Yogesh Mishra On the way to school Zuni counts One barricade, two barricades, three barricades Green is Pakistan Saffron is India And blood is red It is little Zuni’s new charade The way she learns counting and recalls a color’s name I do not know whom to blame … Read more →
A poem for Aasif Sultan
Omer Sultan I wrote this poem to address the illegal imprisonment of Aasif Sultan, the Assistant Editor of Kashmir Narrator, a monthly magazine. Aasif, my brother was arrested on the intervening night of 27th and 28th of August 2018. He dropped me to the airport a day before his arrest. … Read more →
Wayfaring by Tikuli Dogra
Reviewer: Shabir Ahmed Mir “Wayfaring” published by The Leaky Boot press (2017, 136 pages) is the second collection of poems by Tikuli Dogra. The collection is divided into seven asymmetric sections. Despite the thematic difference between the sections as well as within the sections, Tikuli Dogra emerges as a poet … Read more →
Won’t the soil suffocate you, my son?
Benish Meraj Searching amidst the best of attire, she found the warmest pheran (woollen robe). She piled his every belonging and took one, just one. The mothers living under oppression knows how to bury the pain deep in their chests, they know how to bury their beloved, they know how to … Read more →
Words Matter! Mannan Wani writes a second letter
Mannan Wani یہ فیضانِ نظر تھا یا کے مکتب کی کرامت سکھاے کس نے اسمعیل کو آدابِ فرزندی …. To the digital audience, mostly educated, I had written a piece in CNS Kashmir, calling for contemplation and the revision of views. But within a span of 6 hours, the … Read more →
Words Matter! Mannan Wani writes an open letter
Mannan Wani Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you send him to the cemetery. – Malcolm X Occupation is not easy to understand, it’s a very complex and multifaceted phenomenon. The decade’s long bloody conflict has turned Kashmir into one … Read more →
The truth behind “Khokh”
M J Aslam Kashmiri Dictionary defines the word “Khokh” as “an effigy used to scare away birds from fields of the crop”. Its English equivalent is “scarecrow” which is used by peasants during harvest season in their farmlands to keep away the pesky birds from damaging the crop. That … Read more →
They are my martyrs and I am their custodian
Obituary Arif Nazir Habibullah Khan, the gravedigger and custodian of Mazar-e-Shohada at Eid Gah Srinagar has passed away. He left for his heavenly abode on July 19 2018. Khan Sahab leaves behind two daughters and a son and a touching legacy of his service to the Kashmiri nation. In the … Read more →
Dirty sands of time, a review of ‘The Night of Broken Glass’ by Feroz Rather
Adil Bhat Underneath the violence, the festering heart of Kashmiri society Fiction has the power to transform our perceptions of peoples and places. Feroz Rather’s The Night of Broken Glass is such a book; it hits you right in the gut. The author peeks into the dark, festering heart of Kashmiri … Read more →
Downtown, my Beloved
Benish Meraj My love for old city evolved similarly the way my love for my beloved did! I crossed these alleys every day, like every girl in high school, I would walk lazily through these decorated lanes, not necessarily of laziness but lingering through every shop to watch endlessly to-be … Read more →
Love in the Time of Camera
Kashmir Lit News Desk We introduce a new poetry book written by Kashmiri poet Mubashir Karim. “Love in the Time of Camera has a strong appetite for love that transforms the modern Kashmiri life – from Mehjoor Nagar to 90 Feet, Heavy Traffic to Mobile Phones, Unmarked Graves to Surveillance – … Read more →
When the War is over
Shabir Ahmad Mir When the war is over And you can come over To our side I will let you poke Your finger Into the holes left By bullets and pellets And you will feel how much they hurt Still. When the war is over I will let … Read more →
Oct 27 1947: The story of Indian invasion I heard from my grandmother
I still recall my nostalgic part of my life when I was around 10 years of age. My grandma Sakeena who is in the picture with me would often handover the rope, to which our domesticated black goat was tied for taking it into the cowshed. I would anchor it … Read more →
Slap
Shabir Ahmed “Come on. We must leave. Now,” Tariq heard his father say in a voice that was all too familiar. Commanding. Demanding. Used to obeyance. Arms akimbo Tariq’s father filled the doorway with his immense frame. How could one not obey him! … Read more →
Green is the Colour of Memory, Poetry Collection
A new book on poetry titled, “Green is the Colour of Memory” by Huzaifa Pandit is out. Kashmir Lit is happy to share an excerpt from the foreword by Nabina Das. She mentions: “This poet is from the mountains, valleys, springs, and rivers that have seen prolonged dark nights and not the dazzle … Read more →
Two Poems by Insha Muzaffar
(1) In the mirror the hangman looks so like my silence that I wish I was born as a million tongued word meaning freedom there are no flowers like that of moon (eclipsing over old mountains) no resurrection other than its absurd cycles but then the way some people longingly … Read more →
Kashmir, A Ghazal by Shabir Ahmed
Where to, shall we now row in Kashmir? No more does the Vyeth flow in Kashmir. See how we are smiling in sepia tones Ah! It is just an old photo in Kashmir. Lest it bring the memories of peace They no longer allow snow in Kashmir. Saffron does not … Read more →
Eid ul Fitr in Kashmir by Aaliya Mushtaq
The sacrificial Eid is yet months away Yet Ishmael is dangled on the cross The angels keep their censored silences and pour them into our hearts. It isn’t even Muharram But sisters wrap mourning over their torn cloaks, and wipe off sweat from the cold bullets settled in the brows … Read more →
A Bloody Night in Pampore by Muhammad Tahir
Don’t tell me Papa Kishtwari looked ferocious, And his eyes had all the fire of terror; That his hairs were dyed dark ginger And he walked with intimidating airs. Tell me about that January night in 1996, Which was the Night of Salvation, When his armed pack of savage men, … Read more →
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