Naseem Shafaie

Nassem Shafaie is the first poetess from Jammu and Kashmir to get the Sahitya Akademi award in 2011. TSI engaged the poetess in a one to one talk when she was in New Delhi for the award ceremony.

TSI: How does it feel to be the first poetess to get the Sahitya Academy Award from Kashmir?

Shafaie: The credit of this award goes to every person who supported me in my journey. This award means lot to me because I represent the Kashmiri language and this award recognises a niche for my beloved language in world literature.  A writer never writes for getting awards yet it was a proud moment for me when I received the award and that I am the first woman from my state to get this award.

TSI: When did you start writing and how did your family react to it?

Shafaie: my father wanted me to be a doctor and after my matriculation, I took up medical studies. He always said I had the hands of a surgeon and really hoped I would become one. surgical hands and all good qualities to become a good doctor. However, I realised that I was not made for this kind of work when dissecting a frog left me shaking with fear. I joined the Women's College to pursue my MA. It was here that my writing began as I wrote for and edited the Urdu section of my college magazine. Thanks to the Almighty my family supported me after that particularly my elder brother and my college teachers also encouraged me and told that I should write in Kashmiri language.

TSI: Tell us something about your first poem.

Shafaie: My first poem was called 'Baakh” (he cry). It deals with the fear the Kashmiri women felt in letting their children out of Kashmir in the 1990s.

TSI: You have also written a poem about the disappearances in Kashmir Valley? Tell us something about that poem.

Shafaie:The name of that poem is Tehandaw (Search ) and it is about those people who disappeared once insurgency broke out in the valley. I tried to portray the pain of the women, many of whom are still waiting for their loved ones to come back home.

TSI: Was it the conflict that made you start writing poetry?

Shafaie: No, I started writing much before that. But yes, the conflict did give me a new focus. After the conflict broke out, I began to focus on the women of Kashmir and how they have been suffering for the last two decades. If there was no conflict in the state, I probably would have been more generalised, writing about the women in South-east Asia in general.

TSI:You have also been lecturer in Boys Degree college Bemina during the peak of the militancy. Did you face any difficulties in that college?

Shafaie: No, thanks to Allah I don’t faced any difficult during that time.

TSI: What are you doing for the promotion of the Kashmiri culture and language, something that is dying very fast?

Shafaie: I disagree with you that Kashmiri language and tradition is dying. I am trying my level best to promote my mother language and tradition. But the responsibility also rests on the shoulders of the Kashmiri people. They should teach their children their mother tongue and their tradition and that is the only way by which we can preserve our language and tradition for the future generations.

TSI: Professor Namwar Singh in the award function said that government is trying to interfere in the activities of Sahitya Akademi. What is your view of that?

Shafaie: When a such a great writer like Proffessor Namwar Singh said this, he cannot be wrong. The Academy has been autonomous since the time of Jawaharal Nehru and if such attempts are being made by the government we will all work side by side to stop it. There should be no interference in the activities of the Academy.

TSI: What you feel about the recent controversy over the Jaipur Literary Fest?

Shafaie:I will not comment on this.

TSI: Are you satisfied with the working of Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art,Culture and languages?

Shafaie: Honestly, I don’t know because I visit the academy only when they invite me to attend any function.

TSI: What do you feel is the role of the Jammu and Kashmir government in promoting the Kashmiri culture?

Shafaie:I should not comment of this. I will say this much, there was no appreciation for my work on the part of the government except from the Governor.

TSI: What will be your message to the literature lovers, particularly to the women of Jammu and Kashmir?

Shafaie: Literature has no boundaries and should kept free from politics. I know present generation of our state are very hard working and have good skills. The only thing I will tell the women of Jammu and Kashmir is that don’t get suppressed by your emotions.