Sitharaman quotes Kashmiri poet during Budget speech

During the Budget 2020 presentation in Parliament on Saturday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman quoted renowned Kashmiri poet Pandit Dinanath Kaul Nadim, a Sahitya Academy Award winner.

Reciting the verse in Kashmiri, she translated it in Hindi as: "Humara watan khilte hue Shalimar bagh jaise, humara watan Dal Lake mein khilte hue kamal jaisa, nau jawanon ke garam khoon jaisa, mera watan tera watan, humara watan, duniya ka sabse pyara watan.. (Our nation is like Shalimar Bagh, our nation is like the lotus in the Dal Lake, our nation is like the energy of the youth, my nation your nation, our nation, the most adorable nation in the world."

This evoked a thunderous applause from the parliamentarians.

Kashmiri writer Dina Nath Kaul Nadim was born in Srinagar in 1916 and passed away on April 8, 1988. He mostly wrote in the Kashmiri language and his first Kashmiri poem in 1942 was dedicated to the valley -- "Maej Kashir".

There is a collection of about 150 poems written by Nadim, which includes English, Hindi, Urdu and Kashmiri. His notable poems include: "Bombur Te Yambarzal" (Opera), "Trivanzah" (Monologue), "Gris' Kur" (Peasant Girl), "Dal Hanzni Hund Vatsun" (The song of the Dal lake boatwoman), "Lachhi Chu Lakhcun" (Experimentation).

He was also honoured with the Sahitya Academy Award in 1986 for "Shihul Kul", a collection of his poems.
IANS