RNI Registration No. MAHMUL/2004/13413 Price: ` 30.00 Vol. VI, No. 2 : March-April 2011 ilchar MThe Official Organ of KPA, Mumbai Cheshma Shahi Garden, Srinagar vçJçj(Pônhot oc: çFráyaççncijs BkruçÀnel) Glimpses of Vaarshik Hawan at Kashyap Bhawan on 29-30 January 2011 In this issue Ø Message from the President l Between Ourselves Milchar - Rajen Kaul Page 2 Official Organ of Ø Editorial Kashmiri Pandits' Association, l Our Mother-tongue Mumbai - M.K.Raina Page 3 Ø Report & Biradari News Page 5 (Regd. Charitable Trust - Regn. No. A-2815 BOM) E-Mail: [email protected] Ø Reaching Out l What's The Truth Vol. VI ~ No. 2 - S.P.Kachru Page 10 EDITORIAL BOARD Ø Kashmir Imbroglio l Tele-conferenec with Dileep Padgaonkar - Transcription : M.K.Raina Page 11 Editor : M.K.Raina Associate Editor : S.P.Kachru Ø Kashmir Diary l Kashmir 2010 - Part 2 Members : S.K.Kaul - Prof. R.N.Bhat Page 15 Chand Bhat Consulting Editor : P.N.Wali Ø Know Your Motherland l Your Queries about Kashmir Page 16 T.N.Dhar ‘Kundan’ Webmaster : Sunil Fotedar, USA Ø Pages From My Diary l The Spirit of Nandkeshwara - Dr. K.L.Chowdhury Page 17 Yearly Subscription: ` 250.00 Lifetime Subscription : ` 2500.00 Ø Language & Scripts l Grierson on Kashmir - Prof. Omkar N. Koul Page 20 Advertisement Tariff Ø Your Own Page Page 23 Matrimonial (upto 50 words): ` 100.00 Ø Rites & Rituals Each Extra word : ` 5.00 l Herath - Shiva Ratri of Kashmiri Pandits ` - Dr. Chaman Lal Raina Page 24 Back Cover (Colour) : 5000.00 l Navreh Front Inside Cover (Colour): ` 3000.00 - Piaray Raina 'Sadhak' Page 29 Back Inside Cover (Colour): ` 2000.00 Ø Life Inside Full Page (B&W) : ` 1000.00 l A Will - Our Right Inside Half Page (B&W) : ` 500.00 - Pran Nath Wali Page 30 Ø Culture & Heritage l Influence of Advaita on Muslim Rishis Views expressed in the signed of Kashmir - Part 2 articles are not necessarily those of the - T.N.Dhar 'Kundan' Page 32 Kashmiri Pandits' Association Ø kçÀçJ³ç or Milchar. l iç]pçuç Articles can also be e-mailed to: - Ëo³ç vççLç kçÀçÌuç `çEjo' Page 34 [email protected] Ø Write-ups in Kashmiri may only be sent OççjçJçççÆnkçÀ l in the Standardised içáuçí yçkçÀçJçuççÇ - Page 35 Devanagari-Kashmiri Script. cç.kçÀ.jÌvçç Ø Editor's Mail Page 38 President's Message - Rajen kaul Between Ourselves amaskar. underground tanks is tôhí màhrà chhúvû sàrínûy hèrat resumed. After N tû navréh múbàrak - I pray to Lord completion of this work Shiva to bless our community with (planned for end March health, wealth, happiness and prosperity! 2011), our plan is to Since my last message in the Jan-Feb 2011 complete internal civil issue, we performed our annual Havan from and other works on floor 29th to 30th January 2011 at Kashyap Bhavan. wise basis, based on the Shri Pawan Kumarji and Shri Vijay Joshiji availability of funds. Needless to say we performed the religious ceremonies. We were urgently need large funds to complete the also blessed by Shri Sabni Saheb with his Project. I know that several members have gracious presence on 30th January 2011. personally contributed for this important More than 500 community members project as also worked tirelessly to raise participated in this sacred function. After funds from other community members as Puran Ahuti, Prasad was served to all the well as other well wishers. This is the members. During this event, we received Project for the community and I would like valuable donations for Sharda Sadan project to appeal to all those members who have as also for other projects/programmes of our not yet contributed, to contribute a Association. We also enrolled several new life minimum of Rs.11,000/- per family, which members and also had a good response for amounts to less than Rs.1000 per month. I subscription of Milchar. We are grateful to am sure that you will all come forward to all our donors as also to those community donate for this important Project. members who enrolled as life members and Directory: Work on updating the directory those who subscribed to Milchar. The credit is under progress under the overall for the success of this function should go to leadership of Shri C.L.Raina supported by all the team members of the Association. other Regional/Area wise representatives particularly to Shri S.P.Kachru, Shri T.K.Raina, of the BoT. We need your support to update Shri R.K.Shah, Shri Virender Takoo, Shri C.L. us with your current address including Raina, Smt. Meena Wanchoo, Smt. Neena email/mobile numbers. We plan to release Kher, Shri Ashwani Hashia and several other new directory within a month after we volunteers who toiled hard for success of the receive bulk of the updated information. event. Let me also update you on progress of We expect to release this latest by June other key projects/programmes 2011. undertaken by us: Website: Team of Shri K.K.Kemmu and Shri Sharda Sadan : Under the dynamic Naren Kachroo need to be complimented leadership of Shri M.L.Mattoo as Chairman for their excellent work done in the of this Project, he and his team of dedicated preparation of our website. We expect to members have ensured that the long stalled launch this in May 2011. work related to completion of over head and (Continued on Page 14) Editorial - M.K.Raina Our Mother-tongue & Our Apathy Towards It ashmiri language, our mother- KPs started writing in tongue is really in a bad shape. Devanagari Script in a big K Firstly, we reduced it to a third way and plethora of category language, taking pride to literature got churned out speak in English (followed by Hinglish or in community magazines Hindustani) most of the time and with most throughout the country. of our intimates, even with our spouse and While, this was considered children. Our logic is simple; what use is the a good omen for the language which can not give us degrees and Kashmiri literature, it brought to notice livelihood? What use again when it is not another big challenge in the shape of varied spoken anywhere in the world except scripts adopted by the writers. Every writer Kashmir where our chances of going back are had his/her own way of writing, using dots, remote. Arguments may sound convincing lines, circles etc. at will. There was no but we conveniently forget that a language coordination and no conformity in writing. (read mother-tongue) not only acts as a Koshur Samachar of New Delhi assumed binding force for a community, but also central importance in this regard. It used a confers upon it a distinct mark of set of diacritical marks to indicate vowels identification. Shri A.K.Misri of Bandra, peculiar to Kashmiri language with the Nagari Mumbai advocates speaking in Kashmiri not letters, but devising a universally acceptable only because this way we can keep our uniform script remained a problem. In mother-tongue alive, but we can also secretly December 1995, a committee of the editors communicate with each other if cornered in of Koshur Samachar (New Delhi), Kashyap an alien atmosphere. Apart from spoken Samachar (Jammu) and the Secretary of the words, literature is a vast medium which Vikalp (Delhi) met and agreed on adopting nurtures and promotes a language and certain diacritical marks for the peculiar preserves it for posterity. Kashmiri sounds. The linguistic experts Till 1990, most of the literary works however were not fully satisfied. They created in Kashmiri language, whether by wanted to do some more work to upgrade Kashmiri Muslims or by Kashmiri Pandits, the script by modifying the already employed were in Nastaliq, the Persio-Urdu Script. This symbols and diacritical marks, to suit script was the officially recognized script for requirement of the language. This led to Kashmiri language (and still is), recognized not formation of an expert committee led by Dr. only by the government of Jammu & Kashmir Roop Krishen Bhat, which organized various but also by the Government of India. One workshops to finalise the Script. The experts could claim government grant for a who worked hard along with Dr. Roop Krishen publication only if his/her creation was in this Bhat included Dr.S.N.Bhat Haleem, Dr. script. This treatment discouraged those who S.S.Toshakhani, Dr. O.N.Koul, Prof. wanted to write in Devanagari Script. C.L.Sapru, Prof. R.L.Shant, Dr. S.N.Raina, Dr. Post 1990 exodus, there was a big change. R.K.Bhat and Dr. Raj Nath Bhat. As a software expert, Shri Sandeep Bhat of Pune along with its scripts, need to come forward was closely associated with the Committee. and impress upon the authors, printers, Shri M.K.Kaw, the then Secretary, Ministry editors and proof readers of all the of Human resources, Government of India community magazines to switch over to new also showed keen interest in devising this Script so that there is uniformity in writing material in the interest of Kashmiri which in turn will make it easily language. Subsequently, a Primer and a comprehensible. This will be a small but an Reader, edited by Dr. Roop Krishen Bhat important step in the direction of preserving were released by the Central Institute of and promoting our mother-tongue. Indian Languages, Mysore in association It is worth mentioning here that non- with Samprati, Jammu in August 2003, thus Kashmiris like Pravin Satpute of Maharashtra providing a complete Standardised and Anshuman Pandey of University of Devanagari Script for Kashmiri.