 |
| Pandit Sarvanand Koul ‘Premi’ |
Pandit Sarvanand
Koul ‘Premi’ is a household name across Kashmir. His talent, simplicity,
humbleness, intelligence impressed every person who came into his contact or
who read his creative writing in the form of poetry or prose. He was widely
read, a polyglot and a prolific writer who was in love with his native village,
Sof-Shali (ancient Sanskrit name, Saft-Shaleshwar), which is surrounded by
snow-clad mountains and is irrigated by clean waters from their melting snows.
He loved teaching although with his educational achievements (M.A; B.Ed), he
could have landed in any other ‘lucrative’ profession. He retired as the
Head-Master of a High school.
A saintly person
at heart, he desired to teach the young minds the benefits of non-violence and
individual action that profit the society as a whole. Sadly though, he was murdered in cold blood
by mask-wearing goons in May 1990. His younger son was murdered along with him.
Thus came to an end an eminent and enlightened mind who loved and trusted the
people around him.
He was a devout
follower of Gandhi and his association with Dinanath ‘Nadim’ had turned him
into a social reformer. A poet who had dreams of a
bright tomorrow and who represented common sentiments of the common people in
one of his poems laments the plight of the labourers, artisans and sculptors at
the building of the monuments like ‘Taj Mahal’ whose construction satisfies the
ruler but the ruled, including the labourers and sculptors, remain
poverty-stricken and unsung.
He
gave voice to just and peaceful aspirations of the people, for whom he had
great love in his heart. Initially he would write Urdu and Hindi couplets and
recite them among his close friends. But his associaton with some Masters
persuaded him to write in his mother-tongue. It was Master Zinda Koul’s
constant persuation that encouraged Sarvanand Koul to write in Kashmiri
language in which he could express himself effectively. Thus, he achieved
heights of creative writing in Kashmiri. He was a devout follower of ‘dharma’.
He did not discriminate between faiths or sects.
His
poetry is embellished with words from Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit. He
described his village as a beautiful ‘valley’ walled around by tall deodar
trees. His description of water-falls, falling-rain and spring-blooms in poetry
is enchanting and attract ones
attention.
He
attributed his talent for creative writing to the all-powerful force that made
life and everything around it possible. He has published twelve volumes of his
creative writing and eighteen of his works remain unpublished.
His
frequent visits to temples, and graves was a noteworthy feature of his
personality. His poetry reflects his deep belief in ‘human’ intelligence where
distinction of faith has no place. Little did he realize that his ‘secular’ attitude
was under watch of the people who later butchered him along with his younger
son.
‘Gitanjali’
impressed him immensely and he translated Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Gitanjali’
into Kashmiri. He would recite lines from it at appropriate occasions. Despite
constant persuation by well-wishers, he expressed his unwillingness to migrate
away from his home in Kashmir at the onset of religious terrorism in 1989-90.
His reluctance to ‘run away’ cost him his life along with that of his younger
son. ‘Premi’ and his son Virendra were brutally killed by the inhuman thugs and
their mutilated bodies were found hanging from a tree-branch on 1st
of May, 1990.
Thus
came to an end the songs of a loving heart and a vibrant mind who aspired to
bring development, peace and knowledge to the door-steps of the people around
him. The memories remain so does the fragrance. Sarvanand Koul ‘Premi’ shall
live on in the community folklore. His work shall inspire young creative minds
for generations to come.
We
hope that eighteen of his unpublished works will also reach the reader in print
.
Pa:N tsa:dar by Sarvanand Koul
‘Premi’
Pa:N
tsa:dar is a collection of ghazals, poems and songs authored/ sung by ‘Premi
Kashmiri’-the poet romantic. He is in love with nature, with the toiling
masses, with his prefession and with his deity that he worships.
In
his ghazals he maintains a rhythmic-style that make his songs and poems worthy
to sing. He employs people-friendy vocabulary in order to enable an ordinary
villager appreciate his emotion.
In
one of his ghazals, he invites his beloved saying that he (the beloved) must
arrive because the poet in his eagerness to see him has put on special ‘apron’
to meet him. At another place, Premi compares his beloved to a fresh rose and
tells him that he has grown beyond his youthful days waiting for him. Premi is
in love with his ishtadeva (personal
god) whom he begs to come to him.
Premi
has not only expressed his love for and his own preparedness to meet his
‘beloved’ but he has also sung words of praise for the enchanting beauty of his
village. Premi dislikes disloyal and insincere people. At one place he writes:
the dishonest people borrow and tend to forget the timely help.
Premi
praises the youthful persons who do their hair well and take care of their
personal hygiene as ‘youth of extraordinary beauty who are talked about across
the town/village’.
In
one of his ghazals he laments that truth has been throttled in the society
whereas falsehood has attained a higher pedestal.
In a
song Premi expresses his deep love and pathos for the toiling masses who after
day’s toil, go to sleep in a cramped
space along with their kids but the unpredictable weather disturbs their sleep
as a heavy down-pour wakes them up, since their roof has pores through which
rain-drops drench their sleeping space. It is a song that in addition to
reflecting the toilers’ want and hard-work, also reflects Premi’s love for the
changing season of his native place.
In a
long poem eulogising Taj Mahal at Agra as a symbol of eternal love, Premi
praises the king who built this monument in memory of his deceased wife. In his
poem Premi reads the mind of the ruler and says that he desired people to
remember their fondness and love for each other years after they are no more
around on earth.
Ru:dI
jariye (flashes of rain) is a memorable
poem included in pa:N tsa:dar (blanket of water) collection. Says the poet: the
streams and rivers are roaring, the pits on the ground are full, even the
irrigating veins of the vegetable gardens have become full,the soothing music
of the falling rain is adding to our pleasure.
Premi
has authored Vakh-s (sentences) too.
These are four-liners, devotional creations with a philosophical bent. In one
such ‘vakh’ Premi admires or suggests
that depriving oneself of food (fasting) is a mode of training for the mind to
learn to be patient. One can search for god’s grace only after fasting, says
he. One must dedicate one’s body and mind to the deity, it is only then that
some awakening will happen.
On
death, the poet is straight and
realistic. Upon someone’s death, people assemble and remark that the deceased
was fated to die at this juncture. The people around express their view that
the mortal-remains mut be taken to the cremation ground lest it gets late!
Death is a certainty of life which cannot be delayed. One who is born is
destined to die. The mortal-remains must be cremated ceremoniously at the
earliest, the dearest ones say.
One
can notice that the poet in Premi is a multi-demensional personality. He is
knowledgeable and rooted. He appreciates the thought of constructing a monument
to immortalise the then King’s ‘love’ for the queen; he admires blossoming
flowers, flowing rivers and streams, falling rain and its musicality; on top of
it all, he describes death as the final bell that nature rings into the being
and the mortal-remains are swiftly carried to the cremation ground.
Rajnath Bhat
BHU
