Srinagar, JAMMU & KASHMIR :
Khatija Begum (75) over the past 40 years has written thousands of poems and has compiled hundreds of books. It was not an easy job for her to do so, being illiterate she could not pen it down by herself. Whenever some verse come to her mind she would call somebody to write it. It was through her dedication to poetry that she was able to compile her couplets into books successfully.
The narrow allies of Zaina Kadal area of Srinagar lead to her house. Every day she looks at the pile of her poetry collection placed on a desk in her room with a deep sigh hoping that her books will be published someday.
“While I was into the journey of my poetic life, It was not easy for me to memorize each verse of my poetry so I asked my son to bring a tape recorder for me”. Heemal (pen name) recalls how she used to wake up at night to offer prayers and on the same prayer mat record the verses that would come up to her mind.
When Khatija took bundles of those recorded cassettes to a writer for transcription he asked for 70 ₹ per page which was a huge amount at that time so she start doing hand embroidery to earn some money. And spend all that money to preserve her poetry.
It took her 7 years to get her first book published through J&K State Cultural Academy by the title “Ser e-Asraar” which means “The secret of Mysticism”.
Khatija says that the journey of her poetic life started when she was 35 years old. At that time she was busy with her ill mother spending all her time with her, praying for her recovery. One day when she brought her mother to visit a doctor she encountered something unusual, some verses came up to her mind but she was not able to apprehend what was happening to her. After returning home she told her niece about it who wrote those verses for her.
She believes that poetry came into her life because of the prayers she got from her ill mother during her ailment. She dedicates her poetry to a Sufi saint whom she was very close to and consider like her father.
“When I took my books to show him, he was overwhelmed and he told me to endure a lot of patience so that I can bear all the hurdles that will come to my path in this journey. Moreover, he told me that what I have achieved is priceless” with teary eyes she said.
When she recites her poetry, everything around gets blurred and one gets lost in those mystic verses. She is a poetess who needs love and support so that she will be always remembered among the great poets of Kashmir.
source: http://www.milligazette.com / The Milli Gazette / Home> Community News / by Urvat Il Wuska / The Milli Gazette Online / April 10th, 2022