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Published on: 5/28/2007
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Amin Kamil was born in 1924 at Kaprin, a village in South Kashmir.He graduated in Arts from the Punjab University and took his degree in Law from the Aligarh Muslim University.He joined the Bar in 1947 and continued to practice Law till 1949, when he was appointed a Lecturer in Sri Pratap College, Srinagar.He was closely associated with the writers' movement of that time and under its influence switched over from Urdu to Kashmiri as his medium of expression.He joined the State Cultural Academy when it was set up in 1958 and was appointed the Convener for Kashmiri language.He later became Editor for Kashmiri and edited the two journals of the Cultural Academy - Sheeraza and Son Adab with distinction for many years.He retired from the service of the Cultural Academy in 1979.
Kamil, besides being an eminent poet and the foremost exponent of Kashmiri Ghazal, has also written short stories and a novel besides works of literary criticism.He has also written a number of plays and musicals for the radio.His critically edited collection of Sufi poetry (Sufi Shair, 3 vols., 1964-6.5) remains a definitive text which has been widely acclaimed.He has also edited the collected verse of Nund Rishi, and that of Habba Khatoon.In 1958 appeared his Gati Manz Gaash (Light amidst darkness) that was inspired by the well-known observation of Mahatma Gandhi in the context of the aftermath of the partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947, that in the midst of darkness prevailing everywhere he had found a ray of light in Kashmir alone.
Kamil has attempted to provide this concept with blood and bone which, of course, is a highly exacting task.The heroine Fatima, an educated young Muslim maiden of a distant village, working as a school teacher in Baramulla, the scene of carnage committed by the tribal invaders, prefers to be known as the widow of Ramkrishan, an ugly and illiterate Hindu, who had given his life to protect her honor.It is the only Kashmiri novel that is based on historical events.
With the arrival of Gati Manz Gaash, it may be said, the novel came to stay in Kashmiri.Kamil is a master of the Kashmiri Ghazal and has been instrumental in fashioning it into an entity distinct from its Urdu and Persian counterparts.His poetry is marked by freshness of sensibility, maturity of expression and striking technical innovation which together give him a diction uniquely his own.
Kamil has also given us some memorable poems in the Nazm form.Kamil edited an independent journal - Naeb -for some time.As a critic he has acquired wide recognition.He also helped create the modified alphabet presently used for Kashmiri language..Kamil has also contributed to the field of translation.His translation of Tagore's Dak Ghar, as also the poetry of the Urdu poet lqbal have been significant additions to the corpus of translated literature available in Kashmiri.
Kamil employs subtle humor with devastating effect in his poetry.Through it he mirrors contemporary life and makes a social comment on his milieu.It, however, is satire or humor that does not bruise, but heals.Kamil is metaphysical and introspective as well and in some ways represents the continuity of the quintessence of his own literary tradition minus its ponderousness.He has the quality of being simple as well as profound at the same time.This he does in purely Kashmiri tenor.In spite of his erudition he has never fallen prey to the transplantation of an alien metaphor, borrowing of a foreign concept or trend in literature.
Amin Kamil won the Sahitya Akademi Award in1967 for his book of poems, Laveh Te Praveh."What distinguishes this book from the poetry of the sixties is the conversational tone producing intimacy, blending of Persian and Kashmiri words and expressions, aphoristic comments on life, intermingling of satire and pathos, use of musically potent meters, masterly use of simile and image, oblique but esoteric expression, and finally the use of Persian and Indian mythological allusions", to quote Shafi Shauq.The style established in this anthology gets further refinement in Kamil's later collections of poetry, namely, Beyi Suy Paan (Again the Same Self, 1967) and Padis Pod Tshay (One Foot Shadowing the Other, 1972).Amin Kamil has influenced a whole generation of Kashmiri poets, in particular the Ghazal writing poets.Many have tried to approximate his diction, but he stands alone.This is in part due to his poetic concerns that are deeply humanistic, his rich word-hoard which is informed by his upbringing as well as a deep study of tradition, and his literary rectitude.His mastery over prosody and nuanced understanding of his chosen language has also contributed towards this pre-eminence.Writing in the Encyclopedia of Indian Literature, Ghulam Nabi Gauhar sums up Kamil thus: "He is a master of Kashmiri Ghazal and has t his credit poems of eternal value.
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