Opinion | Shahnaz Rasheed an iconic poet of Kashmiri

A Book review

Name of the book
ASMAN  WATHE PATALAN MUNZ
Pages 187
Author Shahnaz Rasheed
Reviewer Professor GH Mohiuddin Mir

Shahnaz Rasheed an iconic Kashmiri poet is a phenomenon of poetry in himself because of three reasons,his metrical craft is incarnate and absolutely ideal to a poetry which is highly evolved,rich in imagination, rustling metaphoric affulence,a symbolic depth which is matching the English symbolists like WB Yeats and others.The beauty of Shahnaz is his poetic voyage which started from his maiden poetic collection,, Dooud khatith guldanun munz and then followed by Doour peheun Deewarun munz,,is now moving to it’s culmination in his recent poetic collection Asman wathe patalan munz.
In this brief review it is not possible to discuss and analyse each image,symbol,metaphor or the feelings of the poet and then form a conceptual framework to judge the originality of the poet.Therefore i have chosen a few representative poems from Nazmes, Ghazals and Natia to give an overall impression to the reader as to which category does the poet belong.The Book opens with a motif..Thazrus raas aaw yoot saner
Asman wathe patalan munz
,,The heights were so lured by the underneath
The lofty skies heaved unto the netherworlds
This  sets the mood of the poet as to discuss not only the poetic upheavals in him but many social, philosophical,meta physical and existential issues  ,shall follow in the coming poems.The book opens with the Praise and Magnanimity of the Almighty God in which poet like Jhon Milton seems to evoke the Muse before starting Paradise lost.The poem,,Aye Rube Jaleel,oh glorious and merciful God,is followed by a metaphysical phenomenon about which only the poet knows as how and why he did express such lofty ideas.The poet while saying
,,Yene pethe chanen nazrun hund soogaat lubum
Tene pethe chus be wuchaan
Soorue aalmi emkaan meyoon chane saate gahaan,,
The poet is depending on the gift of the eyes glimpses of the Qudrat which makes his possible universe to galvanise by His Noor(Divine light)
Then the poet very humbly expresses how God has opened all life conjuctures for him by one whink of the eye
,,Aaga..che yene pethe nuktun gund muchroowuth
…..
Ze raawun gaw cheke labun
In a way poet like Milton in his poem,,On his blindness,,is trying to justify ways of God to man,,
Then he talks of the spiritual extacy by virtue of which the poet conqures the instability of self and soul and believes that retiring to the cave of silence means the intuition of the tongue and a flight in spritual world where the ferocious wind is unable to erase his footprints.
A poetic drama is exhibited in the poem as
,,Tus zemeenuch ne kunh talub filhaal Chus uchun MUNZ sitare nub filhaal..
The comparison between the material world and the world of aesthetics is Vivid in zemanech tulib and achun munz sitare nub.A poet whose poetic voyage has augured with Dooud khatith guldanun munz is now bold enough to reject material satiation in comparison to aesthetic satisfaction.
The classical refrence to Socrates is beautifully beautiful when the poet has the desire of the poison
,,Aas sumkhet yewe bu Suqraatus
Chuw me zuhrech sakht tulb filhaal,
The poem Meye huew kus taam,is really a melodrama of how the modernism hath rendered us to timlessness, hurry and worry and break down of our sweet future dreams
,,Gas cylinder bade loown upto Aashne hendeyn runge runge khaabun phuteji banawne khater rood
Wanun zool dewan is a melodrama of the busy Life and social and domestic obligations which every modern man is faced with
The concluding lines of this poem are soul arresting
Acxe wane hurduk waw oos sehnus pheeran
Lanus munz mojood there hende Gul aase zere deyaamet
This is a symbolic phenomenon in which poet is reflecting how our time passes and ravages our everything,the leisure,the Beauty and even the talent
ASMAN wathe patalan munz is a book consisting of 187 pages does not have any topographical mistakes except one or two at the most and it’s get up as well as dexterity is marvellous with a hardbound coverage.The writing is satisfactory and the paper used is also lovable.This poetic collection can be bifurcated into three major parts ie Nazam, Ghazal and the Natia Kalam .As in the opinion of many critics Shahnaz Rasheed is considered as the emperor of the ghazal presently in Kashmiri poetry but his Natia Kalam is equally arresting and innovative.See how does poet make the use of personification in three poems ie Kangu Nabi sund , Hujre Nabi sund,Aane Nabi Sund.The pick and choose of delicate words with honour,humility and faith are Vivid in these three poems for example
Kangu Nabi sund
,,Yele te wuthaan kuth
Mohmmad Arbi senden umbreen zulfun hunz
Mushkene udfur chetewun kungu sarwere aalme sund
This poem reflects the ultimate lot of not only prophet Salalahu Alie Wasalum,but the connectivity even his routine articles like comb.Hujre Nabi Sund and Aane Nabi sund are not the natia klam in traditional way but the poet uses a personification weaved into subtle psychological double in a word craft which is innovative and in tune with the grandeur of the prophet Salalahu Alie Wasalum.

Khaab gachexe ne muren,is a wonderful melodrama of times ravage, death and destruction of every material thing.As the poet puts it.
Chu pruth cheez sooran
Watun aakh Rawan peden hend
Kuthun bool booshie
Che praw aaftaabeche khenwan Shabnums
Gash fulthey
Zewaan yus,marun tus chu likhit naseebus
Che khaabun te aasan fana leene leekhit
This poem show a maturity of poets art so for as his idiomatic word trajectory is concerned.The poet starts with a cause and effect phenomenon like Che prew aaftabuch khenwan Shabnums
Gaash fulthey
Then towards end of the poem how he concludes the significance of the dreams which are quite metaphysical in tune and content and aesthetically well proven in poetic phenomenon of which the author is himself the architect
Khaab Qulmu herf
Khaab hurfus Qulum
Khaab gachexe ne qatel kanse hende zanh gachexen
This yearning of the poet that the dreams of none be assassinated is such a tragic emotion that these words straightly pierce a genuine emotional heart
Themes in Asmaan wathe patalan munz…
Shahnaz Rasheed is a multidimensional poet who makes a surgery of human psyche,touches it’s social fibre and also acts as an environmentalist .The themes which are recurring in Alvin Tofflers book The future shock,the poet here directly or indirectly is expressing the future men and manners of his society and seeing a moral less world where materialism is ruling everything.He also makes themes relevant through the nostalgia .For example he is utterly weeping on the death of the Book culture
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Time and space has been one of the towering themes in all literatures from Greek to the modern.Philosophy,psychology and science has tried to define it in it’s own way leading to diverse conclusionse.Great poets like Galib,Rumi,Shirazi,Faiz ,Faraz and others like Shakespeare,Bacon others have defined time as a phenomenon which keeps everything under it’s thumb.In this context,, TIME TRAVEL,,is one of the essential poems in which the wordchiseling is lovable and presentation is beautiful by the poet
(Uke unde oos kreyooth sumunder
Beye unde Jangul Deedarun hund
Yeme unde oos dezwun sehraaw
Heme unde sheene Sheen)
See the identical harmony between kreyooth sumunder, Jangul, dezwun sehraaw,then sheene shene,
The sumunder and the Sheen are the water and sehraw and jungle the earth as projected the horrible symbols ready to engulf a time traveller,as the poet while saying..
(Wuq oos pete brunh chekraaweth
Puth kaal ude oos pathele chawan
Ude oos krehnes junglus pheeran )
Then poet discusses seven stages of time culminating into the Logos or the eternal time flux with an Idea that time can be conquered by time alone.
The conclusion of the poem is powerfully arresting
(Painting wuchtey zardaayee cheenge uchun hende
Khaab khurun hende musafirs
Tuw pute time  traveluk zene su musafir kune sapdeew
Kunue!
Yus pate ya brunh chune zenhe pekith hekaan
This is the grip of time on everything as time acts like a Shakespearian scythe levelling all.
By many critics Shahnaz Rasheed is called the emperor of the Kashmiri ghazal in our times,but his poems are no less arresting and multidimensional
Baar khudaya,is one of such poems in which the poet sees the death and decay of a grand culture and civilization.The Nostalgia in this poem is woven round the modern life and materialism showing death’ of nature at the hands of the material progress
(Baar khudaya
Yeth khunbul ta Khadenyaar
Charaan punneyen yare bulun
Wudrun bune kene badaam bagus phulmut
Shopping Mall
Waw kunge doorew munze pheeran cement heyth
Soontus sarse wuse drus raaw
Hurdus reche reche rawne legmete
Nazwene dreete te aswene khah)
The poet is longing for a past which hath been rural and glorious but has been now engulfed by the material progress.

Conclusion
This book Asmaan wathe patalan munz by Shahnaz Rasheed is a milestone in Kashmiri poetry and needs a wider readership to understand it at various levels.The book can augur a new discussion of the originality of the poet in terms of his symbolism,word crafting and metaphoric trajectory which usually is not seen even with some iconic Kashmiri poets of their times.Shahnaz is master upon metrics, rhythm and rhyme and a subtle use of the words.He has the mastery of writing every in the shortestBuhur which is usually difficult.
I hope the students, researchers and libraries will be benefited by this book.