AND KASHMIRIS FORGOT HIM ALTOGETHER .
Many friends ask me
“Who is this Noor Mohd. Roshan that you are talking about ? we do not know him .”
Let us not forget Noor Mohd Roshan ( Born 1919 ) . Together with Dina Nath Naadim, Som Nath Zutshi, Pran Kishore, Amin Kaamil,Ali Mohd Lone and many more literary personalities of the Cultural conference , Roshan wrote Plays , short stories and composed verses jointly leading the progressive movement in kashmiri literature.. Assisted by Noor Mohd Roshan , Dina Nath Naadim wrote Heemal Naaegeraai an opera based on popular kashmiri folklore. Roshan translated Tagore’s Red Oleanders and Chandaalika to kashmiri . Does any person remember his play Soan Sansaar ( Our world ) or numerous short stories that he wrote ? Together with Poet Mehjoor , Naadim , Miza Arif and Aziz Haroon he co-edited Kwong Posh ( Saffron Flower ) in 1949 . This magazine was the first kashmiri literary journal started by cultural conference from Kashmir.
Roshan was essentially a poet who wrote thunderous poems with clear and loud message. A firm believer of Marxist ideology , he also castigated the exploiters of poor and hapless people . Through his poems ,he exposed the sham leaders of his time . He used his pen against the old jagirdaari system as well.Roshan’s best poems are based on folk songs . songs that convey the seasons of Kashmir . songs that speak about the peasants or workers of the land. I quote lines from his kashmiri poem Bahaar ( Spring ). Spring is about to visit Kashmir or is in Kashmir . Did you feel from the lines below ?
When the spring breeze crossed over the mountain,
The clouds packed up their dull grey shawls ,
The sky turned blue as a sapphire ;
The sun laughed from behind the distant peak;
The mountain snow perspired,
Like a bashful nymph in confusion,
Giving birth under her mantle to infant rills ,
Seeing this , streams leapt wildly forth ,
Bounding over rocks like churned , foaming milk,
And kissing on the forehead of waterfalls ,
They cried
“ Our Darling spring has come ”
( Noor Mohd Roshan )
Roshan was a master who also wrote Tukh in kashmiri Like ( four liner poems like Rubaai in Urdu ) .Unfortunately this literary giant turned silent since 1960….
( Autar Mota )
October 15 , 2012 Time 12.45 AM … Good Night
CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.