JAGAN NATH SAQI : THE UNSUNG RADIO AND STAGE ARTIST FROM KASHMIR

                                       

UNFORGETTABLE  JAGAN NATH SAQI 

He was born and raised in Khankaah e Sokhta, a locality in downtown Srinagar. He lived close to the ancestral house of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad and accordingly, he was personally known to every member of the Bakshi family. Due to his varied interests and traits like acting, smoking, sitting in gossip shops, travelling by a full Tonga, putting on an English hat, spending money lavishly and keeping close association with some henchmen of Nawa Kadal, Pandits called him by nicknames like 'Jagir Gunda', 'Raasa-kath( dancing lamb) ' and 'Jaga Angrez'.

 This area in downtown Srinagar was the birthplace place Mata Roopa Bhawani, the great saint-poetess of Kashmir in the 17th century. Pandit. Birbal Dhar(who guided Sikhs to Kashmir), Pandit Bal Kak Dhar ( former Wazir-e-Wazarat), DP Dhar (well-known politician and former ambassador to the Soviet Union), Maj. General BN Dhar, Rai Bahadur Shyam Sunder Lal Dhar, Ratan Lal Dhar (former Director of Food and Supplies), Krishan Joo Dhar, (former Director Flood Control), Dina Nath Dhar( proprietor of Normal Press at Lal Chowk ), Ramchand Tickoo ( well- known cricket player ), Nand Lal 'Begarz'( writer),  Nilakanth Raina (writer and trained historian), Niranjan Nath Razdan ( proprietor of Mercantile Press, Kothi Bagh), Moulvi Abbas Ansari (politician and well-known  Shia cleric),  Arvind Gigoo( noted writer and college professor), A N Dhar ( former HOD English Department in Kashmir University ) and many more well-known persons  were from this area.

In his youth, Jagan Nath Saqi would dress up like an Englishman with a stick in his hand and tell strangers that he was a Pashmina trader and his family had business interests in Yarkand and Lahore. Acting has been his forte since his younger days. He loved singing and music. He joined Radio Kashmir Srinagar due to the direct intervention of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad who also intervened in the allotment of a residential quarter to him inside the Emporium complex close to the radio station. He remained careless in paying the monthly rent of this government accommodation for many years and it was again Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad who waived these dues. Saqi had a comic side of his personality. One day, he attended the office wearing his old  Pheran. Upon being reprimanded by Mr Chawala (the then Station Director), Saqi is reported to have told him that since Pheran was the national dress of Kashmiris, he felt proud of it. I have been told by reliable sources that Saqi didn't hesitate to come to the office in Pheran thereafter. Once he went to Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad's residence on Eid day carrying a huge pumpkin that had grown in his quarters. Bakshi burst into laughter and asked him to tell him the truth as to what had brought him to his place carrying the free-grown pumpkin.   At this, Saqi smilingly put in his application for waiver of accumulated rent demanded by the PWD Department. His accommodation at the corner of the Emporium complex belonged to the PWD Department. 

A contemporary of Sudama Ji Kaul another talented radio artist, Saqi was a close friend of Pandit Ved Lal Dhar Vakil, a progressive and rebel personality of Kashmir who pioneered theatre and drama in the Kashmir valley. Ved Lal Dhar had learnt acting and theatre when he worked in Kolkata’s Alfred Theatre Company before 1947. The orthodox Kashmiri Pandit society looked with contempt towards all the young men who indulged in theatre, drama and music as late as the first quarter of the last century. A nickname ‘ Raas-Kath ‘ used to be given to young men who indulged in this activity They were taunted and discouraged by all means.  Most of the artists couldn't get married as no father was ready to marry his daughter to a "Raas-Kath" (dancing lamb).

Saqi was a National Conference activist and would be seen in many gatherings of the party in the early 1930s. He was also imprisoned several times during Maharaja’s rule for his radical views and association with the National Conference. He started his career as an actor in the early 1920s in various amateur groups like the Raghunath Mandir Natak Mandal and Kala Kendra. He also worked with much enthusiasm in the troupe founded in Kashmir by Master Rahmat Ullah of Kolkata. He played important roles in Agha Hashr Kashmiri`s Urdu plays staged in KashmirSaqi had a unique style of humorous conversation that won him instant friends. He would play pranks and convey many stories often light-heartedly.

Saqi proved himself a versatile radio artist. His voice conveyed a powerful pathos that touched a chord with his listeners. He was the greedy  Kaakh ( Machama's father ) of Pushkar Bhan's popular Machama series of Radio dramas. He was Rustom Chacha in another series of radio programmes. He was 'Jagger Pension' of Zoonadab, Wali Mot in the popular play Taent-k'or and Afreet of the dramatised version of the opera Gulrez  He would present' "Gaami Baayen  Haendi Kha'tra' from Radio Kashmir. He also had an unforgettable presence on stage. He had great quality, and never did he neglect his priority; theatre and radio drama even if he was unwell or down with critical illness. About him, Padama-shri Pran Kishore Kaul said this:-

 "Saqi had a flamboyant streak in everything he did. One could see it in his walk, his talk and his behaviour with his friends and colleagues. He was older than me. I knew him before joining the Radio. He enjoyed a somewhat notorious reputation in his youth. One day all of a sudden, he barged into Radio Kashmir Srinagar and demanded his chair to sit. We were surprised to know that Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad in his capacity as the Prime Minister of J&K  had telephoned PS Bhatia, the then Station  Director to appoint him. Saqi had commendable talent. I included him in the cast of the film," Shair e Kashmir Mehjoor ". He did full justice to the role of a poor peasant. He could have been a wonderful film actor but he had missed that bus. I had great admiration for Saqi's acting passion. As the protagonist, he did some beyond-expectation acting in Akhtar Mohiuddin's Kashmiri play " Aadam Chhu Ajab Zaat ". On my enquiry, Saqi told me that he had lived the role. The play was selected for the National Programme of plays by AIR and we were advised to do a Hindi version also. Saqi begged me to let him act in the Hindi version. I had my doubts about his accent. I took the chance as his acting skills were perfect for the role. In the meantime, he fell critically ill. He couldn't walk. I was suggested to replace him. We had to complete the recording in a time frame. Saqi was deteriorating. And then one day he suddenly dropped in and asked for the script. After reading it, he asked me to start his recording. We went inside the studio. We were there for a long time recording Saqi, the protagonist of the story. He was flawless. He did it all in one go. My joy knew no bounds. In the end, I embraced him. I could feel that he was running high temperature.  He was happy. We were equally delighted. After some days, we heard the news that Saqi was no more. That was Jagan Nath Saqi ."

 And Bansi Raina writes this on my Facebook post:-

 “Among some others -there were two most senior veteran theatre artists in Radio Kashmir Srinagar in the sixties and early seventies of the last century.Jagan Nath Saqi and Ved Lal Vakil.Both were institutions in their own right and storytellers. One would find Saqi eating Tandoori Roti and Kharoda( sheep foot )  soup inside Prem Dabba at Court Road, Srinagar. The next day he would be smoking Hashish with hippies at his shack near Linz Cafeteria close to the Emporium complex. In one of his last stage appearances, a huge board was hidden in wings with his dialogues as he could not otherwise remember them. But his antics aside, he was a great voice and actor; fearless and naughty."

Saqi was a bachelor.  It was Dr Ali Jan who treated him last and informed his colleagues at Radio Kashmir that Saqi had some fatal lung disease. He was shifted from Emporium accommodation to his sister's house. His nephew O N Pajnoo looked after him with total care and dedication. Saqi breathed his last in 1973.  

 

( Avtar Mota) 

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