Nightingale of Kashmir.

Her poetry was unconventional inasmuch as she poured out her grief through her lyrics in the language of the common man. Kashmir is not only a land of beautiful scenery and landscape, but it has also been a literary fertile land since ancient times. Kashmir was considered to be the abode of goddess Saraswati. In the overwhelmingly beautiful setting, there flourished a culture that led to the learning of humanities, literature, philosophy, astrology, astronomy, religion, medicine, history, law, polity, et al. Whereas ancient Kashmir produced a galaxy of literary and philosopher luminaries like Abhinav Gupta, Kshemendra, Kalhan, etc. In the medieval Kashmir there emerged another galaxy of poets like Lalleshwari, Parmanand, Mahmud Ghani, Arnimal, Krishna Joo Razdan, Mahjoor, Maqbool Shah Kralawari, Rasool Mir, Habba Khatoon etc, who enriched the Kashmiri literature by their spiritual poetry and romantic lyrics. Habba Khatoon was one of the best and unique poets in Kashmiri literature in 16th century. Born Zoon (or Zooni) on January 01, 1554 in a small village named Chandrahar, in the present Pulwama district in a family of a poor farmer, she rose to be the wife of Yousuf Shah Chak, the last Emperor of Kashmir. Zoon was a prodigious child learner and acquired the reading and writing skills in Kashmiri language from the village female religious teacher. Right from her childhood she was interested in composing and singing lyrics. She had a beautiful melodious voice too. Zoon was married to an illiterate peasant boy at a young age, but due to the difference in thinking level the marriage was not successful even as she loved her husband, Aziz, dearly. Narrates she in a verse: “I have been waiting for long with extreme patience for you – O! my love (or Aziz) do not be cross with your moon (zoon)! I have adorned myself lusciously from top to toe; pray enjoy my youth as lively and inviting as a pomegranate flower.” The finesse and the subtlety of her thoughts was naturally lost on her husband and in-laws. Laments she in another lyric: “The mother-in law grabbed me by my hair, which stung me more than the pangs of death. I fell asleep on the supporting plank of the spinning wheel, and in this way, the circular wheel got damaged. I cannot reconcile myself with the atrocities of the in laws, O! my parents, please come to my rescue.” However, she bore all the torture with great patience, until one day, her mother-in-law could not tolerate her anymore. She was separated from her husband and sent to her parental home and ultimately, she was divorced. This was a turning point in her life and she started writing and singing songs in Kashmiri. Laments she in another lyric: “When my parents gave me in marriage, My friends sang for me in joy. The love songs they chanted never came true Let no one lose the opportunities of youth.” another of her lyrics, said to date from this period of her life, she seems to sum up her life experiences thus: “I have to nurse the scorching flames in my heart; Let no one lose the opportunities of youth. My parents fed me candy and musk; They washed me in showers of milk The same person is now a hapless wanderer🍁 One day while she was singing under the shade of a chinar tree, the ruler of Kashmir, Yusuf Shah Chak, saw her. He was stunned by her beauty and melodious voice that he instantaneously fell in love with her. He proposed to her and finally she was married to him become the queen of Kash mir. Her name was changed to Habba Khatoon. Yusuf Shah and Habba Khatoon loved each other intensely and led a happy married life for six years. But the ill luck visited her again. The Mughal emperor, Akbar, was the villain. He had made two unsuccessful attempts to capture Kashmir, and through deceit, he called Yusuf Shah to Delhi for a peaceful resolution. But when Yusuf Shah reached Delhi, he was imprisoned and sent to a jail in Bihar where he breathed his last. This separation was too much for Habba Khatoon. She lost interest in the worldly life and became an ascetic and wandered around the valley singing songs in the memory of her beloved husband. “My Yusuf has been snatched away, My grief has reached the sky. A storm has taken over my home, leaving me in lurch. My eyes long for him, my tears flow incessantly”. She calls out in another lyric: “Naad ha layei, Myani Yusufo wallo” (Am calling out for you, come my Yusuf).🍁🍁🍁