Exodus 1990

Let down by fate and country men                                             
Adversity has hit hard Pandit in his Valley den,
No vote bank appeal, no mass upsurge,
No resistance to militants' killing spree,
With Pandits life in turmoil and jeopardy,
Pandit thought it prudent to exile in south.

Lo loudspeakers blared from masques and public sqares,
Infidel Pandit exit vale in speed and fast,
Leave your hearths and homes intact,
Business, orchards, land and belongings et. al.
Dare not Pandit stay behind any longer,
Cries of Nizami Mustaffa, 'AZADI' rent in air,

What a gory sight to view all around,
Gunfights galore and grenades lobbed with impunity,
Threatening messages relayed through media and bill boards,
'Pandits have no right of stay in Vale',
Pandits and family huddled indoors in anguish and pain,
Despondency, despair, helplessness stared Pandit in distress.

No whispers, no advice sought or sympathizers around,
Everybody left to himself in great seige and unrest,
Wise counsels prevailed and Pandit exlied in South.

My Dreamland , My Homeland

My Pandit kin I have a dream

a slice of land as my homeland

in emerald vale and enchanting Kasheer

Free of prejudice, malice and rancour

ever verdant beautiful and charming

its hills, dales, waterfalls and brooks

with Vitasta flowing a celestial course

owing its source in holy Verinag

By birth and descent I am a native of this holy land

I shall return to the homeland with kin and all

recharge its culture and tryst with its past

An irony holds me and kin in exile,

no more so calls a celestial siren

its contours and boundaries shall be redrawn

its religion shall be profound humanism

its denizens shall care for the well being of all

no bigotry and bullying in labyrinth of its lanes and bye lanes

no changes in its history or its past,

May Almighty bless this land, exiles and all

Kashyapmar, Kashmira, Vetastika, Kashir (Sthala Mahatmaya)

Ages past a Reshi of yore,

strode on the banks of Satisar Lake,

fought the battles with a demon Jalobodeva,

whom he killed in combat and

saved people of his atrocious deeds

Like a colossus Reshi paced on the shores of the lake,

prayers and penances he made in earnest,

in transforming the lake into a beautiful vale

The sage, seer and saint was none other than venerated Kashyapa,

who with the grace of Shiva and his consort Uma,

drained the massive lake to its last drop

The changes were cataclysmic, nerve chilling and turbulent,

lo a beautiful vale emerged

with water gushing through Baramulla gorge

A hillock of charm emerged as Hari Parvata,

resonant musical notes of Om emerged from void and vacant spaces,

dancing Apsaras burned incense and showered

scented flowers on the emerging Vale

Nagas and Pischasas came running and protesting,

about the Reshi moving around with his Saraswat tribe in benediction,

Kashyapa listened in patience and sounded

a truce for everybody’s wellbeing

The ancient rituals of Nagas and others were ordained all inclusive,

in letter and spirit a brotherhood emerged

peace reigned supreme for thousands of years

Kashyapa’s tribe followed live and let live in nobility and tradition,

all stayed put and prayed for the prosperity of one and all,

Till a new wave of outsiders spread an alien faith and mayhem

They changed the demography and forced deceit and treachery,

betrayed in faith and nobility Kashyapa’s tribe left their hearths and homes,

to wait for a day when a new incarnate Kashyapa shall be reborn,

to restore peace and tranquility

Rahim Khar- The Magician

                                                                                

I know a magician named Rahim Khar;                          
he moved vale in speed and fast,
today a trick or tricks to display in Ananthnag,
day after his troupe would land in Aishmuqam,
a drum and a monkey in leash and fold,
people from far and near would watch his show,
he would produce a pair of pigeons in tow;
or countless flowers of size and shape in baskets in row,
of late, he changed his style and show,
he styled a pandit and panditani of a fair Muslim pair,
displayed them performing various pandit rituals;
countless Muslims born in the 90s assembled in large numbers to watch the show,
to watch a Raza Bai in attire and glow,
followed by a pandit in regal dress in tow,
Muslim youngsters thronged in numbers in row,
to watch the pandit in caricatures and magic show!

A Pandit's Wail in Vale

In the forlorn alleys of vale Kashmir,
I found a pandit aged and non-descript,
moving with an unsteady gait and despair,
entering an abandoned house here there and afar,
looking for every broken door and window,
striking his brow with hand and palm in fold,
moving up in stairs with countless spider cobwebs,
dust falling in bucketfuls on his disheveled hair,
a shriek and gloomy wail whistled past his frame,
a frightened pandit saw strange movements of a cat and bat in tow,
what a calamity befell on pandits of vale!
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