November 2011
Title:
Painting and Theatre in Kashmir—Suraj Tiku’s Journey
Author:
Dr. Ramesh Tamiri
Published
By: Suraj Foundation,Jammu
Price:
Rs. 650 (HB), Rs300 (PB)
by Prof. R.N. Kaul
The
book under review contains mindboggling
information
encapsulated in just 142
pages.
It is so full of facts, figures and pictures
concerning
painters, playwrights, actors,
directors
etc that one feels flabbergasted at what
the
author has been able to achieve. For the
present
reviewer the journey through the book
has
been like an epiphany, a revelation. Even
my
penchant for reacting critically to books
makes
me feel shy. But did not Alexander Hope
say,
‘fools rush in where angels fear to tread?
The
magically enchanting vale of Kashmir
has
always been a natural habitat of creative
artists.
Her inspirational beauty – her snow-clad
mountains,
her blossoms, her roses, her evergreen
forests,
her gurgling rivers, her lakes like
watery
jewels – can make every sensitively
aesthetic
soul pour out his or her creative energy
in
the form of poetry or drama, or painting or
song
and dance and music. The vale of Kashmir
–
the veritable Firdaus – gave birth to mystic
poets
like Lala Ded and Sheikh Noor-ud-Din
Noorani.
Rasul Mir, Arnimal and Haba Khatoon
sang
of lover’ joys and sorrows, Mehjur, Azad
and
Nadim expressed lyrically our passion for
freedom
from the centuries – old autocratic rule.
And
post-independence period has witnessed
a
Renaissance of the creative arts in the State,
especially
in the Valley, reaching extraordinary
levels.
There has been almost a mushroom
growth
of artists appearing on the stage of
creative
art, artists waiting in the wings to
present
their best. Poets, short-story writers,
playwrights,
musicians, actors, dancers, critics
etc
etc. have burgeoned like blossoms.
And
while many books have been written
on
Kashmiri literature etc, very few have come
out
concerning fine arts like painting, theatre,
dance,
music etc. The book under review is a
laudable
attempt long overdue. Mohan Lal Aima,
M.
L. Kemmu and M. L. Saraf have made such
efforts
in this direction. What distinguishes Dr.
Ramesh
Tamiri’s book is that he has brought all
these
fine arts under one roof. He has done lot
of
painstaking research, collected relevant
material
from all sorts of available sources,
collected
biographical details of great artists and
arranged
all these in a holistic and
comprehensive
mould.
At
cursory reading the sub-title ‘Suraj Tiku’s
Journey’
appears rather misleading. A discerning
reader
will note that not only has the author
done
lot of valuable work in collecting the
infrastructure
for his monumental book, but has
also
taken pains at planning of the vast data at
his
disposal. He has given us brief histories of
both
paining and theatre in Kashmir. Though
these
can be adequate material for separate
books,
yet these prove helpful for a reader who
has
remained ignorant about these creative arts
and
their protagonists. This background is
necessary
for understanding the contributions
made
by pioneers in these creative disciplines.
Dr.
Tamiri has demonstrated well how the fine
arts
like painting, theatre (including acting and
stage-setting),
music, dance etc. are results of
hard
work and how these also spring out of the
imaginative
faculty of the artists concerned.
Then
there are chapters on Kashi Nath Bhan and
Suraj
Tiku, the former being the guru of the
latter,
obviously dovetailed into each other.
There
have also been biographical sketches
before
but the two concerning Bhan and Tiku
form
the very foundation of the book. Bhan has
been
not only a guide but also an inspiration in
helping
the genius of Tiku to take roots and later
to
grow into a sprawling tree with flowers and
birds
to inspire other artists. At times while
following
the details of the growth of these
artists
one feels like losing sight of the forest in
search
of trees. This in spite of the fact that these
details
are of absorbing interest in themselves
and
also because there is a sprinkling of humour
here
and there. What gradually mitigates this
impression
is the racy narrative of the whole. In
spite
of being a medical professional, Dr. Tamiri
shows
command over the English language and
hammers
out a crisp narrative.
After
reading this book, one feels happy that
the
intellectual genius of Kashmiri Pandits is reasserting
itself
in spite of the traumatic
experience
of their having been hounded out of
their
homes and hearths in the Valley by
fanatical
hordes who forced their mass exodus
by
rape, murder and arson. One feels proud that
some
Kashmiri Pandit scholars have written
profusely
on the composite culture known as
Kashmiriat.
One such is by Dr. R. Tamiri. I recall
such
epoch making contributions like Dr. H. K.
Kaul’s
“Firdaus in Flames”, Bimla Raina’s “Lal
Ded
Meri Drishti Mein”, “The Ugly Kashmiri”
by
Arvind Gigoo, “Encyclopedia of Kashmiri
Pandits…..”
by C. L. Kaul and the latest “The
Garden
of Solitude” by Siddharth Gigoo.
I
hope Dr. Ramesh Tamiri will keep his word
of
writing separate books on all the creative arts.
The
book is a treasure trove.
Naad, June 2011
[The
writer resides at Chinore, Jammu]
