Mushtaque B Barq
Ink and nib know how to put on the skin of society what all is underlying and palpable to a writer. The choice is private like the taste; the diction is divergent like mood and genre is a pot in which a writer plants his seeds and seedlings. It requires a season to bring at fore the yield. A limb with a severe bend enjoys the pleasantest fruit. One such bough was H K Bharti, born on 18th March 1942. People who have implanted their seedlings in the garden of Kashmiri literature in his company are presently holding their own yield in the form of the wreath as a mark of homage to the one who left them physically. What makes the artist eternal is his aesthetic excellence aided with literary merit and magnitude of his imaginations that in reciprocity heaves him to have his own say. Like a lesser god, H K Bharti has already stuffed the granaries of his well-wisher, lovers of letters and artists with enough sacs and seeds that would inspire them to represent their own town.
Dr. Sohan Lal Koul describes H K Bharti as a reservoir to enrich the raw soil with the kind of substance he was made up of. He was a moving encyclopedia as Dr. Sohan Lal illustrates him for genuine reasons. One that it was H K Bharti, a platform in himself to introduce eminent writers like Frank Kafka and James Joyce in his own way, in his unique style and format. Metamorphosis according to Dr. S L Koul was running in the backyard of Bharti Ji’s consciousness that would inspire him to derive the different connotations from its multilayered acumen. His Pindoraye Hund Box according to Dr. Koul was a breakthrough in Kashmiri afsana which was the worst hit after Akhtar Sahab’s departure. Bharti ji’s characters like Shakespearian heroes were never enjoying the luxury of their affluence, but he would invoke in them the dynamism to combat with conflict, he would make them explore the seriousness of their own existence, he would produce them argue to impress upon the readers to know the sacred means of life and death. Dr. Koul further declares him a fit guy with his own way to weigh the weightless. His creative idioms like his own perception are fresh and penetrating. Dr. Koul describes him a man with a superman in him who refreshed the techniques in Kashmiri short stories.
Suraj Raina, Actor/ Director portrays H K Bharti as a legend who runs his own mill of thoughts, weaving his own warn, darn his own tattered coat and above all decking up his own understanding by adding the flavour of pain and pleasure. From Kashmir to Faidabad, his literary circle instead of getting contracted in reciprocity got broadened to lure the attention of the Productions houses of Delhi. Suraj declares himself lucky enough to work with Bharti Ji who wrote for him Naye Ufaq Ke Talash, and Akh Oos Pohla. While narrating the tale of Bharti ji, Suraj ji informs that Bharti Ji lost his brother Omesh Ji that compelled him to head for Ahmadabad, and finally he reached Jaipur where his brother Ajit ji was already settled whom he lost later on. According to Raina Telsi Mi Khana Badoosh, a collection of 21 short stories is a complete life sketch of the author which has documented his sojourn and the bitter certainties of his life.
According to Prof. Mirza Mohammad Zaman Azurdah late Umesh Kaul’s brother H K Bharti was the sole Kashmiri writer who lived for and by writing only. Prof. Zaman declares him as a daredevil for the reason he resigned from his job only to stay loyal to his writing, such loyalty is rarely seen and heard of. While paying homage to the departed soul Prof. Azurdah affirms the kind of courage and conviction is what made Bharti Ji an everlasting name in the field of fiction writing in Kashmir. Declaring Bharti Ji as a man full of philosophy that was effectively seen in his drams and short stories, his contemporaries would still rely on romantic fusion and Nukad theatre. Prof. Azurdah believes that Bharti Ji’s thinking and use of symbolic themes coupled with clear-cut expressions made him only one of its kind. Doun Ayinan Darmiyan according to Prof. Azurdah is a pathway to be followed by the young writers as a prototype.
Ayash Arif, Director/ Actor while discussing his experiences asserted that Bharti Ji was an institution with his own diction, own perception, and above all his intelligence that he used to employ in his writing to create a kind of the artistic world of which he was a part and parcel. From Sopore to Srinagar and then from Srinagar to Faridabad and finally, to Jaipur, Ayash Arif has maintained a vigilant watch to his proceedings. His sense of travel according to Ayash Arif was intense enough to enrich his dramas and short stories. Nakah Talik Wopur, Kenh Ane Khanji, and Talash Chu Jari are the best writings available. Ayash Arif declares him a visionary, a replica of Kafka in Kashmir, a man with a mission and a mentor in the field of art. The Director/ Actor while paying homage to the departed soul revealed that Bharti Ji’s life is itself a story that requires a character to appreciate. Loyal to his language, affectionate to his colleagues, humble to humanity, and above all a style to the generations to come. His characters according to Ayash Arif are pulsating, well equipped with apt diction, wise enough to convey their own decision. Bharti ji has not stifled the voice of his characters but has ushered in them vigor, a pulse, and a desire to move and to accept the realities of life.
An eminent poet, short story writer, and critic Mr. Shabaz Hakbari depicts that H K Bharti was a writer with a wonderful eye. The poet further elaborated on the role H K Bharti played in putting on a pedestal to Kashmiri short stories by involving the best available stuff from a sumptuous mind. Shahbaz Sahab narrated: H K Bharti has infused the vital liveliness to the already crawling Kashmiri short stories by energizing them with fresh water to deepen the penetration of its traditional root system only to witness a yield with new kind of canopy to shelter the budding writers under its shade and to produce a kind of fruit quantified with sweetness. Shabaz Hakbari Sahab is of the opinion that the best tribute to the artist is to read him, to understand his intention and to dive deep into the sea of his existence to explore his artistic merit. H K Bharti to him will keep the lamp of fiction writing in Kashmir well lit to guide the coming generation.
Shabir Mujahid, ASD of Doordarshan pronounced H K Bharti as a trendsetter. He like Ayash Arif are of the opinion that Aab Sem Aab was the first Soap Opera that was introduced in Kashmir and H K Bharti ji is credited to have set the style. Soap Opera is a radio or television serial addressing domestic situations aided with melodrama. For Shabir Mujahid, H K Bharti deserves recognition and people especially his readers and viewers must come out to acknowledge his contribution and spread his message. Jinab Shabir Mujahid has divided the literary life of H K Bharti into two phases: one as a short story writer where he was at his best by spreading the wings of his creativity and as a dramatist where he was realistic. Jinab Shabir Mujahid while exchanging his views conveyed that the artist never dies; his literary contribution is everlasting that guarantees a better life to him for he lives in the sentiments of his admirers.
Shakeel-Ur-Rehman, an eminent fiction writer of our valley sketches Bharti Ji as a bridge between western literature and regional literature. The short story writer believes that Bharti has added grace to our language by keeping his idiom fresh and equally equipped our mother tongue with sweetness.
Shafi Ather, known for his novel The Half Widow commemorates the legend as a man with a broad vision who not only brought down the themes from ether to the soil but also recreated the historical evidence as prescribed by eminent writers of the world. The novelist believes that the pleasantest relationship that exists on the earth is between a writer and a reader for the reasons that literature is a bridge that connects the two otherwise varied blocks to form a common path for both. While paying tribute to H K Bharti, the novelist has peeped down into the annals of classical literature to compare Bharti on the merit of his scope of thinking to prompt his reader to unimaginable heights. Human behaviour glued with existentialism according to the novelist has made him a diehard of Bharti. Zatuk Pazar for the novelist and short story writer is loaded with personified passages and Baharti has promoted on the stage a conversation between a lizard and man, hence enhanced conflict which is the essential ingredient of the short story.
The author of The Half Widow in a note portrays Bharti as a source for his literary taste.
Writing is an art and art grants life, a better life. Writers are implanted; they nurse the seeds and let them disperse in varied directions to let the show go on. Who knows who shall have to drop the twig of his existence here and move on to be the citizen of ether? Those who have already left us may live their eternal life peacefully, and those who are still nursing the great tree of literature may live happily…Amen.
Mushtaq B.Barq is a Columnist, Poet and Fiction Writer. He is the author of “Feeble prisoner, “ Wings of Love” and many translation works are credited to the author like “ Verses Of Wahab Khar” and “ Songs Of Sochkral”
