Love Letter to Kashmir
Forever the twain shall meet
an tEarrach fá dheoidh
líonfadsa an samovar
agus beidh tú liom
ólfaimid beirt tae namkeen
is dearúdfar an geimhreadh
at last, it is Spring
i’ll fill up the samovar
and You will join me
we’ll slowly sip namkeen chai
winter will be forgotten
MASOOD HUSSAIN has achieved global recognition as a master draughtsman and prolific watercolourist. He honed his formidable skills at Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Arts, Mumbai. Masood teaches at the Institute of Music & Fine Arts in Srinagar, Kashmir, the city where he was born and raised.
GABRIEL ROSENSTOCK, born in postcolonial Ireland, is a bilingual poet, tankaist, haikuist, novelist, playwright, short story writer, essayist and translator. He has published three other books with Masood: Walk with Gandhi, a series of haiku and watercolour vignettes celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great Indian Mahatma; The Hen/An Chearc, a bilingual children’s picture book; and Boatman! Take These Songs From Me, an exploration of mystic, bilingual love poems written in freestyle haiku.
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In this month’s post for The Culturium, we present another creative collaboration between these two highly accomplished artists and their meditative contemplation on the people and traditions born of and inspired by the landscapes of Kashmir. A mesmerizing confluence of visual and verbal elegance, their impassioned billets-doux capture the timeless and simple ways of a culture virtually untouched by the materialism of modern life.
With Gabriel’s verse offered as ekphrastic haiku and tanka (five-lined poetry) in response to a work of art, usually visual, Masood’s 75 glowing watercolours are an ode to the sacredness of mere existence, with their charming depictions of Kashmiris going about their daily business and rituals in all weathers and finding meaning in the seemingly mundane—trading in bustling markets, herding sheep through mountain passes, preparing food by humble hearthsides, worshipping at majestic shrines.
Embarking on this celebratory journey in springtime, the symbol of hope and beauty, the opening pages of Love Letter to Kashmir remind us of the rejuvenating power of the natural world, with its luminous blossoms and verdant fields. Then, as we meander our way through the ensuing seasons, the flora and fauna of this Paradise on Earth are similarly enshrined in the sumptuous poetry and pigments of this most exquisite and timeless artefact. Indeed, the overall effect is to imbue us with courage towards our troubles and wonder at the manifest world.
More specifically, the concept of the Sufi Belovèd forms a sacred leitmotif, elevating the book to the manner of an illuminated manuscript, its bhakti sutras eulogizing spiritual devotion, with the images of blooming nature testament to the blossoming of love. As one reviewer elegantly states, writing in the Kashmir Observer: “What makes these paintings [and poems] particularly captivating is their ability to blend the mundane with the mystical. In the intricate dance between realism and surrealism, earthly and ethereal, the paintings in this collection beckon viewers into a realm where boundaries blur and perceptions shift.”
Image: © Masood Hussain
tá na crainn faoi bhláth
féach, ar fud na Caismíre
an dtiocfaidh tú liom?
tá an scrín ag feitheamh linn
scrín an naoimh, Makhdoom Sahib
the trees are flowering
they flower all over Kashmir
i know what i’ll do
come take my hand! it awaits —
the shrine of Makhdoom Sahib
Image: © Masood Hussain
shantaíos do ghrá
deineadh il-neacha díom
chun go dtabharfá aire dhúinn
agus a fhios againn go maith
go mba Aon faoi do chúramsa sinn
desirous of Your love
i became many entities
so that You might guard us
knowing all the while
that we were One in Your care
Image: © Masood Hussain
mé ar fán thall is abhus
i dtámhnéal
breathnaím san abhainn
do chuntanós-sa inti
mín i measc cuilithíní
here and there i drift
as in a swoon
i look in the river
it is Your face i see
smooth among the ripples
Image: © Masood Hussain
chonacsa ní
nach bhfuil feicthe ag na milliúin
ribí d’fholt an Fháidh
is chonacsa mo chéadsearc
roimh bhreacadh an lae is chaoineas
i have seen
what millions have not seen
strands of the Prophet’s hair
and I’ve seen my Belovèd
before the dawn of day and wept
Image: © Masood Hussain
is geall le seanchrainn sinn, a ansacht
beireann scáileanna barróg ar a chéile
ag deireadh an lae
duilleoga ag cogarnaíl
focail mhuirneacha ó shaolta atá caite
Belovèd, we’re like old trees
our shadows embrace each other
when evening arrives
leaves whisper to one another
sweet nothings of many lifetimes
Image: © Masood Hussain
téir ar fán anois
i ngleanntáin mo chroíse, a shearc
táid réitithe dhuit
ag súil leat leis na cianta
led’ chosa geala bána
feel free to roam now
in the valleys of my heart
that i have prepared
they’ve waited for centuries
for Your beautiful bare feet
Image: © Masood Hussain
an uile ní —
an mhias fiú —
ag glacadh leis an solas!
how all things —
simple dishes —
embrace the light!
Image: © Masood Hussain
an mó laoi a cumadh duitse
ní féidir a rá
cé mhéad gráinnín gainimh
a bhaintear gach maidin
as grinneall Jhelum
how many songs are there for You
impossible to say how
many grains of sand
do they gather in a morning
sand collectors on the river Jhelum
Image: © Masood Hussain
taistealód i gcairt
ó shráidbhaile go sráidbhaile
ag canadh amhrán duit
fiafróidh daoine dá chéile
an ó ré eile a tháinig sé
i will travel
in a tonga from village
to village singing songs for You
people will wonder and ask
is he from another age
Post Notes
- Gabriel Rosenstock’s blog
- Masood Hussain on Facebook
- Masood Hussai on Instagram
- Masood Hussain & Gabriel Rosenstock: Mahatma
- Gabriel Rosenstock & Debiprasad Mukherjee: Mural World
- Gabriel Rosenstock: To Thine Own Self Be True
- Odilon Redon & Gabriel Rosenstock: Every Night I Send You Flowers
- Gabriel Rosenstock & Ron Rosenstock: Haiku Enlightenment
- Debiprasad Mukherjee, Gabriel Rosenstock & Sarah Thilykou: Last Stop Before Salvation
- Kon Markogiannis, Gabriel Rosenstock & Sarah Thilykou: Angelic Flights
- Jason Symes & Gabriel Rosenstock: Rare Times
- Jean R. Dedieu: Jnani, The Silent Sage of Arunachala
- Rabindranath Tagore: Gitanjali
- Abhay K.: Anthems for Immortality
- Krishnamurti’s Notebook
