Lal Ded Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

Mystical be thine Sufi poetry,
Of no one faith thou truly art,
And O thou warm hearted yogi,
To all faiths bleeds thine feeling heart.
Be they mystics of Mohammed,
Of Christ or by Krishna led,
Or by a spectrum of faiths made,
They all belong to Kashmir's plural head,
By varied hues of hearts motivated,
Not for no reason art thou called Lal Ded.
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The 14th century Kashmiri mystique, Sufi poet Lal Ded— she has been Kashmir's best known spiritual and literary figure venerated by Hindus as well as Muslims and others. She has for long eluded claims of religious monopolists. Yet, since 1980s things have somewhat changed by militancy in the region. A book has been published by Penguin Classics, ‘I, Lalla, The Poems of Lal Ded', translated by Ranjit Hoskote.

Lalla's poems are called vaakhs, derived from the Sanskrit vaak or vaach, meaning speech or words (vaakya meaning sentence) . This piece is penned in her honour.
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Happenings | 01.07.11 |