HE REMAINS THE UNKNOWN POET SHAM LAL OF MAHIND BIJBIHARA KASHMIR

                                                                              

THE UNSUNG  SHAM  LAL OF MAHIND,  BIJBIHARA.  KASHMIR ….

TAARAKH  VAES   PEIY   LATCCHI   GAYYI   LAAL.. 

( The stars fell from the skies and the pearls got lost in the dust )

( Photo..Village Mahind under snowfall )

Before 1990, when he lived in his village Mahind, Bijbihara , he was a Brahmin who wore his Janew ( sacred thread ) and performed Sandhya every morning at the village spring. That is how the Pandits of the village understood him. For them, he was a saint who recited Shlokas from Mahimnapaar (Shivmahima-Stotra ) extempore.For the Muslims of the village , he was a Darvesh , a Faquir and Peer Sahib . He was the faith healer and Sarparast who gave Taweez. A trusted Peer to many Muslims .And he remained a Mastaana ( carefree ) all along .His songs were sung in private gatherings . His Naats and Leelas were also sung in private assemblies .And in 1990 , when he had to leave everything and move to Jammu as refugee , he was Sham Lal , a Kashmiri Migrant of ‘Nagorta Tented Accommodation ’. A homeless , unknown , displaced person struggling to exist . He had turned silent, pensive and a little detached when I saw him last . Yet , poetry he never abandoned.

Father of four daughters , Sham Lal was a poet of a different class . The Sufiana and love flavour of his poetry remained intact even after 1990. I came to know him through my friend Tej Dhar ( son of Prof A N Dhar ) of Safa Kadal, Srinagar . Tej had more than thirty years of steady association with Sham Lal .Sham Lal had a small shop where he practised modern allopathic medicine and Unani Hikmat , a profession that he had learnt from some person in Srinagar.His father was a Sufiana singer and Sitarist who would join music assemblies of Bhagwan Gopi Nath Ji along with Ved Lal Vakil. He came to be known as Maheshwar Seytaaer in his close circle . Many music assemblies were organised at Mahind by Maheshwar Nath wherein Sufiana singers participated. Later , Ghulam Nabi Doolwal, a well-known singer from Kishtwar also started coming to Mahind . And finally, Doolwal would invariably come to Mahind as and when he was in Srinagar. Recently , I came to know that Sham Lal is no more . His daughters are married . The youngest died in a tragic road accident in Jammu . My friend , Tej Dhar does not know the present whereabouts of the family. Here is  sample of his poetry that I remember :-

 “Ba khoon e dil lechhomus khat khabar nah-novmut ma chhun..

 Athhas kyathh sheesha dil dyutmuss khabar phutrovmut ma chhun.

 Gayoss saen tsoor laagithh hauz e konsar manz aneyom pyalla

 Mayassar bronthakaeni thhovmas  khabar chhakrovmut ma chhun.”…………(Sham Lal )

 ( Using my heart’s blood as ink 

 I scripted the letter for him,

 Maybe he erased the entire transcript ! 

 Has he ? I don’t know.

 This glass-like fragile heart too 

 I had put in his custody ,

 Maybe he broke it into pieces ! 

 Has he ? I don’t know.

 For him ,

 Like a thief ,

 I rushed to fetch a drink from Kaunser Naag lake ,

This too I kept at his disposal ,

 Maybe he wasted it away ! 

 Has he ? I don’t know.)

 “Tse vuchh ta yaarus chhu kyaah malaalai 

 Chhu-sai me saetein hisaab kaertan

 Ti poora horuss yi zun ba daarus

 Me lolakuyi mataa azaab kaertan

 Ba thaava poorithh yi door tas kyoot 

 Su vaati kunni kien tamis chhu vaatun

 Me raatchh roozithh ya maatchh rotchhmus

 Su Sheeritan ya kharaab kaertan”……………….( Sham Lal )

 

 ( Could you please find it out 

 What grievance my love has against me ?

 If he has it , 

 Then let him square it up ,

 I shall repay fully what falls due to him,

 But in Love , 

 let him not put me in this pain and agony .

 For him ,

 Again I shall keep this garden

 blooming with flowers ,

 I know he has to come and he will;

 This sweetness ,

 I have been guarding for a long, 

 Now, let him come ,

 Taste it or spill it away ..)

 

 

 ( Avtar Mota )

PS...

Photos....

 
(1) An Autumn View of Dara Shikoh Park Bijbihara kashmir ..
And
(2) Post snowfall view of village Mahind...

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