Poetic Justice

A man who moved a valley with his words, Mahjoor's poetry can be summed up with: Love, reform, and harmony.

Mahjoor; Source: KashmirLife

Born in 1887, Peerzada Ghulam Ahmad, in the beautiful valley of Kashmir in a village called Mitrigam, in Pulwama, his life's work was a testament to the love for his birthplace and a longing for its harmony.

Following his academician father's footsteps, Ahmad received education in Tral from Maktab of Aashiq Trali. He passed the middle school exams and thus, prompted his journey to Punjab, where he met many poets prolific in Urdu.

Here, Ahmad's poetry journey started under the guidance of Shibli Namani, renowned as a great poet of the Urdu language. This is also where he got his pen name Mahjoor. Bismil Amritsari was another Urdu Poet he made the acquaintance of before returning to Srinagar in 1908.

Young Mahjoor started his eloquent journey, but before turning to Urdu, he first experimented in Persian. He loved his homeland and determined he would write in his native language.

With simple diction that he picked up from traditional folk storytellers, he began his quest.

During the day, Mahjoor was a regional administrator or patwari. Still*,* he was a poet at heart all the time and manifested that onto paper and reality during his free time.

His first Kashmiri poem was published in 1918 and was titled 'Vanta Hay Vesy'. The writing was politically motivated for Mahjoor, who wrote for the freedom and progress of Kashmir. It instilled a sense of nationalism that lay dormant in the people of the valley.

His themes were not limited to politics, and yet, they were distinct from the mainstream of his time. He wrote of youth, gardeners, peasant girls, to name a few, and made them a part of Kashmiri poetry formally.

Mahjoor also has the credit of bringing a new style into the poetry of Kashmir to his name. His contribution to the literary world also extends to nazm and ghazals; he revolutionized its traditional forms.

The revered poet's recognition does not stop here. In 1972, he was immortalized in a bi-lingual film, Shayar-e-Kashmir Mahjoor. A square in Srinagar, Kashmir, finds Mahjoor's name on it in his remembrance.

A few lines from his poetry are:

Bid good-bye to your dulcet strains. To rouse

This habitat of flowers, create a storm,

Let thunder rumble, – let there be an earthquake!

At the age of sixty-six, Ghulam Ahmad left heaven on earth to reach the one above on 9th April 1952.