As the country debates the ongoing situation in Kashmir, singer-songwriter Pragnya Wakhlu is striving to present the lesser-known cultural side of Kashmir to the masses.
She is hosting a new music show on Doordarshan Kashir, which talks about Kashmiri poets and their effect on society, particularly Bollywood.
The purpose of the show is to present to viewers aspects of the life and poems of prominent Kashmiri bards. Each episode, about seven of which have been shot so far, is based on varying themes that the poets wrote on.
The songs are then connected to the Bollywood film industry. “I talk about various Kashmiri poets and sing some of their songs on my guitar. We then play some Bollywood songs related to them,” she says.
Pragnya’s work deeply reflects her Kashmiri identity. In fact, her last music album ‘Kahwa Speaks’ created a medium to propagate a positive message of harmony about her homeland.
“The relentless media attention on the hostility and negative reports have frequently portrayed Kashmir and its inhabitants in a dismal light. There is much more about Kashmiri customs that people have no idea about,” she says.
Pragnya fleshed out the project by studying the works of old Kashmiri poets and speaking to the older generation of Kashmiris. She then wrote the music and formed a band, comprising Shailendra Wakhlu (guitar), Naren Chettri (drums), Veer Bharadwaj (sarod), Nisham Pul (bass) and herself on vocals and the guitar.
The album’s music employs both Kashmiri and English so as to reach across to a wider global audience. The title track of the album, ‘Kahwa Speaks’, is about Kashmiri tea, or kahwa, as an allegory for life.
‘Henzay—Returning to Peace’, which explores the wanwun style of singing (chorus sung by Kashmiri Pandits), is a blend of both the batta (Kashmiri Pandit) wanwun type, which sounds more Vedic in character and the Musalmaan wanwun, which has more of a Persian impact.
The melodic assimilation of both varieties also functions as a symbol for an incorporated humanity. Another track is ‘Katyuchuk My Love’ about the romance between 16th Century King Yousuf Shah Chak and poetess Habba Khatoon.
‘Lalla’s Lore’ is a rendition of some of Kashmiri mystic Lalleshwari’s verses. This is possibly the first time that her poetry has been represented into an English song.
“Our aim is also to bring disintegrated parts of Kashmiri populace together. When one brings together individuals on common ground and distributes what’s good, dissimilarities appear to diminish,” explains Pragnya.
After the album’s release, Pragnya also undertook a crowd-funding promotion to generate funds for the ‘Kahwa Speaks’ endeavour.
Thereafter, artist Daksh Jain along with a group of animators and illustrators designed the imagery for each track. Presently, the ensemble is taking ‘Kahwa Speaks’ as an audio-visual tour throughout the country and abroad. In 2018, the show was also staged at the Kashmiri Overseas Association camp in Chicago, USA.
On the scrapping of Article 370 and 35A in her homeland, Pragnya feels that Kashmir is a very nuanced subject with no clear black or white, instead a lot of grays.
“The removal of both these articles may be good for Kashmir in the long term, as it will encourage diversity in the region and growth, hopefully lead to more peaceful times,” she believes. According to her, displaced Kashmiris also feel this will create a more welcome atmosphere to return home.
However, Pragnya says communication breakdown in the state has created a lot of mistrust and panic among the locals.
“A lot of people outside Kashmir can’t reach their families, which becomes difficult if there are medical emergencies or dependencies on home,” she says.
“What finally happens—only time will tell. Till then, all of us individuals should keep our prejudices aside and lend a friendly ear to people in need, and provide food and shelter to anyone who needs it and help in whatever way we can,” she says, adding that talking about the issue without understanding the history and the people who constitute Kashmir will lead to more fruitless online debates.
“In times like these, we need people to build trust, stand by and support one another,” she explains.