M i lcharVol. VI, No. 2 : March-April 2011

The Official Organ of KPA, Mumbai

RNI Registration No. MAHMUL/2004/13413 Price: ` 30.00

Cheshma Shahi Garden, Srinagar(Photo: Francis Brunel)

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Glimpses ofVaarshik Hawan atKashyap Bhawan

on29-30 January 2011

MilcharOfficial Organ of

Kashmiri Pandits' Association,

Mumbai

Views expressed in the signedarticles are not necessarily those of theKashmiri Pandits' Association

or Milchar.Articles can also be e-mailed to:

editormilchar@yahoo.co.inWrite-ups in Kashmiri may only be sent

in the StandardisedDevanagari-Kashmiri Script.

Ø Message from the Presidentl Between Ourselves

- Rajen Kaul Page 2

Ø Editoriall Our Mother-tongue

- M.K.Raina Page 3

Ø Report & Biradari News Page 5

Ø Reaching Outl What's The Truth

- S.P.Kachru Page 10

Ø Kashmir Imbrogliol Tele-conferenec with Dileep Padgaonkar

- Transcription : M.K.Raina Page 11

Ø Kashmir Diaryl Kashmir 2010 - Part 2

- Prof. R.N.Bhat Page 15

Ø Know Your Motherlandl Your Queries about Kashmir Page 16

Ø Pages From My Diaryl The Spirit of Nandkeshwara

- Dr. K.L.Chowdhury Page 17

Ø Language & Scriptsl Grierson on Kashmir

- Prof. Omkar N. Koul Page 20

Ø Your Own Page Page 23

Ø Rites & Ritualsl Herath - Shiva Ratri of Kashmiri Pandits

- Dr. Chaman Lal Raina Page 24l Navreh

- Piaray Raina 'Sadhak' Page 29

Ø Lifel A Will - Our Right

- Pran Nath Wali Page 30

Ø Culture & Heritagel Influence of Advaita on Muslim Rishis

of Kashmir - Part 2- T.N.Dhar 'Kundan' Page 32

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Ø OççjçJçççÆnkçÀl içáuçí yçkçÀçJçuççÇ

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Ø Editor's Mail Page 38

(Regd. Charitable Trust - Regn. No. A-2815 BOM)E-Mail: kpamumbai@yahoo.co.in

In this issue

Vol. VI ~ No. 2EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor : M.K.RainaAssociate Editor : S.P.KachruMembers : S.K.Kaul

Chand BhatConsulting Editor : P.N.Wali

T.N.Dhar ‘Kundan’Webmaster : Sunil Fotedar, USA

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President's Message - Rajen kaul

Between Ourselves

Namaskar.tôhí màhrà chhúvû sàrínûy hèrattû navréh múbàrak - I pray to LordShiva to bless our community with

health, wealth, happiness and prosperity!Since my last message in the Jan-Feb 2011

issue, we performed our annual Havan from29th to 30th January 2011 at Kashyap Bhavan.Shri Pawan Kumarji and Shri Vijay Joshijiperformed the religious ceremonies. We werealso blessed by Shri Sabni Saheb with hisgracious presence on 30th January 2011.More than 500 community membersparticipated in this sacred function. AfterPuran Ahuti, Prasad was served to all themembers. During this event, we receivedvaluable donations for Sharda Sadan projectas also for other projects/programmes of ourAssociation. We also enrolled several new lifemembers and also had a good response forsubscription of Milchar. We are grateful toall our donors as also to those communitymembers who enrolled as life members andthose who subscribed to Milchar. The creditfor the success of this function should go toall the team members of the Association.particularly to Shri S.P.Kachru, Shri T.K.Raina,Shri R.K.Shah, Shri Virender Takoo, Shri C.L.Raina, Smt. Meena Wanchoo, Smt. NeenaKher, Shri Ashwani Hashia and several othervolunteers who toiled hard for success of theevent. Let me also update you on progress ofother key projects/programmesundertaken by us:Sharda Sadan : Under the dynamicleadership of Shri M.L.Mattoo as Chairmanof this Project, he and his team of dedicatedmembers have ensured that the long stalledwork related to completion of over head and

underground tanks isresumed. Aftercompletion of this work(planned for end March2011), our plan is tocomplete internal civiland other works on floorwise basis, based on theavailability of funds. Needless to say weurgently need large funds to complete theProject. I know that several members havepersonally contributed for this importantproject as also worked tirelessly to raisefunds from other community members aswell as other well wishers. This is theProject for the community and I would liketo appeal to all those members who havenot yet contributed, to contribute aminimum of Rs.11,000/- per family, whichamounts to less than Rs.1000 per month. Iam sure that you will all come forward todonate for this important Project.Directory: Work on updating the directoryis under progress under the overallleadership of Shri C.L.Raina supported byother Regional/Area wise representativesof the BoT. We need your support to updateus with your current address includingemail/mobile numbers. We plan to releasenew directory within a month after wereceive bulk of the updated information.We expect to release this latest by June2011.Website: Team of Shri K.K.Kemmu and ShriNaren Kachroo need to be complimentedfor their excellent work done in thepreparation of our website. We expect tolaunch this in May 2011.

(Continued on Page 14)

Editorial - M.K.Raina

Our Mother-tongue & Our Apathy Towards It

ashmiri language, our mother-tongue is really in a bad shape.Firstly, we reduced it to a thirdcategory language, taking pride to

speak in English (followed by Hinglish orHindustani) most of the time and with mostof our intimates, even with our spouse andchildren. Our logic is simple; what use is thelanguage which can not give us degrees andlivelihood? What use again when it is notspoken anywhere in the world exceptKashmir where our chances of going back areremote. Arguments may sound convincingbut we conveniently forget that a language(read mother-tongue) not only acts as abinding force for a community, but alsoconfers upon it a distinct mark ofidentification. Shri A.K.Misri of Bandra,Mumbai advocates speaking in Kashmiri notonly because this way we can keep ourmother-tongue alive, but we can also secretlycommunicate with each other if cornered inan alien atmosphere. Apart from spokenwords, literature is a vast medium whichnurtures and promotes a language andpreserves it for posterity.

Till 1990, most of the literary workscreated in Kashmiri language, whether byKashmiri Muslims or by Kashmiri Pandits,were in Nastaliq, the Persio-Urdu Script. Thisscript was the officially recognized script forKashmiri language (and still is), recognized notonly by the government of Jammu & Kashmirbut also by the Government of India. Onecould claim government grant for apublication only if his/her creation was in thisscript. This treatment discouraged those whowanted to write in Devanagari Script.

Post 1990 exodus, there was a big change.

KPs started writing inDevanagari Script in a bigway and plethora ofliterature got churned outin community magazinesthroughout the country.While, this was considereda good omen for theKashmiri literature, it brought to noticeanother big challenge in the shape of variedscripts adopted by the writers. Every writerhad his/her own way of writing, using dots,lines, circles etc. at will. There was nocoordination and no conformity in writing.Koshur Samachar of New Delhi assumedcentral importance in this regard. It used aset of diacritical marks to indicate vowelspeculiar to Kashmiri language with the Nagariletters, but devising a universally acceptableuniform script remained a problem. InDecember 1995, a committee of the editorsof Koshur Samachar (New Delhi), KashyapSamachar (Jammu) and the Secretary of theVikalp (Delhi) met and agreed on adoptingcertain diacritical marks for the peculiarKashmiri sounds. The linguistic expertshowever were not fully satisfied. Theywanted to do some more work to upgradethe script by modifying the already employedsymbols and diacritical marks, to suitrequirement of the language. This led toformation of an expert committee led by Dr.Roop Krishen Bhat, which organized variousworkshops to finalise the Script. The expertswho worked hard along with Dr. Roop KrishenBhat included Dr.S.N.Bhat Haleem, Dr.S.S.Toshakhani, Dr. O.N.Koul, Prof.C.L.Sapru, Prof. R.L.Shant, Dr. S.N.Raina, Dr.R.K.Bhat and Dr. Raj Nath Bhat. As a

K

software expert, Shri Sandeep Bhat of Punewas closely associated with the Committee.Shri M.K.Kaw, the then Secretary, Ministryof Human resources, Government of Indiaalso showed keen interest in devising thismaterial in the interest of Kashmirilanguage. Subsequently, a Primer and aReader, edited by Dr. Roop Krishen Bhatwere released by the Central Institute ofIndian Languages, Mysore in associationwith Samprati, Jammu in August 2003, thusproviding a complete StandardisedDevanagari Script for Kashmiri. Project ZAANof Mumbai also released the revisedversion of ‘Basic Reader for KashmiriLanguage’ employing the StandardisedDevanagari-Kashmiri Script, in June 2004.Shri Sandeep Bhat developed the exclusivesoftware for the language named ‘Arinimal’around the same time. In due course of time,an upgraded software namely Akruti-Kashmiri-Arinimal Engine was developed bythe Cyberscape Multimedia Ltd. at a cost ofabout Rs. 75000.00. This software was madeavailable free of cost at the All IndiaKashmiri Samaj, New Delhi.

There are only a few KP journals in Indiawhich include Kashmiri Sections. It is veryunfortunate that all of them are notemploying the Standardised Devanagari-Kashmiri Script for the Kashmiri language.Koshur Samachar of New Delhi, which is aprestigious magazine of the KP Community,in particular has been using the same oldscripts, varying from author to author, thusnullifying all the good work done by expertsover the years. In spite of the software madeavailable free of cost by the All India KashmiriSamaj, New Delhi, one fails to understandwhat prohibits a prime magazine of thecommunity to switch over to new Script. Allthose who love this language and who wantthis language not to perish but to flourish

along with its scripts, need to come forwardand impress upon the authors, printers,editors and proof readers of all thecommunity magazines to switch over to newScript so that there is uniformity in writingwhich in turn wi ll make it easilycomprehensible. This will be a small but animportant step in the direction of preservingand promoting our mother-tongue.

It is worth mentioning here that non-Kashmiris like Pravin Satpute of Maharashtraand Anshuman Pandey of University ofMichigan, USA have been working ontechnical aspects of the Kashmiri Scripts fora long time. Pravin Satpute is labouring hardwith the Commission of Scientific andTechnical Terminology, Government of Indiato get the special characters of theStandardised Devanagari-Kashmiri Scriptincluded in the UNICODE and AnshumanPandey has already submitted (andreportedly accepted) a proposal to Encodethe Sharada Script in ISO/IEC. There are somemore from our own biradari involved in theprocess at various levels who deserve kudosbut lack of interest of the general masses intheir own mother-tongue is a matter of greatconcern. It is still time we ponder over it.

☯☯Editor can be contacted at:editormilchar@yahoo.com

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Report & Biradari NewsHarvesting Harmony at KPA Hawan-2011 :

HAWAN - the ancient vedic ritual toreceive divine grace, virtuallyinstitutionalized by our communitymembers, from in & around GreaterMumbai, thus performed annually, forover three decades now. The recentlyconducted HAWAN at Kashyap Bhawancommenced on 29th January with spiritualsanctity & concluded with Puran Ahuti on30th January, 2011. Amidst recitation ofMantras during the overnight celebration,crackling wood, fluttering flames, glowingamber of fire and the unmistakablefragrance of Hawan Samagri & smoke, aunique festive fervour pervaded theatmosphere coupled by chantings ofSwaha. This much awaited congregationonce again facilitated coming of face to facebetween long lost contacts of numerousfriends & relatives among the communitymembers, their faces coming ablaze withpersonified glee & touching nostalgia. Thelarge community gathering became one inchorus, while offering the AARTI and thusinvoked divine blessings & grace ofAlmighty, through Puran Ahuti. As in pastyears, the PRASAD comprised oftraditional Kashmiri cuisine and Kheer. And predictably so, promises of meeting eachother soon were exchanged and it is thishope that keeps us going ![Report : S.P.Kachru, Gen. Secy, KPA, Mumbai]

vvv

KP Diaspora's Tele-conference with DileepPadgaonkar :A Tele-conference wasorganised by the KPDiaspora with DileepPadgaonkar, ChiefInterlocutor on Kashmir on 5th February2011, where Mr. Padgaonkar answereddirect questions from the communitymembers stationed across globe. In orderto reach out to the corridors of power, theUS based organisers of the Tele-conferencepresented a strong case on all aspects ofKP's struggle in exile. The stunningperformance took place as a result of greatcoordination between the organizing teamin US and few community activist backhome. It is perhaps for the first time in KPs'struggle in exile that a representative ofthe Government of India gave a very patienthearing and acknowledged their patheticsituation and concern for imminentextinction. Besides touching other facetsof the plight of KPs, main focus of theprogramme was introduction to 'WhyHomeland?' The demand for homeland wasintroduced and connected with the pasthistory of Kashmiri Pandits. The Tele-conference was conducted by Surinder Kaulof Houston, USA.

[Input: Surinder Kaul, Houston, USA]vvv

Kashmiri Pandits Samskriti Sammelan atBangalore : A Kashmiri PanditsSamskriti Sammelan washeld on 16 January 2011at Sri Kanchi KamakotiPeetam. His HolinessPujyasri Jayendra SaraswathiShankaracharya inaugurated the sammelan.

The meet commenced with VedicInvocation by Vidyarthis of the VedaPatasala followed by invocation by Ms.Santhosh Pandit. Sri Shiv Tickoo, President,Kashmiri Hindu Samiti (Karnataka),delivered the welcome address. HisHoliness mentioned that the Kanchi J & KEducation & Health Foundation has beenestablished for the purpose of providingassistance to the Pandits under variousschemes including providing educationalfacilities to the wards of the Pandits in Vedaand Sanskrit Patasalas etc. Sri RavinderRaina (Vice President, KHS, Bangalore) andSri Prem Swaminathan made a presentationon the 1st meeting of Pandits held inKanchipuram in September 2010 and on theVishwa Shanthi Yagna conducted inVaishnodevi (29th to 31st October 2010) andin Jammu (1st to 6th November 2010) by SriKanchi Kamakoti Peetam with the supportof Sri Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams in thebenign presence of His Holiness. Otherspeakers who spoke on the occasionincluded Pandit Moti Koul, President AIKS,Sri Ramana Sharma, Dr. Shiban Kachroo, ShriM.N.Razdan, Dr. Shashishekar Toskhani andSri Sushil Pandit, Editor Praznath. A specialfeature of the Sammelan was a videomessage from Shri Kashinath Handoo, a 105year old Kashmiri Pandit.[Input : Centre for Hindu Media Research andstudies]

vvvApex Court comes to the rescue of displacedKPs :The Apex Court of India has for the first time

given some hope to thisbeleaguered community, livingin exile for last twenty twoyears. This was stated by Mr.Moti Kaul, President AIKS while

commenting on the status of the petitionfiled by AIKS before the Apex Court. Hecategorically stated that In response to stategovernment's affidavit given in complianceof Honorable Supreme Court's order, AIKSbesides other points submitted that cashrelief given to the relief holders must be atleast to the tune of Rs. 10,000.00 per familyand it must be linked with the price indexand inflation each year. Kashmiri Pandits,having gone through a catastrophe, shouldnot only be waived off the interest of theirloans but also the principal amount shouldbe waived off. AIKS also submitted that thestate government has failed to protect theinterests of KPs and their properties in spiteof directions given by the Honourable court.The government has also not furnished thedetails of the properties sold and registeredafter 1997. Further the state Governmenthas not taken any concrete steps forconfidence building measures to ensurerehabilitation of Kashmiri Migrant families.Regarding recent employment ordersgiven to Kashmiri Pandit youth, AIKS hasresponded that State government isimposing very harsh and draconianconditions on the candidates who havebeen appointment recently. The stategovernment cannot enforce such harshconditions as a term of appointment.Honorable Chief Justice, Mr. Kapadia,directed J & K Government to give theirresponse immediately and informed that4th of July will be the last hearing. Mr. Kaulurged the state government that apart fromresponding to the Apex Court, they shouldtake concrete steps to address both shortterm and long term issues confronted bythe community. Mr. Kaul said that based onthe directives of the Supreme Court, AIKSshall soon bring out a form to be filled by

Report & Biradari News

the displaced members of the communitycovering the details of the propertiesdamaged, industrial units and machineriesdamaged and the losses suffered by thetraders and the agriculturists during lasttwenty two years. Mr. Kaul assured thecommunity that AIKS shall take this fight toits logical conclusion. Shri A.K.Raina, VicePresident AIKS and Shri Aryan Ramesh,Organizing Secretary, also addressed thepress conference.

[Input : Aryan Ramesh, Press Incharge AIKS]vvv

Prof. Padmini Tikoo Honoured :The renowned sitar maestroand eminent Sanskrit ScholarProf. Dr. Padmini Tikoo hasbeen honoured with theprestigious 'Best Citizens OfIndia Award 2010' by the InternationalPublication House in recognition of heroutstanding contribution in the field ofMusic. The Citation reads that she hasbecome the source of inspiration andreference point for the artists of J&K State.Dr. Padmini has been decorated with manyawards and honours for her highlyinnovative compositions of Ragas withYogic and Spiritual Perceptions. It may berecalled that she is the only woman in theState having two Doctorate degrees inMusic and Sanskrit subjects.

[Input: AROHI Sangeet]vvv

J&K Minister speaks on Rehabilitation ofDisplaced KPs :J&K Minister for Revenue, Relief andRehabilitation, Raman Bhalla said in Jammuon January 31, 2011 that displaced familiesof Kashmir valley are faced to lot ofdifficulties during turmoil adding thatcoalition Government is making all out

efforts to provide all basic as well asinfrastructural facilities to them for theirproper rehabilitation and safety. He wasspeaking in a meeting of officers to discussthe problems of those migrantentrepreneurs who are keen to return tovalley to re-establish their business andindustrial units. The Minister asked theconcerned authorities to submit a proposalof those entrepreneurs who want to restarttheir business activities in the valley alongwith a provision for unit shed so that thepackage proposal could be submitted tocentral Government for compensation. Heinformed that the upcoming 4218 flats atJagti Township in Nagrota for the migrants,costing Rs. 335 crores are nearingcompletion.

[Input: Reema Dullo : reemadullo@yahoo.com]vvv

Anuraj Tankha Awarded :In the Award List of Republic Day, there isarguably only one KP recipient. Pt. AnurajTankha, IPS, DIG (Special Branch) AssamCadre has been given the Police Medal forMeritorious Service.

[Input: Gautam Kaul IPS Retd.]vvv

Abhay Rustum Sopori and Kuldeep HandooAwarded :The renowned SantoorMaestro and MusicComposer AbhayRustum Sopori has beenawarded the prestigious 'J&K State Award',the highest Civilian Award of the State ofJammu and Kashmir, for the year 2011 inrecognition of his outstanding contributionin the field of music, becoming the youngestever recipient of the award. Theannouncement was made by the Govt. ofJ&K on 26th January 2011, the 62nd Republic

Report & Biradari News

Day of India. Abhay Rustum Sopory is theGrandson of the Great Master Musician ofthe State Pandit Shamboo Nath Sopori, andSon of Padam Shri Pandit Bhajan Sopori, theGreat Music Legend. Abhay is a versatileSantoor Maestro and Music Composer.Among the 11 persons nominated for StateAwards on the Republic Day, is also KuldeepHandoo, who has been awarded for beingoutstanding sports person.

[Input: V K Wuthoo : vwuthoo@gmail.com]vvv

Jai Kishori Handoo passes away :Jai Kishori Handoo, arenowned Radio and TVartist breathed her last inJammu on 29 January 2011due to cardiac arrest. Shewas 69. People from allwalks of life including themembers of media art fraternity attendedher last rites. Prominent among thoseincluded Dr Rafiq Masoodi Director DDKashmir, Srinagar and Shabir MujahidDirector Doordarshan. Mrs Handoo beganher journey in the field of performing art ata very young age and did lead roles innumerous plays on stage which includedAaram Haraam hai, Bina Darwazon ke Ghar,Kar Wotli Insan and Habba Khatoon. Shewon the best actress award thrice for herperformance. In Radio Kashmir Srinagar,Mrs. Handoo achieved a name for herself innumerous plays in which she performed asignificant role. Prominent among thoseincluded Machama series, Yeli Watan KhurYiwan, Bombur Yamberzal, Vyeth RoozPakaan and Agur. In television she alsoexcelled herself in serials and plays like AabSeemaab, Pazar Yeli Mood, Nika Kotur, AmarCheion, Taraz, Reh-t-Aab and Feature filmBab. She was felicitated by Athwas in year

2009 and Sadiq Memorial Society in 2007.[Input: J&K Television Producers Fraternity]

vvvDeclare sale of all KP properties ‘Null andVoid’:Jammu and Kashmir government has beendirected to explore possibility of declaringall the properties, movable andimmovable, sold by the displaced persons(Kashmiri Pandits) after 1989-90 as ‘DistressSales’ and declare sales as null and void andaccordingly, restore possession of theproperties back to respective KashmiriPandits who were recorded owners.Government has been further asked toimpose a blanket ban on the acquisition ofthe properties of Kashmiri Pandits by thestate government and also to ensureimplementation of Jammu and KashmirMigrant Immovable Property (Preservation,Protection and Restraint on DistressedSales) Act, 1997 in letter and spirit. Thesedirections and recommendations have beenmade by an empowered parliamentarystanding committee on home affairs. TheCommittee was headed by Sushma Swaraj.The Committee has further recommendedagainst use of word 'migrant' in the contextof the Kashmir displaced persons andobserved that it is not an appropriateexpression because the affected personshad been forced to give up their homes andhearths against their own will due to themayhem caused by the militants.

[Source : Syed Junaid Hashmi ~ Early Times]vvv

Suhasini Mulay ties the knot with AtulGurtu:The five times national awardee andpopular screen mom Suhasini Mulaymarried physicist Dr. Atul Gurtu on 16January 2011 (Atul’s birthday) at Arya Samaj.

Report & Biradari News

Both aresettled inM u m b a in o w .Suhasini is 60and Dr. Atul,a widower, is 65. Atul had been married for36 years and his wife died about six yearsago. Suhasini says she fell in love with Atulwhen she read an article that he had writtenabout the death of his first wife. Theactress, used to living alone, surprisedherself and her family with her decision tomarry him. "I had never thought of settlingdown. I had started believing I was alwaysgoing to live alone. Marriage was the lastthing on my agenda. I have never beenmarried but had a very long live-inrelationship that ended in 1990." Suhasinihas won five national awards, one for HuTu Tu and four for documentaries.

[Source : Kunal M Shah ~ Mumbai Mirror]vvv

Amitabh Mattoo declines to take over asVC of Central University, Jammu:Jawaharlal NehruUniversity professorAmitabh Mattoo hasdeclined to take over asthe vice-chancellor of theCentral University inJammu on personal grounds. Mr. Mattoohas expressed his unwillingness to be theVC of the Jammu Central University, inwriting to Kapil Sibal, the Union HRDMinister. Mattoo's appointment as VC inDecember had attracted opposition fromsome poli tical parties of the statebecause they wanted ‘someone from theregion’ to be appointed to the post.Amitabh Mattoo, a Padma Shri receipientmay soon join the Congress Party, it is

believed.[Source : Hindustan Times]

vvvNuptials :Ankur, son of Smt. Pushpa and Late Shri BalKrishen Kaul, was married to Swati,daughter of Smt. Nisha and Shri AshokMam, at Navi Mumbai on Feb. 5, 2011.

vvvNew Arrival: Rimi and Abhishek Bhat became proudparents of a baby boy Advait on Jan. 25,2011. Rimi is the daughter of Smt. Picha andSh. Ashwini Bhat of Kopar Khairane, andAbhishek is the son of Smt. Shama and Sh.R.K. Bhat of Sanpada, Navi Mumbai.

Report & Biradari News

They Left UsSmt. Chuni Devi Warikoo, W/o Late ShriHriday Nath Warikoo of Kralkhud, HabbaKadal, left for her heavenly abode onJan. 20, 2011 in Mumbai. She was themother of Smt. Anjali Misri, Wife of Sh.Avtar Misri of Sarita Apartments, BandStand, Bandra, Mumbai.

Smt. Rajkumari Fotedar, W/o Shri OmkarNath Fotedar of 24, Basant Garden, Sion-Trombay Road, Chembur left forheavenly abode on Feb. 18, 2011, atMumbai. She is survived by herhusband, a son and two daughters.

Shri Kanaiya Lal Kachroo, of A/4,Devidayal Apartments, Plot 1016, OffDr. R.P.Road, Mulund (W), Mumbai leftfor his heavenly abode on Feb. 26, 2011.He is survived by his wife, a son and adaughter.

KPA Mumbai expresses heartfeltsympathies with the bereaved families.

Reaching Out - S.P.Kachru

What’s The Truth

he term ’truth’ in commonparlance relates to the world as itappears to us. It appliesspecifically to certain objects or

circumstances. It always relates to the formand not the content of a statement.

We may well sample the view that thepurely logical criterion of truth, namely, theagreement of knowledge with the generaland formal laws of the understanding &reason, is a sine qua non, and is therefore,the negative condition of all truth. Butfurther than this, logic cannot go. It has notouchstone for the discovery of such erroras concerns not the form but the content.

Thus, although we may read all mannerof statement in Upanishads, their variety isan open question and, in the last analysis, aquestion of belief. To put it morephilosophically, no truth is more certain orindependent of others and less in need ofproof than this, namely that everything thatexists for knowledge and hence the wholeof this world, is only object in relation tothe subject. Everything that in any waybelongs and can belong to the world isinevitably associated with the being-conditioned by the subject and exists onlyfor the subject.

No matter how sincerely witnessesswear in court that they will tell the truth,the whole truth and nothing but the truth,their evidence is at best what they believeto be true, an imperfect substitute for ‘thetruth’.Today, post modern pragmatism offersanother truth substitute called contingenttruth i.e., the substitution of solidarity fortruth. What is normally accepted as truth

depends on the society inwhich one lives and onthe influences which itexerts. The members ofa society shouldtherefore, for the sake oforderly co-existence,reach agreement on what is to beconsidered true. The attitude to truth hasbeen fiercely criticised, particularly byreligious philosophers, some fearing thatit may destroy the basis for any absolutetruth or morality.

Are we therefore forced to make dowith substitute truths or must we put ourfaith in believed truths ? Neither ! Completely unmoved by the abovearguments, many of us are obviouslypressing on with the search for absolutetruth. And we are perfectly justified in theseattempts as the statement "there is notruth" is actually paradoxical. For if there isno truth, the statement cannot be true.

☯☯Author can be contacted at:

spkachru@gmail.com

T

MatrimonialWanted a suitable match for a beautifulKP, slightly manglik girl (5'-4") born 22September, 1984, BPT (Gold Medalist),MBA (topper) from Bangalore, presentlyworking in reputed MNC at Hyderabad.Interested may contact on Cell No.09816156789, or Landlines 0191-2532038, 0191-2564755 & 0191-2472990.

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KP Diaspora's Tele-conference withDileep Padgaonkar

Tele-conference was organised by the US based KP Diaspora with Mr. Dileep Padgaonkar,Chief Interlocutor on Kashmir appointed by Government of India on 5th February 2011,where Mr. Padgaonkar answered direct questions from the community members stationedacross globe. The programme was conducted by Surinder Kaul of Houston, USA with theactive co-ordination of Jagan Kaul (Oregon), Jeevan Zutshi (California), Rakesh Kaul (New

Jersey), Lalit Koul (Massachusets), Mrs. Krishna Bhan (UK), Mrs. Swapna Raina (Maryland), DeepakGanju (Florida), Bansi Tikku (California), Veer Khar (New Zealand), Kamal Hak and Dr. Agnishekhar(India). Mr. Ashok Bhan, a prominent community persona and a legal eagle facilitated the interactionwith Mr. Padgaonkar. Reproduced below, are the Questions asked and Answers given by Mr.Padgaonkar. [Transcription : M.K.Raina, Mumbai]

Question 1: Ms Meenakshi Raina from Paris:There are three dominant political streamsflowing in Kashmir. One seeks Kashmir’smerger with Pakistan, second one aspiresfor Independent Kashmir and the third onearticulated by mainstream political party’scall for greater autonomy with a very limitedrole for India in its affairs. Hon’ble leadinterlocutor sir, my question is - whatdispensation do you envisage for theeffective return of the displaced KashmiriPundit Diaspora to their ancestral homelandunder these political thoughts.Dileep Padgaonkar: Meenakshi, in the fourvisits that we have made to Jammu &Kashmir, one thing that is absolutely clearto us is that for the past sixtythree yearsthe big mistake that has been made is tolook at the entire problem of Jammu &Kashmir from the prism of the Kashmirvalley. The entire issue has been projectedas a Muslim-majority state vs a Hindu-majority India. This is patently untrue. Thefact of the matter is that the politicalaspirations of the three regions of the statenamely Kashmir, Jammu & Ladakh are notonly diverse, they are even divergent. Andtherefore, the big challenge before us asinterlocutors is to try and ensure that eachregion in Jammu & Kashmir and everycommunity, ethnic, religious or otherwise

within every region isable to fulfil l itspolitical, social,economic and culturalaspirations. In thiscontext, the peoplewho have been uprooted from their homes,are for us, a priority challenge. And thereason is that they were forced out of theirhomes because of intimidation, because offear and above all, because of violence. TheKashmiri Pandits are absolutely the toppriority as far as we are concerned. Butplease also understand that there havebeen others who have been also uprootedfrom their homes. These are people whocame from West Pakistan because of warsin 47-48, 65 and 71. They have not yet beengiven even the status of permanentresidence. They are few in number but theyare human, situation is extremely ??. So toanswer your question, our attempt is to findout to what extent Kashmiri Pandits will beable to return to their homeland and livethere in harmony, live there in peace, livethere above all free from fear andintimidation with their honour and dignityintact. This is a huge challenge. We have atthe moment, heard several Kashmiri Panditorganizations during the past four visits andmany of them have given us various kinds

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of proposals. We have heard today theproposal of a separate geographical unitwithin Kashmir in order to ensure thatKashmiri Pandits are able to return there insecurity. But there have been several otherproposals which have come from KPorganizations. We are examining all of themto find out what is durable, what is feasible.The end result however, must be, and Irepeat, must be one which fulfil ls thedreams of the exiled Kashmiri Pandits tolive a life of honour and dignity in their ownhomeland.Question 2: Mr. Veer Khar from NewZealand: It has been historically establishedthat Kashmiri Pandits have been subjectedto a forcible and inhuman exodus onceevery hundred years during last sevencenturies. The community has always goneback to its roots and wants to do so again.The question is: Have the Hon’bleInterlocutors thought of a dispensation forthe displaced community that will providethem the constitutional guarantees for theirsafety and prevent further displacements?Dileep Padgaonkar: Our foremost concern,to begin with, is to ensure that the KashmiriPandits who are living in miserableconditions in camps in the Jammu regionare able to ameliorate their situation. Wehave been visiting these camps very often,we have held discussions with them, wehave found out what their immediate needsand concerns are, and what strikes youabove all, is that Kashmiri Pandits haveremained true to their vocation, which theysay is a) to learn and b) to teach. They wouldlike to make sure that their children have amuch brighter future than they have, andchildren’s future has to be within their ownhomeland. Beyond the immediateconcerns of rehabilitation, which is anongoing effort, we have made severalrecommendations in this regard. The

central government and the stategovernment have accepted theserecommendations and these are beingimplemented. However, the larger politicalquestion remains. And as I said earlier, wehave got several options which we are goingto examine and these options have comefrom within the Kashmiri Panditcommunity. Various communityorganizations have spoken to us, we haveobviously not yet made up our mindsbecause we are just three months into ourjob but let me assure you that it is of theforemost interest to us to ensure that thedeepest desire and dreams of KashmiriPandits to return to their homes, issomething uppermost in our minds. Howbest to do it, how efficaciously to do it, issomething we are looking into. The keyreally, as far as I am concerned, is that theKashmiri Pandits must be given a stake inthe power equation in Jammu & Kashmir.They must be represented in proportionatenumbers in all levels of self governanceacross the State. The Kashmiri Pandits wereonce, who were prominent in theadministration of the state, their numbershave dwindled next to zero. I think that iscompletely un-natural, unfair andtherefore what we are aiming at, is that thePandit community must be given a politicalstake, a high political stake in thegovernance of Jammu & Kashmir. How todo it, what forms this will take, are issuesthat we are examining at present, and wehope that by the time we end our mandate,we will come up with an answer. Question 3: Dr. Surinder Kaul from USA:Hon’ble sir, let us assume a hypotheticalscenario where in Mr. Padgaonkar belongsto Kashmiri Pandit community and isexploited on the pretext of job underHon’ble Prime Ministers job package andasked to sign a draconian contract and

compelled to go back to Kashmir in similarsituation from where he was persecuted,humiliated and ejected. Sir, my question is-how will you react and what will be yourresponse and coming on to main questionon this subject matter -Have theinterlocutors taken cognizance of the termsof such employments and how do theypropose to impart basic human dignity tothe employment package for the displacedcommunity youth.Dileep Padgaonkar: I would also have likedto respond to the three earlier speakers, butI leave it to the Moderator to tell me when Ican do that. …… Let me directly answer thequestion that has been raised by Mr.Surinder Kaul. Yes absolutely, theinterlocutors have been seized of thequestion regarding employmentopportunities to Kashmiri Pandit youth in ??. We have asked and received the statistics?? for most to understand the extent of theproblem. You mentioned in particular thepackage of the Prime Minister and on thiscount there are three things which I wouldlike to say. The Central government as youknow, has agreed that it is going to ??towards the salary of 3000 youth until theyare absorbed against posts in the Stategovernment within a specified frame work.There are 9000 other unemployed youth andtheir employment would also be facilitatedto get financial assistance, to come up withself-employment and business ventures. Onthe question of those Kashmiri Pandits whowish to return to Valley and set up incomegenerating units, the government hasalready announced a cash assistance for eachof them as well as service. When we havebeen discussing Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu,we have been told that on paper all thisseems very fine but in practice, there arehuge number of bureaucratic hassles and ourendeavour therefore as interlocutors have

been to draw the attention of the Centralgovernment and the State government in therecommendations we have made to them,to ensure that these hassles are lifted. Thereis one critical issue however namely that thekind of jobs that have been allocated formigrant youth, should be come back to theValley. There is obviously reluctance andunderstandable reluctance on the part ofmany of them to say that they can not go backuntil and unless the security environment inKashmir becomes conducive to such a return.We are therefore trying to see whether as atemporary measure, it is possible for themto be absorbed in jobs in Jammu itself. Thisis a hugely difficult matter but asinterlocutors it is our hope that the Centralgovernment and the State government willfind ways and means of absorbing theseyouth. Similarly, we have now received a lotof enquiries from entrepreneurs in the restof India saying they are prepared to work forpartnerships in order to start smallbusinesses in Kashmir and in Jammu as well.These are things that we are pursuing. Iwould Mr. Kaul request you to be a littlepatient. We have just been ?? of 3 months.These matters have been lingering for morethan twenty years after the forceddisplacement of the Pandits from the Valley.Give us a little time and we will see whetherour efforts lead to some difference in the ??situation.Question 4: Ms. Koshni Compassi fromLondon: National Human RightsCommission of India is on record havingstated the circumstances that forced out theentire minority of Kashmiri Pandits fromtheir homeland are akin to genocide. Thiscan be a seen as a serious indictment of theexecutive responsibility of that time.Subsequently, neither the state apparatusin Jammu and Kashmir nor the executive atcentre as taken cognizance of NHRC’s

findings. We believe this has alsocontributed to the neglect and apathyshown towards the displaced community forlast twenty years. The question, therefore,is: Will the Hon’ble Interlocutors take anote of this serious miscarriage of justiceand include redressel measures in theirrecommendations to Government of India.Dileep Padgaonkar: Thank you very muchfor the question. Let me tell you that rightfrom the very first report that we submittedto the government, we have recommendedthat the Human Rights Commission of thestate of Jammu & Kashmir, which has notbeen functioning effectively, should bemade to function effectively. And that its?? and its proceeding should be along thelines of the National Human RightsCommission. In addition, we have alsorequested that the Rights to Information Actwhich has been passed by the Stategovernment should be given more teeth. Iam happy to inform you that less than aweek ago, it was finally decided to appointa Chief Information Commissioner for theRTI and you are now likely to witness a floodof complaints that will be receivedregarding all matters of concern to citizensincluding Kashmiri Pandits. This may relateto allocation of jobs, out of turn housing,medical facilities and so on and so forth. Butin terms of justice, in terms of violations ofrights, way out is to have a more effectivestate human rights commission and this isgoing to be our endeavour. We have spokenabout this to the Home Minister and to theChief Minister and I am glad to inform youthat both of them have responded in a mostencouraging manner. I think we ought togive them a little bit of time to ensure thatalong with the RTI and other institutions likethe Accountability Commission, the HRCwill also begin to function effectively in theweeks and months ahead.

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Milchar: The first issue of Milchar under theleadership of Shri M.K.Raina ably supportedby other Editorial team members has beenwell received by community members herein Mumbai as well as in other parts of Indiaand abroad. I am sure you will join me inconveying our sincere thanks andappreciation to Shri Raina and his team fordoing an outstanding job. Shri Raina iscommitted to make Milchar into one of themost sought after magazines of the Biradari.We need your support through donationsand advertisements to ensure that wecome out with Milchar on a monthly basis.Our current cost of printing per issue isupwards of Rs.25,000.00.AIKS: I attended AIKS meeting at Delhi on20th February 2011. This was a good platformfor me to meet key team members of AIKSas also leaders of various BiradariAssociations across the country. I sharedabout our activities and focusedprogrammes and got valuable inputs onmajor programmes of AIKS and otherBiradari Associations

I assure you all that I and my BoT teamwill work tirelessly to keep your trust andconfidence in us. We know that we will beconfronted with major challenges but I amconfident that with your active support wewill successfully overcome them to makeKPA a more vibrant and dynamicorganization. I have full faith in ourcommunity and am committed to our unity.

I will appreciate your feed back,constructive criticism and suggestions. Ialso appeal to you all to spare some of timefor KPA’s activities / programmes. Whileclosing I again wish you and your familyNavreh Mubarak. God Bless you all!

☯☯

Cotact Rajen Kaul at: rkaul06@gmail.com

Between Ourselves ... From Page 2

he following day the same taxitook us to Arau - ahead ofPahalgam - where we had tea.We met four young men - Shawl

sellers - from our native village there. Wereturned to Pahalgam at lunch-time andhad lunch at a Dhaba near the Bus Stand.Then we went to the Mamaleshwar templeacross the river Lidder. A local youth, itseems, puts vermillion on the pilgrims’forehead at the temple. After 4 p.m., westarted our return journey. We went to ournative village that falls en-route Mattan-Pahalgam road some 18 KMs away fromPahalgam. We reached the house of thelone KP family in the village in the evening.Two of their daughters had arrived fromDelhi/Jammu the previous day. My Mamajiand Altaf had tea with us and they wentback to Mattan. My childhood friend Darcame to meet us the next morning so didanother person, Mir, who was very close tomy eldest paternal uncle’s family. Dar wasaware of my illness and he and his wifewere further shocked to see me with a staffin hand. Mir too was shocked as he learntabout the serious illness that I suffered lastautumn.

In a matter of minutes, Mir told us thatyears ago he was asked to play his belovedmusical instrument, Rabab, in a hall in avillage 5 KMs away from our village. Therewere some more music-lovers and singerswho too were persuaded to participate inthe musical evening. But it was a conspiracy,said he. An hour or less had passed, whentheir instruments were broken into piecesand they (the players/singers) were givena severe beating by the men, then knownas 'cultural police'. During the subsequent

Kashmir Diary - Prof. R.N.Bhat (BHU)

Kashmir 2010 - Part 2

days men opposed to'cultural police' tried toprobe them regarding theidentity of the beaters butthey did not reveal theiridentity to prevent furtherharassment tothemselves. Being amusic-lover he feels sad for animal or anykilling. He asked me and my mother to stayon in the village and get a houseconstructed. He promised to extendwhatever support he could. I found thatthese boys of yesteryears, who are of myage or senior to me, have black hair and lookmuch younger.

During the day I met a couple of statesecurity personnel who reside in myyounger uncle’s house. After brunch theybask in our kitchen-garden across thestream. One of them asked me to returnand settle in my village. Yes, said I, but onlyafter the fear/threat of any kind getseliminated. "That will not happen any day",said he.

I walked a couple of lanes, went to theBhuteshwar temple across the stream andprepared to leave the next day. My friendDar dropped me and my mother at Mattanwhere from AK’s younger son, my cousin,brought me to Srinagar. En-route Srinagar,he stopped his vehicle and paid a hefty sumin cash at a Durgah. I spent the following dayat his place. Next morning he sent his friend,an MD medicine, who dropped me at theairport. The young doctor from the Citybelieves that 'the old peaceful days - that hehas not experienced in person - shall comeback'. At the airport, he put my suitcase on atrolley and I said good-bye to him.

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An hour later, I was at Jammu. In theevening I went to Chhanni, Sector 4 in ahired auto to wish luck to my paternalcousins whose sons’ marriage was inprogress. They wanted me to stay for thenight but I could not because the medicinethat I take after dinner was not with me.One of the grooms dropped me back at mysister’s place at Shakti Nagar. The nextmorning, my sister and I went to thewedding of the daughter of a village girl,Lalli. It proved a good meeting place. We

met a large number of men and womenfrom our native village. The next afternoon,I started my return journey to Varanasi; myplace of work which Dr. K L Chowdhury calls‘the abode of god’- and reached here onSunday. On Tuesday, I took over as the Headof the Department for the second term butrelinquished the office over a month laterto get free from administrative hassels.

☯☯Author can be contacted at:

rnbhat2k2@sify.com

Question: Please inform me as to whowere the 11 houses or tribes, the oldestancestors, who lived on our belovedmotherland, and where had they comefrom? After a massive flooding, entire Valleywas under water, then again how come wesay 11 garr were living from begining. pleaseenlighten.Answer: Kashmir being a big lake and only11 families of Brahmins surviving in Kashmirare two different episodes of the history. Inancient times, Kashmir is believed to havebeen a big lake called Satisar. A cruel demonnamed Jaldeo dwelt in the lake who usedto destroy all life on shores. Vishnu stuckthe mountain at Baramulla with His tridentand the waters of the lake rushed out. Thedemon however hid in the waters and didnot die. Then Parvati dropped a mountainon him and crushed him.

Sultan Sikandar ruled Kashmir from

1389 to 1413. He along with his chiefminister, namely Saif-ud-Din (originallySuha Bhata who converted to Islam)unleashed a rein of terror on Pandits. Thelegend has it that only 11 KP familiessurvived and stayed back while all otherswere either brutally murdered orconverted to Islam. It is said that Sikandarcollected 3 khirwars of sacred threads ofconvert Hindus and burnt them. Thencame Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin (Badshah) in1420 who got his poisonous and incurableboil cured by a Brahmin physician namelyShri Bhatt. Shri Bhatt did not acceptanything from the king in lieu of his servicebut wanted that Jazia levied on Brahminsbe remitted and they be freed from theposition of inferiority. Zai-ul-Abidinaccepted Shri Bhatt's request and thisproved a landmark in the history ofKashmiri Hindus. - Editor.

Your Questions About KashmirQuestion from Shashi Dhar, Vishakhapatnam

shivdhar8@gmail.com

If you have any question regarding Kashmir, its History, Geography,People, languages etc., Kindly mail it to editormilchar@yahoo.co.in

Know Your Motherland

Pages From My Diary - Dr. K.L.Chowdhury

The Spirit of Nandkeshwara

eing the first born, the wedding ofDulari Raina was a cherished eventfor her family. Her doting motherbid for a well-qualified and well-

placed groom. Middlemen came up withseveral proposals. Horoscopes of eligiblecandidates were sifted and studied, but noneimpressed her except that of Pran Nath Dhar.Employed in far off Bombay, he had a doublepostgraduate degree, what used to bedescribed as double MA. The credentials weremost impressive, the family seemed fine, andthe wedding was on.

The wedding wasperformed in style. The groomwas tall, handsome and softspoken. He made quite animpression. His stay was short,just two weeks. He told his wifethat he was in the thick of aproject and had to return toBombay. He would call her afterhe set up a decent apartment.

Dulari was sti l l in theeuphoria of her wedded state. She spent timewith her in-laws, basking in the specialtreatment traditionally showered on newbrides. But Pran Nath was never heard ofagain. Letters addressed to him werereturned; he had moved residence withoutleaving any forwarding address.

Pran Nath was lost in the vast sea ofhumanity. His parents had no idea where hehad gone. They wrote to his employers whoreplied that he had resigned from his job. Acase was registered in the police station atMaharaj Gunj. The police got in touch with

Here is a story in which I had no direct role as a doctor except as a witness. In fact, I was a mere school boyand remote even from any pretence to being a healer. However, the incident left a profound impact on meand my approach to the treatment of patients suffering from various psychological disorders - K.L.Chowdhury

the Bombay police. Thesearch was on, they weretold. Even as her motherhad exhausted alltraditional means - thecharms, the prescriptionsof the Pirs, the fasting andthe praying - to retrieveDulari’s errant husband and lure him back toher from Bombay, someone suggestedsupplication at the feet of Lord Nandkeshwara- the resident deity at Sumbal.

The Nandkeshwara BhiaravaTemple is a sprawling complexon the river bank in Sumbal, aquaint hamlet about fifteenmiles from Srinagar. You wentthere in a Doonga or by road ina Tonga. It is a serene place withhuge Chinars and an air ofmystery. The idol ofNandkehawara resides in thetemple. He is a four-armed,three-eyed handsome youth of

striking red colour, blessed with immortalityby lord Siva. He is the savior of his devotees,the remover of all obstacles. The devout claimthat he grants all the wishes provided youcome clean in body and mind.

The Raina’s went in a Doonga. It used tobe an adventure-filled excursion through thebackwaters, the Dal Lake and the Vitasta, andan idyllic retreat from the humdrum city lifeto a hermitage ideal for prayer and penance.They paid obeisance. A havan was performedand the lungs and heart of a lamb wereoffered as a ritual sacrifice and fed to the kites

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that circled above in the sky and swoopeddown to catch in their strong claws the chunksof the organs being hurled up.

Dulari was initiated into a ritual practiceof reciting hymns and mantras, a protocol ofpersonal hygiene with early rising, bathing,praying and a diet of herbs, vegetables, fruitand yogurt. She was forbidden silly thoughts,uncouth practices and foul language.

Daily prayer, circumambulation, fastingand worshiping for a full week provided amystical experience and lifted the spirits ofthe family. The temple priest was a satisfiedman. No one had returned empty-handedfrom Sumbal, he claimed, and hoped thattheir problems would resolve soon. Theyshould visit every year and adopt LordNandkeshawra as their family deity, headvised.

On their return, every member of thefamily beamed with confidence. People cameto felicitate them for a successful pilgrimageand for their new affi l iation to LordNandkeshwara who would cure all ills andbring Dulari’s husband back to her.

Alas, that did not happen. On thecontrary, the investigations by Bombay policerevealed that Pran Nath had been living witha woman for several years before his weddingto Dulari. He had already fathered twochildren. The police were still on the case;trying to find out where he had disappeared.

On hearing this news, Dulari behaved assomeone possessed by strange spirits. Shegot up like one walking in a dream and startedsinging songs that no one had heard before,in a voice that was not her own! She starteddancing, making wild gestures, flinging herarms and legs, clapping her hands, stampingher feet so hard the floor boards of thebalcony creaked. It seemed as if it were theLord Nadkeshwara doing Tandava. She waspossessed of unnatural strength for she couldnot be restrained by her brothers. When they

managed finally to pin her to the groundand communicate with her, she spoke withan authoritative male voice.

"Dulari, Dulari, calm down. It is not true.We will contact Bombay and find out. Calmdown, sister," Peareylal, her brother tried tocomfort her.

"I am not Dulari," she replied in the malevoice.

"Who are you?" her brother asked."I am Nandkeshawara?" she growled."Pray, what do you want, sir?" he asked

politely."Your sister has desecrated the place,"

the voice answered."But you are my sister, you are Dulari, are

you not?""I am not going to spare her for what she

has done." The voice became hoarser."What has she done?""She spat near the sacred tree, behind

the temple."All the while she spoke, Dulari was trying

hard to wriggle out. Soon, she managed tofree herself from her brothers' grasp andstarted her wild dance again, singing aloud.

This was getting difficult. Word wentround that Dulari was possessed of the devil.The neighbors gathered, some coming near,others waiting in the courtyard, eager towatch the spectacle.

While they were debating how to addressthis turn of events, someone suggested thename of Pandit Nand Lal who might be ableto help because he had been the high priestof the temple at Sumbal before he migratedto Srinagar during the 1947 tribal invasion.He was well versed with the lore ofNandkeshwara. Besides, he was held in highesteem as a knowledgeable priest, aspecialist who could communicate withsupernatural beings, ghosts and spirits.

Nand Lal lived nearby at Budger in arented house. He came forthwith - a tall

middle-aged person with a pleasantlyserene face, dreamy eyes, and an erectstance. He wore a shirt and trousers, a finelydone rose turban and a close-buttoned greyjacket coming down to the knees. Helistened to the story with full attention likea doctor.

Dulari's Tandava was on when he was ledto the balcony. The crowd made way for him.He watched Dulari for a while and thenmoved towards her. With a calm, reassuring,resonant and mesmerizing voice headdressed her, "I am the servant of LordNandkeshwara. I am here to make amendsfor the wrong done. Please leave her alone.Please go back to your place."

She looked at him, flinched for a while,and resumed her dance and song. He startedreciting mantras, slowly moving closer to her,touching her arm softly, gently.

The dance stopped and Dulari slumpedon the floor, exhausted, repeating herwarning, "I am not going to forgive her;never."

"Please leave her alone; she willpropitiate you, do everything you bid her,"he said in a placatory tone. "She has defiledmy place. She will have to suffer for it."

All the time Dulari spoke, she did notseem to look at any one around in particularbut in the distance as if there were no peoplearound, not even the walls and the floor.

"You do not punish people for beingignorant. Please go away, I beseech you," hespoke in a commanding voice now.

"She is cursed, cursed from her verychildhood. Her husband will never return toher." It was still the male voice.

"You have caused her enough hurt. Nowleave her alone, I warn you," he said sternly.Dulari responded with a growl and made anattempt to stand up but he restrained her,produced a small penknife from hispocketbook and placed it at her sternum near

the base of the neck."Will you leave her or should I ... ?" he

raised his baritone first time since he arrivedat the scene. That seemed to do the trick.She answered in a reconciliatory tone, "I willnot go unless she makes amends. She willhave to atone for her sins. She will visit theplace again. She will sweep the whole templecomplex clean. She will offer sacrifice."

"Of course, she will do as you say. Now, Icommand you to leave her alone," hecontinued in his resolute tone.

She tried to push his arm aside, but NandLal was relentless. He pressed the knifenearer the neck and raised his voice louder,"Now, go away before I put this deep insideyou."

"I am going now, but I will return again,"the voice drawled to a stop.

Dulari opened her eyes suddenly, sat upand looked around at the expressions ofdisbelief on everyone. Her brother cameforward with a glass of water which she drankavidly. Her limbs loosened up. Puzzled atseeing a big crowd, she asked, "Why are youall here?" It was her normal voice. Every oneheaved a sigh of relief.

Dulari suffered several 'fits' in thesucceeding weeks but Nand Lal negotiatedher out of them with his patient, perseverantand professional approach. The fits finallyfaded away and Dulari was exorcised of thespirit of Nandkeshhwara and rid of thebaggage of her failed marriage. She hardlytalked about it and decided to move on inlife.

☯☯Author can be contacted at:

kundanleela@yahoo.com

New-face Milchar on Net

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Language & Scripts - Omkar N. Koul

Grierson on Kashmirntroduction :G e o r g eA b r a h a mG r i e r s o n

(1851-1941) was a Britishcivil servant, and a Fellow ofthe British Academy. He

spent much of his life in British India. Hejoined the Indian Civil Service in 1873 andwas in charge of the Linguistic Survey ofIndia from 1898. He was responsible forproducing the monumental Linguistic Surveyof India (LSI), an important work in thehistory of sociolinguistic research in India,which took 30 years to complete and waspublished in 11 volumes and 19 parts (1903-1928).

Grierson has provided grammaticalsketches of 179 languages and 544 so-calleddialects in his linguistic survey. The number ofthese languages is based on the results of thecensus conducted during 1891 and theinformation he obtained from various officersin the field. Grierson’s contribution is cited asa reference point in all the linguisticdescriptions of Indian languages and also insociolinguistic research. In his linguisticdescriptions, he has mainly concentrated onthe linguistic classification of the languagesand/or dialects, their phonetic andphonological characteristics, morphology andthe vocabulary. Besides conducting a giganticlinguistic survey of India, Grierson has preparedmonographs on some languages, compileddictionaries, edited and translated old literarytexts related to some Indian languages. Forexample, he has translated Jaysi’s Padmavat,Purusha-Pariksha of Vidyapati Thakkur. (15th

century), Lala Vaakyani of Lal Ded (14th

century) etc. In the present paper, I would like

to discuss Grierson’scontribution to the Kashmirilanguage and literature.Linguistic Classification ofKashmiri : Grierson (1906)discusses the classification ofmodern Pisaca languageswhich forms the basis of the vol 8, part 2 ofhis Linguistic Survey of India. Although hisclassification has been superseded, it isuseful work which is full with thephonological details, derivations and soundcorrespondences. Grierson (1919) hasclassified Kashmiri under Dardic group oflanguages. The Dardic languages are spokenin the extreme North-West of India and inthe North West of the Indo-Afghanborderland. They fall into three branches:Kashmiri including Shina, (2) Khowar orChitrali in the North-West Frontier province,and (3) Kafiristan now called Nooristan.Grierson classified them as a group bythemselves. He divided Indo-Iranian intothree groups: (1) Iranian in the West, (2) Indo-Aryan in the East and (3) Dardic in betweenthe two at the extreme North. Other scholarslike Jules Block, George Morgenstierne andR L Turner have not accepted this three-folddivision of Indo-Iranian; they are in favour oflooking upon Dardic as a group within Indo-Aryan, and the Dardic languages accordingto their view should be classified among NIA.This is the view accepted by most of thelinguists today. The Dardic is not actually alinguistic group characterised on the basis ofcommon linguistic features, but it is ageographical area.

One must consider the fact that Dardicon the whole shows some affinity withIranian rather that with Indo-Aryan. Again,

George Grierson

I

the development of these languages havefollowed different lines. Out of the Dardicgroup, it is only Kashmiri which has beeninfluenced by the old Indo-Aryan especiallyVedic Sanskrit and has had links with the restof India through the Hindu and Bhudhistreligions and socio-cultural patterns.

A large number of phonetic, phonologicaland morphological characteristics of Dardiclanguages are different from that of SanskriticIndo-Aryan. Certain linguistic characteristics ofKashmiri have been influenced by Sanskrit as aresult of language contact. Kashmir hasremained a centre for Sanskrit scholarship forcenturies. It is natural that Sanskrit has animpact on the earliest form of Kashmiriespecially on its vocabulary. Earliest texts ofKashmiri were written in the Sharda scriptwhich was used for writing Sanskrit texts as well.Unfortunately, the earliest texts of Kashmiri aredestroyed. The earliest sample texts availablein Kashmiri belong to the 12th century.Description of Kashmiri : Grierson describesspeech sounds, phonological and grammaticalaspects of Kashmiri in his several works relatedto Kashmiri. While most of his statements aresignificant and valid, some of them have beendebated and disputed by other scholars. Forexample, in his description of Kashmiriphonology his identification of so-called maatravowels in Kashmiri has been disputed and doesnot hold good any longer. He explained themas ‘inaudible’ sounds to the non-native speakersof Kashmiri. He used the so-called maatravowels with additional diacritic signs in hisRoman transcription of Kashmiri examples andtexts. Actually, these were established in placeof central high and mid vowels and certaindiphthongs u?, u«, o«, and o:«.

Grierson’s description of differentlinguistic aspects of Kashmiri are primarilybased on Kashmirshabdamritam a Kashmirigrammar written by Ishvar Kaul (1879) inSanskrit sutras following the Paninian model.

(Incidentally, this is the only grammar ofmodern Indian languages written using thismodel.) This grammar has been edited withnotes and additions by Grierson andpublished by Royal Asiatic Society of Bengalin 1897-98. Grierson calls it ‘the bestgrammar of the Kashmiri language’. He haswritten quite a few papers on Kashmiri basedon this grammar and has also provideddescriptions of Kashmiri using the literarytexts such as Mahanayprakash of Shiti Kanth(15th century text).

Kashmiri has pronominal suffixes whichare added to the verbs to indicate the subjectand/or object. Grierson (1895) presents abrief description of pronominal suffixes inKashmiri along with those of Sindhi andLahanda with special reference to their originand occurrence in other languages asmentioned. Grierson (1898) providesdescription of 37 primary suffixes as treatedin the Kradanta-prakriya of Ishvara Kaul withexamples. He also presents an account ofsecondary suffixes on the basis of Ishvara kaul(1898). It provides examples of 89 secondarysuffixes used for expressing relationship andin the formation of abstract nouns,diminutives, etc. The phenomena ofpronominal suffixes and the primary andsecondary suffixes have now been presentedin simplified terms in modern linguistic workson Kashmiri.

Grierson (1919) presents a grammaticalsketch, vocabulary and text of Kashmiri alongwith other Kafir and Dardic languages.Grierson was a first scholar to address theproblem of classifying these languages. Whilehis classification is no longer generallyaccepted, it continues to provide a point ofdeparture for debate and classification.

In his paper related to modern Indo-Aryan alphabets, Grierson (1904) for the firsttime prepares a note on Sharada Script usedfor Kashmiri with plates along with other

scripts such as Gurumukhi used for Punjabi,Landa for Lahanda and Takri for Dogri. Hehas devoted sections on the Sharada scriptin his other works too later. He has pointedout its inadequacies in presenting thespeech system of Kashmiri.

Grierson’s (1911) Standard Grammar ofKashmiri comprises a grammatical sketch,phrase book and some useful vocabulary ofKashmiri. This is meant to serve the purposeof a handbook on Kashmiri.Dialect survey : Besides certain regionaldialects, there are certain sociolinguisticvariations in the speech of the peoplebelonging to different religious communities,urban and rural areas, and professional groups.Grierson was the first scholar to make adistinction between the speech of Hindus andthat of Muslims naming them ‘Hindu Kashmiri’and ‘Muslim Kashmiri’. This distinction isprimarily based on some distinct vocabularyitems used by Hindus and Muslims and somemorphemes. Most of the vocabulary used byHindus is derived from Sanskrit and the distinctvocabulary used by Muslims in derived fromPerso-Arabic sources.Dictionary : Pandit Ishvara Kaula (d.1893) hasmade the first attempt to prepare a Kashmir-Sanskrit dictionary, but could not complete itbefore his death. Grierson (1916-1932)compiled the dictionary under the title Adictionary of Kashmiri Language from thematerials left by late Ishvara Kaul. He wasassisted by Mahamohapadhyay MukundramShastri. After the death of Mukundram Shastrihe was assisted by Pandit Nityanand Shastri.This is the first comprehensive Kash-Englishdictionary available. Most of the lexical itemsare explained in Sanskrit as well. Theheadwords are given in Roman script withtransliteration in Devanagri. It uses the Perso-Arabic script for the words if recorded in thatscript. It explains idioms and phrases in detail.It makes use of Kashmiri texts and gives useful

references of the same wherevernecessary. Grierson has used Englishalphabetic order for the dictionary withadditions and modifications wherevernecessary to suit the sound system ofKashmiri. This dictionary has beenreprinted several times and is being madeavailable online by the University ofChicago. The project is not complete yet.Kashmiri Literary Texts : Besides presentingthe descriptions of phonological andgrammatical aspects of Kashmiri, compilinga Kashmiri-English dictionary, Grierson hasmade an important contribution to theKashmiri literature by editing, interpreting,and translating quite a few significant oldKashmiri literary texts in collaboration withother European and/or local scholars.

Grierson and Barnett (1920) edited andtranslated Lalla Vaakyaani or wise sayings ofLal Ded (or Lalla), a mystic poetess of ancientKashmir. Lala Ded is the first prominentpoetess of Kashmiri of the 14th century. Thisis the first collection of the vaakhs or sayingsof Lal Ded. Looking at the language used inthe compositions, Grierson has made animportant observation that as these verseswere transmitted orally from one generationto another, the language of the verses musthave undergone some changes. These vaakhsare quite popular among both Hindus andMuslims who speak Kashmiri natively and arevery often cited in speech and in writing.

Grierson (1923) edited Hatim’s tales inKashmiri collected by Aurel Stein earlier withthe assistance of Pandit Govind Kaul. Thisvolume has been reprinted several times.These folktales have generated a greatinterest among scholars all over the world.They have been analysed by folklorists.

Grierson has also edited and publishedthe Ramawtarcharti and Lav-Kushcharit ofPrakash Ram composed in the 18th century.

(Continued on Page 28)

Your Own Page

A

KashmiriPandit

Surnames

Compiled by :

Pandit Rudresh

Rudresh Kaul

Born to Shri Anil Kaul and Smt. Aneeta Kaul (Dembi), ofJodhpur (Originally from Babapora, Habbakadal, Srinagar),Rudresh has done a yoeman's service of compiling KashmiriPandit Surnames and put them on Net for information ofthe masses. Rudresh's work contains 733 Surnames whichwon him kudos from the KP Biradari, especially thenetizens, who rate his compilation a work of great value.

Rudresh is currently preparing for a career in business management. His interests includeCrafts, History, Poetry and Writing. Rudresh says he is proud of his community and theKashmiri heritage. He can be contacted at: rudreshkaul@gmail.com

Sakshi Samvit Raina Sakshi Samvit Raina of Miami USA, likesthe patterns of Yantra. She is seen herewith Siddha Sharada Yantra drawn by Dr.Chaman Lal Raina. She can also be seentrying her hand on painting Buddha.

Ms. Meena Kak :

Ms. Meena Kak of New Delhi wasconferred with the 'Bharat ShikshaRatan Award' on the occasion of 31stNational Seminar on 'IndividualAchievements & NationalDevelopment'. The Award was given on14th Feb. 2011 by the Global Society forHealth & EducationalGrowth, New Delhi.Ms. Meena has alsowon the prestigiousCBSC Award in 2006.

IMAGES :

Ashwin Rainaashwinraina08@yahoo.com

Mç mLççCçá: çÆmLçjYççÆkçwlç³ççíiçmçáuçuçYççí çÆvç:Þçí³çmçç³ççmlçá Jç:e is firm andsteady, butcan easily bea t t a i n e d

through determinedBhakti Yoga. What weneed is to put faith anddevotion in theomnipresence of the

great Lord Shiva, even if we may not be wellconversant with that reality.Introduction : If we go through the literalmeaning of the word Shiva Ratri, it meansthe night of Lord Shiva. Shiva is the Lord ofblessings, and Ratri is the Devi as explainedin the Ratri Suktam of the Rigveda. ShivaRatri is the essence of the Rudra Mantras ofthe Yajur Veda, where Shiva is adored asBhava, Sharva, Rudra, Kapardin, Sthanu andmany such epithets. Shiva Ratri is a Yogicjourney from the Sthanu (still) state of mindto the Bhava (creative) state of existence.Bhava state is for living a life for thebetterment of the world. Bhava is sharingthe best in the world. It is a spiritual journeyfrom Samsara (mundane) life to Moksha(liberation) from the bondages of Karma.From 'being to becoming' as is the essenceof the Trika philosophy of Kashmir, wherebeing is the Nara and becoming is Shiva.

Shiva Sankalpa Mantra helps a devoteeto see the Vatuka Bhairava from thesubjective experience of l ife to theobjective realization of Shiva-Advaita inidentifying one’s own self with theUniversal consciousness of Bhagavan Shiva.The first Sutra (aphorism) of the Shiva Sutrateaches the Eternal Truth: ChaitanyamAtma - that Consciousness is the Atman(self). Vatuka Raja - Vatak Raz is the

Rites & Rituals - Dr. Chaman Lal Raina

Herath - Shiva Ratri of Kashmiri Panditsconsciousness of Shiva,as adored in thetraditional Vatuka RajaPuja Paddhati, beingpracticed in the KashmiriPandit heritage. Really,Shiva Ratri, popularlyrevered as the 'Herath' in Kashmiri ethos, isfil led with tradition, religiousunderstanding, devotion, culturalinteraction and mutual brotherhood. It isof course, a very vibrant tyohaar (festival)of the Kashmiri Pandits, who observe itaccording to their Kula Ritis (familytradition) but the central point is focusedon the ‘VATUK-BARUN’ - an invocation tothe Vatuka Raja Bhairawa.Source material: 1. Yajur Veda, ShivaPurana, Nilamata Purana, Shaiva Agamas.2. Recitation of the Rudra Mantra, MahimnaStotram, Panchakshari Mantra during theEternal Night of the Tandava Nritya/cosmicdance of Shiva as Nataraja.3. Annakana and Vaishwa deva - Ahuti.Objective : 1. To realise Shiva-consciousnesswith subjectivity, objectivity anduniversality.2. Shiva Ratri is not a celebration ofmundane life alone, but uniting of ourminds with Supreme Shiva.3. To seek blessings from the VatukaBhairava in visual form and to have HisDarshana/Sakshatkara.4. To see the Pradosha (inauspicious)‘muhuruta’ turned into the BhagavataMuhurta - divine hour of grace for spiritualawakening, at the time when the Pradoshafalls on the Phalguna Krishna Trayodashi,known as Herats Truwah.Invocation Mantra:kçáÀuççkçáÀuçhçoí ³ççÌòmççÌ hççuçkçÀçí YçálççÆJçûçn:~

H

Shri Vatuk Nath

çÆ®çoçvçvojmç hçÓCç¥ Jçvoí JçìákçÀYçÌjJçcçd~~(I pay my obeisance to the Watuk RajBhairava, who is none else but the 'DivineFlame' of auspiciousness. He is existent inthe Kula and Kula modes of worship. He isthe saviour. He is manifest. He is with form.He is the very essence of Chit and Ananda.)

The Watak Raz‘u as the Supremeeffulgence is popularly adored withwalnuts and with the Bijamantra ß ÛçR ÞççRoíJççÇhçá$ç JçìákçÀ vççLçç³ç vçcç: written with Sinduur -red lead around the earthen/brass pot,known as the Watak Nvo’t. This Mantra hasbeen visualized by Vamadeva Rishi. Hencethe Shiva Ratri of Kashmir is purely Agamicin essence, Yogic in practice and ritualisticin pattern. The Herath as it is adored withdevotion, is the essence of the SHIVA-SHAKTI in unison. The celebration is togreet the Divine Shiva and his Shakti withinthe sanctum sanctorum of the residentialhouse, known as the Thokur Kuth, or in theCho‘ku (kitchen), the abode of AnnapurnaDevi, who is the consort of Shiva. These twodesignated places are said to be the sacredplaces in the house. As a matter of sanctity,Cho‘ku is considered as next to ThokurKuth. The Watak Raz‘u is being installed inthese two designated places, even in theDiaspora, with little modification subjectto the availability of space.Pre -requisites for the observance of Herath:1. The house is being cleaned, known as'Herath-Liwun or Hur-Dalun' (washing thehouse) with Gurit Mets (yellow soil). Thedays for the cleansing of the housecommences from the Hur`i Okdoh - the firstTithi of the Phalguna Krishna Paksha andconcluded on the Hur`i Sheyam. After Hur`icelebration, generally no Hokh`u Siyun(dried vegetable) is to be cooked as a dish.There is a logic behind it. Since the WatakRaz is to be invoked with serenity, thusthere should be some thing new/freshvegetable to be offered, which could be

easily available. In Kashmir, palakh(spinach) is just grown in the fields, alongwith the fresh radish and turnip, and lotusroots are easily available, so the Reeth(tradition) of cooking of the available freshvegetables, evolved during the grandcelebration of Shiva Ratri. Wonderful werethe ideas of our ancestors, which we arestill preserving even in the migration.These are the cultural bonds, which shapethe religious fervor with respect to placeand situation. Cultural ties build thestrength to preserve the religious identity.2. Watak Raz Parivar is to be bought fromthe Kraal (potter) in the Deity form of WatukBhairava, Ram Go`d, Reshi Dulij, Sani-Potul,Sani Waari, Khetra Pal, Dupu Zoor and Tsong.It is to be bought after 'Hur`i Satam uptoGad Kaah. The 'Wusur' were prepared bythe Push - who would grow flowers inKashmir. If the Watak Raaz, also the WatakMasaala can not be purchased upto 'GaadKah’, then it should invariably be boughton the ‘Wagri Bah’ as ‘Wagur’ is to beinvoked on the Wagri Baah day. The Guritsperform Puja on the Wagri Baah Tithi.Watuk Parivar needed for the occasionshould be of baked clay. But the newstandards in the religious ethos, allowedthe baked clay Watak Raaz to be replacedby brass pots. Later on the steel took placeof the brass in some families. 3. Watuk Bhairava is not worshipped alone.He manifests along with Ganas and Shaktis.Ram G‘aud is the Purusha principle of theHiranya Garbha, and Reshi Dulij is the Prakritiprinciple of the Hiranya Garbha. Sani Potulrepresents the cosmic creation of the ShivaShakti in One Emblem. SINI is a Sanskritword, which refers to the woman having awhite complexion and Putula in Sanskritlanguage means the icon of Shiva. SoSANIPO‘TUL is the SHIVA SHAKTI EKA RUPINI(Shiva and Shakti are One in essence) whichis the base of the Kashmiri Herath functioning

as the Kavacham of the Tantric deliberationsin looking after the PADDHATI of FIVE dayPuja manual.4. WUSUR and A’IR is Prithvi Tattva or theEarthly existence. Wusur is the Apbhramshaof the word Waasura, which denotesexistence of the Mother earth. That is thereason the Wusur is made of Petchi Diyol, aspecial weed of the lakes, as Mother earthis both soil and the water. The dried Petchagrass known as ‘diyol’ is put in three whirlswith a knot, to represent theTRIGUNATMAKA PRAKRITI of Sattva-Rajas-Tamas. It is placed at the bottom of theWatak Raz`u. Ram Go`d, Reshi Dulij and twoKhetrapals, the guardian deities of the greatevent. Wusur is an offering of garland andA‘IR is an ASANA (seat). It is to invoke theKundalini Shakti within the aura of WatakRaz. The Deities are wrapped properly withthe marigold garlands. This is the very startof the Thirty six Tattvas of the Trika Shasana/Darshanas or popularly recognized as theKashmir Shiva Darshan to start with thePrithvi Tattva. The Principal deity of the Fiveday Puja is the WATAK RAZ`U. The thirty sixTattva is the universal Existence of Shiva,where Shakti helps Shiva to manifest as auniversal Spirit. The Watuka Paddhatiestablishes that fact.Deliberation of Puja : The Watuk BhairavaPuja is a long ranged systemized Puja of Fivedays, which starts from Gad‘u Kah, Wag‘erBhah, Heratcha Truvah, Chaturdasi/ Salam(later influence) and Parmuzun. This is theShaivistic Puja Paddhati, it is Sattvic, Rajasicand Pradushik in character. It is the essenceof the cosmic whirl, in which Watak Raazhelps the devotees to get enlightened andbe in the Sadhana of Shiva-Shakti and theunderstanding of matter i.e. Anu/nara. It isbased on the KADI system of Mantra and theHadi System of Mantra, generally Kadi Mantrais in practice. The experts of the Hadi Mantraare no more now in Kashmiri Pandits.

On the eleventh Tithi - Gad Kaah of thePhalguna Krishna Paksha, the Fish isoffered to the Ishtadeva to seek hisblessings for the Anushtthanam-invocationof the Wagura deity on the following day.Wagura is the Tantric net, which needs tobe woven with the Shri Raja RajeshvariMantra, which is the Reshi Dulij of the greatevent. It is purely Sattvic, as the name ReshiDulij suggests. Only vegetarian food, milkand candies are offered to this cosmicshape of the Divine. The main event is onthe Shiva Ratri day deliberations, accordingto the Kula Riti (family tradition). Why Shiva Ratri? Shivaratri is theauspicious night of the Divine. Thoughevery moment is of the Divine nature,shaping itself according to theTrigunatmaka svaruupa - triadic innnatenature of the Prakriti, but the Avyakhta -Absolute made Itself manifest at aparticular movement through free-willknown as the Svatantra Bhaava or IchhaShakti, but that Divine created the certainmovements, with is Tamas, and that houris known as the Prodosha Kala/ pollutedhour. There happens to be the action andreaction of some cosmic vibrations, whichcreate disturbances in the cosmos. Shivathrough Vatuka - Energy subsides thatPradosha and that is Shiva Ratri. Shiva’smanifestation as the Jyotir Lingam is saidto be the sacred Shiva Chaturdashi on theMagha Krishna Chaturdashi, or the 14th

lunar Tithii of Magha, but the forces gotinteracted at the midnight of Pradosha Kalaof the Phalguna Krishna trayodashi, justafter one month of the Shiva’s emergenceas the Jyotirlingam. Watak Raaz manifestedto make the world free from naturalupheavals in the form of a Brahmachari,because of his Brahmavarchas/totalcelibacy. That Brahmachari Watuka has theforce and design to set the cosmicvibrations in Vatuk Paatra/ Vatak N‘oat with

his Shakti in tune with the harmony of theworld. This is verily the Reshi Dulij. RamG‘aud is the Bhairava Force in the WatukaParivar. Sani Potul is the balancing powerof the cosmos - as Purusha and Prakriti does.in all manifestation. The Mantra dedicatedto the Watak Raz is partly invocation andpartly attributes with prayers to keep theworld free from natural upheavals at thetime of Pradosha. A flaming thunder getsdiverted to keep the Asuric (evil forces)away from the scene. A swift life-impulsegets vibrated to lead a Bhakta to realize therelationship between Hara and Shiva,which are the conflicting forces within theJivatman (human being). The Watuk Parivaris the manifestation of the Shiva inExistence. To the Hindu psyche Image is thethought in action. This is Kriya Shakti ofVatuka Bhairava.Why Herat ? Herat is the Apbhramsha of theword Hara Ratri, which is the night of theTandava for Shiva, but the grace of theVatuka Bhairava makes that Tandava natureinto the auspiciousness of higher bliss,where there is no trace of ego, onlyharmonious rhythm is seen and felt aroundthe delibrations of Puja.Bija Mantra of the Vatuka Bhairava :ß ÛçR ÞççR oíJççÇhçá$ç JçìákçÀ vççLçç³ç vçcç:~The Bija Mantra is the seed syllable of theWatuka Nath, who is the Devi Parvati’sPutra. OM is the Vedic Pranava, with thepure Sattva of Brahma, Rajas of Vishnu andthe Power of reabsorption of Mahesha. Aimis the Tantric Pranava, and has beendescribed in the first Shloka of thePanchastavi and in the Markandeya Purana.Hrim is adored as the seed of reverenceknown as the Lajja Bija in the ShaktaAgamas, ‘Devi Putra’ is the absolute energyof the Purna Prakriti or Moola Prakriti.Namah is the obeisance to the ShabdaSharira/ sound body of the Absolute. ThisBija Mantra consists of Nine Aksharas, with

distinct characteristics of Absolute energyin the Watuka. The Watuka Puja has nothingto do with the observance of the marriagesacrament of Shiva and Parvati. Had thisbeen so, the Bija Mantra like Devi PutraVatuka Natha could not have evolved andtaken the very basis of the Shiva Ratri ethosof Kashmir. But people have taken it as themeeting hour of Shiva and Shakti, accordingto the 'Shiva Parinaya', thus the presentethos has developed.Marriage of Shiva and Parvati connected withthe Shiva Ratri? The Yajur Veda addressesShiva as the Bhava as well as Sharva and themeaning of Hara is seizing, captivating. Shivaexercised the Yogic flame of the third eyefor burning of the Kamadeva, hence wasadored as Hara. The same flame when gotdiverted into cool breeze of the 13th digitaldark moon became Shiva Ratri. The episodeis related in the Rudra Samhita Parvati Khandof the Shiva Purana. And that too took placeon the 14th Tithi of the Phalguna Lunarfortnight, one day after the actual Shivaratriof the Kashmir traditioin. That day is knownas Salam, which is purely a social interactionof the Kashmiri ethos, between Muslims andPandits.Guru‘t tradition of the Herat : The NilamataPurana says, "The Shiva Ratri is observed onthe dark 14th of Phalguna. Shiva lingam isto be worshipped with perfumes, garlands,clothes and Naivedya made of flour". It hasthe significance as the staple food ofKashmir is rice. This is still prevalent as theTcho‘chi wor of rice flour is being offered tothe Watak Raz. The offerings to the Vaishvadeva in AGNI KUNDA is offered withKai‘nkini Wor as well as with the cookedrice. A Kai‘nkini Wor is a circular bread ofthe like shape of the sun .

The main source of the Shiva Ratri Pujahas been documented and edited by the greatKashmiri Pandit - Jyotishacharya Keshav BhattShastri of Rainawari,in early twentieth

century. Later it was published in abridgedform by Pandit Prem Nath Shastri. Pandit PremNath Handoo of the Shri Parmanand ResearchInstitute, Srinagar, worked on the manuscripts,with Hindi annotation. It was published in1981. That is the authentic source of Puja alongwith that Published by Pandit Prem NathShastri. There have been some slight changesafter 1947 and shortened techniques emergedin the Puja system but the Reeth remainedintact with reference to the offerings etc. Aftermigration Pandit Kashi Nath Handu presentedthe Shiva Ratri Puja in the cassette forms.Now people have been opting for theVegetarian Naivedya instead of non-vegetarian offerings to the Watak Raz.Otherwise, the non-vegetables would consistof lamb, fish, bird (Pachhin) and Van Kokur.The Gurut tradition of vegetarianism duringHerath is also gaining ground for thosefamilies who are vegetarian but Herathcelebration continues to be non-vegetarian.The Salam festival is the great day of festivity,merriment and exchange of Herat-Kharach.Why Walnut? The walnut has still gotprominence even in the Diaspora, due to theavailability of the walnuts. Walnut is thedried fruit, which is easily available in all theseasons of Kashmir. This is the Rituphal/ allseason dried fruit of the Kashmiri Panditreligious ethos. Whatever religious functionmay be, where Agni is to be invoked, Kalashais to be installed, the walnuts are put in theKalasha and being sanctified with the ShantiMantras, Bahuroopa garbha, Rudra Mantra,as is being practiced in case of the Shiva Ratri.After the Puja is over, the KALASH LAV issprinkled with Shanti and Swasti Mantras ofthe Vedas, Athifo‘l/Purna Ahuti Samagri is amust, even in the Diaspora. This Herats-Doonis still distributed to dear and near ones,friends, neighbors. A good number ofwalnuts is given as Naveed to the marrieddaughters of any age, even if she must havebecome the great grand mother as well. She

gets noon-tchoch‘u, ata gat from herparental home. The walnut distributionsystem plays a very important role in thesocial fabric of the Kashmiri Pandits religiouslife. Watak Naveed is the symbol of mutuallove, peace and prosperity.

☯☯Author can be contacted at:rainachamanlal@yahoo.com

He has provided the name of the author asDivakar Prakash. This is not the completeversion of the Kashmiri Ramayana composedby Prakash Ram. Similarly, Grierson has alsoedited Shivlagan of Krishenjoo Razdancomposed in 1880. Thus, Grierson’scontribution to both Kashmiri language andliterature is very significant and it can neverbe forgotten in the years to come.Note: Keeping in view the linguisticsituation and multiplicity of languages inIndia, use of languages in differentdomains, scholars often view Grierson’s LSIas inadequate and outdated in terms ofcoverage and content. There is always ascope of a new LSI using the current needs,available digital technology andmethodology. The surveys initiated by theLanguage Division of the Census, withmodern methodology cover mainly thegrammatical structure of all majorlanguages and dialects. The process is veryslow and it will take years to have a new LSIin this format. For some reason, the LSI wasnot conducted in the then Provinces ofMadras and Burma, the States of Hyderabadand Mysore though the fourth volume ofthe Survey was devoted to the Munda andDravidian Languages.[For all References, please see: Koul, Omkar N.and Kashi Wali 2006. Modern Kashmiri Grammar.Hyttesville: Dunwoody Press]

☯☯Author can be contacted at: onkoul@gmail.com

Grierson on Kashmir ... From Page 22

Rites & Rituals - Piaray Raina 'Saddhak'

NAVREHhe first day of Chetr ShuklaPaksha is celebrated as the startof Chet Navratras by all Hindus.Kashmiri Pandits celebrate it as

Navreh (New Year day). The preparationsfor this event start with previous night witha preparation known as Thal Barun. Thalbarun is a tradition which symbolisesprosperity for the coming year.

On the morning of Navreh, anunmarried daughter or in her absence anylady of house, carries this thali to allmembers, even to their beds, to enablethem to have a look at it as the first objectin the morning, which is considered veryauspicious. The girl who carries it is givenblessings and presents in cash or kind.

In Kashmir, male members used to goto river bank early in the morning to have abath. They would carry walnuts placed overThal and offer them to gods in the river,which were picked up by the boatmen. Therice is used for making Tahar which is eatenby family members. If weather permited,people would go for a round of Hari Parbatto offer Puja at various temples and shrinesand also to have a picnic there at the baseof Chakreshwar temple where there usedto be almond trees in their early blossomin pink colour at this time of the year. Goneare the trees and the remembrancesassociated with this festival in Kashmir.

It is considered auspicious to wear newor freshly washed clothes on Navreh. Anew born baby or a new bride in the familyis an object of great attention, who isshowered with all blessings by seniors. Fornewly married girls, it is a tradition to go totheir parents' house before this day butreturn back to in-laws house in time to join

in the festivities. She maycarry some curd and cashfrom her parents' house asShogun. There is atradition in some familiesto sow barley in a cleanpot on the first day ofNavratra and keep it at a sacred place,worship it and water the seeds with waterand milk for all the nine days of Navratra. Agood growth of plants is considered a goodomen. These plants are then immersed inriver water. Some families observe thesenine days by observing Vrat (one mealonly). People consider these nine days asvery auspicious and spend much timevisiting temples. Generally vegetarian foodonly is taken during these days.Thal Barun : A Thali is filled to top with riceon which are placed new Panchang, lumpof cooked rice, curd (in a cup), bread, salt(on paper), a pen with inkpot, fresh flowers,a coin, a mirror, a photo of chosen deity andsome walnuts. Wye, a herb also was placedbut now it has become very rare due to itsnon-availability. All this is covered with acloth or another Thali for the night.

Author can be contacted at:pl_raina@yahoo.com

T

Life - Pran Nath wali

A Will - Our Right

WILL is one of those things wehave often heard about butseldom thought it could be usefulnearer home. Those who had not

heard about it earlier became aware whenthe WILL of late Primvada Birla becamenational news A WILL is nothing but a documentaryexpression of how our possessions or earthlybelongings be distributed on our death. Sinceit is related to death we have a tendency toover look it. But death is a fact of life, perhapsthe only immutable reality. It is therefore wiseto think of a WILL while we are still alive.

There, no doubt, are laws in existencewhich dictate as to how our possessions shallbe distributed on our death (Hindu SuccessionAct). They determine the priorities, theproportions etc. They determine the legalprocess for their application. The processesare time consuming and involve costs.Through the instrument of a WILL theindividual has the right to set his ownpriorities, the persons who wi ll be thebeneficiaries, the proportions they willreceive. Is it not fare that my earthlypossessions, for acquiring of which andpreserving of which I have spent a life time,be distributed according to my wish

A WILL can give expression to some of thewishes I had cherished but could not be filledadequately during my life time. Take theexample of a charity which I wished to indulgein but hesitated thinking that I may need themoney for some personal contingency. AWILL can make devolution of a stated sum toa chosen charity. Similarly, I may have acollection of rare books which may not beof much Interest to my own progeny; I maybequeath them to a friend or a library.

The process ofNomination in bankaccounts, post officeaccounts, provident funds,life insurance policies,housing co-operatives etc.has made things easier fordependants to claimmonies in case of holder's death. Recentcases have introduced a certain amount ofdoubt in its efficacy as an instrument givingabsolute right to the nominee in case of lifeinsurance and housing co-operatives. It isbelieved that the right of the nominee is toreceive the asset and stand as a trustee forlegal heirs. In such case the best solution is aWILL under which the beneficiary can claimthe asset and also hold it.

Now coming to the WILL proper, asmentioned above it is a written direction ofa person as how his assets, fixed, moveable,liquid etc. be distributed on his death. It canbe on any piece of paper. It need not bestamped. It need not be registered in a courtof law although people do it as matter ofabundant caution (as that helped in Primvadacase). The only requirement is that it shouldbe signed and witnessed by at least twowitnesses. The person making the WILL(Testator) and the witnesses should all signat the same time in presence of each other.This is an absolute must. A beneficiary underthe WILL can not be a witness.

Can a WILL once made be cancelled orchanged during the life time of the testator?Yes, any number of times. It is only the lastwill which holds precedence to anythingdrawn earlier. Who will be the person or persons whodo actual job of collecting the assets,

A

distributing the same among thebeneficiaries? It could be one of thebeneficiaries mentioned in the WILL itself orappointed by a court. Such a person is calledan executor. The actual process of giving effect to thepurpose of the WILL starts with death of theperson who has made the WILL. At that timesome one has to approach the court to issuean order allowing the operation of the WILL.Such an order is called a Probate. Mind itgetting a probate is much simpler and easierthan getting a Succession Certificate if thereis no WILL. I have got a sample draft of asimple WILL from a friend. I am reproducingit for reference. One last thing I would like to say is that ifyou ever draw a WILL, tell your people aboutthe existence of the WILL and the place wereit can be found.A sample common form of a WILL:'I Mr. ___ residing at ___ and ___ by religion,___ occupation make this my last Will andtestament.1. I have not made any wi ll or othertestamentary document, but if any made, Ihereby revoke all previous wills and codicils,if any, and declare this to be the last will andtestament.2. I appoint (1) Mr.___ and (2) Mr. ___ asthe executors of this will and trusties of myestate.3. My personal family consists of _____4. My property consists of ___________5. I bequeath all my property in whateverform existing at the time of my death to thesaid executors and trustees to hold in trustfor the benefit of my wife Mrs. ____ for herlife time and till her death as hereinafterprovided.6. The executors and trustees shall, afterspending the necessary moneys for themanagement of the said property out of theincome thereof, pay the net income to my

wife and the same will belong to herabsolutely without liability to account for thesame. My executors trustees will also spendout of the corpus of my estate such amountas may be required by my wife for medicalexpenses or for pilgrimage.7. On the death of my wife, and if shepredeceases me then on my death all myestate then existing whether mentioned inthis Will or not, will belong to my children(1), (2), (3) ___ absolutely in equal sharesand the trustees for the time being of thesaid estate under this Will shall transfer thesame among the said children by executingproper document or documents.8. Provided that if at the time of death ofmy wife or myself as the case may be, anyof the said children is a minor, the trusteesshall hold the said property on trust untilthe youngest attains the age of majority andtill then the income of the said property willbe given or spent for maintenance andeducation of the said children.9. My executors shall obtain probate of thisWill from a Competent Court if required inlaw and shall pay all the probate duty andother expenses required for such probate andalso as first charge all my other liabilities byway of taxes or otherwise howsoever.10. On completion of the administration ofthe said property by way of realizationthereof and payment of all liabilities theexecutors and trustees shall hold the propertyin trust hereby created.11. I have made this Will out of my free willand while I am in sound health and in goodunderstanding and in witness thereof I haveput my signature in the presence of witnessesthis ___ day of ____.Signed by the within named testatorMr.____ apposite in presence of thewitnesses and who in his presence and athis request.

(Continued on Page 40)

ala did breath control called‘Pranabhyas’ to realize the Divine.Lala offered a pitcherful of waterto the idol in the shrine to know

the Lord. Lala slipped to the riverbank called‘Shurahyaar’ to take a bath and took a plungeto cross the river of life. She controlled thesense objects in order to realize Him. She wentto give spiritual lessons to Nunda Rishi andthe knowledgeable found it to be the puremysticism. She virtually teased ShahiHamadan, who could not gauge her spiritualheights (there is difference of opinion onwhether there ever was a meeting betweenShah Hamadan and Lal Ded as there is someconflict in the dates). Another Saint poet,Ahmad Batawa’r, a contemporary of ShamsFaquir (1845–1918) has described the exaltedspiritual position of Lal Ded in this verse: ‘Lalamatsi kala tso’t nafsi shaitanas. Kala karan AllaLal sape’n hoo. Lola ha’ts mahav gayi heBhagavaanas. Jan chum meelith jahanas saet'(Lala in ecstasy killed all her senses, engrossedin the love of God she became one with Him.My self is one with the universal self.) Whilepoets other than Rishis have also sung in praiseof Lal Ded, but the manner in which the Rishipoets have quoted her, repeated her idiomand referred to her clearly shows the deepimpact that her philosophy had on their mindsresulting in their express acknowledgementthrough their verses.The Impact and the Influence :When religions travel to new pastures theyadopt many new things both ideologically andin order to gain acceptance among the localinhabitants. Buddhism underwent changeswhen it travelled outside India to Tibet, China,Japan, Korea and other places. Christian

Culture & Heritage - T.N.Dhar Kundan

Influence of Advaita onMuslim Rishis of Kashmir - Part 2

theology was reformed inEurope quite substantially.To quote Lippman,‘Prophet Muhammad’svision of a united polytribalcommunity fused into onebrotherhood by Islam haslong since been proved tobe unattainable’ because of which Islamthrives as a religion but not as a polity. In Indiaalso a multitude of regional and tribal ritualsand customs have got fused into themainstream religion. The Muslim Saints ofKashmir could not also remain unaffected bythe influence of the Hindu tradition ofthought, ideology and philosophy, which waspowerful and inherited by them. Even thoughthey held the Prophet and the holy Qura’n inhigh esteem, they absorbed the major tenetsof the Hindu philosophy in their own spiritualpractices and prescriptions. This became avery strong cementing factor between theHindus and the Muslims. The lead had comefrom Lal Ded when she proclaimed: ‘Shiv chhuithali thali rozan mo zan Bhata ta musalman.Trukai chhuk ta paan panun parzan, soi chhaisahibas saet zani zaan' (The Divine verilypervades everything here, don’t youdifferentiate between a Hindu and a Muslim.If you are wise realize your own self and thatis realization of the Divine.) The lead thushaving been provided, these Saint poets havetread on the same path and have earnedrespect, reverence and love from both thecommunities. No wonder, therefore, thatthese Saint poets, even though professingMuslim faith, earned love, reverence andregard from Hindus as well. Some of theseholy men professed great regard for the Hindu

L

deities and why not; for them there was nodifference and no conflict. Holy persons likeMakhdoom Sahib, Dastagir Sahib, BatamolSahib (Muslims) and Krishna Kar, Peer PanditPadshah (Hindus) were revered equally byboth the communities. About MakhdoomSahib there is a legend that he had a firmbelief in Hindu concept of Mother Goddess inher ‘Jwala’ or Flame form. His mausoleumsituated at the Hill of Hari Parvat was burntthrice in fire and the Mother Goddess ‘Jwala’had to be propitiated so that there is no moredevastation of this holy place by fire.

In the backdrop of what has been statedabout it would be worth our while to studythe impact and the influence of the Hinduthought, Hindu practices and Hindu traditionon some of the prominent Muslim Saint poetsof Kashmir, who in my opinion shouldappropriately be called Muslim Rishis. This isevident not only from what we hear aboutthem but is also explicitly brought out by themin their poetic compositions.Shams Faqir :Lal Ded had said ‘Asi aes tai asi asav asi dorekaer patavath' (We only were and we onlyshall be, it is we only who kept on coming andgoing.) Shams said the same thing in his ownway. ‘Yun ta gatshun mo mashrai, tami gatshitchhu tuhund garai' (Do not forget birth anddeath because His abode is beyond thistransmigration.) The Gita has stated thatpeople see the secret of life with awe andwonder and no one knows the reality of self.This idea has been conveyed by him thus:‘Kyah chhu hayat kyah chhu mamat, kathcheezas nav kara bo zaat' (What is life andwhat is death, what shall I call the Self or theDivine?) Lal Ded had said, ‘Phiran phiran nyothanguj gaji manech dui tsaji no' (Telling thebeads of the rosary you have rubbed the fleshof your thumb and finger but the duality hasnot gone from your mind.’ The same idea hasbeen conveyed by this Sufi in the following

verse. ‘Ha zahida kyah chhuk tsa karan, raathdoh goi tasbih phiran. Mokhta ravi fotusrachhit zom, roni mutsrith shroni shroni ko’tgom' (What are you doing you fool, you havebeen telling the rosary day and night. Goingafter fake things you are losing the real pearl.Have I lost the jingle by untying the bells?)Again Lal Ded had dissuaded from givingspiritual message to an undeserving personin these words: ‘Syeki shathas byol no vaevze,Kharas gore dina ravi doh. Moodas jnanachkath no vaenze, kom yajyan raavi teel' (Do notsow seed in a sandy belt; you will waste awhole day in feeding a donkey with jaggery.Do not give spiritual knowledge to a fool, asyou will waste oil in preparing cakes fromchaff.) Shams Faqir has put the same thingthus: ‘Nasihat kaerzi no nasli shaitanas, talakani zanzyan aasi ma kham. Maarfat kyah karinapak banas, tas naadanas kar tsali tshai' (Donot give advice to a satanic person becausebasically he is raw and not ripe. Mysticism is awaste for an impure one. Alas! When shall hisignorance go away.) The opening lines of oneof his ghazals are an excellent example of thenon-dualism of the Vedanta. ‘Bo chhus kenhnai kho’d panay, bo kenh nai kas vanay panay'(I am nothing; it is He himself in my form. Howshall I explain my not being anything to anyone.) This can be compared with this line fromShankaracharya: ‘Tad-eko-vashishthah Shivahkevalo-aham' (I am Shiva and Shiva alone.) Hehas described omnipresence of God in thesewords: ‘Mye vuchh har shayi su yaar, chhunokanh moi ti khali. Vanai bo siri israr yino aasakhvubali' (I perceive the Divine at every place.Not an inch is without Him. This is the secret Ireveal to you; do not get lost.)

(To be continued)☯☯

Author can be contacted at:trilokinathdhar@yahoo.com

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☯☯Author can be contacted at: hnkaul1@yahoo.com

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(Dçiçuçí DçbkçÀ cçW pççjçÇ)Author can be contacted at:

rainamk1@yahoo.co.in

A Note From Editor

We are overwhelmed with the response fromour esteemed writers. They have sent their pro-found, thought provoking and well written ar-ticles on a variety of subjects, which are beingaccommodated in Milchar as per availabilityof space. We assure all of them that their con-tributions will find place in the future issuesand request them to kindly bear with us.Thanks. - Editor

Editor's MailØ I was deeply stunned to learn about theuntimely passing away of my dearest Guide– Amarji on 15th December 2010, whom I heldin high esteem. My association with himdates back to January 1970 when I was ayoung boy of 23 years, landed in his office atKitab Mahal, Fort, Mumbai after having gothis address from Shri M.L.Mattoo. I spoke tohim about a particular calendar to be printedfor Late J.N.Safaya, a we l known person whowas a leading homeopath in Srinagar. Mymeeting with him left a marvelous impressionon his mind so much that he asked me to bein touch with him regularly. Later on, duringmy struggling days, he steadily developed somuch attachment for me that my words failto forget the same, since I had no relative inMumbai then. In fact he was instrumental ingetting me a job in Mumbai, thereby laying astrong foundation for my career graph togrow. I feel it was an unmatchable act that isunforgettable. He was atowering personalitywho guided me all the times and stood byme through thick and thin – an act which veryfew acquaintances can do. I am very muchindebted to him as he was a true friend, guideand philosopher. We had frequent sittingstogether during my formative difficult daysand he was always there with a smiley faceto render guidance. He used to call me notby my Surname but ‘Rozdon’. I will alwaysmiss him. It is painful that our community haslost one of its icons and dedicated activistswho was one of our Association stalwarts.We used to conduct meetings in his office formany years where I had the privilege ofmeeting luminaries like Dr. N.L.Zutshi, LateK.N.Kaul, N.N.Wanchoo, S.N.Sopory andT.N.Mam. His contribution to the building ofKP Association was praiseworthy. Mysympathies to dear Annuji, his daughters, Dr.Cherry Dhar. I pray to God that Mr. Amar Ji’s

soul rests in peace and give strength to thebereaved family to bear this irreparable loss.Shuban K. RazdanVille Parle, Mumbai.

lllØ My dear Maharaj Krishen,I am very much pleased for yourhaving taken up once again theeditorship of prestigious official

organ of KPA. We have after a long timeseen the positives of 'Milchar' and wish tocongratulate you and pray for Milchar'ssuccess. Regards,M.L.MattooChembur, Mumbai.mshubhang@gmail.com

lllØ Dear Brother,I was hospitalized here and couldnot communicate with you. I amstill not doing my research work as

it strains me. I have sent you some of mypaintings and one write up on Shiva Ratri.Happy Hurya Ai’Tham, the Maatrikaa basisof Shiva Ratri. Wish you all the best andNamaskar to all of you.Regards from Jaya Ji.Chamanlal RainaMiami, USArainachamanlal@yahoo.com

lllØ Namaskar.Since most often or not, I read slowto absorb the content as such I mustexpress my thanks for a particular

story in Jan-Feb 2011 issue. This story 'TheRing of Suleiman' clearly showcases thepoisoning mindset of the new generationand the external system that is feeding thevenom into fresh minds. From 1990 a newgeneration of KMs doesnt want us to beneighbours as such demand for seperate

Homeland becomes mandatory. Seeds ofKashmiriyat have been dragged out fromsoil and new samplings of Islamic Wahabiculture have been grown in the old yards.Regards ,Veer Ji Wangooveeruz@gmail.com

lllØ Dear Shri Raina Saheb, I congratulate you and your team for puttinglots of efforts in bringing a very informativeand innovative Milchar (Jan-Feb,2011). Kindly send me a soft copy of thesame issue, for which I will be grateful. Iam not a writer, but I will definitely try tore-collect some memories regarding theperiod, I spent during my childhood daysin Rainawari, Srinagar and send the sameto you, whenever possible. Warmregards and best wishes.M.K.KarMulund, Mumbaimkkar082@yahoo.com

lllØ Dear Shri Raina Sahib,I am happy to learn that you haveagain taken over as the editor ofMilchar. The journal has undergone

a lot of improvements in both contents aswell as get up. Congratulations. It is goodto learn that you are planning to makeMilchar a monthly journal. I am attaching ashort article entitled 'Grierson on Kashmiri'for Milchar. Just a technical query. How doyou conjoin the title page (of Milchar) withthe contents in PDF? I would like to try itfor Vaakh. With best wishes,Omkar KoulNew Delhionkoul@yahoo.com

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Ø Dear Maharaj,A welcome move. Over the years,never could figuare out, why we had

to struggle on Milchar, while it is to ourcredit to collect lakhs annually for BhawanFund. In my times, I begged for somecontribution material to publish, but noluck. Now you being around, that is notlacking. Yet, it appears as if we are stillstruggling with it. For the benefit of newcomers to Mumbai, we owe to them, toknow what does Kashyap Bhawan mean, infact what it means all the way. A wellresearched historical (document) could beproduced, provided one had access to thearchives, minutes of the meetings andannual balance sheets. I wish you good luck.Dear Secretary SP, Within the constrains of availble space, theAnnual Hawan was well organised. Cateringsystem has improved cosiderably. Over theyears, I have failed to see through the logicthat Prassad has to be a Meal, and not some,in real sense, Prassad of Halwa-Puri. Oldtimer Makhal Lal Koul was nostalgic of theshoes being managed, against a Token ingood old times. Well, so far so good.Congratulations to the New Team.Nand Lal ZutshiJuhu Church, Mumbain.l.zutshi@gmail.com

lllØ Dear Rajenbhai,Hearty Congratulations for yourunanimously being appointed as thePresident of Kashmiri Pandits'

Association, Mumbai. One of yourwonderful qualities of harmomiouslysolving the problems will go a long way toattain great heights among our Biradarimembers. A brand new colorful, spiritualcover of Milchar is very appealing. Wish you

Editor's Mail

all the best in all your Endeavours.With Warm Regards,Narendra KaulDadar, Mumbai.kaulnarendra@yahoo.co.in

lllØ Namaskar,Due to some official exigencies, I could notmake to Vaarshik Hawan on 30 January 2011at Andheri. I would request your goodself tokindly send me soft copy of Milchar so that itremains in continuation. In the meantime, Iwill be sending cheque towards subscriptionfor Milchar shortly.With Warm & Kind Regards,Anil Kumar PanditaAlibag Maharashtrapandita.38@gmail.com

lllØ My dear Raina ji,Thanks. Milchar is as beautiful aswas expected under youreditorship. Kudos to you for the

pains you have taken to bring out thisattractive issue. I am sure, the future issueswill be as beautiful. God bless you.T.N.Dhar 'Kundan'Bangaloretrilokinathdhar@yahoo.com

lllØ Thank God and thank you Rainaji that Milchar has come again. AbGyan Sarita To Bahegi Hee, onefeels at least safer when rare

people make difference through theirhonest work for the community. Yourcontribution is like Bonyi Hawa for us. Thankyou for the coverage on behalf of Peeyushji. Asii Sarinui Mujood Rooziv! Aahee!Dalip LangooNew Delhidlangoo@yahoo.co.uk

lll

Ø Mahara seThaa mubarak,The issue is a wholesome treat. Dr.Chowdhury’s Khrew Diary is quiterevealing. The minds of the young

have been thoroughly washed. Sad buttrue.SincerelyRajnath BhatBanaras Hindu University, Varanasirnbhat2k2@sify.com

lllØ Dear Raina Saheb,Namaskar. It was thrilling to see thee-copy of Miltsaar (Milchar)magazine. I enjoyed reading it

especially Kashmiri Rhyme with allStandardised Kashmiri Alphabet in it,Rajnath Bhat's Diary and the Kashmiri joke.Good that you have assumed theresponsiblity again. Wish you all the best.Regards,Roop K. BhatNew Delhiroopbhat@yahoo.co.in

lll

Editor's Mail

and in presence of each other have put theirsignatures as witnesses hereunder.

TESTATOR1.2.

Disclaimer: This write-up is by way ofinformation and not professional advice.

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Author can be contacted at:pranwali@hotmail.com

WILL ... From Page 31

RNI Registration No. MAHMUL/2004/13413

M i l c h a r - The Official Organ of Kashmiri Pandits' Association, Mumbai

Printed and Published by S.P.Kachru for the Kashmiri Pandits' Association (Regd.), Kashyap Bhawan,Plot No. 16, Bhawani Nagar, Marol Maroshi Road, Andheri (E), Mumbai 400 059. Tel: 022-29259954.

Printed at Manual Print, 5-Sheth Ind. Estate, Navghar, Vasai Road (E), Dist. Thane 401 210. Tel: 6990808.Editor : M.K.Raina

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