Praagaash August 2021 - mkraina.com

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Dedicated to Our Heritage, Our Language and Our Culture

Net-journal of 'Project Zaan’

Jç<ç& 6 : DçbkçÀ 8 Dçiçmlç 2021~ Vol 6 : No. 8 August 2021~

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A Glimpse of the Journey of ‘Praagaash’

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In this issue Editorial - M.K.Raina�

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Cover - A Glimpse of the Journey of Praagaash 01Editorial - M.K.Raina : Bidding audieu to Praagaash 02

03Vålív Zàn Karav : Vowels & Consonants of Kashmiri 04From the Pages of History : M.K.Parimoo

- Ancient Paayar Temple of Kashmir 07

09World Affairs : Er. M.K.Dhar - World Sanskrit Day 10

12Short Story : Mushtaque B Barq - Choice 13

16Personalities : Kaleem Bashir

- Legend Abdal Mahjoor : Son of the Soil 17

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30Environment & Life : Prof. B.L.Kaul - Termites 31

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34Kundanspeak : T.N.Dhar Kundan - No Alternative 35

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39Languages : Sunil Fotedar

- Kashmiri Language Resources .... 2 40Page from Sabzar 48

49My Medical Journey : Dr. K.L.Chowdhury

- The Moral Code 50

52Kundanspeak : T.N.Dhar ‘Kundan’

- Shri Raina - Our Beloved Editor 53Poetry : Kishni Pandita : Care 56Our Cultural Legacy : G.N.Atash

- Intangible Heritage of Kashmir - 6 58Flavour of Spice : Marryam H Reshii

- Gordael - The Sour Plums of Kashmir 61

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Your Own Page : Paintings by Uzma Nawchoo 71Letters to the Editor 72

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Project Zaan is the Literary Initiative of Kashmiri Pandits’ Association, Mumbai.Project Zaan is supported by Kashmiri Pandits’ Association, Mumbai.

Inspiration : Late Shri J.N.Kachroo ~ Guide & Consulting Editor : Shri T.N.Dhar ‘Kundan’ ~ Editor : M.K.RainaCoordinating Associates ~ Kashmir Valley : Kaleem Bashir ~ Jammu : Er. M.K.Dhar ~ New Delhi : Rajinder Premi ~ Overseas : Dr. Zarka BatulEditorial Office : 104-B, Galaxy, Agarwal Township, Kaul’s Heritage City, Babhola, Vasai Road (W), Dist. Palghar 401 202, Maharashtra, India.

E-Mail : [email protected] ~ Cell : +91-9422473459 ~ Website : kpamumbai.org/praagaash/ ~ mkraina.com/category/praagaash/Layout & DTP : Ashwin Raina

As announced earlier through social media

and other platforms, this issue i.e. August 2021issue of Praagaash will be its last issue producedand edited by me. The decision of discontinuingthe journal, though a painful one, has been takendue to some unavoidable circumstances, for whichI tender my apologies to my readers and contributors.

With this issue, my tenure of 25 years of editing literaryjournals comes to an end. This has been a long journey. I started myediting career in April 1996 when Shri P.N.Wali Sahib, Editor-in-Chiefof Milchar, the community journal of Kashmiri Pandits' Association,Mumbai chose me to assist him in producing and editing the bi-monthly magazine. From July 2001, I edited the magazineindependently till August 2007, and then again from January 2011 tillDecember 2012. I was appointed editor of the Hindi & Kashmirisections of aalav, the community mouthpiece of Kashmiri Sabha,Bangalore in October 2004 and continued there till December 2007.

In August 2007, as Convener of Project Zaan, Mumbai, Istarted its monthly journal named 'Harvan' but had to discontinue it inDecember 2008 because of my official commitments outside India. InJuly 2018, I re-started the magazine with a new name 'Praagaash' andcontinued it till date. Praagaash was wholly dedicated to Kashmirilanguage and Kashmiri culture. I am sure, this was the only magazinein any Kashmiri society, carrying pages in four languages viz English,Urdu, Hindi & Kashmiri, with Kashmiri written in three scripts viz.Devanagari, Nastaliq and Roman to cater to all Kashmiris. Praagaashalso carried supplements on Story of a Bicycle, Zoona Dab, SyedGhulam RasoolAndrabi 'Gayoor' and Sarvanand Koul Premi.

Let me record here, my sincere appreciation for the workdone by Kaleem Bashir Sahib, in adding and maintaining the ‘KashmirReport’ section of the journal. Thanks Bashir Sahib.

With a heavy heart, good bye, and God bless you all.

ÒççiççMç August 2021 ~ Dçiçmlç 2021

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Bidding adieu to Praagaash

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Vowels in Kashmiri Scripts

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Continued on next page

Vålív Zàn Karav

Consonants in Kashmiri Scripts

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Towards the south of Pulwama(Kashmir ) is Malang Pura and towards thesouth west of Malang Pura is the ancientPaayar Temple along the foot mount ofNav Nagar, commonly known as ‘Kuyilwudar’ in Kashmiri. At present there is anaerodrome on this mount. The templeowes its name to a small village Paayar

The Paayar Temple has beenconstructed towards the north east ofPaayar village on the bank of a rivulet. Twohistorians Vigne and A Cunningham havecoined the name Paanyatch for Paayar

.

From the Pages of History - M.K.Parimoo

Ancient Paayar Temple of Kashmir

village and as suchsome of the historybooks have alsou s e d t h e w o r d‘ P a a n y a t c h hMandiir ’ for thetemple.

R e g a r d i n gthe construction ofthe Paanyachh mandir, nothing has beenauthenticated. According to anotherhistorian James Ferguson, “The templehas been constructed by the kingRaanaditya during the year (483-490)A.D." According to another historian A.Cunningham, the temple must have beenconstructed by one Narendra Swamin,whose name appears in Kalhana Pandit'sRajatarangini However some researchersdo not agree with the view point of A.Cunningham. According to them, thetemple architecture is not in accordancewith those of ancient temple designs ofVishnu temples. According to them thetemple must initially have been a Shivatemple as its architectural designindicates that the temple must have beenconstructed much later. Kalhana Panditmentions the name Nav Nagar in theseventh and eighth chapter of hisRajatarangini. According to KalhanaPandit, a daamer named Manak has beenthe resident of Nav Nagar. According to

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some other researchers no mention hashowever been made any where by anyhistorian prior to eleventh and twelfthcentury A.D. about Nav Nagar. Thus itclearly indicates that the town must havebeen established either after the down fallof Varman dynasty or it must have beenpopular due to some other reason. Atpresent the ancient Paayar temple is alsoincluded in the establishment ofNavaabaad town, but any how the Paayartemple has retained it's identity with theNav Nagar Mount.

The architecture of Paayar templeclearly indicates that there has been aprogress in the construction of temples,though the designs of the idols are roughand not polished. According to varioushistorical records, the stone constructionalwork of temples in Kashmir was startedfrom the King Lalitaditya's era (695-731)A.D. It got expanded up to the KingShankar Varman's era (883-901) A.D.After that the stone construction work oftemples continued, though the polishedwork of idols did not improve further.

Some researchers are of theopinion that there are four doors on thefour sides of the Paayar temple, whichindicates that it must have been dedicatedto Brahmah.According to the historianAbuFazal,"There must have been four templesdedicated to Brahmah at the site, but thereis a Shivalingam in the centre of thetemple. Also on the top of the entrancegates, are idols of Shiva in the meditatingposture, carved out of the stones".

The viewpoint of Abu Fazal is thusnegated by the researchers. The

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constructional design of Paayar temple issame as that of Pandrethan temple,though the ceiling and the roof designs ofboth the temples vary a little from eachother. The roof of the Paayar temple hasbeen made out of only ten huge stones.There are no designs drawn inside thewalls of the temple, but the ceiling of thetemple is dome shaped with a lotus carvedout of the stone. Also a bead design iscarved on the circumference of the domeindicating the impact of the Greekarchitecture. At the centre of Paayartemple is an octagonal shaped wateroutlet surrounding the Shiva Lingam.

On the top of the Eastern door atthe Paayar temple, an image of Lord Shivaseated in PadmaAasana (a yogic posture)on simhasana under the shade of a tree,has been carved out on stone. On the treebranches there are some devoteesincluding two lady devotees seated in anEuropean style. According to the historianDaya Ram Sahni, the carved idol is that ofLokesh, but another historian Bhandarkarclaims it to be that of Pashupatinath.Thereis also a staircase near the door on theEastern side for the entrance to thetemple. The stone pillars of the templehave lions engraved on them. Suchdesigns are found in the Iranianarchitectures also. Above the Northerngate of the temple, an idol of Lord Shiva inthe form of a Bhairava giving leaf to adevotee has been carved in the stone. Thebeauty of this architecture is enhanced bythe tears shown trickling down the cheeks

Continued on Page 60

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Sanskrit is an Indian classical languagelisted in the eighth schedule of IndianConstitution whose history stretches backover three thousand years. For much ofthat time, Sanskrit has been the primaryvehicle of intellectual, literary, and religiousexpression in India.

World Sanskrit Day or SanskritDivas (National Sanskrit Day) iscelebrated at the national and global levelsevery year on Shraavana Poornima, whichis the full moon day in the month ofShraavana of the Hindu calendar. Thisyear the day falls on 22nd. August 2021. Itis celebrated across the country in all theschools and colleges from the nationallevel to the state and district level. Variouscultural programs, Sanskri t Kavisammelan, seminars, and workshops areconducted on this occasion.

World Affairs - Er. M.K.DharWorld Sanskrit Day

This day wasstarted by governmentof India in 1969 tospread awareness,promote and reviveSanskrit language.The objective behindCelebrating this day isto remind the societyabout the necessityand importance of thislanguage. The Sanskrit language isconsidered the first language in India andmother of all Indian languages which isnot just a language, but a culture thatneeds to be cherished. Sanskrit is thel a n g u a g e o f a l m o s t a l l t h eVedas/Puranas, therefore people have areverential attitude towards Sanskrit. Theterm Sanskrit is derived from the

conjoining of the prefix 'Sam' meaning'Samyak' which indicates 'entirely'and 'krit' indicates 'done'. In terms ofcommunication, reading and hearingSanskrit term indicates perfectly orentirely done. Sanskrit, in literaryterms is classified into two differentperiods, the Vedic and Classical.Vedic Sanskrit is the language of theVedas, the oldest scriptures ofHinduism. Knowledge of Sanskritbecame a marker of high social class

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during and after the Vedic Period. VedicSanskrit is found in the Rig Veda, thePuranas and the Upanishads. TheSanskrit language has 49 alphabets (15

vowels and 34 consonants) of which ' ' is

the first, a vowel and negative. These 49alphabets are symbolic of the 49 airs withinthe body. The vital Prana-air splitting in 49parts functions within the body thus keepsall beings alive. By chanting Sanskritverses one finds peace because chantingarrests dynamism of airs in the body.Despite Sanskrit being an ancientlanguage, a very small percentage of thepopulation speak it.There was a time whenSanskrit was the most spoken language inIndia and now only one percent of Indiansuse this language while reciting mantras orduring worship etc. In the year 2010government of Uttarakhand, in order topromote Sanskrit, announced Sanskrit astheir second official language.

There are more than a hundredpublications in Sanskrit in India today.Sudharma is India's oldest survivingSanskrit daily, now available on line also,being published from the city of Mysuru inKarnataka but it is a drain on its owner'sresources, and it has had to beat manyodds to survive over the years.Jayalakshmi, its proprietress, says “Haveyou heard of a printing press inside a mudhouse? My father-in-law, K N VaradarajaIyengar, started his paper in one, thenewspaper vendors refused to sell it so hestarted sending the paper to its readers bypost. Various monks, university principals,ministers blessed Sudharma. But they

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wouldn't buy it. He sent the paper to themanyway. There are many Sanskrit papersnow. We are here since 1970, we're notgoing strong but we're not about to die.”Though there are many universities andcolleges in India and abroad that teachSanskrit language but the people ingeneral have very little interest towards it.In India there are 18 Sanskrit universities(3 central, 1 deemed and 14 stateuniversities) which are focused only onSanskrit revival and Sanskrit studiesalong with related disciplines likeAyurveda. Amongst the foreign students,it is Germans the most who are interestedin research and study of Sanskritlanguage including those at Harvard,California Berkeley and the UK. Theirinterest with regard to Sanskrit languageand culture can be traced back as far as tothe 16th Century.

Language is an indispensablecomponent of culture of nation or people.So being the identity of nation it is veryimportant to remind every Indian once ayear that the language of his own countryis being left behind somewhere.

The COVID-19 pandemic had asudden and substantial impact on all thecelebrations including the heritage andcultural programs due to which thisimportant day could not be celebrated in2020 with much pomp and show. With thehope that there will be some relief from thepandemic crisis, the organizers will beable to celebrate this day of nationalimportance with all dignity and splendor.

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On the Bank of Dal Lake, Khatij Ded ishumming God knows what. The sun isdirecting its crimson crowd to vandalisethe blue vast. She is trying to hold hertattered headgear carefully by her lefthand lest it should take off her introversionup in the vast to expose her freshly hennadyed locks. The solitary green bangle onher skinny wrist seems to contradict with aunique set of bountiful rings on her scalystarved fingers. The dusky sky from theheart-beating horizon is slowly kneelingdown into the crystals of her rings to raiseher as a deity of the evening. Her righthand frequently wipes off the froth fromthe inner corners of her oval lips.

S a l a m , a b o a t m a n o f t e nencounters with such supple elegance ofKhatij Ded. He fastened his boat anddragged his hookah out of the old lidlesswooden box and pretended to smokewhile his eyes were gazing at Khatij Ded.She is hardly aware of Salam's presence,but Salam is engrossed in her, perhapsscanning her wrinkled face behind thepince-nez that she accidently found on thefootpath when a foreign lady tried to frameKhatij Ded in her camera and afterscanning the shot, she was terrified to findher missing in the frame and in a state ofterror she dropped her pince-nez and fromthat day onwards Khatij Ded adds grace to

her face.”Aye, Khatij

Ded, it is getting latenow, would you liket o c o m e , I a ml e a v i n g ” S a l a mshouted joyfully.

Khat i j Dedturned her head andstretched her browsand hurriedly held the end of her headgearand responded in affirmation.

She put extra effort into bringingherself to life before placing herself in theboat and Salam handily beat the rudder totake her on the other side of the Dal Lake.

”Why are you often sitting at thebund during the deepening dusk?” Salamasked.

Khatij Ded hardly responded,carefully coiled her noble head like a dovein her own chest. Salam turned his wryneck and before he would politely ask,found Khatij Ded almost lost in her ownworld.

The sinking sun on the water filmwas experiencing its last dip beforegetting into it to solemnly proclaim theglorious dawn the next day. Khatij Dedraised her head and carefully scanned theentire area.

“I am the Queen of this Dal Lake;

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Short Story - Mushtaque B BarqChoice

do you have any doubt?” She claimed.Salam laughed like a mad man, but

Khatij Ded stayed calm and composed.“At the dusk my grand throne is set

at the bank of Dal Lake near Gagribal, andI have to summon all the fairies of theValley before dispatching them to theirfairyland. This is my official duty, and I ambeing paid for it. If any fairy went missing, Ihave to report immediately, and thesewaves will carry me to the Royal court upthere on the Zabarwan.”

Salam slowed the pace of his boat;he was mystified whether to laugh or toinform the daughters of Khatij Ded abouther illness. He was frantically struggling tohold his ground.

“This Dal Lake has turned into ahistoric graveyard.” Khatij Ded informed.

Salam laughed once more. Shescolded him for his casual approach.

“You, the men, only know how tonurse ego, a false craze in your rottenskulls and wreck lives. Why do men have achoice to live for, why can't a woman?” Sheasked.

“Choice is for men; a woman is forunconditional submission.” Salamresponded authoritatively.

Khatij Ded forcibly took the rudderand with a few gentle strokes, she raisedher head and ordered Salam to comecloser. He obeyed for the reason shelooked a different creature.

“I am Khatija on the earth, but aQueen in the ether, remember I have adual existence. You are with me on themission. Like this wave I rise and fall never

to rise again. You are my choice.”Salam was petrified. She put the

rudder into the water and the boat reachedthe shore unknown to Salam. He lookedaround; everything was unfamiliar, KhatijDed was dazzling with extraordinarybeauty, so was he. The singing fairieswelcome their Queen and the personalguest.

“Malika, Naseem is missing,” afairy reported.

“I know, that is why I came here todetect her." Khatij Ded responded.

In this dream world, Salam stoodlike an idiot, barely knowing the locale andlocation.

“There is a private messenger fromthe Royal court, you are beingsummoned,” another kind fairy informed.

A majestic wave raised its headand unfurled its splendid wings totransport Khatij Ded to Zabarwan. “Salam,you stay here, I will be back soon. Don't goanywhere” Khatij Ded directed.

Salam in the heart of his heartwished to remain amidst fairies to enjoythe grand opulence of the place and thepeculiar atmosphere around. The kindKing tried to sooth Khatij Ded, but hercascading eyes were narrating a tale ofher woes.

“Don't worry, water nymphs aresearching for her, she will be soon.

“So you have carried Salam tofairyland to be the new supervisor?” TheKing asked.

Khatij Ded lowered her head,squeezed her body and sighed; a storm of

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agony leaked through her mouth.Sensing the pain, the King came

closer to her and whispered into her ear, “agone girl sets a father on pyres too, youmothers beat the chest and we the fatherbeat the consciousness secretly, both inprivate recesses and under the open vast.We too sigh, but our storms are silent, forthe reason man weeps only when he findsa humble woman beneath his breast.”

A breeze passed over the court anda group of fairies arrived, “Nasreen isfound dead at Charchinari”

Khatij Ded cupped her head, and awave raised its head and on thosemajestic wings she was carried toCharchinari, where Nasreen's deceasedbody was wrapped in mud on the shore.

The King only lowered his crownand sighed that shed the green leaves ofthe nearby Chinar. With his departure theleaves whirl randomly to mourn the deathof a fairy.

Khatij Ded was deprived of her

mystic powers. The decree reads: Everygone fairy means the death of a damsel onthe earth. She lost her throne, trust andthe treaty. In a coronation ceremonySalam was given was raised asSupervisor of the Dal Lake.

On her return, she found Salamcrowded by fairies. They were offering himtheir hands, the gifts and garlands of raregold. He smiled and whispered, “Thesegifts can at least fetch a good husband tomy daughter.”

“Come, Salam, come we are late,she stroked his head, the last mysticstroke of the fallen Queen and hediscovered his boat struggling in the weedsomewhere near Charchinari carrying herdead daughter and Khat i j Dedbackwaters.

Salam understood why he lost hisonly daughter.

Contact author at:[email protected]

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Personalities - Kaleem Bashir

Legend Abdal Mahjoor - Son of the Soil

Abdal Mahjoor was born on 20th ofMay, 1951 at Mitrigam, Pulwama of SouthKashmir. His father Ibni Mahjoor(Peerzada Mohd Amin) thanked AlmightyAllaha for His blessings and greeted hisfather Peerzada Ghulam Ahmad Mahjooron the birth of his son, who prayed for hisbright future and named him Abdal

Mahjoor. After a briefspell of time PeerzadaG h u l a m A h m a dMahjoor passed awayon 9thApril 1952.

Ibni Mahjoora d m i t t e d A b d a lMahjoor in Govt .School, Muran andthereafter in Govt.Higher SecondarySchool, Pulwama. Abdal Mahjoorcontinued his studies at SP CollegeSrinager where he completed hisgraduation having subjects of Hindi,Sanskrit, English Literature and History.He completed his post graduation in Hindiand Kashmiri Languages from KashmirUniversity.

Abdal Mahjoor started his career asProgramme Executive in All India Radio,Srinagar in 1976 and produced widerange of cultural and literary programmesincluding a programme on current affairs‘Shaherbeen’. He was freelanceJournalist, BBC World Service Hindi (1993 -1997, 2001 ) and produced newsand current affairs programmes for BBCWorld Service Radio.

Abdal Mahjoor has rich workingknowledge of Sharda script, the original,ancient script of Sanskrit and Kashmiri

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language in which countless manuscriptare written. He has studied Sanskritlanguage and literature, the Motherlanguage of linguistic diversity and ishaving considerable knowledge of originand development of main languagesspoken in the J&K State. He has excellentcommand over 5 languages, Kashmiri,Urdu, Hindi, Sanskrit and English with asolid background of each language. He isa legend in the real sense.

Abdal Mahjoor is a Scholar, havinglong experience (9 years) of associationwith the World famous treasure trove ofancient civilization, antiquities, art, cultureand numismatics - the British Museum,London. Being non official member ofBritish Museum Society London, heavailed ample opportunities to study thesalient features of thousands ofantiquities, artifacts and different ancient

cultures of the world. He has a very goodunderstanding of how British Museumorganises exhibitions to cater to tastes oftourists and how the museum plays a rolein promoting tourism in London, and iskeen to apply insights to the situation inKashmir. He has produced at least adozen cultural documentaries forDoordarshan on the Shakespeare and hishouse in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Abdal Mahjoor wasfamous

Broadcaster and Writer Nayeema AhmadMahjoor in 1981 and Allaha blessed themwith a son and a daughter. His son AatiefAhmad Mahjoor is Barrister and daughterSabaAhmad Mahjoor a doctor in London.

Legend Abdal Mahjoor, being anacclaimed translator, has translatedaround 200 best Radio Plays intoKashmiri, Urdu and Hindi which havebeen broadcasted over Radio KashmirSrinagar. He also translated an Englishmonograph titled ‘Asif Ali’ published byNational Book Trust, Delhi. He is having a

fortunateenough to have got married to the

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brilliant record ofplanning, producingand presenting mostpopu la r cu r ren taffairs programme‘SHAHERBEEN’ onR a d i o K a s h m i r,Srinagar for around10 years. The StateG o v e r n m e n tacknowledged hise x e m p l a r yperformance andconferred him witht h e p r e s t i g i o u s

Legislature Award in 2007 and StateAward in 2010 in recognition of hisservices. He worked hard in editing andcompiling three books written by hisgrandfather Peerzada Ghulam AhmadMahjoor titled as 1) Patwari and 2) Hayat-e-Rahim and 3) gotthem printed and published.

In view of his inherent aptitude and

Kulyat-e-Mahjoor and

inclination towards Kashmir-centricstudies, Abdal Mahjoor has developeddeep insight in archaeological remains ofKashmir and has also studied ancienthistory of Kashmir with remarkableunderstanding. In the context of his loveand passion, he has translated a famousPersian chronicle of medieval Kashmirentitled ‘Baharistan Shahi’ into Urdu inco-authorship which has been broadcastin instalments over Radio KashmirSrinager in the recent past.

Abdal Mahjoor has founded anNGO in the name of national poet ofKashmir - Peerzada Ghulam AhmadMahjoor under the name and style ofMahjoor Foundation for the progress anddevelopment of the art, culture, literature,tradition and languages. The foundation isencouraging the poets, writers and younggeneration to learn and love the MotherTongue. Abdal Mahjoor is also ChiefEditor of famous and historical KashmiriMagazine ‘Gaash’ which was founded by

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Peerzada Ghulam Ahmad Mahjoor in 1941. The Magazine is published quarterly whichhas a wide circulation across Jammu & Kashmir.

Aetqad Nama e Jami

This 80 pagemanuscript in Persianis a collection ofselected poeticcouplets of famousclassical Persian poet‘Moulana AbdulRehman Jami’ . Thecollection is compiledby Mahjoor’s mother‘Sayeedah Begum’and Mahjoor washardly one and halfyear old. She addedmeaning in simplePersian to toughwords in red ink withthe intention thatwhen his son growsup, he will understandthe meaning of Jami’scouplets quickly. Themanuscript is till dateunpublished. Thecommentary on thecouplets reveals thatSayeedah Begumwas herself a Persianscholar and had alsodeveloped taste inwriting Persian poetry.

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vkt losjs tc uhanls mBk rks eu gh ughafd;k Ldwy tkus dkA ,slk rks djhc&djhcgj fnu gksrk FkkA eSa jtkbZ esa vksj nqcdx;kA fQj ek¡ dh vkokt lqukbZ nhA mlusrhljh ckj vkokt yxkbZ FkhA vc rksmBuk gh iMsxkA D;k djsa ;g i<uk HkhcMk >a>V gSA eSa ;fn oSKkfud gksrk rkslc ls igyk dke i<kbZ ds fy, ,d ,slhe'khu cukrk tks gj cPps dh i<kbZ dhrdyhQksa dks de djrhA [kSj ,slk rks gksusokyk ughaA D;k djsa bl flLVe dks cnyrks ugha ldrsA ij eu rks elksl ldrs gSaAeSaus fcLrj NksMk vkSj Ldwy tkus dh rS;kjhdjus esa yx x;kA eq>s firkth dk cgqr[kksQ FkkA og tc ekjrs Fks rks nk¡,&ck¡,dqN ugha ns[krs FksA dgk¡ FkIiM iMs dgk¡?kw¡lk vkSj dbZ ckj rks mBd&cSBd HkhlkS&lkS ckj yxokrs gSaA cl fiVus ds dbZfnu ckn rd gks'k ugha jgrk gS fd D;kdjsaA blfy, Ldwy tkuk t:jh gSA dgha

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firkth dks Hkudyxh rks xqLlk djuk'kq: djsaxsA HkbZHkykbZ blh esa gS fdle; ij Ldwy tkvksvksj vkjke ikvksAoSls Ldwy esa Hkh dkSulk vkjke gSA tkrs gh xf.kr okys ekLVj]vaxzsth ds ekLVj] fgUnh ds ekLVj vkSj utkus dkSu dkSu ls ekLVj] vjs HkkbZ ,dvk/kk gks rks ;kn Hkh jgs ;gka rks lkjs dslkjs gh ihNs iMs gq, gSaA ftls Hkh ns[kks esjsgh mij gkFk lkQ djus esa yxs gq, gSaA ;gugha fd cPpk gS dHkh dHkkj ekQ HkhdjsaA ij ugha] yx tkrs gS gkM ekal dh/kqykbZ djusA eSa vius twrs ck¡/k gh jgk Fkkfd ccyw dh vkokt ckgj ls vkbZ] eksUVhvktk nsj gks jgh gSA esaus Hkh viuk CkLrkmBk;k vkSj ccyw ds lkFk Ldwy dh vkSjpy fn;kA pyrs pyrs ,d xksy lk iRFkj

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jkLrs esa feyk vkSj mls Bksdj ekjrs&ekjrstgk¡ rd gks ldk mldks yq<dkrs gq, ysx;kA jkst dh rjg Ldwy esa vkSj nksLrksa lsfeyrs gh /keky pkSDMh 'kq: gksrh FkhAglha etkd vkSj 'kjkjr rks gekjs [kwu esaFkkA Ldwy ds lc cPps bldks tkurs FksAlHkh ekLVj bl pht dks igpkurs Fks fd;g cPpk 'kjkjr ls ckt ugha vk,xkA

ge yksx jkst fiVrs gh jgrs FksAekLVj d{kk esa vkrs rks lc ls igys ccywvkSj eq> dks Hkk"k.k dh [kqjkd fiykrsAfQj ckdh cPpksa ls dgrs] ns[kks vxj rqEgsaHkh ,slk gh cuuk gS rks Bhd gS rqe HkhfiVrs jgksA ojuk i<kbZ esa /;ku nks vknehcu tkvksA ;g izopu jkst dk dke FkkAvkt rks ,slk yx jgk Fkk fd [kq'kh dkfnu gh FkkA vius d{kk v/;kid us Hkhvkt dqN ugha dgk FkkA ugha rks vkrs ghigys Hkk"k.k fiykrs gSa vkSj ckn esa vkxsc<rs gSaA gks ldrk gS fizafliy lkgc usMk¡V fn;k gksA os lkjk fnu gesa tks Mk¡Vrsjgrs gSaA dg fn;k gksxk cPpksa dks u Mk¡VkdjksA ccyw us dgkA ;g cMs yksx gksrs gh,sls gSaA tc ns[kks cPpksa dks Mk¡Vrs gSa fcuk

ckr dsA eSaus dgkA vjs mudh Hkh dksbZxyrh ughaA os Mk¡Vsaxs ugha rks mUgsa cMkdkSu dgsxkA ccyw us fQj dgkA geviuh fQtwy dh ckrksa esa eLr FksA tc?kaVh yxh rks ekLVjth pys x,A vcxf.kr dh Dykl FkhA os cgqr dMdekLVj FksA ge yksx lc viuh&viuhfdrkcsa [kksyus yxs rks ekLVj th d{kk esa?kql x,A lc yMds [kMs gks x, ij eSa rksfdrkc fudkyus esa yxk FkkA ekLVj th usns[k fy;kA eksUVh [kMs gks tkvksA ekLVjth xqLls esa yx jgs FksA dy dk dkefn[kkvksA os fQj cksysA ekLVj Tkh -----og eSaA blls igys fd eSa dqN dgrkmUgkssaus ,d tksjnkj FkIiM esjs eq¡g ij tMfn;kA xyrh ls og esjs dku ij yx x;kA,d ckj rks ,slk yxk fd dku dk inkZQV x;kA eSa tksj ls fpYyk;k vkSj jksusyxkA gkFk dku ij j[k dj tehu ijykSV x;k vkSj tksj&tksj ls jksus yxkAekLVj th ?kcjk x,A yxk fd esjs dkudk inkZ QV x;k gSA fQj D;k Fkk ekLVjth iqPdkjus yxs eq>sA vkSj eSa vkSjtksj&tksj ls ngkMs ekj ds jksrk jgkA eSaa

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,sls trk jgk Fkk tSls esjs dku dk inkZ QVx;k gksA oSls esjs dku esa ?kw¡&?kw¡ dh vkoktrks vk jgh Fkh vkSj lqukbZ Hkh ns jgk FkkAeSaus lkspk ;gh ekSdk Fkk ekLVj th dkslcd fl[kkus dkA vkSj eSa fnekx nkSMkusyxkA iwjh d{kk ,d ne pqiA fdlh dhle> esa ugha vk jgk Fkk fd D;k djsaAblh m/ksMcqu esa ?kaVh yx xbZA ekLVjthfQj iqpdkjrs gq, pys x,A vxys ihfj;Mesa Hkh blh pht ij ppkZ pyrh jghA ccywus iwNk] Þml dku ls lqukbZ rks ns jgk gSuk\ß

eSa pqi jgkA og le> x;k fd esaukVd dqN T;knk gh dj jgk FkkA tc g

sa ?kj x, rks eSaus ccyw ls dgk]ßccyw ;gh ekSdk gS yksgk xeZ gS pksVdjuh pkfg,A esjk eryc gS vxj ge vcdqN ugha dj ik, rks dHkh ugha dj ik,saxsAekLVj th dks ;g ,glkl fnykuk iMsxkfd cPpksa dks /kedkus dk D;k vatke gksldrk gSA vkf[kj ge Hkh rks bUlku gSaD;k le>rs gSa os vius vki dksA vcvxj ge 'kSrkuh ugha djsaxs rks dc djsaxscqMkis esa\ okg HkbZ ;g Hkh vPNh jghA ,sls

eNq h eV

rks dgrs gSa 'kSrkuh cPps gh djsaxs vkSjnwLkjh rjQ eLrh djus ij Bksdrs gSaAÞÞrks vc D;k djsaxs\ß ccyw us iwNkAßvc ns[kks D;k d:¡xk eSaAß vkSj gevius vius ?kjksa dh rjQ tkus yxsA ßns[keksUVh dqN Hkh djuk exj fiVokus dkdke ugh djukA eq>s cgqr Mj yxrk gSArqe tc Hkh dqN djrs gks ge fiV tkrsgSaAÞ ccyw us fpUrk trkbZA eSaus gkFkfgykrs gq, mldh gkeh HkjhA ?kj ds vUnj?kqLrs gh eSaus jksuk 'kq: fd;k vkSj ck,saxky ij gkFk j[kdj ngkMs ekjus yxkAeksVs&eksVs vk¡lw esjh vk¡[kksa ls yq<Dus yxsAeq>s vk'p;Z bl ckr dk gks jgk Fkk fdvk¡lw vk dgk¡ ls jgs gSaA [kSj ek¡ us iklvkds lEHkkykA esjs vk¡[kksa ls vk¡lw iksaNusyxhA dgus yxh] ÞD;k ckr gS eksUVh jksD;ksa jgk gS\Þ eSaus vkSj rst jksuk 'kq:fd;kA esjh ek¡ dqN fpafrr gks xbZA ÞdghapksV yxh D;k\nnZ gks jgk gS D;k\Þ ogfQj iwNus yxhA vc eSaus ns[kk ek¡ dks esjkukVd le> esa ugha vk jgk gS rks eq>slarks"k gks x;k vkSj eSaus viuh dgkuh x<uhizkjEHk dj nhA xf.kr okys ekLVj th us

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eq>s cgqr ekjkA eq>s dqN lqukbZ ugha ns jgkgSA dku ij tksj ls FkIiM tM fn;kA eSaLdwy ugha tkÅ¡xkA ,slk ugha dgrs t:jrqeus dksbZ 'kjkjr dh gksxhA ek¡ us dgkAtjk ns[kw¡ rksA mlus T;ksa gh esjs dku dksgkFk yxk;kA eSa tksj ls fpYyk;kA vc dhckj esjs vk¡lw ugha fudysA rks mlus dgk]Bhd gS MkWDVj dks fn[kk nsaxsA

MkWDVj dh ckr ugha gS ikik dksdg nks uk fd ekaLVj th dks Mk¡V nsAmUkdk lkjk tksj esjs Åij gh pyrk gS vkSjfdlh ij ughaA eSaus viuh cqf)ekuh fn[kkuhpkghA Okg dqN ugha cksyhA eSaus tc fQjviuk i{k j[kus dk iz;kl fd;k rks mlusdgk] ÞBhd gS eSa rsjs ikik ls Hkh ckrd:¡xhAß vc esjh [kq'kh dk dksbZ fBdkukugha jgkA eSa lkspus yxk fd esjs firkthbrus xqLls okys gSa vc ekLVj th dh [kSjughaA vc mudks irk yx tk,xk fd cPpsds Åij gkFk mBkuk dSlk gksrk gSA tcpkgks rc FkIiM yxkrs gSa] eqxkZ cukrs gSavkSj rks vkSj iwjh d{kk ds lkeus csbTtrdjrs gSaA ;g Hkh dksbZ ckr gqbZA cPps gSa rksD;k gqvk gekjh Hkh rks dksbZ bTtr gSaA

ekLVjksa dks D;k irk fd ckdh cPps gesadSls fp<krs gSa ckn esaA lkjh bTtr dkQywnk gks tkrk gSA fdlh dks e¡qg fn[kusyk;d ugha jgrsA utjsa ugha feyk ikrsfdlh lsA vkt eq>s bl ckr dh [kq'kh gksjgh Fkh fd esjs ikik xqLls okys gSaA eSaekurk gw¡ og eq>s ckr&ckr ij ihV nsrs gSaij vkf[kj og esjs firk gSaA mUgsa rks iwjkgd curk gS eq>s ihVus dkA ij gj dksbZ\,slk gksrk gS D;kA tc Hkh fdlh cMs lsckr djks bl ckjs esa rqjar Hkk"k.k lquus dksfey tkrk gSA xq: Hkxoku ls Hkh c<djgksrk gSA ek¡ cki ls Hkh igys vkrk gSAvkSj rks vkSj ,d nksgs dh rks xk¡B gh ck¡/kj[kh gS ßxq: xksfoUn nksÅ [kMs dk dsykxw¡ ik;] cfygkjh xq: vkius xksfoUnfn;ks crk;AÞ ;g dfo Hkh uk fdlh dksHkh iqnhus ds isM is p<k nsrs gSA vjs HkkbZHkxoku rks Hkxoku gh gS xq: mlls cMkdSls gks ldrk gS\ vc bUgsa dkSu le>k,vxj Hkxoku ls cMk xq: gksrk rks Hkxokuds cnys xq: dks Qwy u p<k nsrslosjs&losjsA [kSj NksMks bu yksxksa dks budks[kqn ugha irk D;k gksrk gS vkSj gesa

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fl[kkrs jgrs gSaArkth vk, rks eSaus ek¡ dh

rjQ ns[kkA ckrksa&ckrksa esa mUgksaus firkth lsdg gh fn;kA vkt eksUVh dks ekLVj th usekjk gSA dku ij T;knk gh yxh gS cgqr jksjgk FkkA ek¡ us dg fn;kA firkth us esjhrjQ ns[kk vkSj dgkA D;w¡ ekjk\ rqeusdke ugha fd;k gksxkA eSaus dqN ugha dgkAog cksyrs jgsA ns[kks xq: ek¡ cki lscMdj gksrk gS] Hkxoku gksrk gSA mldhgj ltk izlkn le>dj ysuh pkfg,Aek¡&cki gesa tUe nsrk gS ij xq: gesa vk¡[ksansrk gS va/kdkj ls izdk'k esa ykrk gSAftlls gekjh lkjh cqjkb;k¡ nwj gks tkrh gSaAge vkneh ls bUlku cu tkrs gSaA viusiSjksa ij [kMs gks tkrs gSa vkRe fuHkjZ gkstkrs gSa vkSj iwjs lalkj dk cks> vius da/kksaij mBkus ds yk;d gks tkrs gSaA eSa rks ;gdgw¡ fd losjs Ldwy igq¡prs gh xq:vksa dsiSj idMk djks bUlku cu tkvksxsA vjsdgk¡ dk cks> fdldk cks>A eSa eu esa lkspjgk FkkA esjh le> esa vk jgk Fkk fd ogeq>s cgyk jgs FksA esjh lkjh ;kstuk ijikuh Qsj jgs FksA eq>s iwjk fo'okl gks x;k

'kke dks fiFkk fd og Ldwy vkdj ekLVj th dksdqN ugha dg ik,saxsA ;g ckr rks r; Fkhfd mudk tksj Hkh eq> ij gh pyrk FkkAog Hkh 'kk;n ekLVj th ls Mjrs FksA vcesjs ikl ,d gh gfFk;kj FkkA ek¡A oghdqN dj ldrh gSA vkSj eSa Qfj;kn ysdjek¡ ds ikl pyk x;kA [kwc jks;k rks mlusdgk] Þns[k eksUVh vxj ikik ugha tkrs gSarks eSa tkÅ¡xhA Bhd gS\ß fQj gks xbZekLVj th dh gtkerA eSa cMcMk;kA ughsaeEeh vxj ikik ugha vkrs rks jgus nks eSaekj gh [kkrk jg¡wxkA eSaus Hkkoukvksa dk nko[ksykA eEeh us dqN ugha dgkA nwljs fnuccyw ds lkFk eSa fQj Ldwy ds fy,fudyk rks esjs ikik eq>s njokts ij ghfeysA esjs lj is gkFk Qsjk vkSj ge yksxLdwy tkus yxsA vHkh ge FkksMh nwj ghx, Fks fd ikik us vkokt yxkbZA rw Ldwyigq¡p tk eSa Hkh vk jgk gw¡A esjh [kq'kh dkfBdkuk u jgkA vkSj ge nksuksa Ldwy dhrjQ py fn,A eSa liuksa esa [kks x;kA eq>sikik dk xqLlk lkQ&lkQ fn[kkbZ nsusyxkA og ekLVj th dks tksj&tksj ls Mk¡Vjgs FksA vkSj ekLVj th mlds lkeus

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fxMfxMk jgs FksA ßvc lkgc vkbUnk lseksUVh ij gkFk ugha mBkÅ¡xkA eq>s ekQdhft,A eSaus dgkA ikik ;g >wB dg jgsgSaA ;g fQj eq>s ekjsaaxs] eq>s gh ugha lccPpksa dks ihVsaxsA ikik bUgsa NksMuk ughaAÞ,d tksj dk >Vdk yxk vkSj eSa Ldwy dsnjokts ij FkkA liuk VwV x;k FkkA ÞD;kcMcMk jgs Fks rqeA eSa rks ?kcjk x;k FkkAßccyw dh le> esa dqN ugha vk jgk FkkAvksg rks ;g liuk FkkA eSa liuk ns[k jgkFkkA pyks liuk gh lgh] ccyw Fkk rks cgqrgh ehBkA

esjh cspSuh c< jgh FkhA ;g rks ,slkgh Fkk tSls 'ksj f'kdkj dks ekjus ls igysmldks pkVrk gSA etsa ls fugkjrk gSA rcdgha f'kdkj djrk gSA vkSj rc rdf'kdkj cspSu jgrk gSA esjs lkFk Hkh ;ghgky FkkA eSa ckj&ckj nkokts dh rjQ ns[kjgk Fkk vkSj izkFkukZ py jgh FkhA

vkf[kjdkj ikik vk gh x,A esjh[kq'kh dk fBdkuk u jgkA ,slk yxus yxktSls eSaus x< gh thr fy;k gksA izkFkukZ dsckn firkth us ekLVj th dks cqyk;kAekLVj th Hkh vk x,A eq>s Hkh cqyk;k

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- DçcççÇvç kçÀççÆcçuç

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Ever since man chose to give upnomadic life and settle down as a civilizedcreature in clusters, villages, towns andcities, he had to cope with the problem ofdisposal of wastes which he himselfcreated. Even the earliest of humancivilizations like Mohenjo Daro and

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Termites, also called white ants havebeen around since time began. They aresocial insects, like bees and ants, that feedupon dead wood, books, furniture evenclothes and are the world's mostdestructive creatures. They are unseendestroyers of houses and furniture -indeed of all things made from timber.

There are an estimated 4,000species of termites. Termites are ant-likeinsects of the order Isoptera. They areoften referred as white ants because oftheir white color but they are different instructure and habits. They occur incommunities consisting of enormousnumbers, in tropical and sub-tropicalregions of every continent. Being sociallike ants and bees they have castesconsisting of a queen, males, workers andsoldiers.

Termites enter quietly the wood-work, or logs, or trees often unseen at thelowest possible point, and burrow theirway in all directions, their presenceunsuspected until their galleries have so

Environment & Life - Prof. B.L.Kaul

Termites - The Unseen Destroyers

w e a k e n e d t h em a t e r i a l t h a t i tcollapses at a touch.It was a great shock tothe custodians of theVatican library atRome when in 1949,its walls and ceilingswere discovered tohave been galleriedby these tirelessinsects, which had also destroyed manypriceless manuscripts and books in theirceaseless search for food. The termiteswhich feed on wood and derivatives ofwood live in a strange partnership with tinyprotozoa (one celled microscopiccreatures). These microscopic creatureslive in the intestines of the termites. Theytackle the woody material as the termitesswallow it, and reduce it to a state in whichit is easy for the termites to digest. Withoutthese interior helpers the wood eatingspecies would starve to death.

A termite colony inside the soil iscalled . Inside it there arewide galleries and nests and spacessheltering the queen and the young ones.Many species cultivate fungi in the openspaces for eating. Some species raiseabove their subterranean galleries andnests enormous mounds of soil many feetin height.

termatarium

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It is recorded that in Africa thesemounds may be as tall as 20 feet. Theauthor has seen large termite mounds inOrissa measuring anywhere between 7 to9 feet. In Jammu region there are termitemounds hardly measuring 3 to 5 feetabove ground. These are locally called

and revered as the abode ofsince they provide an easy

home for snakes. But they are not alwaysoccupied by snakes. A particular "Burmi"at New Plots Jammu, the author found,was inhabitated by rats. So it could not bea home to snakes of any kind whichpredate on rats, yet on dayall the ladies of the area came to offerprayers there. The owner of the plotdecorated it and reaped a good hervest ofofferings on every !

The vas t nes t i ns ide thetermatarium houses nurseries and also aroyal cell in which lies the enormoustermite , a gigantic insect sometimes four inches long, a living egg factory.She may lay eggs at the rate of 30,000 aday and she is constantly attended by

and . There are alsomales in the community, which like thequeen, may either be winged or wingless;the wings are discarded after mating. The

who is the king of the colony

"Burmi""Nag Devta"

Nag Panchmi

Nag Panchmi

queen

workers guards

male termite

lives in a cell with the queen.The termite colony consists mainly

of workers of various types. There aresmall workers, which do the ordinary jobsin the nest-tending the developing young,feeding all the non-workers, clearing upand so on. There are larger workers,about half an inch long with more powerfuljaws and soldiers with huge jaws whichdefend the community and wage waragainst other termite colonies. Theseinsects are not without merit. They areresponsible for providing food for manytypes of predators and provide shelter intermataria to many animals. The termitemounds become a haven in flooded rainyareas and make water soak in moreeasily, halting erosion. In many parts ofthe world people including tribals in Indiaeat termites. They are caught as theyswarm around lights and then roasted orfried. Termites do well in moistenvironment, so it is of utmost importanceto fix leaky pipes and faucets to preventtheir entry into our homes. We shouldkeep fire wood, mulch, scrap pieces ofwood and trees away from our home'sfoundations. Cracks and holes in thefoundation should be fixed to prevententry of termites. Once detected in thehouse specific anti-termite insecticidesshould be injected into the holes made bythem. Kerosene oil is also a strong anti-termite. While building a house antitermite treatment of the foundation canprevent attack by termites. Now-a-daysanti-termite treatment is possible toprotect buildings from termite attacks.

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Kundanspeak - T.N.Dhar ‘Kundan’

No Alternative

It is a well known fact that a humanbeing can have either a positive or anegative attitude to life and its variousfacets. A person can always be positive ornegative in his approach or he can besometimes positive and other timesnegative. From the very childhood aperson develops an attitude and in courseof time that becomes his permanentnature. Two persons faced with similarsituation react differently because of thevariation in their attitudes. Now thisattitude, positive or negative, starts withour thinking, then it is expressed by us inso many words and ultimately it getsreflected in our actions. There is acommon superstition with many peoplethat their day turns out to be good or baddepending upon whose face they haveseen early in the morning first thing aftergetting up from their beds. In the backdropof this superstitious belief I had written ashort story wherein two persons hurt theirfeet by a sharp thing lying on the road insimilar circumstances. Both were hurt andbleeding. The person with positive attitudewas thankful to the woman he had seenearly in the morning who turned out to be agood omen and he escaped with a smallwound, which could have been moreserious. The other person with negative

approach cursedthe woman he hadseen in the morningb e c a u s e s h eturned out to be abad omen for hima n d h e g o twounded.

As a result ofadopting their respective attitudes, thefirst wounded person was full of vigourand zest the whole day thereafter and theother wounded person was gloomy,forlorn and morose. Had the secondperson too shown the same attitude andthe same positive approach he too wouldhave been happy and satisfied. His woundwould have been less painful andtolerable as it was for the first one. Be thatas it may. Let us now understand what aperson desires. A person desires to behappy all the time. Now it is clear from theillustrative story narrated above that thereis only one way to derive happiness underall circumstances and that is to adopt apositive approach. Coming to think of it letus be honest and realize that there is noalternative to this course if we want to behappy in our life. A person who does notadopt a positive approach can never behappy. Nobody likes to be unhappy and

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sad. It is, therefore, of paramountimportance to have a positive approach,the only way to achieving happiness andderiving pleasure all the time.

What does this positive approachconnote? First of all it shows that we arefull of self-confidence. We believe inourselves and are confident that we are onthe right track. It also implies that we havea hope for a bright tomorrow and we arenot despondent. It indicates that we aresanguine about our efforts and believe thatwe are going in right direction and that ourefforts are right, effective and sure to bringout results. It also denotes that unmindfulof what the outcome will be we derivepleasure in the effort that we put in, littlebothering ourselves whether we willachieve the desired results or not. Let ustake all these points one by one. For anysuccess self confidence is a valid andimportant quid pro quo. Unless we are sureof ourselves and the sincerity of our effortswe will always act as doubting Thomasand be gloomy all through. I remember thatin our school days our Scout Chief used totell us to stand up and shout, 'I am someone important.' The idea was to inculcate asense of highest self confidence and beliefin ourselves. When we are confident thatour aim is noble, our efforts are sincereand our methods are pure and without anyblemish, there is no reason for us to beunhappy. Having firm faith in ourselves isessential for us to be happy and thisconnotes a positive state of mind.

Next facet of the positive approach

is to be hopeful. As has been stated inBhagavad Gita, our authority is restrictedto carry out the required action. What theoutcome of these actions will be is notwithin our control. If we are hesitant,apprehensive and frightful about theoutcome we shall never perform anyaction. We will be hesitant always. Even ifwe do perform an action it will be done halfheartedly and any fraction of thepossibility of the success that there mighthave been, will get thwarted. So it isalways useful to be full of hope for afavourable outcome and perform ouractions with a positive frame of mind. Hereagain we have no other alternative. In thebattlefield of Kurukshetra Arjuna says toShri Krishna, 'I do not want to fightbecause I am not sure whether I will win orlose, .'The Lord replies, 'In either case you willbenefit. If you win you will have a vastempire to rule. If you lose and get killed,you will find place in heaven for havingfought a battle of righteousness,

.' In other words he was asked to behopeful and have a positive approach. Hehad no other alternative and would haveperished along with his clan had he nottaken up his the bow and arrow.Hope is a solid symbol of strength. Itencourages and guides in the rightdirection and thus is an importantingredient of positive thinking.

Being hopeful without putting indue effort is meaningless. We have to

Yedi va jayema yedi va no jayeyu

hatva vaprapsyasi swargyam jitva va bhokshasemahim

Gandiva,

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make all the efforts that are expected of uswith a firm hope that we shall derive thedesired outcome. Shri Gita says, '

your own duty isbeneficial to you even if it lacks anyattributes or virtues.' It is not sufficient tomake due efforts. We have to be sanguinethat these efforts are right efforts for rightpurpose. This belief in the efficacy of ourefforts again is an important facet of thepositive approach, which is needed toensure happiness. Now if we wait for thedesired outcome to take pleasure afterattaining it there is a fifty fifty chance for usto be happy. Should we be successful inattaining the desired, we shall be happy nodoubt, that too momentarily, becauseagain we will have to engage in some otheractivity. And, in case the result is notfavourable, the happiness will turn into amirage for us forever. It is, therefore, betterfor us to derive pleasure in making theefforts itself rather than wait for theoutcome. That will ensure that we arehappy and contented all the time. Hereagain there is no other alternative. Thisresolve to derive pleasure from the effortrather than from the outcome in itself isagain an essential ingredient of thepositive approach. We have seen that herealso we have no other alternative to takerecourse to if we want to ensure happinessfor ourselves all the time, uninterruptedand wholesome.

There is another good thing aboutthis positive attitude. It is not onlybeneficial and giver of permanent pleasure

Shreyanswa dharmo vigunah –

for us alone but for others also. Ourpositive approach shall create a positiveenvironment for others too who may bewith us or come into contact with us duringthis journey of life. Even those who maynot be directly involved with us and ouractivity may become hopeful on seeingour positive attitude and may emulate thatapproach. After all one lamp or one smallflame alone is needed to light a thousandlamps in order to spread light all over. Inthe words of a poet, when we leave behindour foot prints on the sands of time (with apositive approach), all those who areforlorn and shipwrecked are bound to takeheart again and as a result thereofachieve success and with it happinesstoo. The positive approach brings cheerand gaiety in the entire atmospherewherein we live and work. It createscongenial environment for us to live andwork cordially, with love, understandingand pleasure. The result is that all themembers of the society are happy andsatisfied to work for the betterment ofevery one in all sincerity and seriousness.The alternative is disastrous anddepressing and, therefore, there is againno alternative to being positive inapproach.

A positive approach begins withour positive thinking. We develop positivethought about every problem that we faceand every situation that we may be in. Ourspoken word is positive as a result of thispositive thinking. We opine positively. Wegive positive suggestions and we find

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positive solutions to all problems.This positive utterance translates intopositive actions, which are for ourown good and beneficial to others aswell. The result is happiness allround. So the moral is that we shouldadopt a positive approach toeverything, for there is no otheralternative for us to ensureun in te r rup ted p leasu re andhappiness for ourselves as also forothers.

There are certain habits whichwe follow ritualistically in order todevelop a positive attitude. Forexample when we get up early in themorning from our sleep we have aglimpse of the portrait of a deity orsome holy person. After the dailymorning chores we offer worship athome and bow before any deity of ourchoice. We chant some orsome prayer for a few moments. Atthe time of leaving our home for workwe take formal permission from ourmother, father or any other elder inthe family or again bow before theportrait of our chosen deity. We leaveour home chanting the name of Godand invoke His blessings. Thesepractices and such other rituals helpus have a positive frame of mind allthrough, create hope in our mind forsuccess in all our endeavours andgive us a lasting peace of mind.

Mantras,

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Continued from July issue

(Late) Prof. Braj B. KachruProfessor Braj B. Kachru was the Directorof the Centre for Advanced Study at theUniversity of Illinois, Champaign, USA. Hewas the world's leading scholar in the fieldof world Englishes; he had pioneered,shaped, and defined the linguistic, socio-cultural and pedagogical dimensions ofcross-cultural diffusion of English.

Professor Kachru was an author oreditor of 20 books, including the prize-

w i n n i n g T h eA l c h e m y o fE n g l i s h : T h eS p r e a d ,Functions andModels of Non-Native Englishes,associate editorof the acclaimedT h e O x f o r dCompanion to theE n g l i s h

Language and Contributor to theCambridge History of the EnglishLanguage. In addition, he wrote over 100research papers, review articles andreviews on Kashmiri and Hindi languagesand literatures, and theoretical and appliedaspects of language in society. Kachru saton the editorial boards of eight scholarlyjournals and was founder and co-editor of

Languages - Sunil Fotedar

Kashmiri Language Resources on KP Websites - 2

the journal WorldEnglishes. He chairedmany national andi n t e r n a t i o n a lcommittees and leds e v e r a lo r g a n i z a t i o n s ,i n c l u d i n g t h eAmerican Associationf o r A p p l i e dLinguistics. Amonghis many awards was the Duke ofEdinburghAward (1987).

P r o f e s s o r K a c h r u h e l dappointments in linguistics, education,comparative literature and English as aninternational language. As a JubileeProfessor of LiberalArts and Sciences, hewas head of the Department of Linguisticsfor 11 years, director of English as anInternational Language for six years, anddirector of the Linguistic Institute of theLinguistic Society of America (1978). Hehad fellowships from the British Council,the East-West Centre and the AmericanInstitute of Indian Studies. He held visitingprofessorships in Canada, Singapore andIndia.

In 2001, KOA held its first everyouth culture-language camp, duringSanjay Kaul's tenure as President, atAmerican University, Washington D.C.area. It was a 10-day camp organized by

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KOA youth KomalBazaz and SonalBakaya. With thesupport of the localcommunity, (late)Professor Braj B.Kachru of IL andProfessor AshokKoul of RI, thirty-f ou r KP you thbenefited from thiscamp. In this camp,

Prof. Kachru presented his book,,

published in June 1973, to KOAmanagement and I borrowed the book. Icalled Prof. Kachru to seek his permissionto upload his book to koshur.org websiteand provide our own audio clips for thelessons contained therein. He was excitedwith this proposal and gave me hispermission. The lessons, with audio clips,have been placed at this location:

The book came in two separatevolumes. Volume 1 has 735 pages andcontains Chapter 1 through Chapter 50,with each chapter starting with aconversation between two individuals.Volume 2 is a Glossary of terms and has94 pages. Its preface writes, “

Text is in Roman-

AnIntroduction to Spoken Kashmiri

This manualmay be used either for classroom teachingor for those wanting a self-instructionalcourse. In the bibliography we haveincluded a list of the supplementarymaterials which a teacher and/or a learnermight find useful.”

http://koshur.org/SpokenKashmiri/index.html

Kashmiri script that has used acombination of punctuation marks,s p e c i a l c h a r a c t e r s a n ddiphthongs/ligatures to representwords. The text helps to pronounce thewords easily but is somewhat difficult totype using a keyboard. Each page wasscanned by Rashme, and each page wasbroken into several conversation items. Ifyou click on one item, a sound clip willplay. For Chapter 1 has conversationbetween ladies, therefore, Rashme'sservices were employed. For the rest ofthe chapters, the conversation is betweentwo males. My friend Veer ji Saraf justhappened to be in town. He lent his voicefor the conversation between the twoindividuals for each chapter.

When I was finished the task, Icalled Prof. Kachru once again. I askedhim what drove him to write a book on thelanguage, that too way back in 1973. Hisanswer was, “it was my labor of love.”

I had the privilege to meet him andhis wife Yamuna ji at their apartment inDLF Gurgaon, sometime in late 2000s.Both have left us unfortunately and have aleft a huge void within linguistic circles.

Sh. M.K. Raina, a civil engineer byprofession, retired from J&K Govt servicein 2006. His last assignment was at theHead Works of Upper Sindh HydelProject, Stage-II, Kangan. Like the rest ofthe KPs, he first moved to Jammu in 1990at the height of militancy and later toMumbai in 1993.

Koshur

M.K. Raina

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W h i l e i nMumbai, he gotassociated withthe Milchar, thec o m m u n i t ym a g a z i n e o fK a s h m i r iP a n d i t s 'A s s o c i a t i o n ,Mumbai in theyear 1995 andlater became its

editor. In 1998-99, wasfounded by a group of people led by ShriJ.N. Kachroo, ex Principal, National HighSchool, Srinagar. Raina sahib wasappointed its Convener. Around the year1996, during his visit to the book shop ofJ&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languagesat Jammu, he found a huge repository ofvaluable Kashmiri literature includingclassics, but available in Nastaliq (Perso-Kashmiri) script only. Since Devanagariscript for Kashmiri was not recognized bythe State or the Central governments,printing of books in that script was notundertaken by the Academy. Moreover,there was no standardized script forDevanagari-Kashmiri devised till then.Later a team of Kashmiri scholars headedby Dr. Roop K. Bhat worked tirelessly onthe project for over two years and devisedone.

Since Kashmiri Pandits were notfamiliar with Urdu or Persian scripts,especially the youngsters, they could notge t fami l i a r w i th the .Consequently, the Kashmiri literature was

Project Zaan

Nas ta l i q

not accessible to them. After our exodus in1990, when youngsters were physicallyaway from Kashmir, this bottleneck provedto be challenging. Kashmiri Pandit writerswrote significantly in Devanagari butAcademy would not help financially orotherwise, on the same plea that it was nota recognized script. Therefore, theseauthors got their books printed ininstead to allow Academy (read J&K Govt)to finance the printing cost. As a result,most of the new literature too remainedaway from the masses. Raina sahib took itupon himself the duty of rewriting some ofthe precious literature in Devanagari-Kashmiri since the year 2000. He hastransliterated more than 5000 pages of

into Devanagari-Kashmiri, inaddition to the translation of other Englishdocuments to Kashmiri/Hindi and his ownauthored and compiled work. He hasrecently started producing audios andvideos as well.

Thanks to Dr. Brij Moza, heintroduced me to Sh. Raina, and we havebeen friends ever since. He even hostedme once at his house in Mumbai. I createdand maintained two websites for severalyears - one for Milchar, a KPA Mumbaipublication (ikashmir.net/milchar), and theother for for uploadingmaterial separately (ikashmir.net/zaan),for which I was honored by Project Zaanwith a trophy. See Appendix I for thecitation.

To this day, Raina sahib continuesto do this work for at least 12 hours a day, 7days a week. He is a person who is well-

Nastaliq

Nastaliq

Project Zaan Zaan

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versed with Kashmiri, Devanagari,, and English. He has created

quite an online repository of self-authoredbooks, short stories, lessons in audio andvideo, and has translated a number ofKashmir classics from , Hindi andEnglish to standardized Devanagari-Kashmiri. In early 2000s, I created

and uploaded hiscontent on it over several years. Later on, Ihanded over the website to his son Vishalwho has been maintaining the site ever

Nastaliq

Nastaliq

http://www.mkraina.com

Film Director Shri Ashok Pandit receiving the Special Zaan Award on behalf of Shri SunilFotedar. The Award, presented by Shri M.L. Mattoo, Chairman Lalla Ded Educationaland Welfare Trust, Mumbai on 27th March 2004, was given to Shri Sunil Fotedar for hisunrelenting support to Project Zaan.

since.I uploaded his book, Basic Reader

for Kashmiri Language, that he co-authored with Neelam ji Trakru, to

andadded audio clips to the lessons containedtherein.

I must say this - I have never seenany person work as hard as Raina Sahib.Period.

http://koshur.org/Reader/index.html

Continued on next page

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(Late) Dr. O.N. KoulOn my visit to Jammu in early 2000s, Ifound another book in my dad's librarytitled, , written by (late)D r . O m k a r N . K o u l

).This book was also like Prof. Kachru'sbook written in Roman-Kashmiri, butwithout special characters and diphthongs

that made oneeasier to type inusing a keyboard.The book aptlyputs it, “

” Audio clips forRoman-Kashmiri words and sentencescontained therein were recorded by me.

It was around the same time when Iwas actively working with Sh. M.K. Rainato build andwebsites, and later for

Spoken Kashmiri

This bookis essentially aself-instructionalcourse for learningKashmir i as asecond/ fo re ignlanguage. Besides

an introduction, it contains 20 lessonspresenting basic structures of the Kashmirilanguage. Each lesson contains one majorstructure along with related patterns. Thelessons consist, of text, mostly in the formof dialogues, followed by drills, exercises,vocabulary and notes on grammar. Textsare provided with equivalent Englishtranslations. Drills and Exercises aredesigned to help the development oflearners' linguistic competence in thelanguage systematically.

Milchar Project Zaan

(http://koshur.org/Kashmiri/index.htm

http://mkraina.com

his works. Since I was adding variouscategories to the KP websites developedand maintained by me, one category thatwas missing was one about the Kashmiriproverbs. Once again, I found out that Dr.O.N. Koul had written a masterpiece titled,

,published in 1992. I scanned a fewselected proverbs that I wouldoccasionally share with the KPnetaudience, in Roman-Kashmiri with Sh.Raina providing the standardizedDevanagri-Kashmiri support. Dr. Koul wasvery impressed with our effort. Therefore,he decided to come out with the secondedition of the book in 2006, fourteen yearsafter its first edition. This is what he wrotein the preface of the book:

A PDF version of the book can bedownloaded from:

With such degrees as M.A. (Hindi), M.A.(Linguistics), Ph.D., and Certificate inAdministration of In-service Teacher

A Dictionary of Kashmiri Proverbs

The first edition of this dictionary wasfirst published in 1992 which is out of printnow. Mr Sunil Fotedar volunteered to putselected proverbs from this dictionary onthe web. This generated a lot of interestamong scholars and general readers. Iwould like to thank Mr Fotedar forencouraging me to bring out the secondedition of it. I am grateful to Mr. M. K. Rainafor transcribing the original Kashmiriproverbs from Roman into the Devanagariscript. It can be used by those who arefamiliar with the Devanagari script.”

“

http://ikashmir.net/onkoul/pdf/DictionaryProverbs.pdf

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Education, and educated at the Universityof Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar, K.M.Institute of Hindi Studies and Linguistics,Agra University, the University of Illinois atUrbana-Champaign, USA, and theInternational Training Institute, Sydney,Australia, Prof. Omkar Nath Koul was awell-respected linguist the world over.Var ious pos i t i ons tha t he he ldprofessionally were (with details at

):Director, Central Institute of Indian

Languages, Govt. of India, Mysore (1999-2000).

Professor - cum - Dy Director, CentralInstitute of Indian Languages, Mysore(1994-99).

Professor, LBS National Academy ofAdministration, GoI, Mussoorie. (1987-1994).

Principal, Northern Regional LanguageCentre (CIIL), Patiala (1971-1987).

He was a prolific writer with severalpublications and books to his name inEnglish, Hindi, Urdu, , andstandardized-Kashmiri. He authored andedited about 50 books and wrote about200 research papers related to Linguistics,Language Education, Communication,C o m p a r a t i v e L i t e r a t u r e , a n dKashmiri/Hindi/Urdu/ Punjabi Languages.For his list of publications, visit:

A vast amount of literature ofKashmiri has been published usingDevanagari script in the Kashmiri Literarymagazine published regularly for

Nastaliq

Vaakh

http://ikashmir.net/onkoul/cv.html

http://ikashmir.net/onkoul/publications.html

�

�

�

�

last fifteen years from Delhi. He editedthese issues on a regular basis until hepassed away, and now Prof. Roop K. Bhathas taken over its publication with thesupport of AIKS. You may downloadrecent issues of from AIKS websiteat:Older issues can be downloaded from:

With his passing away, ourcommunity has lost another gem in thefield of languages, and a dear friend and aguide of mine who was always there toencourage me in my efforts. For his effortsin the preservation of our language, Ipresented him with KOA's Excellenceaward at the KOA's July 4 camp atMoodus, Connecticut in 2008 when hewas visiting the US. My last conversationwith him was about , acompilation of devotional songs inKashmiri, Hindi, and Sanskrit that Ipublished in 2016 as KOA president, and Ineeded his advice and resources on usingthe standardized Kashmiri script for thebhajans contained therein. Little did Iknow that that would be my lastconversation with him. He is sorelymissed.

After adding the three Koshur languagebooks with audio clips, I was introduced toProf. Roop Krishen Bhat. At NorthernRegional Language Center, Patiala, thenorthern wing of Central Institute of IndianLanguages (CIIL), he had been producing

Vaakh

Poozai Posh

th

Prof. Roop Krishen Bhat

https://www.aiks.org/aiks-publications/

http://ikashmir.net/onkoul/vaakh/index.html

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the learning andteaching material,and had created

The bookin PDF format andaudio clips of thesec a s s e t t e s a r ep r o v i d e d a t :

Dr. Roop Krishen Bhat is an author,linguist, translator and media freelancer.Born at Bugam in Kulgam district of J&KState on 11 April, 1951, he did his Mastersand Doctorate in Linguistics fromUniversity of Kurukshetra. A polyglot fluentin Kashmiri, Hindi, Urdu and Englishlanguages, he also knows Punjabi andRussian.

His assignments with the Govt. ofIndia include as Professor at CentralInstitute of Indian Languages (CIIL),MHRD, Mysore, Director, Directorate ofAdult Education, MHRD, New Delhi,Principal Publication Officer, NationalCouncil for Promotion of Urdu Language,MHRD, Principal, Northern RegionalLanguage Centre CIIL, Patiala, AssistantEducational Adviser, Ministry of Culture,Program ExecutiveAll India Radio Ministryof I&B and Lecturer, NRLC, CIIL, MHRD,Patiala. He has written/edited/co-authoredforty-one books, authored about fiftyResearch papers and hundreds of articleson language, literature, culture, massmedia and education. For his detailed

AHandbook on AudioCassette Course inKashmiri.

th

http://koshur.org/ciil

profile, and a list of publications, visit:

He maintains a blog for his writeups at

The introduction to the book writes,

Since it was a publication ofGovernment of India, proper permissionhad to be sought from the authorities.Roop ji was great help in getting me intouch with Dr. U.N. Singh and Sh. M.K.Kaw, who was the Secretary of Educationat the time (Appendix II, e-mail 1). I wroteto them to seek permission to carry thebook and the audio cassettes on the sitesmanaged by me by first providing them aproper background to what I was doing(Appendix II, e-mail 2). I got anencouraging response from Dr. U.N.Singh (Appendix II, e-mail 3) that providedtheir terms of conditions. I respondedback to provide my acceptance of thoseconditions (Appendix II, e-mail 4), and thelast e-mail (Appendix II, e-mail 5) is fromSh. Kaw to give us the requiredpermiss ion. I am saving thesecorrespondences for posterity. The

This course comprises of two parts 1.recorded material or audio and 2. printedmaterial or text. A learner is expected tolisten to the audio and read the textsimultaneously. The course is primarilyfocused at people who want to acquire aworking knowledge of Kashmiri and theyounger generation of Kashmiris livingaway from the natural languageenvironment and slowly drifting away fromtheir language and culture.”

“

https://www.ikashmir.net/rkbhat/index.html

http://roopkrishenbhat.blogspot.com/

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website iKashmir.org mentioned in thesee-mails is obsolete and has now beenreplaced with iKashmir.net.Roop ji, along with other linguists, has overthe years played a major role in thestandardization of Devanagari script. Hisrole will be detailed in next piece of thiswriteup shortly.

At the time I was adding CIIL handbook tokoshur.org, I came across two morebooklets on our language, both written byDr. Omkar N. Wakhlu and his son Sh.Bharat Wakhlu.

Both of these booklets use Roman-Kashmiri script which is different from whatothers had used. Please visit thesebooklets for a set of learning Koshurlessons:· L e t ' s L e a r n K a s h m i r i :

· A Script for the Kashmiri Language- http://koshur.org/WakhluDr. Wokhlu was my principal at RegionalEngineering College, Srinagar. I had anopportunity to meet him in New York,

(Late) Prof. Omkar Nath Wakhlu andBharat Wakhlu

http://koshur.org/LearnKashmiri

sometime in 2005-06 when he was visitingBharat ji.

We did not have any standardized scriptfor Kashmiri language in Devanagari, butmost of the publications were insteadusing . In absence of one,Kashmiri Pandits came up with their ownscript for their publications. I recall my owngrandfather Pandit Kailash Nath Fotedarcome up with his own set of consonantsand vowels to compile Sh. Krishen JooRazdan's bhajans in the late 1960s, whicheventually got typed in standardized scriptin early 2000s by Sh. M.K. Raina, editedby my uncle Dr. Rattan Lal Fotedar(

).Our exodus in 1989-90 to various parts inIndia made matters worse. Kashmirilanguage was in danger to getting lost inoblivion unless we came up with a script ofour own. Efforts were being made to bringalignment in the work by the linguists invarious cities in the area of use ofDevanagari script for writing Kashmiri forsuch publications as ,

, Delhi (, Jammu), , to

name a few. Individual opinions had alsobeen published in various journals in Delhiand Jammu from time to time. A fewappeals by various linguists for a need topreserve our language and come up with astandardized script were sent out.

Devanagari Kashmiri StandardizationMeetings

Nastaliq

Koshur SamacharKashyap Samachar KheerBhawani Times Milchar

http://www.ikashmir.net/krishnajoorazdan/doc/kjr.pdf

· ��

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By arrangement with

Weekly SabzarBy arrangement with

Weekly Sabzar

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Shazia breezed inside my consultingchamber, driving a delicate whiff offragrance and a rustling of silk ahead ofher. A black scarf covered her head, neckand part of face including the ears. All youcould see of the fair face, where a gentlesmile of familiarity played, was the lowerhalf of her forehead, eyes, nose, mouth,chin and part of her cheeks, in the circularspace left uncovered by the scarf – like afull moon in a dark sky. The rest of herbody, except her hennaed hands andheavily bangled wrists, were clad in a longblack apron.

I could not place her immediatelyfor this was only her second visit. I hadseen her three months earlier for a jointaffliction. She was much leaner then andnot wrapped up like she was now. I haddiagnosed rheumatoid arthritis andprescribed treatment that demanded aregular follow up in the first few weeks forthe adjustment of drug dosing. But she hadinformed me that she was going on apilgrimage to Iran and would not be able tosee me again for three months. Hermention of Iran had kindled happymemories of the country where I workedas a foreign consultant in Kashan, a cityfamous worldwide for its beautiful carpets.I was there for fifteen months during theShah's reign before the ayatollahs tookover Iran. I had endeared myself to

Kashanis as mucha s t h e y h a de n d e a r e dthemselves to me.Since Shazia wason her ma idenvoyage, I suggestedsome h is to r i ca lplaces she mightvisit - Isfahan, Tehran, Qom, and Shiraz,especially Persepolis, the seat ofAchaemenid Empire founded in 6century BC.

My interest in her pilgrimage hadstruck an emotional cord that explainedthe smile that greeted me now. Ireciprocated her gesture and asked her totake her seat. By then, a tall and stockyman with green eyes and a short beardentered the room and quietly took his seaton a stool by her side.

“Are you with her?” I asked. Henodded to say yes.

Placing my prescription from herprevious visit on my table she said, “Myjoints are fine ever since I took themedicines. The tenderness and swellinghave all but gone. I can't thank youenough for I walked freely and did allchores free of pain all through my travels.And we did visit Tehran as well as Qomand Isfahan. Sorry, we could not go toKashan where you said you have

th

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My Medical Journey - Dr. K.L.Chowdhury

The Moral Code

worked.”“That was a long time back;

otherwise, I would have asked you to carrym y g r e e t i n g s t o s o m e o f m yacquaintances there. Don't know wherethey must be now. In any case, I am gladyou had a nice pilgrimage. Who else waswith you?”

She pointed towards the mansitting behind her.

I greeted him with a nod. Henodded back with a grateful grin.

“Sir, I have been going strictly byyour advice; would you like me to cut mymedication down or stop it altogether?Besides, I have come with a new problem.I seem to have grown fleshy lumps overthe collar bones, and on the nape of myneck.”

I proceeded to examine her andtried to feel the lumps. Since she wascovered, I palpated over her scarf.I don'tfeel any lumps, whatever,” I remarked.

“Please look how swollen my neckfeels, doctor,” she said. “Even though itdoes not cause me pain or discomfort, theflesh hurts even with pressure.”

“It is a buildup of fat around the neckand the shoulders.”

“I hope it is not a tumor,” she said,pointing again to her nape under the scarf.

“I fear it is not possible to examineyou properly; can you please remove thescarf for a while?”

She turned her head towards hercompanion with pleading looks, like a childseeking permission from her father. Henodded to say yes, and she unraveled the

scarf worn meticulously around her necklike a dressing. Suddenly the moonbecame larger as the rest of her face cameto view – a shiny brow, a low hairline, smallears and curved jaw. She threw back thefront flap of her apron to reveal shininggreen silken frock splashed artisticallywith fine needlework. What a beautifuldress to remain hidden from the eye!

The man stood up to watch as Istarted palpating the flesh under herelegantly coiffured black hair thrown overher shoulders and ears, down to her back.

“This is all fat; there is no swellingwhatsoever. You seem to have gainedweight while you were away; the Iraniansare great hosts,” I said laughing.

“That is what I told her. She hasbecome plump,” the man spoke for thefirst time.

“You were not with her the lasttime.”

“No, sir,”“Are you the husband?” I asked.“That is right, sir.”“Is that why she sought permission

from you?”He grunted before he answered, “It

is not permission the way you understandit, just a moral code after the pilgrimage toIran. You know it better since you havebeen there.”

“Oh yes, I know full well.”

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]kçÀjvçe JççoJç h³çþe hçvçávç Dççmçávç ®çákçÀçJççvç DçççÆ³ç J³çLçJçíje vççiçe®ç uççíuçe cçnçjôv³ç ûçççÆ³ç cççjçvç êççÆ³ç J³çLçMçnje iççcçvç mççWlçe no&mç scç lçjçJçLç DçnBçÆo mçól³çyçí-DçkçwuçJç yçôçÆ³ç pçç@çÆnuçJç æsdJçþ DççhççÆjLç kç@Àj ]pçççÆ³ç J³çLçmçççÆvç Jçlçvçe®ç MçÓyç mççJçôv³ç mçç@v³ç J³çLçjç]pçe cçnjç]pçvç neb]pçe³ç cçnjç@v³ç J³çLçJçíj vççiç³ç DçççÆ³ç ]pçvcçmç MççÇj ®³çLçjç]pçe JJçuçejmç DçççÆ³ç yççiçev³ç Òçç@v³ç JçLç

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Kundanspeak - T.N.Dhar ‘Kundan’

Shri Raina - Our Beloved Editor

Shri M.K.Raina has decided to call it aday so far as the publication of Pragaashis concerned. Certainly, he must have agood reason for that, otherwise a personof his nature and dedication would not

have taken thatdecision. I know himfor a long time, and itwas a pleasure toknow him closelya n d d e v e l o p ar e l a t i o n s h i p o fmutual love andrespect. Incidentally,we both hail fromChhattabal, Srinagar

and that was another bonding betweenus. He is a well-known writer and author ofKashmiri, both in prose and poetry. I haverelished reading the stories and poemswritten by him. His love for our mother-tongue is axiomatic. For decades now hehas been doing everything possible topromote and propagate this sweetlanguage. As a person also he is sweet,soft spoken and respectful towards oneand all.

He has been associated with'Project Zaan' as also with themonumental work of popularisingDevanagari script for this language, thatwas a boon for those Kashmiris who are

not well versed withNastalik script. Hes t a r t e d t h epublication of theP r o j e c t Z a a ncaptioned as 'Har-van' in August 2007and continued itsp u b l i c a t i o n t i l lDecember 2008, when it was temporarilystopped due to his official assignmentoutside India. Earlier he had assisted theeditor of Milchar, the official organ of theKashmiri Pandits' Association, Mumbai.Later in 2001 he took over its editorshipand continued till 2007. After a gap of fouryears, he was the editor of this magazineagain for a couple of years. The magazinepublished in three languages, English,Hindi and Kashmiri was very populara m o n g t h ereaders withinthe city ando u t s i d ebecause of itsrich contentand valuablei n f o r m a t i v ematerial.

R a i n aS a h i b ' sl i t e r a r y

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acumen and standard has been wellknown to Kashmiris living anywhere. As aresult of his name and fame and writingqualities, he was appointed the editor ofHindi and Kashmiri sections of yetanother community magazine, 'Aalav',published as an official organ of theKashmiri Hindu Cultural Welfare Trust,Bengaluru, in 2004. He edited thismonthly- publication up to 2007. Besideshis literary contribution in prose andpoetry, Sh. Raina has been a crusader forthis language. He has been conductingclasses, teaching the language to evennon-Kashmiris. He has been organisingcompetitions in reciting Kashmiri verses,speaking the language and explainingrare words and expressions. His invitingwords, 'Valiv Zaan Karav' have becomehousehold expressions. He has broughtout a monumental work, a Dictionary ofPeculiar & Uncommon Kashmiri Words &

P h r a s e s . T h eunique distinctionof this glossary isthat the words aregiven in threes c r i p t s ,D e v a n a g a r i ,N a s t a l i k a n dR o m a n , w i t htranslation andexplanat ion inEnglish. Anotherbook authored byhim, 'Grandma'ss t o r i e s ' , ac o l l e c t i o n o fK a s h m i r i f o l k

tales, is in the pipeline and is expected to

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be in print soon.The organ of Project Zaan, 'Har-

van' was revived by him in July 2018 andpub l ished wi th a new capt ion ,'Praagaash'. Writers from far and wide,from within Kashmir and outside Kashmiras also from abroad contributed to thisprized publication till date. It had articlesand poems in English, Hindi, Urdu andKashmiri. Here also both the commonscripts, Devanagari and Nastalik wereused so that it covers all types ofreaderships. I was privileged to beassociated with this magazine from thevery beginning. Publication of this popular

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monthly magazine is being discontinuedand this issue of August, 2021 will be itslast issue. We all, readers and writersalike, will miss this valuable popularmagazine, no doubt. We are grateful toRaina Saheb, for the services rendered byhim to our mother tongue. I pray for hislong and healthy life and hope that he willcontinue to contribute to the rich stock ofliterature of our dear mother tongue. Weshall await eagerly many more collectionsof his stories and poems. God bless him.

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Your life can be a nightmare

Unless u decide to share

With people who do care

And will always be there

When you need them the most

And can help to chase the ghost

That has been haunting your life

It can be anybody, even a husband or may be a wife.

Who has failed to understand you

Who has seen only the dark side of you.

Who has looked at you with a jaundiced eye

Who thinks you are acting when u actually cry

That's the time when you need

Parents, spouse, siblings or a friend indeed

Where u can unburden yourself

Which indeed can be a great help

To have someone who wishes u well

Someone who can earnestly tell

There is no need to feel sad

That u are worth more than that

Take all the things in your stride

That u are u say it with pride

Something that will enable u to dream

Something that will restore your self esteem

After all u live once only

Why make it miserable and lonely

Live it fully and live it well

Till HE finally rings the bell.

Poetry - Kishni Pandita

CARE

A Dictionary of

Peculiar & Uncommon

Kashmiri Words & Phrases

byM.K.Raina

Price Rs. 500.00

For a copy, send mail to: [email protected]

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Our Cultural Legacy - G.N.Atash

Intangible Heritage of Kashmir - 6

DEVGUN

KOSHALHUM

After this, the Guru (family purohit)whispers the Gayatri Mantra into the earsof the Meakhale grooms. They aredirected to recite this mantra everymorning after taking a bath. After thesacred thread of three strings is put on theboy, he stands on the mystic figure tracedon the ground (wegu) while the womensing around him. He is then carried downto a nearby river bank to perform his firstprayer ceremonies. He is taught themanners and religious tradit ionsregarding worship in a temple. Some richpeople take their Makhaleg r o o m ( g r o o m s ) t oAsthapans like Tulmul andMattan, instead of anearby riverbank forperforming Devgun.

After the completion of'Mas Douad and PouphChai ' , and 'Smapthi '(along with some otherceremonies), the lastimpor tan t ce remonycalled 'Koshalhum' isperformed on the next dayof Meakhal. A small'Hawan' is performed and

(Continued from last issue)mutton preparationsa r e s e r v e d t or e l a t i v e s a n dneighbours. After the' H a w a n ' i scompleted, Mekhalegrooms are madetoput on a newsacred thread andthe mothers andaunts remove theneeryvan. This brings to an end the ritualsconnected with the Yegnopavit (Meakhal)ceremony. All the rituals are accompaniedby 'Vanvun' the women's folk songs

related to marriage andM e a k h a l . A f t e r t h ecompletion of Meakhalceremonies and rituals, aHindu boy has to live hislife like a true Brahman.

There are hundreds ofv e r s e s o f ' Va n v u n 'regarding the variousrituals and ceremonies ofYegnopavit e.g.

VASEDV RAZNIDAVLATMANDOV

HUUM KARAY GOLABBAGAN MANZ

HUUMAS NISH AAY

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BRAHMAN SHARNAYSHASTARUK SAMVAD

LAEGH KARNAYTREH LAREH GORE SANZHTREH LAREH BAB SANZH

SHU LOUR YOUNAYPROVOOTHOV

(O, wealthy son of Raja Vasudev, I willarrange the rite of 'Huum' in the rosegarden. Brahman have begun recitation of'Shastar' before the 'Huum'. O, my dear,you got a sacred thread of six strings,three strings from Guruji and three fromour father.)

’Bate Yanivol' is a Hindu marriage.Kashmiri Pandits (Bate) perform severalrituals during a marriage ceremony. It is anelaborate process spread over manydays. The rituals performed during theprocess have religious and socialsignificance. Some of them are givenhere:

Garnavai (cleaning of home), Devgun,Lagan, Meenzirath, Vakhidaan, KanniShraan, Saaz, Kani Daan, Dari Pooza,Vuge, Lagnecher, Savagth and Rukhsathetc. 'Vanvun', peculiar marriage songsrecited by women in a peculiar manner,isone of the distinct features of a Hindumarriage ceremony.

’Garnavay' is done on both the auspicious

YANIVOL

GARNAVAY

occasions of Meakhal and Yenivol, two orthree days before the main ceremony.'Garnavay' means to give a bath to thehouse. This important task is started bythe paternal aunt. She gets 'Zang' (theofferings, gifts) on the occasion. 'Wari' isprepared and distr ibuted amongneighbours. 'Isband' is burnt in 'Kangris'.As a custom goes, guests are not allowedto be invited before the completion of'Garnava'. During this function, somewomen are engaged in cleaning anddecorating the house and others with'Vanvun'.

(I started my 'Vanvun' with 'Shuklam'. MayMother Bhavani bless you. With thegolden and silver spades we brought soilfrom Shankrachar Mountain. You cleanedand adorned your house with 'Saffron andfragrance of stag's navel' and brought abroom from Vastoor van, O, bride'smother'.)

SHUKLAM KARITHVANVUN HEUTMAI

SHUB PHAL DEUT YAIMAJI BHAVANAI

SONH SUNDHE TONGREHTE ROUP SANDI BAALAY

SHANKAR ACHAREHVAAJ SHALAY

MEATCH GARA NOVOOTHAYKONGH KOSTOORAHVASTOOR VANCHAY

LACHAJAY

DAPUN

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Dapun' literally 'to say' is the process ofinviting relatives, neighbours and friends,for attending the Yanivol or Meakhal. Itlasts for some days and the women or menwho go individually or in a group to inviteguests get free gifts there, which are called'Dapvuen'. Women recite 'Vanvun' songsrelated to 'Dapun'. This custom has nowbeen overtaken by invitation cards.Sometimes electronic equipments areused for this purpose. This change hasbrought to an end the religious aspect of'Dapun'.

(A good time was fixed and a 'Raath' wascalled for purpose of 'Dapun'. O, mother ofthe bride, you proceeded to invite guestsbeneath the trees of grapes. You receivedgifts and money as 'Dapun'.)I

DAPNAS KITUYRATH MANGNOVMAI

SOOV NECHTARVUCH NOOVMAYAIDAPANY DRAIKHAY

DACH RAATH TALIYAIACHE DARI YAZMAN

BAIEYAI DAPITH AAIKHAYBAAN DAVAN

of the devotee. With the tearful eyes thedevotee is looking upwards at this idol ofLord Shiva. Above the western gate, anidol of Lord Shiva with six arms has beencarved out of stone. Out of the six armsthe upper two arms are pointing upwardsholding the two ends of a light garment. Inthe right hands of the lower two arms isthe trident of Lord Shiva, whereas in theleft hand is a lotus that too carved out of astone. On the left side but below the idol isan instrumentalist playing Veena andanother instrumentalist is seated to theleft of Veena, playing a tabla. On theSouthern door of the temple there again isan idol of Lord Shiva with three headswhich is called Trimurthi in the HinduPhilosophy. A sacred thread is alsocarved on the Trimurti of Lord Shiva. Onthe left side of the Lord Shiva's idol is astone idol of the Goddess Parvati. Inaddition to these idols there are also idolsof some ascetics. Some yakhshaas havealso been carved out of stones. The idolsof Yakhshaas are beautifully decoratedwith garlands round their throats.

Author can be contacted [email protected]

Paayar Temple ... From Page 08

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Flavour of Spice - Marryam H Reshii

Gordael - The Sour Plums of Kashmir

Ask anyone to enumerate thedifferences between the Muslim andPandit cuisines of Kashmir, and you willhear the usual wazwan versus saal;lyeder tchaaman versus ruwanguntchaaman; haakh steamed with just adash of hing versus haakh with maaz andso on. But the humble gordael or sourplum remains, like so much else in ourcuisine, firmly under the radar.

Available for a shockingly shortseason in summer, during vaharaat ormid-summer, it is hardly the mostprestigious fruit grown in the Valley. Youcould say that it is at the opposite end ofthe spectrum from fruits like apples,cherries and strawberries. You would

never find an orchardof gordael anywherein the Valley, thoughits pleasantly lightgreen skin looksattractive enough.The chief claim tofame of the sour plumis the saying, “Kahanna gordael pav”where 11 annas(about 70 paise) was considered aninflated sum for this unloved fruit. In truth,250 grams of gordael cost far less than 70paisa, but if you were foolish enough tosquander your resources (time, money,etc) you would even end up paying an

inflated sum like 70 paise for250 grams of sour plums.The only use that I have

found for gordael is in thecookery of the Pandi tcommunity, as a souringagent. All over the country,fish is one ingredient that isusually combined with a souringredient. This could betomatoes, hog plum, the driedfruits of the garcinia trees thatgrow in coastal regions aswell as tamarind. In theKashmir Valley, where none


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of these ingredients grow, gordael was thede facto substitute. Many of my friendswho are now spread out across thecountry, responded to my modest pictureon Instagram of gordael, with a degree oflonging that took me by surprise. Most ofthem remembered their mothers andgrandmothers having cooked fish withgordael. One friend salivated at thethought of oluv (potatoes) soured withgordael. A chef, now based in Dehradun,remembered his grandmother feeding allthe children in the family with fish and ricein which the fish was soured with gordael,to the accompaniment of stories ofbygone times. Nuner (purslane) the wildgreens that are a feature of the Kashmiritable in spring, when it grows wild in thefields, has a somewhat strong flavour.Adda dash of gordael to it and you have abarely perceptible astringence that is verypleasurable indeed. And so it is withpaneer (tchaaman) which can become atrifle boring when eaten regularly. Add afew sour plums to the gravy while it iscooking, and you will end up with a dishthat has a pleasurable tang to it.

One of my friends who respondedto my post on gordael rememberedsummer holidays in Srinagar with a pile ofgordael and a sprinkle of salt. I can think ofno more piquant memory of childhoodthan that.

Author can be contacted at:[email protected]

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kçÀçJ³ç[ç. vçvçmççÇ hçBçÆ[lçç

Koshur Saman-balKosam(A Joint venture of Project Zaan and KAII)

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Congratulations to all

Kashmir ReportKaleem Bashir

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Gayoor Foundation President visits Khrew

Er. S Gayoor Andrabi, President ofrenowned literary, cultural & developmentalforum Gayoor Foundation visited MataJawali ji Mandir, Khrew in the Pamporehamlet of southern Pulwama district

where the annual mela ofHaar Tschodah (the day falling on the 14thday of Haar month) was celebrated bythe Kashmiri Pandits with religious fervour.Thousands of the Kashmiri Pandits acrossJammu and Kashmir assembled in thetemple situated on a nearby hill station in thep ic tu resque Khrew v i l lage . Theyparticipated in the special Pooja Archina

and Hawan in the temple.

Gayoor talked to the Pandits about arrangements made there andwished them good on this occasion. “I thank admin concerned and localMuslim populace here who have made the satisfactory arrangements forour Pandit brothers. This has been our age old tradition to celebrate suchoccasion unitedly" Said Gayoor. The Pandits who met him expressedhappiness and satisfaction for his presence there.

“The migrant Pandits should come back to their own homeland andgovernment should take steps to ensure the same. The day should comesoon when we (Muslims and Pandits) start to celebrate such occasionswith participation of each other", Gayoor wished.

onFriday, 23rd July,

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Photographs on next page


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Er. Syed Showkat GayoorAndrabi, Presidsent, GayoorFoundation at Mata Jwala JiAsthapan, Khrew on HaraTsodah


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Photos on next page


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Mehfil-e-Mushaira at Kaj Nag, Handwara


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Your Own Page

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Paintings by

daughter of Mr.& Mrs. ManzoorNawchoo ofGogoo,Humhama,Srinagar

UzmaNawchoo

Letters to Editor

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Dear Maharaj Krishen,

K L Chowdhury

Your decision to stopPraagaash was assudden as i t wasshocking. We had gotused to receive thejournal on the first ofevery month without fail,looking eagerly forwardto the variety and range of topics, stories,poems, folk tales, historical and scientificwriteups from eminent writers, themeticulous editing, and the pictorial feastthat you dished out endlessly.

Understandably, you must havestrong reasons to bow out, but I will missPraagaash no doubt. You have rendered ayeoman's service to Kashmiri language inparticular. My special commendations.

With best wishes for your newventures and for good health andhappiness.

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Namaskar,

Sanjay Pandita

Raina Saeb,

Bharat PanditMumbai

Dear Raina Sahib,

Praagaash is an eye opener, it is a culturalmagazine besides that it touches allaspects of our knowledge, art, poetry,medical advices and much more.. You hadbeen doing it alone though it is group work.We will miss this treasure.

Namaskar. Pragaashhas been the beacon oflight amongst all thecultural and literaryKashmiri e-magazinescurrently. It's so sad toknow thatAugust will beits last issue. It hastaken so much of you tomake this possible month after month andcontinuing it in spite of so many hurdlesand difficulties.

Raina Saeb, we can't thank youenough for your dedication and selflessservice to the community and to theliterary circles at large. Wishing you greathealth , long life, more flow to your pen andclicks to the keyboard. Orzuv.

We will miss Praagaash very much. It wasa connect with our culture and the valley.The contents were varied and of highquality and we would eagerly wait for the

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next issue. Well, all good things mustcome to and end . We are grateful to youfor publishing Praagaash which involvedso much effort and time.

Namaskar. Our community is thankful toyou for your contribution to the society. Wewill miss you but hope you will continue toguide us in future also. God bless you withgood health and prosperity andhappiness.Regards.

Sorry to hear that.Thanks for your efforts andcontribution

Praagaash wil l bem i s s e d a l o t . U rstrenuous efforts nsincere labour put inb r i n g i n g o u t t h emagnificent magazinew i l l a l w a y s b eremembered n alreadystand acknowledged.The professional might n the hugefamiliarity with the language, n cultural

V.K.Khoda

Respected Raina Sahib,

Rattan RainaNew Delhi -110096

Sunil ManwatiMumbai

Dear Raina Sahib,

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ethos of Kashmir with ur good self wasevidently visible in all the issues.

Praagaash had created anacknowledged niche n space in the realmof the community magazines asprofessionally it matched all thejournalistic requirements.

A big salute to ur sincere efforts nthe labour put in by u all these produced nformulated issues.Thanks.

Praagaash was a torch bearer of Indianculture in general and Kashmiri culture inparticular. I was thinking about that can wehave payment system for subscription ofPraagaash. I request Raina Saheb torethink his decision and let us havesubscription system for Praagaash.

Instead of closing thepublication, you canmerge that with Milchar.Even a section basedon Praagaash theme.We must not let thetreasures die. Happy tosupport.

Upender AmbardarJammu

Ashok Razdan

Chand RainaEditor Milchar,Mumbai

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Namaskar Raina Sahab,

Dear Raina Sahib,

Prof. R.N.BhatVaranasi

Prof. G.H.LoneSrinagar, Kashmir

Dear Raina Sahib,

I am utterly confoundedto read your pos ta n n o u n c i n g y o u rdecision to close downthe publication of ourm o s t e s t e e m e dp u b l i c a t i o nPRAAGAASH.

Any hope of yourrethink hence it's revival?

Pragaash is a greatinitiative. Its continuationwill enrich social capital.

Please reconsideryour decision.

It will be very painful.Please cont inue i tspublication and don't stopit.

It is very unfortunate that you havedecided to stop publication of Praagaash

S.P.KachruMumbai

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m a g a z i n e f r o mS e p t e m b e r 2 0 2 1onward.

W e h a v eimmensely liked thismagazine from the last6-8 months ever sinceyou came in contact withme through Mr VinodWarikkoo in Mumbai and through yourcontact I could discover my old collegebuddy & friend Shri P.N Koul with whom Ihad lost contact for the last 32 yearsbecause of travesty of time.

It is a balanced magazine withoutany political connotations which was themost attractive factor for me in person.

I wish you could give a seriousthought about discontinuing thismagazine. I believe it has goodviewership and many readers like mewould have the same sentiments. K i n dregards.

[email protected]

Thank you Ra inaSahab for put t ingtogether a wonderfuldictionary of typicalKashmiri words.

A s y o u a r eaware , I w i sh toimprove my learning of

Omkar Safapuri

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Kashmiri language. Even after spending22 years from Birth in Srinagar, we learntKashmir i adulterated by variouslanguages mostly English.

Kudos to the efforts put in by youover the last five years.

Looking forward to many morebooks in Kashmiri in any script, Roman,Devanagari or Nastalik. Some of us arefortunate to have access to such literatureand basic Kashmiri language books.Besides, your efforts in various ways likeQuiz, Teaching, Story & Poem recitationetc and Competitions is an excellent wayto popularise the language and a hugebenefit to people like me.

Thank you once again Masterji.

What a pity!! Praagaashi s a n a w e s o m epublication and I used toenjoy reading most ofthe articles except oneswritten in Urdu. As isyour calibre your work ispar excellence. Is thereany way we can help?

We totally disagree with you. Kindly carry

Kuldip DharSurat

Dear Raina Sahib,

Urmila ZutshiMumbai

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on, not for self but pleasefor us. Majority won'taccept it. Please don't doit.Please.

Namaskar. This is a verysad news for me. As areader of #Praagaash Iw i l l m iss i t s newe d i t i o n s . B i d d i n gfarewell to Praagaashcan be really very hard.The knowledge thatPraagaash shared withus and the learning cannot be comparedwith anything. Thank you so much foreverything for giving me an opportunity towrite for Praagaash.

May this goodbye be onlymomentary. And may the coming daysbring back Praagaash. Hope to meet yousoon. Regards.

This is for the secondtime in my life to gets u c h a s t o n i s h i n ginformation as aboutyour prest igious e

Shahnawaz SofiBudgam

Respected Raina Sa'ab,

Rahul Kilam@rahulkilam

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magazine Praagaash. First time mostpopular Nonformal educational RadioProgram since 1970 was put off the air atRadio Kashmir for all times to come duringninetees of the last century hurting theemotions of millions of listeners in theKashmir valley .

Sad to know that. It hadbecome a habit to gothrough the interestingcontent. I guess everygood thing has to passtoo. Your pursuit ofspreading our mothertongue will keep youoccupied.All the best.

Don't stop Pragash.You have earned aname, Don't let it go soeasily.My full support.

It is disheartening that you will not bebringing out your cherished magazinehenceforth. But at the same time it musthave been quite difficult to please the

Suren TikuPune

Namaskar.

M.K.ParimooMumbai

Mushtaque B BargColumnist &Author,Srinagar

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diversified sections ofpeople in differentlanguages. Whatevermay be the cause, Irespect your decision.Take care.

Me too feeling sad. I seeno such strong reason toclose it up.

May reconsiderplease.

My hats off to you foryour hard work to havebeen bringing out thee x c e l l e n t o n l i n eM a g a z i n e" P r a a g a a s h " . T h emagazine had indeedreached a state ofexcellence. I waitedevery month for a newissue to reach my inbox. It was so rich incontent on a wide range of subjects. Iparticularly liked editorials, write ups of Dr.K.L.Chowdhury, Shri M.K.Parimoo, ShriOpinder Ambardar besides pieces ofKashmiri poetry, essays and write ups on

Chand BhatMumbai

Dear Raina Sahib,

Er. Manzoor NawchooSrinagar

Dear Raina Saheb,

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our heritage and culture. Praagaash gaveme good company for almost one and halfyear of Covid 19 times. I will miss it now.

I must eulogize your efforts to bringout Praagaash a quality and standard on-line publication. I am sure you will continueto enrich Kashmiri language with yourcontributions in future as well. Wish you allthe best. Warm regards,Prof. Bansi Lal KaulJammu

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I request my friends inGayoor Foundation toconsider if we can dosomething to continuePraagaash.

God bless you Mahra.Your whole energy andp a s s i o n w e n t i n t oPraagaash. It was yourlabour of love.

It is a matter of great sorrow and regret thatunder certain circumstances publication ofE-Magz ine Praagaash is be ingdiscontinued after August 2021asannounced by your self. This act is really

S.G.M.AndrabiGayoor FoundationKashmir

Marryam H ReshiiNew Delhi

Respected Raina Sahib,��

painful not only for mebut also for most of thewriters, poets, readersand scholars who havec o n t r i b u t e d t o t h ePraagaash so far. I havealready communicatedtheir concerns regardingthe announcement ofdiscontinuation of Praagaash with therequest to reconsider the decision.

As you know, I am havingemotional attachment with Praagaashand am not ready to leave the associationwith the Zaan Group. I along with myfriends and well wishers of Praagaash arein consultation that we may launch anorganisation for the development ofKashmiri language, culture and traditionunder the name and style of Praagaashsubject to your willingness, with furtherrequest to be its Chief Patron. In additionto this a WhatsApp group will be formed ofl e a r n e d p e r s o n a l i t i e s f o r t h eencouragement of Kashmiri culture andlanguage. I am also grateful to T.N.DharSahib and all associates of Praagaash fortheir hard work and their love for ourmother tounge.

Hope my view point will beendorsed by all the well wishers of theKashmiri language in order to encouragethe writers, poets, scholars and historians.Kaleem BashirCoordinating Associate for PraagaashKashmir Valley

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Documents

Praagaash August 2021 - mkraina.com