding plaintive notes of music to my life – when it took the pleasure of morning away and brought the fractured sleep into the twilight of my eyes. You gave yourself to me in love and after the process of half decade the ugly death became the error. Now every sunrise when I look upon the world I felt myself a stranger with no name and no family – thrown to the odd waves and to repulsive fate. I know neither the beauty of nature nor of life. Only the songs you sang to me took up the tunes and make my heart to dance, my eyes to shine and deck my face with smiles.

My dearest love, I miss you my darling, as I always do, but today I visited your favorite place and the waves of Jhelum sang the beautiful song to me and the song is that of you and me together. Here everything around me is making me miss you. Dear Love I am lost without you, I am soulless framework of bones, a vagrant without a home. I have all the things and I have nothing at all. This, my darling, is my life without you. I know not when death that departed us will blend us anew. And I know like I loved you I shall death as well.

You’re Love.

Kashmir: An Abode Of Grief

To describe our grief words are not simply enough. To be born there one must be all set to receive the call of death. To be its Mother she must not overlook to knit the long list of dreams for her already deceased son. To be its wife she should not look forward to a good omen for her husband. Yes! I am talking about KASHMIR my home! My grave! My once limelight Paradise!

Being generous enough to my outrage, the queries have achieved the surface as they ask me, where is democratic India and where does its decent democracy prevail? Where are Modi and Mufti? Where are the heedless leaders of this glum nation? Did they hear that we lost a pair of another youth in a week – Khalid & Suhail? A few are on the verge of death and the rest is imminent to die. Did they hear that the hope of another mother has got brutally taken away by their tyrannical forces? Did they hear that chorus she sang on her lakht e jigar’s ceremony and our slogans of AAZADI? I wish they could have!

Confining the nation within the fences of extreme hatred and aid it by duly juvenile behavior is totally unpardonable. The strength and accountability of India lies in its secular and democratic set up, judiciary must ponder hard before serving Kashmir its dictatorial tenets of law. Especially our Mufti government had been devoted enough to take keen notice as to why the common Kashmir’s are being killed hardheartedly without any cause. And if being plebiscite is being illegitimate then every human being on earth deserve a gunshot on its temple.

Indian security of forces could have educated their rowdy army about their duties, about the undue rewards of power and gun, about the bilateral accord and obligations under UN Security Council adopted resolution 47, Kashmir with the following principles.
(i) That the presence of troops should not afford any intimidation or terrorization to the inhabitants of the state.
(ii) That as small a number as possible should be retained in forward areas.
(iii) That any reserve of troops which may be included in the total strength should be located within their present base area.

The aspiration of Kashmiris should not be termed as ‘Terrorism’ – it is fairly easy to understand that no nation has ever got freedom by convincing its occupier, but by indomitable yen and certainly you can’t take it like terrorism. The killings of adolescents and the mere bread earners of families is unfortunate and outrageous as well. The forces involved in all these killing have failed to track these principles as to disclose their responsibilities. And guilty must be punished.

In parallel, the mainstream political parties and separatists too fall short to mollify and convince the people of Kashmir. Their disunity has spoiled the nation like too many cooks spoil the broth. Their shut down and strike calls in disjointed manner will never accredit in favour of these leaders cum rivals. Kashmiris are modest and humble people and it is more a mockery than an authentic retort to these aggrieved folks. This is not going to pacify the wounds of Kashmiris. The distrust and alienation might become irreparable and may lessen the altitude of determination, and when courage is lost, to whom one should complain to?

Tailpiece: I am Kashmir I was born free; but they caged me. I stand firm and they took it otherwise.


A version of this article was also published in printed edition of Daily Rising Kashmir on 02, May-2015,  http://www.risingkashmir.com/kashmir-an-abode-of-grief/

and also appeared in an online portal Kashmir In Focus on the same date, http://kashmirinfocus.com/2015/05/02/kashmir-an-abode-of-grief/