(1916-88)
That day, the tsot-like moon ascended
behind the hills looking wane and worn
like a gown of Pampur tweed with a
tattered collar and loose collar-bands,
Revealing sad scars over her silvery
skin,
She was weary and tired and
lusterless as a counterfeit pallid
rupee-coin deceittully given to an
unsuspecting woman labourer
by a wily master.
The tsot-like moon ascended and the
hills grew hungry.
The clouds were slowly putting out
their cooking tires.
But the forest nymphs began to kindle
their oven tires.
And steaming rice seemed to shoot up
Over the hill tops.
And, murmuring hope to my
starving belly.
I gazed and gazed at the promising
sky.
About the author
He can be credited with the starting of a new phase in history of Kashmiri literature. Responsible for introducing various poetic styles into Kashmiri, he was the first Kashmiri poet to have written in ‘ blank verse’. Also he was the first Kashmiri to have written the first Opera in the Kashmiri language “ Bombir ti Yembirzal ‘ ( The Bumblebee and the Narcissus). For his work he was awarded the ‘Soviet Land Nehru Award (1971) and the ‘Sahitya Akademi Award (1986).