REHMAN RAHI (India)
Prof. Rehman Rahi is the seniormost Kashmiri writer and literary critic. He is considered to be the harbinger of ‘modernity’ in Kashmiri literature, especially its poetry. He is recipient of many prestigious national awards like Sahitya Akademi Award and Padma Shri. Recently, he received Bharatiya Jnanpith Award considered to be the highest literary Award in India

A Feeling

And outside it was fog,
And silence,
And cold:
The naked trees didn’t have a rag to cover them.
The surrounding mud walls are begging.

I had seen grey ashes on the oven,
And standing
kaangri-less on the window,
Whenever a shadow moved, down on the road
I felt like asking:
‘Hatay, where are you going?
Won’t you take me with you?’

There was fog,
And silence,
And cold;
And again, I sat in the corner of the granary.

– Translated from the Kashmiri by Braj B. Kachru