Ather Zia You speak of “paradise”— waterfalls, with some ebb, still rush over weary shoulders of mountains that stand like knowing children in Maisuma during a “crackdown”— meaningless exercises in words, left empty by presence of soldiers who guard wilting lotuses and stone domes of other tyrannies against soft bodies … Read more →
Old Man And The Breeze
Huzaifa Pandit I could never taste The purple fire On roses without thorns Inert to the loud sneeze Of the Evening Call to Prayer Peeled off from the cold sun Itching from the damp blanket Of the pale clouds Emptied of all steel-colored rain I could never hear Fully the … Read more →
A Promise
Muhammad Tahir He asks me: “Where is the poem you promised to write long ago?” I am at a loss what to tell him: that I lost it somewhere along the way, or, that it never came to me the way I wanted it to come. Or, shall I say, … Read more →
My Kashmir
Mehr Fatima Hakim Kashmir To me so dear But I don’t see Where’s the beauty I see trash in piles Streets full of litter and junk Stretching for miles It saddens me to see this gunk A place the generation before mine Speaks so fondly about Recalling Dal Lake’s shine … Read more →
Making Sense Nonsense
Jwmwi Basumatary Mirror’s taunting Neither makes me smile nor cry Breaking of the day Breaks nothing either An emptiness of empty within With no more space to fill A pessimist’s optimism The silence between the musical notes A dying man’s last love Living man’s eternal bitterness Frozen in the maze … Read more →
The Absent Snow
Ashfaq Saraf Love for Sadiq Jaan didn’t allow us the comfort of a palatable surprise. We were made to bury him in the dead of night and with him physical sanctity of his sovereign face which had the potent substance of attracting Amjad out of his hole. Of what was … Read more →
It Is Getting Late
Ambreen Gul Shah Summer was a fading memory and spring was a long way off. A late winter afternoon. Dull, dreary, leafless trees manning the compound wall. The jagged mountains breaking and splintering into the horizon. That horizon beckoned, tempted one to try to cross it. What existed beyond those … Read more →
Psychosis
Shahnaz Bashir Each receding paranoid trooper diminishes, becomes tiny and fades past in the side mirror of the 407 bus, dragging behind itself a long ribbon of the thoroughfare road. The road bends at Dalgate and stretches through the downtown of Srinagar. Sakeena is one of the nearly thirty something … Read more →
Writing on the Wall
Majid Maqbool Riyaz Ahmad made his living by painting messages on walls. He was a sign painter. He survived on irregular work assignments from Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC). In his late thirties, he stood out on the street for his imposing height. He had a thin frame but he was … Read more →
“Shabistan-e-Wajood” (The Ordeal of a Journalist)
Authored by Maqbool Sahil Reviewed by Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander Publisher: Meezan Publishers, Srinagar Kashmir Year of Publication: 2009 | Price: Rs 350 | Pages: 355 Jail Life is altogether a different world where only the supposed guilty are confined for punishment. The word Punishment seems harsh to the … Read more →
A Suicide Note
Basit Malik It is limelight winter evening. I stand firm on my decision, while searching the deepest point in the Jhelum. I am not one of those water environmentalists nor a typical nature lover. I disown the paradox, world and this city. It has amplified my every effort into a … Read more →
Repudiating The Fathers: Resistance and Writing Back in Mirza Waheed’s The Collaborator
by Rakhshan Rizwan I write on that void: Kashmir, Kaschmir, Cashmere, Qashmir, Cashmir, Cashmire, Kashmere, Cachemire, Cushmeer, Cashmiere, Casmir, or Cauchemar in a sea of stories? Or: Kacmir, Kaschemir, Kasmere, Kachmire, Kasmir. Kerseymere? (Ali 3) Agha Shahid Ali, the critically acclaimed Kashmiri-American poet, speaks of his personal and literary conundrum … Read more →
Kashmir As a Palimpsest of Violence: Reading The Wonder House (2005) and The Homecoming (2008)
Mohammad Atif Mysterious mountains, intriguing rivers and picturesque valleys, caught between political controversy, insurgency, militancy and infiltration: Kashmir has been a topic of interest for many writers. Throughout history, Kashmir has been known for its scenic beauty and closeness towards nature while being there. But in the past half century, … Read more →
The Changing Aspirations of Kashmiri Youth
The Changing Aspirations of Kashmiri Youth By Anwesha Ray Chaudhuri The paper aims to study the changing aspirations of the Kashmiri youth. This is interpreted as a transition of gun totters to peaceful protesters. The paper will begin with study of the trajectory of youth picking up guns to replacement … Read more →
Translations of Faiz and Makhdoom
Arzoo – A Wish Faiz Ahmad Faiz Translated from the Urdu by Abid Ahmad Mujhay maujazoN pay yaqeeN nahiN magar aarzoo hay kay jab qaza mujhay bazm-e-dehr say lay chalay to phir aik baar ye izn day kay lehad say laut kay aa sakooN teray dar pay aa kay sada … Read more →
Reclaiming Kasheer through Zalgur
by Ananya Jahanara Kabir On the 16th of June, 2013, a new group made its appearance on facebook. Called ‘The Kashmir Bicycle Movement’, it ‘aims to reclaim streets of Kashmir for people, displace cars and restore pride in riding bicycles’. The Movement is the brainchild of Kashmiri scholar and environmental … Read more →
Three Lovers Of Night
Arif Ayaz Parrey At first glance, there was nothing ordinary about Roqsaan. Her skin had the sheen of February snow and her eyes were winter nights. She had the attitude of Chilla-i-Kalaan and a pout which warmed men’s hearts like the sun must in Chilla-i-Kalaan, leaving them with an afterglow … Read more →
Art of Protest in Kashmir
Written and Curated by Wasim Mushtaq Wani MOHAMMAD ABDULLAH MEHBOOB (1943) Mehboob’s most powerful and dynamically effective painting during the turmoil is interestingly a self-conscious quote from Picasso’s Guernica, 1937. There cannot be a better reference to quote from the history of modern art which makes such a significant relevance as … Read more →
Maet Kath translated by Mohammad Junaid
by Akhtar Mohiuddin Translated by Mohammad Junaid Translators Note This last June, which I spent in Kashmir, I looked through some old Kashmiri texts in my parent’s tiny library–sadly the books are slowly being eaten away by insects–and found an old anthology of Kashmiri literature. While there were several remarkable … Read more →
Taliban In Context of Kashmir
Syed Zafar Mehdi A palpable buzz in the town is that after the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, the hard-bitten Talibani guerillas may trickle over to the Indian-occupied-Kashmir. Local media has been sent into a tizzy as seasoned political pundits discuss its possible repercussions. … Read more →
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