Lal and Her Vaakh- An Encyclopeadic Collection

About the Book Shiti Kantth is the first poet of Kashmiri. His Mahaanai Prakaash is a treatise of profound philosophical vaakhs, preserved in its original form to this day. Shiti Kantth is known to just a few people, among the literate Kashmiris. In sharp contrast stands the next poet Lal - Lal Dyad, Lalu' Maa'j, Laleeshvara. She is the first people's poet of Kashmiri language.

Lal is known and loved for her vaakh. That is how we know of her; save her vaakh, we know next to nothing about Lal. Yet we have many tales, in fact too many tales, of her activities, most of which got 'known' during the last two centuries. One author conjured up seven rebirths for her. Some had her feed and lead, poets born long after her. Others had her debate. subtleties with seers who came to Kashmir, decades after her death.

This is as good a measure of her appeal as one could get. But it is a tricky tract. With her vaakh as .the sole link to Lal, the body of vaakh is as important, as the poet herself. With her vaakh became so popular that it was a test of poetic prowess. Poets, in the centuries following her, wrote vaakh, most after a line or so of hers. Lalu' va'akh become a genre of sorts. It also confounded Lal with extraneous poesies, whether good or bad, polluting hervaakh.

This work is an attempt to reach La I. That route lies through her vaakh. Here one must first see what has been given out as the body of her vaakh. Next, it has to be sifted for the real Lal.

Some are easily told for not being genuine. Most are difficult. This would be a long journey. This book collates all 'vaakhs of Lal' and puts them in order of appearance. It gives the original Kashmiri text, in English alphabet in a reader-friendly modification, the Rationalized Roman for Kashmiri (RRK), devised by R L Bhat. It also provides a succinct translation of the vaakhs. It also indexes the vaakhs, as per the source and antiquity.

About the Author Free-lance writer and columnist, R L Bhat has been editorial consultant, editor and lead writer in the major English language papers of the state. He is president of Samprati, the Jammu-based organization of Kashmiri writers and recipient of awards of excellence in writing and journalism.

Dr Bhat has published hundreds of articles, papers, and reviews in leading English dailies and journals of the state and country. His published works include Randomly Around India, Randomly Around Kashmir, collections of his columns, Faith Besieged an account of the antiquity of Shrii Amarnaathji shrine, Paran Praveeshikaa, a translation of the iz" century Sanskrit introduction to Kashmir Shaivism written by Kheema Raaja, Abhinava Gupta Paad's chief disciple and Azad, The Poet of fool, an English translation of the major poems of Abdul Ahad Azad. His book Rationalized Roman for Kashmiri, has been widely appreciated as an original work of ingenuity to standardize the English Alphabet for writing Kashmiri, Hindi/Urdu etc.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages