\n<\/p>\n
A poet-anthropologist listens to an accidental field recording from Kashmir: What might be dismissed as noise becomes a way to unsettle the settled\u2014making audible dispossession and theft, stealth and refusal.<\/p>\n
I listen to stolen seasons raging through my body
\nI listen to a million sonorous clocks roaring against the hollow of my bones
\nlike a philharmonic of a catastrophe<\/p>\n
I listen to 12:55 minutes of accidental recording as I walk across endless swaths of paddy Where am I now? That night I dreamt of sprawling walnut trees I listen to stolen seasons raging through my body uproot, verb<\/em> to pull a plant, including its roots, out of the uproot, verb<\/em> to remove a person from their home WITHOUT ANY FURTHER NOTICE<\/span><\/p>\n I listen to the severing of thousands of apple trees I listen to clamor of the custodians of ruins: WHEREAS<\/span> I listen to stolen seasons raging through my body I listen to the sound of winnowing, to their persecution<\/p>\n \u062c\u0645\u0639 \u06cc\u0627\u0645\u062a \u06a9\u0648\u065a\u0631 \u06c1\u06d2 \u0645\u0622\u0644\u06cd \u06cc\u0633 \u0648\u0698\u06be\u0645\u0698 \u0622\u0633\u00a0 \u0627\u0632 \u063a\u0622\u0628\u06cc Those damned by fate\u2014 to their refusal \u062a\u064f\u0644 \u067e\u0644\u0648\u00a0 \u0648\u0648\u062a\u06be\u00a0 \u0698\u0644\u0648 to their hunger and whispers \u0628\u062a\u06c1\u0655 \u0628\u062a\u06c1\u0655 \u062a\u06c1\u0655\u00a0 \u067e\u06cc\u0627\u062f\u0655 \u067e\u062a\u06c1\u0655 to their prayers and persistence<\/p>\n \u0641\u0627\u0642\u06c1\u0655\u00a0 \u0644\u0654\u06af\u06cd\u00a0 \u062e\u0644\u0642\u0646 \u0635\u0628\u062d \u062a\u06d2\u00a0 \u0634\u0627\u0645 to their longing \u06a9\u0645 \u06af\u0646\u062f\u0631 \u067e\u0646\u062c\u0627\u0628\u00a0 \u0627\u0646\u062f\u0631\u00a0 \u06a9\u0654\u0634\u06cc\u0631\u00a0 \u062a\u0631\u0646 \u0646\u0627 I listen to stolen seasons raging through my body On a stairway, She is on the verge of a song I listen to stolen seasons raging through my body I listen to their feet moving rhythmically in the water A bulbul perches upon a branch\u2014<\/em> I pause and rewind, over and over, I listen to stolen seasons raging through my body I listen to a congregation of specters, singing, unsettling
\na quiet congregation of rice saplings bearing a promise [echo]
\nI listen to the persistent chorus of cicadas
\nI listen to a convoy of military trucks and jeeps in the distance
\nI listen to the [wind peaking] on my sound recorder
\nI listen to [laughter] [rustle] [static] [distortion] [breaths]
\nI listen to the [squish] [plop] [squelch] as we wade through
\nI listen to us passing through a barbed wire barrier in the field
\n\u201cCan you traverse?\u201d<\/em>\u2028<\/em>
\n<\/em>\u201cI will try\u201d
\n\u201cYou may cross first\u201d
\n[heavy breaths]
\n[wind peaking]
\n\u201cHold me\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s all right\u201d<\/em>\u2028<\/em>
\n<\/em>\u201cGather up the ends of your garment\u201d
\n\u201cYou got this\u201d
\n\u201cEasy, easy, bismillah!\u201d<\/em>( Bismillah translates from Arabic as \u201cin the name of God\u201d and is an invocation of a blessing before any act or undertaking.)
\n\u201cYou can pass through\u201d
\n\u201cYes, there\u201d
\n\u201cWait\u201d
\n\u201cYes, now, slowly, bismillah\u201d
\n<\/em>[wind peaking]<\/p>\n
\nI listen and I listen hard
\nto a quiet trace of myself at the threshold of a home
\nlistening to a constellation of voices
\n\u201cYou must stay\u201d
\n\u201cWe shall plant the rest of the saplings tomorrow\u201d<\/em>\u2028<\/em>
\n<\/em>\u201cYou must stay\u201d <\/em>\u2028<\/em>
\n<\/em>\u201cWe will walk the meadows\u201d
\n\u201cLater, you\u2019ll wish you hadn\u2019t left\u201d
\n\u201cAsalaam u alaykum\u201d <\/em>( Asalaam u alaykum translates from Arabic as \u201cpeace be upon you.\u201d It is a greeting\u2014bearing the register of a prayer\u2014among Muslims across the world.)
\n<\/em>[a child babbling] [laughter]
\n\u201cKhodays havaal\u2019e, I leave you in God\u2019s care\u201d
\n<\/em>[inaudible] [inaudible]
\nWhere am I now?
\nI listen and I listen hard
\nas I leave my own trace behind<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>In the morning, my feet listened to their roots breathing<\/p>\n
\nI listen to a million sonorous clocks roaring against the hollow of my bones
\nlike a philharmonic of a catastrophe<\/p>\n
\n<\/span> ground; remove or destroy completely; eradicate<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span> to displace<\/span><\/p>\n
\nI listen to loud explosions echoing through alpine forests
\nI listen to ravens howling against the sound of military helicopters and drones, 168 hours,
\nthe forest floor strewn with live grenades and shells
\nI listen to a thousand forests burning<\/p>\n
\ngrowth, tourism, defense, connectivity, economic progress, roads, highways, railways,
\ncommerce, infrastructure, mining,
\nland acquisition, clearance, forest diversion
\ndiversion as in a cataclysm
\ncataclysm as in moving forward
\ntoward
\n\u201cunprecedented progress\u201d
\n\u201caccelerated pace of development\u201d<\/p>\n
\n THEREFORE<\/span>
\n IN VIEW OF THE ABOVE<\/span><\/p>\n
\nI listen to a million sonorous clocks roaring against the hollow of my bones
\nlike a philharmonic of a catastrophe<\/p>\n
\nundulations of grains of rice\u2014
\nbearing a history of
\nforced labor and surveillance, displacement
\nand famine, exile and death
\nI listen to those who came before us ( The verses and sayings that follow have been part of the region\u2019s performative repertoires, oral history, and traditions for centuries. These bear witness to forced labor, food scarcity, drought, dispossession, and displacement during the Dogra era in Kashmir. The translations are my own.)<\/p>\n
\n\u0628\u062f\u0644\u06c1\u0655 \u0645\u0646\u062c\u06c1\u06a9\u06be\u00a0 \u0645\u0622\u0644\u06cc\u0633 \u0634\u0622\u0644\u06cc
\n\u062a\u0650\u0645\u06d2 \u06a9\u0627\u06a9\u062f\u00a0 \u0633\u0648\u0632\u0650\u06a9\u06be\u00a0 \u062f\u0631\u0628\u0627\u0631\u0646
\n\u06cc\u0627\u0631\u0655 \u0645\u062c\u0648\u0632\u0655\u00a0 \u06a9\u06be\u0648\u065a\u062a\u00a0 \u0632\u0645\u06cc\u0646\u062f\u0627\u0631\u0646<\/p>\n
\n\u062a\u0633 \u062e\u0648\u0634\u06a9\u0633 \u0644\u06cc\u06a9\u06be\u0646\u06c1\u0655 \u0622\u0648 \u0622\u0628\u06cc
\n\u062a\u062a\u06be\u06cd \u0622\u0646\u06a9\u0627\u0631 \u06a9\u0648\u065a\u0631 \u0633\u0631\u06a9\u0627\u0631\u0646
\n\u06cc\u0627\u0631\u0655 \u0645\u064f\u062c\u0648\u0630\u0655\u00a0 \u06a9\u06be\u0648\u065a\u062a\u00a0 \u0632\u0645\u06cc\u0646\u062f\u0627\u0631\u0646
\n( Muzaffar Ahmed Khan, Kashmiri Muslims: A Historical Outline, Volume 2<\/em> (Srinagar: Humanizer Publications, 2012).)
\n\u201cWhen the tax collectors came
\nThey demanded rice in lieu of money
\nThe darbar stamped the written order
\nMy friend, the tiller\u2019s tax only grows<\/p>\n
\ntheir dry land was declared fit for paddy
\nThe authority stamped this lie
\n<\/strong>My friend, the tiller\u2019s tax only grows\u201d<\/p>\n
\nas they deserted the fields in protest<\/p>\n
\n( Farooq Fayaz, \u201cPolitical Awakening and Protest as Echoes in Folk Verse (1885-1947)<\/a>,\u201d in Proceedings of the Indian History Congress<\/em>, vol. 65 (2004).)
\n\u201cGather your belongings, let\u2019s run away\u201d<\/p>\n
\nas the tax collectors and revenue officers stood guard in the fields<\/p>\n
\n( Farooq Fayaz, \u201cPolitical Awakening and Protest as Echoes in Folk Verse (1885-1947)<\/a>\u201d; Walter R. Lawrence, The Valley of Kashmir<\/em><\/a>.)
\n\u201cEach grain of rice under soldiers\u2019 watch\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u062f\u0631\u0627\u06af\u0646 \u0622\u0648\u0631\u0622\u0648\u06cd\u00a0 \u0634\u06c1\u0631\u00a0 \u062a\u06d2\u00a0 \u06af\u0627\u0645
\n\u062e\u0648\u0646 \u0622\u0633\u06cd\u00a0\u00a0 \u06c1\u0627\u0631\u0627\u0646\u00a0 \u062e\u0627\u0635\u00a0 \u062a\u06d2\u00a0 \u0639\u0627\u0645
\n\u062f\u0631\u0627\u06af\u0646\u00a0 \u0644\u0622\u062c\u06a9\u06be\u00a0 \u0645\u0648\u062a\u0646\u06cd\u00a0 \u0644\u0627\u0645
\n\u0645\u064f\u0644\u06a9\u06c1\u0650\u00a0 \u06a9\u0634\u0645\u06cc\u0631\u0633\u00a0 \u06a9\u06cc\u0627\u00a0 \u0648\u0654\u0646\u0650\u062a\u06be\u00a0 \u0622\u0648
\n\u0634\u06cc\u0631\u00a0 \u0633\u0646\u06af\u06be\u00a0 \u062f\u0631\u0627\u06af\u06c1 \u0645\u06c4\u06a9\u0644 \u0628\u0654\u0646\u0650\u062a\u06be\u00a0 \u0622\u0648
\n( Ghulam Nabi Aatish, Kashir Luk\u2019e Shairi: Vakhnai te Vetshnai<\/em> (New Delhi: Book Circle, 2007).)
\n\u201cPeople starve day and night
\nThe drought has devoured the city and villages
\nThe privileged and the deprived cry tears of blood
\nThe drought has people in a deathly bridle
\nWhat has befallen the nation of Kashmir
\nSher Singh, the drought-demon, has arrived\u201d<\/p>\n
\nas they journeyed across to faraway lands
\nseeking refuge from forced labor, famine, and heavy taxes<\/p>\n
\n\u06a9\u0645 \u06af\u0646\u062f\u0631 \u0633\u0648\u0646\u062f\u0631 \u0633\u0648\u0646\u062f\u0631 \u06a9\u0654\u0634\u06cc\u0631 \u062a\u0631\u0646 \u0646\u0627
\n\u0628\u0631\u0655 \u06af\u0622\u0645\u0654\u062a\u06cd \u067e\u062a\u06be\u0631 \u067e\u06cc\u065a\u0645\u0627\u0645\u062a\u06cd\u00a0 \u06a9\u0634\u06cc\u0631\u00a0 \u062a\u0631\u0646 \u0646\u0627
\n\u06a9\u0645 \u06af\u0646\u062f\u0631 \u067e\u0646\u062c\u0627\u0628 \u0627\u0646\u062f\u0631 \u062a\u0631\u0646 \u0646\u0627
\n( Muzaffar Ahmed Khan, Kashmiri Muslims: A Historical Outline, Volume 2<\/em> (Srinagar: Humanizer Publications, 2012).)
\n\u201cSuch precious blossoms languish in Panjab, if only they could return to Kasheer?
\nSuch radiant blooms, if only they could return to Kasheer?
\nWithered and forsaken, if only they could return to Kasheer?
\nSuch precious blossoms languish in Panjab, if only they could return to Kasheer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nI listen to a million sonorous clocks roaring against the hollow of my bones
\nlike a philharmonic of a catastrophe<\/p>\n
\namid remnants of broken things,
\nI listen to the one whose name means eternal:
\n\u201cThey are the harbingers of insanity<\/em>
\nThey make us sick<\/em>
\nThey contaminate our food and water
\nDo you think they need us, the people?<\/em>
\nThey don\u2019t.<\/em>
\nAll they want is our land<\/em>
\nOur precious and generous land<\/em>
\nNot in our lifetime
\nbut those who will come after us<\/em>
\nwill see it blossom\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\nI listen to her silence
\ncrossing the threshold<\/p>\n
\nI listen to a million sonorous clocks roaring against the hollow of my bones
\nlike a philharmonic of a catastrophe<\/p>\n
\nas they hold palmfuls of rice shoots entrusting them, one by one, to the earth
\nand sing:<\/p>\n
\nHow can it take flight?<\/em>
\nThere\u2019s a cordon all around<\/em><\/p>\n
\nas I listen to the birds and my own disquiet
\nI strain my ear to discern each sound
\n[eurasian collared dove] [house sparrow] [common cuckoo]
\n[unknown]
\n[wind howling]<\/p>\n
\nI listen to a million sonorous clocks roaring against the hollow of my bones
\nlike a philharmonic of a catastrophe<\/p>\n
\ntheir feet turned backward
\nwalking
\nthe land
\nback<\/p>\n
\nthe settled
\nI am listening \u2026<\/p>\nListen<\/h3>\n