A Short Story Writer Is Born
Title: Rambiara bhthees' piyath
Author: Makhan Lal Pandita
Language: Kashmiri (Nastaliq)
Price: Rs 250/-
Published By: M.L. Pandita
180, Sector-1, Lane No: 4, Durga Nagar,
PO Roopnagar, Jammu
By Arjun Dev Majboor
Makhan Lal Pandita's emergence as a serious short
story writer is a good augury for Kashmiri
literature. Raembara bhthees piyath, the
book under review, is author's 3rd collection of
short stories, his earlier books 'Girdab'
(Whirlpool, 2003) and Karan Fiyur (Change of
Times, 2000) were well received. With his new
publication, the author has made his mark as a
competent short story writer. The book is
decorated with a beautiful jacket and carries 12
stories. The stories are:
1) Dayi Pos (Guest without formal
invitation)
2) Bata Thal (Rice Plate)
3) Gardish (Round)
4) Nov Bistar (New Bedding)
5) Roshan Laleen Kitab (Roshan
Lal's Book)
6) Yeli Gauri Malyun Gayi (When
Gauri went to her parents' house)
7) Babu Ram
8) Machhar (Madness)
9) Vuh Ropiya (Twenty Rupees)
10) Toht Taf (Hot Sun Shine)
11) Hawas (Strong Desire)
12) Raembara bhthees piyath (on the
bank of Rambiara)
The author has himself written the
Preface, while Sh. Mohd. Yusuf Teng has penned the
Foreword. Mr. Teng has praised author's style, the
theme of the stories, his vocabulary and
appropriate usage of metaphors and similes. He has
commented, "Probably no other Bata (Kashmiri
Pandit) in future would be able to rival the
author's use of colloquial Kashmiri".
What strikes the reader in the book is
that the author while adopting the style of
narrating the story has tried to present his
characters in their own milieu-the characters
speak their own language and seem real and full of
life. The stories keep the reader's interest
sustained so much so that he gets lost in an
environment which is every inch Kashmiri. The
theme of the stories revolves round people who
are plebians, some of the themes relate to
displacement and exile as well.
Nov Bistar
(New Bedding), Roshan Laleen Kitab (Roshan Lal's
book) and Toht Taf (Hot Sunshine) portray
plight and struggle-ridden life of Displaced
Kashmiris. In Nov Bistar the stories pertain to a
rural Displaced Kashmiri Pandit family. This
family had got prepared back home in
Kashmir
a new bedding. It is a painful account of the
family which carries this new bedding to Jammu.
Each quilt carries seven kgs. of cotton. It gets
soiled in monsoon rains, while the family awaits
registration at temple premises in Jammu. Finally,
the soiled quilts are consigned to the river Tawi,
as there is no need for these in the hostile
tropical climate.
In 'Roshan Laleen Kitab', the
author utilises his meagre savings to get his book
published in
Jammu. To his dismay nobody bothers to read his
book. So much so, even his close friend to whom he
had gifted a complimentary copy, does not bother
to go through it. He just puts it on a shelf. It
causes heartache to Roshan Lal when he sees that
the groundnuts (Moongfali) he purchases, is served
in an envelope made from the pages of his own
book.
'Toht Taf'
is a story in which a Displaced Kashmiri is sent
back by 'Dharam Raz' (one who decides
heaven and hell) to bear the tropical heat. Snakes
and Scorpion make the life more painful for this
weather-bitten refugee. But for a person who has
lived in the cool breeze of Chinar there are no
other options.
In 'Raembiara bhthees piyath', the
author probably tells his own story. A scene is
portrayed in which a beautiful Gujjar lass,
stricken by poverty, gets drowned in a river. The
story pictures life in Shopian town and delineates
beautifully its natural scenery and suffocating
life in the forest hinterland. This story, written
artistically and with candour, tells us much more.
The story 'Machhar (Madness) is
focussed on terrorism. How a brother kills his own
brother, in this story, is heart-rending. It also
raises many questions.
Yeli Gauri Malyun Gayi (when Gauri went to
her parents house), projects the life of a
Kashmiri Pandit peasant family, which is steeped
in poverty. The helplessness, the rigors and the
difficulties of the peasant life and the sorrows
have been vividly portrayed. This painful story is
prelude to the displacement.
Vuh Ropiya
(Twenty Rupees) is a story which revolves round a
Kashmiri Pandit peasant and a poor shepherd (chopan).
It focusses on the social hypocrisy, in which the
shepherd trots out different excuses at different
times and feigns illness and head injury to avoid
paying back Rs 20/- he had borrowed from a
Kashmiri Pandit. It also introduces comic scenes
at the end.
The stories are written in a lucid
language and appropriate to characters. These are
full of metaphors and satire. The dramatic style
in which the stories are presented keep the reader
glued. Usage of appropriate words and the short
sentences have enhanced the readability and in
flow it resembles Vitasta in its pristine beauty
and quietitude. The author does not allow his
emotions, so pregnant in the situations he
describes, to take over while narrating the
stories. The theme has been presented in a sublime
way. So far, Kashmiri writers have not portrayed
rural life so vividly as has been done by Shri
Makhan Lal Pandita. This is the key to his
success.
The book has been marred by few mistakes
in proof-reading and script transcription. This
could handicap a reader not well-versed with
nastaliq Kashmiri script. These few mistakes
apart, one can say with certainty that a new short
story writer has found his rightful place in the
field of Kashmiri literature. Kudos to Sh. Makhan
Lal Pandita.
*(Translated from original Hindi by Dr.
R.K. Tamiri)
Source: Kashmir
Sentinel
|