Kashmir In Memory, Poetry And Translation

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer)
File photo of Neerja Mattoo. Picture credits: Sourced from the author

By Bilal Wagay

Neerja Mattoo is a distinguished academic, writer, and translator whose work has been pivotal in bringing Kashmiri culture and literature to a wider audience. A former professor of English at government College for Women, Srinagar, Mattoo has dedicated her life to preserving and showcasing the rich literary traditions of Kashmir, particularly the voices of women. Her acclaimed translations, such as“The Mystic and the Lyric” and“The Stranger Beside Me”, illuminate the depth of Kashmiri poetry and prose, bridging the gap between the region's unique heritage and global readers.

Besides, her testimony is a living embodiment of the minority community's persecution, violence and memory.

This interview of Matto with Bilal Wagay for Kashmir Observer, will explore Mattoo's literary journey, her contributions to reviving Kashmiri women's narratives, her role in fostering cross-cultural understanding through her works, Pandit exodus and the current hindutva narrative to appropriate Pandit question. By highlighting her legacy, we aim to inspire readers to delve into the heart of Kashmiri identity through her lens.

1. What inspired you to focus on translating and preserving Kashmiri literature, particularly women's narratives?

In 1985, I was at a seminar in Delhi University with a colleague of mine from the college. In a break we were speaking to each other in Kashmiri when a Professor from Delhi University asked us which language we were speaking because he had never heard it before. We answered that it is Kashmiri to which he responded with surprise,“Is Kashmiri a language?”

I was dismayed that our language which had a history of more than a thousand years was not even heard of in parts of our country. It was to answer his question that I decided to translate from Kashmiri into English, so that the rest of the country should become aware of our rich literature. I wanted the world to know the powerful voices of women writers from the fourteenth century onwards who enriched the Kashmiri language and literature. Besides, when militancy struck Kashmir in the early nineties, it seemed that everything in Kashmir was being destroyed, and I wanted to preserve some of our rich literary legacy.

2. It is said that in Kashmir, personal is political. How has your upbringing in Kashmir shaped your literary sensibilities and creative vision?

I grew up in a Kashmir that was syncretic, where different communities didn't live in separate mohallas. Every neighbourhood had a mixed population, of course the Muslims were in a huge majority but there would always be a sprinkling of Kashmiri Pandit homes in every mohalla. We took this diversity for granted, enjoyed each other's festivals and spoke the same language. There was no concept of the Other. I grew up with the songs of Habba Khatoon and the vakhs of Lal Ded ringing in my ears. The folk singers would begin their performance with a Lal vakh and then go on to sing the lyrics of our women romantic poets like Arnimal. Later on, I paid serious attention to the thought contained in these and realised that they were such powerful voices in the two streams of poetry, Mysticism and lyricism that they needed to be translated into English for a wider audience. I also wanted to dispel the notion of Kashmiri women as weak or tongue less.

3. What do you believe is unique about Kashmiri literature, especially its poetry and mysticism,
that sets it apart from other regional literatures?

I haven't studied much regional literature but I know that mysticism is a very powerful stream in many Indian languages. Women poets like Akka Mahadevi, Andal, Meera Bai are very well known and have been translated from Tamil and Hindi respectively. There is much in common but Lal Ded's mysticism soars above all as the expression of profound experience and practice conveyed to the masses in their own idiom and familiar metaphors taken from the subaltern life. There are common experiences of suffering as a woman but the fact that the Kashmiri women poets articulate their experiences boldly and shame the men by exposing their cruelty sets them apart. This is what prompted me to write the book,“The Mystic and the Lyric”.

4. What were some of the challenges you faced while translating centuries-old mystic poetry into English? How did you preserve its spiritual essence?

Mysticism is a common theme in most sophisticated literatures of the world. Whether it is located in the Christian, Sufi or Buddhist traditions. The experience described had similar tones so the vocabulary is available in all the languages which describe a mystic experience. So the challenge was only to find equally powerful vocabulary in English which fortunately was available in English poetry. But for me the most difficult part was to understand the language of Rupa Bhavani which was a mix of old Kashmiri and even Farsi. She was dense, her phrases cryptic even elliptical while conveying her mystical practices. Fortunately a scholar and practitioner of Kashmir Saivism from Austria, Bettina Bauemer whose middle name now is Sharada, helped me to unravel the till then obscure meaning. I cannot be grateful enough to her for enabling me to preserve the spiritual essence of her verses.

5. Short stories often reflect society's undercurrents. How do the narratives in The Stranger Beside Me mirror the socio-political and emotional realities of Kashmir?

Actually I have published four books of Kashmiri short stories translated into English: The Stranger Beside Me, Contemporary Kashmiri Short Stories (Sahity Akademi), Kath – Stories From Kashmir (Sahity Akademi) and The Greatest Kashmiri Short Stories Ever Told (Aleph). The first Kashmiri short story was written soon after the end of autocracy and feudalism in Kashmir. It was an era of hope and that is reflected in the first short stories written in the late forties. But the discontent and non-fulfilment of aspirations became a major theme of the stories written in the fifties onwards. The seeds of the discontent can be seen in the works of Ali Mohammad Lone, Amin Kamil, Akhtar Mohidin and Hari Krishan Kaul. An attempt to deal with unpleasant realities is made in the surrealistic works of Hriday Kaul Bharati and Farooq Masoodi. The tearing apart of the social fabric in the nineties is very well depicted in the works of Rattan Lal Shant, Roop Krishna Bhat, Mushtaq Ahmad Mushtaq and Dheeba Nazir who honestly describe the plight of those forced to leave their motherland and live in a climatically and in other ways inhospitable terrain, longing for their natural habitat.

6. Many of your works bridge the gap between Kashmiri heritage and a global audience. How do you approach this balance?

Language is the most important tool in communication. English is a global language and translating the classic work of Kashmiri writers into English makes it available to a global leadership. One has to be faithful to the original, not add or delete anything, nor try to impose one's own feelings or ideas on the original.

7. Translation can sometimes dilute the essence of a text. How do you ensure the authenticity of the original work while translating?

In the beginning, I used to send my translation of a short story to the original writer and wait for his response. I was fortunate that most of these great short story writers were still alive. It was only after their approval that I proceeded. Besides, if one has the ability to think in two languages simultaneously, one's instinct should be the best judge.

8. Do you think enough is being done to promote Kashmiri literature on a national and global scale? If not, what can be done?

Translation can play a vital role in this as the world becomes aware of the rich literature used by Kashmiris, the interest will grow, as it already has. The BBC recently did a forum discussion on Lal Ded, in which, apart from me, American and British scholars who had studied Lal Ded participated.

9. How do you see the contemporary literary scene in Kashmir? Are young writers' poets carrying forward the legacy?

Yes, there are young poets, men and women who are writing to carry forward the two great streams of Kashmiri poetry, mystic and the lyrical. Bimla Raina and Azi Ded in the former, Rehman Rahi, Naseem Shafai and Nighat Sahiba in the latter. I find the literary scene is bright.

10. With the socio-political changes in Kashmir, do you think literature still holds the same power to preserve the region's identity and heritage?

Literature is an authentic record of events in different eras. So its importance cannot be overestimated. Voices though they may seem quiet at times are lurking on the sides.

11. As a Kashmiri Pandit, do you see memory as a timeless emblem of resilience and resistance?

It holds true not only for Kashmiri Pandits, but for all Kashmiris irrespective of their religion. Memory cannot be erased and preserving it in literature has been the work of most Kashmiri poets and short story writers at present. I believe in the saying,“Those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

MENAFN20122024000215011059ID1109018548