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STORY OF MY FATHER
My Father. I had bid farewell to a multi-coloured Watanigour willow walkermade in Islamabad. I don’t know if a rouht phitrawan (bread breaking) ceremony was arranged on my first step without a walker, as was the tradition. I had inherited the walker from my elder brother Mohammad Yousf, and it was passed on to my younger sibling Ghulam Hassan. Along with a walnut wood crib, a mace with quartz head, an old lantern, an old gramophone record … Read entire article »
My Days in Bombay- Looking for spiritual solace in film nagari
Haji Malang My Days in Bombay – A spiritual Journey My Days in Bombay- Spiritual Journey of Downtown Boy Looking For Inner Solace in Film Nagari Off To Haji Malang ZGM Many spiritual experiences can’t be captured in words. Offering late-night prayers during sultry days on an islet with the soothing breeze blowing on all sides from the Arabian Sea had a unique spiritual elation. Perhaps, it was as good an experience as that of whirling … Read entire article »
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Our Persian Heritage Needs To Be Translated
Z.G. Muhammad My Rambling Thoughts. I am amazed that translators receive less credit for their work than creative writers. However, had Arabs not institutionalised the translation of great works and philosophy between the eighth and tenth centuries, much of this literature might never have reached South Asian audiences. Looking at our heritage, we also have a strong translation tradition. The Sultans of Kashmir focused on translating Sanskrit literature into Persian and Persian literature into Sanskrit, creating a vast reservoir of literature that might otherwise have been lost. As late as the twentieth century, Maharaja Pratap Singh established a translation bureau under the aegis of the Jammu and Kashmir Libraries and Research Department. This bureau not only worked to preserve Sanskrit literature but also facilitated the translation of classic Sanskrit works produced in … Read entire article »
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Our Persian Heritage Needs To Be Translated
Z.G. Muhammad My Rambling Thoughts. I am amazed that translators receive less credit for their work than creative writers. However, had Arabs not institutionalised the translation of great works and philosophy between the … Read more »
Kashmir Cultural Notes – The Rice-man Chefs of Kashmir The Rice-Man ZGM Other than politics, which has continuously been picking our minds like woodpeckers on tall pine trees, gossip about wazawan dominates our discourses during the … Read more »
Hassan My Younger Sibling- An Obituary On My Childhood —
Nostalgia Hassan My Younger Sibling An Obituary on My Childhood ZGM He is gone. My other half of … Read more »
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Summing up SRINAGAR (Book Review)
ZGM’s Nostalgia shapes into a book bringing alive the stories from the city that once was Kashmir in … Read more »
Is Asking For Collective Instrospection Blasphemous In Kashmir
Z.G. MUHAMMAD ‘I stumbled when I saw’. On seeing leaders committing faux pas of far- reaching implications, I … Read more »
Who Divides Them?
What Divides Them? Or Should I say who divides them Z.G. MUHAMMAD In larger political struggles, it is the … Read more »
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SHORT STORY TUBE LIGHT
By Zahid G Muhammad Tubelight’ She stood across the road, grey hair glinting in the sun, her silhouette sharp against Nehru Place’s chaos- perhaps waiting for a bus. I intended to cross over to visit the computer. Messy traffic—it blurs your vision. “She looks like a Kashmiri—she is definitely a Kashmiri.” Whether in the crowded and haphazard Nehru Place Market or among the teeming millions at Kaaba during Hajj, Kashmiris are distinctly recognizable. Many pilgrims from African countries and Arabia often mistake us for Palestinians, Turks, or Bosnians and usually ask, “Where are you from?” When I told them I was Kashmiri, a few would nod knowingly—making me believe they had heard of us. The majority, however, would … Read entire article »
BOOK REVIEW: SHAWLS AND SHALBAFS Of KASHMIR – AN ALL TIME BOOK BY DR AB.AHAD
Legacy of Kashmiri Shawls and Their Unsung Artisans By Z. G. Muhammad Kashmir’s timeless grandeur is often symbolised by its towering Chinar trees—silent witnesses to the region’s history, culture, and changing seasons. In autumn, the Chinar’s leaves turn a fiery tapestry of colours, captured by Shakespeare’s phrase ‘ripeness is all’—the pinnacle of life’s rich experiences. In Shawls and Shawlbafs of Kashmir: Legends of Unsung Heroes, Dr Abdul Ahad draws a striking parallel between these magnificent trees and the artisans who have, for generations, woven the legendary Pashmina shawls, only to be forgotten like autumn leaves turned to dust. The plight of the Shawlbafs of Kashmir has been a tale of unending penury. Through introductory remarks, readers are taken on … Read entire article »
Echoes From The Past: As Fresh As Today- Review Of When The Dawned By Som Nath Zutshi – Reviewed by Z.G. Muhammad
Book Review Echoes From the Past- Fresh as Fresh as Of Today By Z.G. Muhammad Lull and literature cannot coexist. Literature is like water from a gushing natural spring, finding its way even by slicing through stones. It eventually bursts like a volcano when forced into a lull. Once literature breaks the shell of inertia, imposed or otherwise, it travels through decades … Read entire article »
Kashmir: Theft Of Holy Relic Of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) Demystified By Z.G. Muhammad
Book Review: Theft Of Holy Relic Demystified. Name of the Book: Kashmir Shock Fury Turmoil Theft of Prophet’s Relic Outrage and Spin-Off Author: Khalid Bashir Ahmad Publisher: Gulshan Books New Delhi/Srinagar Pages: 446 Price Paper Back: 795 By Z.G. Muhammad Writers often find themselves irresistibly drawn to certain subjects, especially those shrouded in mystery and intrigue. When a topic is veiled in mist and fog over time, it … Read entire article »
NOOR SAHIB AN ICONIC TEACHER
Noor Sahib An Iconic Teacher Zahid G Muhammad # Noor Sahib: An Iconic Teacher Zahid G Muhammad I see a parallel between books and teachers. We read many books, admire quite a number, and love only a few. As someone once said—quite well, I might add—books shape our lives and increase our understanding, and there comes a phase in life when we deride a book that once influenced and shaped our thinking. That, I believe, holds for teachers as well. Almost one-third of our lives are behind the ramparts of schools, colleges, and universities. It would be fair to say we pass these years away from real society on a sort of island, where our companions are a few classmates … Read entire article »
Mothers Are God’s Blessing. My Mother-Part III
My Mother Part III She had not been to a school. In the desert of illiteracy that had been the fate of the overwhelming majority, both men and women, particularly women, she had not been a lone traveller; she had a swarm of companions. Of course, in her generation, some exceptions were fortunate to have been admitted to a Christen Missionary School; one of them had been my mother-in-law. She would be nostalgic about the days when she, along with some other girls of her locality, embarked on a boat at Nawa Kadal Ghat for the school near Fateh Kadal, the third bridge on Jhelum- ferrying the girls to the school was arranged by the school … Read entire article »