EMINENT Kashmiri poet Rahman Rahi was last fortnight conferred the prestigious Jnanpith Award - becoming the first Kashmiri to get India's highest literary honour. The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh presented the award at a function in New Delhi.

Describing Rahi as having made a profound contribution to the Kashmiri language and Indian literature, Manmohan Singh said “this is the first time that this recognition has come to literature in the Kashmiri language, which finds its earliest expression in the mystical work of Lalleshwari or Laldyad/Lal Ded almost 700 years ago."

Rahi began his career as a clerk in the government and was associated with the Progressive Writers' Association, of which he became the general secretary.

The prime minister, while giving away the award, said literature and poetry gave “freedom to our imagination" and also liberated us "from stereotypes and narrow thinking", helping people come "face to face with the human condition".

"Literature and poetry give freedom to our imagination; they liberate us from stereotypes and narrow thinking. They tell us more about our lives, our joys and our woes, and about ourselves than analysis and investigation alone can. Through literature we come face to face with the human condition," he said.

"The impact of literature may not be immediate or direct, but it is far more enduring: literature has long been an agent of momentous change. It has moved societies, sparked revolutions, and lit the light of knowledge," he said.

The prime minister also said schools and colleges must do more to promote the study of humanities.

"Sometimes I believe we do not pay enough attention to the humanities that, as the word implies, will help them grow up as better human beings."

"We should ensure that even as our youth learn skills and equip themselves for employment, they are not deprived of access to literature and poetry, and indeed to history, the visual and performing arts and to other forms of creativity. This would make their education more complete."

Rehman Rahi (born March 6, 1925, Srinagar) is an Kashmiri poet, translator and critic. He was awarded the Indian Sahitya Akademi Award in 1961 for his poetry collection Nawroz-i-Saba, the Padma Shri in 2000, and India's highest literary award the Jnanpith Award (for the year 2004) in 2007. He is the first Kashmiri writer to be awarded the Jnanpith, India's highest literary award.

Rehman Rahi began his career as a clerk in the government and was associated with the Progressive Writers' Association, of which he became the General Secretary. He was later a sub-editor in the Urdu daily Khidmat. He did an MA in Persian (1952) and in English (1962) from Jammu and Kashmir University where he taught Persian.

He has long been an ardent advocate of the Kashmiri language. On getting the Jnanpith, he said, "I see the award as an honour for my poetry, and above all an honour for the language(KASHMIRI) in which it was composed and for the people who use this language

Rahi's major works include:[2]
• Sana-Wani Saaz (poems)
• Sukhok Soda (poems)
• Kalam-e-Rahi (poems)
• Nawroz-i-Saba (poems)
• Kahwat (literary criticism)
• Kashir Shara Sombran
• Azich Kashir Shayiri
• Kashir Naghmati Shayiri
• Baba Fareed (translation)
• Saba Moallaqat
• Farmove Zartushtan
• Seyah Rudi Jerean Manz (collection of Kashmiri poetry)
• Koesher Shyiree Te Waznuk Surati Hal (Kashmiri poetry and its parameters).

BACK

 
The animal song

Savage Garden

WHEN superstars and cannonballs are running through your head
the television freak show cops and robbers everywhere
Subway makes me nervous, people pushing me too far
I've got to break away
So take my hand now

Cause I want to live like animals
Careless and free like animals
I want to live
I want to run through the jungle
the wind in my hair and the sand at my feet

I've been having difficulties keeping to myself
Feelings and emotions better left up on the shelf
Animals and children tell the truth, they never lie
Which one is more human
There's a thought, now you decide

Compassion in the jungle
Compassion in your hands
Would you like to make a run for it
Would you like to take my hand

Cause I want to live like animals
Careless and free like animals
I want to live
I want to run through the jungle
the wind in my hair and the sand at my feet

Sometimes this life can get you down
It's so confusing
There's so many rules to follow
And I feel it
'Cause I just run away in my mind

BACK