RAJAB HAMID''S "AFSOOS DUNIYA" LIVES ON ..

             

 

 RAJAB HAMID  IS NO MORE BUT   “AFSOOS  DUNIYA  ” LIVES ON

.

In  May  1910,  Rajab Hamid was born in a lower middle class family residing in Dangar Mohalla ,  Sotura ,  a remote village in Tral, Kashmir . Sotura village is located in Tral tehsil of Pulwama district in Jammu & Kashmir. It is situated 15 km away from sub-district headquarter Tral  and 40 km away from district headquarter Pulwama.   Gaffar Hajaam, his father was a barber. Rajab also adopted his father’s profession . Without any formal education , Rajab Hamid started writing poetry at a very young age. He wrote a song that crossed all barriers of time and space . Apart from being echoed in every corner of the Kashmir valley , this song  touched Kashmiris  living in  England , America,  Saudi Arbia , Middle east  and the plains of the country . You had the cassettes previously and now you have the CDs of this song selling in the market . Late Ghulam Hassan Sofi popularized his song AFSOOS DUNIYA  through his magical voice . Every time he sang the song, he made his listeners pensive . I am a witness to this fact . I am informed  that he had wept  like a child  while recording it for the first time .

 “Afsoos   duniya, kainsi   na  Log samsaar   Seetei

 Patau laakin vuchh ta  Kam kam  mazaar Vaetei”

 ( Alas ! this world never accompanied any one ,

 Behold ! how all the great men finally landed at the graveyard.)

Rajab Hamid  was initiated  to the world of  ‘Sufi Mysticism’  by Abdul Gaffar Tantray, a Sufi saint  of Midoora, Tral. This couplet is a testimony to his association with Gaffar Tantray.-

 "Ba  tsaaran yaar nishatan shalimaran

 Su  ousum traal midoorai  tsoorei  Ro'zan."

(I looked  for my guide in Nishat and Shalimar gardens ,

 Look he was hiding  in the  Midoora near Tral.)

 He had  another Murshid and guide : Ghulam Rasool Fida, popularly known as Lassa  Khan Islamabaadi.

Rajab Hamid lived with his daughter Hajra  who breathed her last in 1984. After her death, he was a lonely man who devoted his time and energy to poetry  or  attending  Sufiana  music Mehfils .He was often seen in the company of Faqeers and saints .

 

                             
                                    ( Recording of Afsoos Duniya  Source.. You Tube)           

Alas !this   great poet  faced absolute indifference from the society during his life. He died in a state of abandonment and abject poverty. His family continues to reel under this poverty. No institution in Kashmir, though we have many who speak about culture and art, came forward to help him when he was alive, or his family, after his death. Rajab Hamid had a lot of unpublished work. I am informed that lately , the Academy of Art , Culture and Languages ( in collaboration with his followers)  has compiled and  published a book of his poems .  

 
Rajab  loved his Hubble Bubble ( Hookah ) and lived a simple life of a Dervish .He  left this world on 2nd April 2008.Peace be to his soul.

( Avtar Mota )

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\.