[Reader-list] Bird-not-free in Kashmiri folk song

Tue Oct 6 19:44:06 IST 2009

Dear Ananya

No apologies needed. You are at liberty to 'deconstruct' whatever you want to and leave it at that, or "reconstruct", or just "destruct". 

I am intrigued though. What was my "construct" that you set about to "deconstruct". Just intrigued, dont need an answer.

a) Parrots and Parakeets are the same birds. Of, course that is a generalised identification since there are many varieties.

b) Your aversion to  the 'colonial commentator' Lawrence is un-understandable. Maybe you have information why Lawrence's recordings in "The Valley of Kashmir" are not to be treated as authentic? Or maybe you are dismissive of all "colonial" commentators?

Let us together damn Lawrence. In the earlier mail to Inder I have given references from Dr Bakshi Jehangir (not colonial) and Dar & Dar (not colonial). 

Here are three photographs of the "parakeets" documented as having been sighted in Kashmir. Please look at them and then decide whether or not they are "tota":

- Alexanderine Parakeet http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/birds/parakeet_a01.html

- Rose-ringed Parakeet http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/birds/parakeetr.html

- Slaty-headed Parakeet http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/birds/parakeets.html

c) I would not know how birds are designated as being indigenous or not. In Kashmir only a few birds are found the year round such as the Sparrow, Mynah, Crow, Eagle (open to correction). "Totas" (Parrots/Parakeets) are known to be 'alitudinal migrants'. Depending on the season, they migrate between higher and lower altitudes. For the 'totas" of Kashmir if this "altitudinal migration"  is within the Kashmir Valley, then I guess they could be called "indigenous". But, dont take my word for this deduction.

d) Confirmation of the "tota" or "shoga" being present in Kashmir is from sightings.

    My mention of the surnames was to present an additional dimension for consideration. You are free to reject it.

    Perhaps you are aware that Kashmir has a fascinating tradition of 'accquired surnames'. Apart from the 'takhallus' (nom de plume of writers) and Titles Bestowed, most such 'accquired surnames' trace their roots to nicknames. The nicknames come from not foreign but indigenous recognitions such as Place of Birth; Place of Residence; Characteristic Landmark at Place of Residence; Occupation; Pronounced Physical Characteristic; Physical Deformity etc 

e) Nowhere have I seen anything that suggest that 'Tuti-namah' was not written (compiled) by Ziya al-Din Nakshabi. If I were sure that it is based on 'Suka Saptiti' or for that matter knew that 'Suka Saptiti' is written by Chintamani Bhatta, my sentence (the grammatical construction of which you were taken by) would have been framed differently. I would have simply said " "Suka Saptati" (Seventy stories of a Parrot) was written by a Kashmiri Pandit, Chintamani Bhatt. It was plagiarised by Ziya al-Din Nakshabi for his collection of 52 stories called Tuti-nama (Parrot Tales also known as Tota Kahani)".  

But I did not write that, did I? I did not write it because I can neither make such statements by quoting 'authority' nor confirm it by my own research. That is why the usage in my sentence of "said to be based on" and "credited to".

You should know (I Presume) that it is not only the 'provenance' of such 'works'  (compilations?) as Gita, Bible and Quran alone but also many not so dated works that defy confirmation of 'provenance'.

If you want anecdotal references which led me to 'construct' my sentence in the manner I did, I shall present them to you. (one is given below in the Bibliography of Nakshabi)

As I wrote earlier, Ziya al-Din Nakshabi is said to have written (compiled?) the Tuti-nama. Whether or not he based it on Suka Saptiti, Nakshabi is said to be the first person to translate Sanskrit 'works' into Persian.

Another well know work by Nakshabi is Ladhdhat al-nisā’  (The Enjoyment of Women) which is said to be a translation of 'Kok-Shastra' (through Hindi??? suspect) which in turn is based on Koka Pandit's "Ratirahasya" (on the Art of Love) in Sanskrit.

It is mentioned (weblink below) that " At one point in the text it is said that Nakhshabī translated the treatise from Hindi into Persian, and at another point it states the Ziyā’ Nakhshabī transcribed the copy and illustrated it himself."

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/arabic/diet5.html
with illustrations said to be in the Kashmir Miniature School

AND

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/arabic/bioN.html
Bibliography

f) You seem to have over-reacted. The 'claim and counter claim' had nothing to do with Kashmir. Kashmir was not the topic. The topic was some lines of poetry (incidentally in Kashmiri) where one of the protagonists the "parrot" was declared (in the commentary) as not belonging to Kashmir.

Kshmendra

--- On Mon, 10/5/09, Ananya Jahanara Kabir <A.J.Kabir at leeds.ac.uk> wrote:

From: Ananya Jahanara Kabir <A.J.Kabir at leeds.ac.uk>
Subject: RE: [Reader-list] Bird-not-free in Kashmiri folk song
To: "'Kshmendra Kaul'" <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>, "reader-list" <reader-list at sarai.net>, "Inder Salim" <indersalim at gmail.com>
Cc: "bazaz002 at umn.edu" <bazaz002 at umn.edu>
Date: Monday, October 5, 2009, 9:38 PM

The further questions to be asked, then, are:
a) are parrots and parakeets the same bird?
b) is the 'rose-necked parakeet' or the 'slaty headed parakeet' the same as a 'tota'? Why do we need to return to a colonial commentator for support? (Lawrence)
c) if a bird is a 'summer migrant', can it also be seen as indigenous?
d) is to be called a 'shoga' or a 'tota' automatically a designation of the 'tota' (or shoga's) indigeneity?
e) what is the ultimate provenance of the Tuti nama and who is the authority that 'credits' its descent from the work by Chintamani Bhatt? I'm especially taken by the grammatical construction of the sentence, 'The latter one (in Persian) is said to be based on the Sanskrit "Suka Saptati" (Seventy stories of a Parrot) credited to a Kashmiri Pandit, Chintamani Bhatt.'
In short, for me Kshemendra's response to Inder's circulated piece is interesting for these questions of claim and counter-claim that are generated whenever 'Kashmir' is the topic. Even a parrot cannot escape! 
Apologies to Kshemendra for thus deconstructing your response, I just could not help it.
best wishes,
Ananya 
Dr Ananya Jahanara Kabir 
Senior Lecturer in Postcolonial Literature 
AHRC Knowledge Transfer Fellow 
School of English, University of Leeds 
Leeds LS2 9JT, UK 
www.upress.umn.edu/Books/K/kabir_territory.html 
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/english/staff/pages/staffindex.php?file=kabi 
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/brasian/ 

From: Kshmendra Kaul [mailto:kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com] 
Sent: 05 October 2009 15:15
To: reader-list; Inder Salim
Cc: Ananya Jahanara Kabir; bazaz002 at umn.edu
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Bird-not-free in Kashmiri folk song

Dear Inder

Your interpretation of "haeriye thavakh na kann te lo lo" is misplaced. The 'tota' is not the tormentor. The 'tota' is hoped to be the carrier for the 'zaar' (travails) to be conveyed to it by the 'haer'. The reason perhaps is that (unlike the 'haer') the 'tota' is migratory and so can spread news of the miseries of the afflicted one far and wide.   

The 'tota' (Parrot) is very much found in Kashmir. Maybe you have not seen it so it does not exist for you.

- WR Lawrence (1857-1940) lists amongst the Birds of Kashmir the Slaty Headed Parakeet (Psittacula himalayana)   

- Also found in Kashmir are the Rose Ringed Parakeet - local name 'shoga' (Psittacula krameri) and the Alexanderine Parakeet (Psittacula eupatria) 

- Dr Bashir Jehangir reports spotting all 3 types in Shivpora. All three probably are Summer Migrants   

- Raga Kirvani (voice of of the parrot) as per some traditions is said to have it's roots in Kashmir

- You would know that both "shoga" and 'tota' are family surnames in Kashmir. I can only presume that they got attached due to markedly beaked noses. 

- From the 'Kashmir miniature School' two famous names as Artists (Illuminators)/ Calligraphers carry the surname 'tota'. They were the father and son duo of Pandit Daya Ram Koul Tota and Pandit Raja Ram Koul Tota. The latter one is especially mentioned for his works "Zafar-Nama Guru Gobind Singh"; "Gulgashat e Punjab"; "Zafar-Nama Ranjit Singh"; "Gulab Nama"; "Gulzar e Kashmir"

- There is a rich tradition of Tales about Parrots and told by Parrots in the folk-lore from Kashmir, whether it is from "Hatim's Tales" or the "Tuti Nama" of Ziya al-Din Nakshabi (Parrot Tales also known as Tota Kahani). The latter one (in Persian) is said to be based on the Sanskrit "Suka Saptati" (Seventy stories of a Parrot) credited to a Kashmiri Pandit, Chintamani Bhatt.

Kshmendra

--- On Sun, 10/4/09, Inder Salim <indersalim at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Inder Salim <indersalim at gmail.com>
Subject: [Reader-list] Bird-not-free in Kashmiri folk song
To: "reader-list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
Cc: "University of Leeds, UK" <A.J.Kabir at leeds.ac.uk>, bazaz002 at umn.edu
Date: Sunday, October 4, 2009, 9:06 PM

Dear All
Freedom means different for different people.
For a bird,  it means differently if held in hands.
The metaphor in a Kashmiri folk song: ‘bird-not-free’ effectively
sensitizes the soul.
the song is:

Athe travtohan janavar
Athe travtohan janavar
Phare bagas te kari guftar
Athe travtohan janavar
Chavi yavun te vure shehjar
Athe travtohan janavar
Ye chu nagman hund tandar
Athe travtohan janavar
Janavar chu vanan zaar
Athe travtohan janavar
Mate haitav ami sund baar
Athe travtohan janavar

( below: a word to word translation )

Release the bird from your hands
Release the bird from your hands,
It wants to fly around the garden and speak out his heart.
Release the bird from your hands
It wants to celebrate youth under shadowy trees.
Release the bird from your hands
It is a conglomeration of songs,
Release the bird from your hands.
This bird is singing a sad number,
Release the bird from your hands.
Dont take the responsibility of his captivity,
Release the bird from your hands.
………………………….
In a line from another folk song,  it is again about a bird, perhaps,
who yearns her misery to be conveyed to another bird: ‘tota’:
Parrot. But the messenger happens to be a Mynah ( the dark brown small
yellow beaked domestic bird ‘haer’ in Kashmiri ).

Hariya thavak na kaan te lo lo
Zaar mein totas van te lo lo

What I found interesting about this folk song is that we don’t have a
Parrot in Kashmir, who is either in Pakistan or in India.

This ancient folk song from Kashmir has all the ingredients of the
complexities of
Language tools we use for communication. The gender of protagonist,
poet, or a bird is not defined.
The friend bird, ‘haer’ is the only one to convey what is most burning
inside the heart,
but will the parrot understand the syllables uttered by the bird,
if ever it manages to meet Him: the green red beaked brainy bird.

With love and regards
Inder salim

-- 

http://indersalim.livejournal.com
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