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 an odyssey that spans thousands of years, highlighting the people behind the shawls. His deeply … Read entire article »
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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 to challenge and reform. As someone rightly said, wordsmiths “always could shift paradigms, define eras, … Read entire article »
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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 becomes obscured, enigmatic, and ripe for exploration. The theft of the Holy Relic of Prophet … Read entire article »
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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 and buddies, our superiors are our teachers, and our superior boss is the school headmaster … Read entire article »
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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 free of any charge. She perhaps had done her matriculation. She taught in a school … Read entire article »
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My Mother Part II
My Memoir: Story of An Ordinary Man My Mother Part II You often smile when you look back at your childhood and giggle at your innocence. There is a lot of thrill in reminiscing about innocent acts and beliefs from childhood. Did we not believe, and believe with complete faith, that red beetles with black dots in lush green turf at Khanaqah Naqshbandi and Jamia Masjid were a Khuda-Sobin Batha-Phul—His staple food? Did we not eagerly wait for a feather of peacock kept inside a book to multiply after putting some sugar crystals in the book? It’s never too late to enjoy a happy childhood. Anything connected with childhood is joy incarnate; it may be grandmother’s souvenirs in one of the Shahnisheen’s of Kani of our house, an old carved walnut box blackened … Read entire article »
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MY MOTHER PART I
My Mother Part- I My Mother My mother told me that I witnessed the Kashmir saga from the womb. She repeated it often, along with some bitter things connected with my birth. I did not understand what my mother wanted to convey. Perhaps, I was too young to understand the stories that ran parallel to when I had tumbled into this world with my shirt-button-sized bluish-brown eyes half shut on a chilly February Monday, precisely at seven mornings when the sky was ominously cast with dark clouds. The sun was still buried behind the Zabarwan hillock. As I became older, I assumed it was a parable, fable, or myth that Mother was telling; after all, our entire tale is based on a well-known mythology – that survived as a religious belief with our … Read entire article »
Filed under: Kashmir-Talk