Poetry in Kashmir has a stretched out history. Our land unfolds only the finest of the bulk. The earliest mystic saints of 14th and 15th centuries used poetry to impart the depth of their mystical savoir faire to the common folk.
Dogra rule in particular marked the advent of progressive movement in the literature of Kashmir. Poets were influenced by Marxist thought, Russian and Chinese revolutions and Indian Nationalism. Yet the overwhelming elements persisted in being local.
It gave us a horde of writers like Parmanand, Waliullah Mattu, Pir Maqbool Shah Kralwari, Rasul Mir, Aziz Darvesh, Whab Pare and many others. These records serve Kashmir raw to you. A laboratory of mutual understanding, resilience and blissful coexistence.
It represents the pulse of rural masses because most of it came from proletariat classes springing from humble circumstances.
Ghulam Ahmad Mahjoor, our national poet, clinched such praises from Rabindra Nath Tagore for him to be called the ‘Wordsworth of Kashmiri’.
Mahjoor lolmas aau bagrawan, sarne chavnawan chavnawan gou,
Ye tore detmas tee chu wartaavan.
(Mahjoor came with the elixir of love and kept serving it to all alike, for it was a gift from heaven)