Agar Firdaus Bar Rōy-e Zamin Ast, Hamin Ast-o Hamin Ast-o Hamin Ast

(My photograph of the Chashme Shahi bridge, Srinagar, 1981)
please click on the picture to enlarge it

Agar firdaus bar rōy-e zamin ast, hamin ast-o hamin ast-o hamin ast. This is a couplet by the Persian-language poet Amir Khusrau, "If there is a paradise on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here." Amir Khusrau is said to have paraphrased what Emperor Jahangir ecstatically, unbelievingly exclaimed upon seeing Kashmir for the first time, after his conquest.

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This beautiful, delicate, almost fragile song, with lyrics by Gulzar, is from a movie set in Kashmir: Yahaan (2005):

Pooche Jo Koi Meri Nishaani

Rang Hina Likhna

Gore Badan Pe

Ungli Se Mera Naam Ada Likhna

Kabhi Kabhi Aas Paas 

Chand Rehta Hai

Kabhi Kabhi Aas Paas 

Shaam Rehti Hai 

Aao Naaaaa Aaao Naaaaa

Jhenum Mein Beh Lenge 

Vadi Ke Mausam Bhi 

Ek Din To Badlenge

Kabhi Kabhi Aas Paas 

Chand Rehta Hai

Kabhi Kabhi Aas Paas 

Shaam Rehti Hai 

Aau To Subha Jao To 

Mera Naam Saba Likhna

Burf Pade To Burf Pe

Mera Naam Dua Likhna

Zara Zara Aag Vaag 

Pass Rehti Hai

Zara Zara Kangde Ke 

Aanch Rehti Hai 

Kabhi Kabhi Aas Paas 

Chand Rehta Hai

Kabhi Kabhi Aas Paas 

Shaam Rehti Hai 

Raatein Bunjhane 

Tum Aagaye Hoo

Jab Tum Haste Hooooo

Din Ho Jata Hai

Tum Gale Lage Too Ooooo

Din So Jata Hai

Doli Uthaye Aayega Din To 

Pass Bitha Lena

Kal Jo Mile To 

Mathe Mein Mere 

Suraj Uga Dena

Zara Zara Aas Paas 

Dhup Rehegi

Zara Zara Aas Pass 

Rang Renhege

Zara Zara Aas Paas 

Dhup Rehegi

Zara Zara Aas Pass 

Rang Renhege

Puche Jo Koi Meri Nishaani

Rang Hina Likhna

Gore Badan Pe

Ungli Se Mera Naam Ada Likhna

Kabhi Kabhi Aas Paas 

Chand Rehta Hai

Kabhi Kabhi Aas Paas 

Shaam Rehti Hai

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Translation:

If they ask you my identity, say-

I am the colour of Henna

As traced by your fingertips on my fair body

I am spelt Grace

Tell them the moon hovers around me at times

And at times I am wrapped in the dusk of the evening

Write down my name as morning, when i arrive

Put it down as night when I leave

And when the snowflakes begin to fall

Scribble my name on the fallen snow as prayer

Tell them, there’s the blaze of fire about her

and at times, the comforting glow of the kangri

When you laugh, the day fills up with sunshine

And when you embrace me, the day lulls itself to sleep

And when the day comes as a newly-wed in a palanquin

take my hand and make me sit next to you

and if you find tomorrow

make it sprout the sun from my forehead

If they ask you my identity, say –

I am Henna

Tell them the sun shines around me at times

And at times I’m enveloped in colours of myriad hues…

Translation from:

http://blog.chandrahasa.com/archives/2742

Naam Adaa Likhna, from the film Yahaan (2005)

Lyrics: Gulzar

Music: Shantanu Moitra

(Minissha Lamba's first film appearance, while her family was managing one of the biggest hotels in Srinagar. While in Madras, bright, beautiful Minissha would come to my house directly from the school for 'enlightenment', where her equally beautiful mother Manju Lamba, an artist-architect, would pick her up. I was requested to take her pictures, which I took aplenty, and which can be seen in different parts of my blog.)

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the paradise today