Loal: Connecting threads of wistful longing, is a book of reflection and translation covering a mixed genre of Romanticism, Sufism and Bhakti songs that have been transliterated. It covers eighteen poets from the 14th to 21st century, Kashmir.
No matter how our current lives are shaped, we incessantly experience a deep longing for memories, places and songs that take us to anchors, making up the threads of our identity. Songs are special in that they tell stories in easy melodies that often come back at unexpected junctures, even when we don’t hear them anymore. They play an important role in cultures where the oral traditions of passing on the language are more prominent.
Loal in Kashmiri literature was terminology coined by Professor J.L. Koul who defined it as “an untranslatable complex of love, longing, and tugging at the heart.
Loal as defined in Kashmiri language does not limit itself just to romanticism of mortal beings. Romance, especially in Bhakti and Sufi terms can include a personal god. Our definition of loal in this book is expansive in that it covers a range of songs that generate loal whether it’s for a god, or a long-lost lover.
The motivation for the book has emanated from our desire to preserve our cultural heritage and roots by making it accessible to all those interested. This book promotes the co-existence of two or more writing systems for the same language - a synchronic digraphia.
Folk singers have given life to Kashmiri poetry. In a book, truly belonging to the 21st century, we use YouTube’s democratization to find songs, old and new, and help create context and meaning behind them lyrically. This is done with humility, not as academic scholars, but as people who experience a deep loal for the language that has a lot to offer to the community diaspora and the world at large.
We wish the readers to cherish beautifully crafted songs and find their own connections through them. The authors of this book intend to leave readers with a melodic lemonade.
Having or showing of vague or regretful longing
A yearning desire
Where do songs go when you cease to hear them? Where does the turbulence of the air disappear after thousands of birds flap their wings homeward at eventide? ...Where is my childhood, my catapult, my broken slate, my first parrot, my youth and first sin and all those that followed, where is my old age…
― Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold
Born in Srinagar and like most of her generation had to move to various cities in India, U.K., Germany before settling in USA. Her passion is to be a storyteller. Upasna works as an Executive Director of Marketing & Communications at the University of Michigan She founded and ran a brand of storytelling startup. and has been blogging for over 17 years.
Her first book of non-fiction (City Wi-Fi networks) was published in 2012, and her first children’s book (Lil’ Danny Runs a Race) was published in 2018.
Her upcoming children’s book on COVID prevention which will be published by the Department of Science and Technology, India and Millennium India Education Foundation with translations in 8 Indian languages.
Her writing is a way to honor the lives of her grandmothers who introduced her to Kashmiri poetry. She hopes to share the rich beauty of her language with her son once he grows up.
Ashok is a Kashmiri speaking senior citizen.He has worked for English Electric , ASEA , ABB, Alstom and Integra Hindustan, before retiring in 2011.
He is currently engaged in research about ancient and contemporary Kashmiri history & Kashmiri community’s cultural legacy. He has chosen Vadodara, Gujarat as his new adopted home, without giving up the hope to die in his motherland.
Ashok is the Editor of the yearly community magazine of Kashmir Sabha Baroda- Kongposh since 2016. He has also published articles in Kashmiri publication Pragaash, Vitasta & NAAD.
