Lal Lakshman: Kashmir’s Bold Voice of Satire

Lal Lakshman: Kashmir’s Fearless Voice of Satire

Kashmir valley is considered a land rich in poetry, philosophy, spirituality, satire and the tradition of Shivaism and Sufi mysticism as well as strong poetic tradition from poets like Lal Ded and Nund Rishi.  Exempli gratia, there was Lal Lakshman, born Lakshman Razdan, a writer and poet of tremendous talent from humble beginnings. When we talk about Lal Lakshman, we are talking about a simple postman, moving from home to home, delivering letters, but became the talk of the town in Kulgam and erstwhile Anantnag district, for not what he was supposed to deliver in his bag but what he spontaneously delivered via satirical verse with his tongue. A Kashmiri Pandit, by birth, was an orthodox worshipper of Maha Ganesh whose temple at Hanand Chowalgam village, remained at the core of his existence. He was the quintessence of Kashmiri satire. It was in Lal Lakshman's modesty, simplicity and rustic sense of humor that the reader could decipher how a villager, armed with words, could shake society with far more efficacy than the vainglorious rhetoric of rulers.

A Rustic Observer with a Reformist Pen

Residing in Hanand Chowalgam, Lal Lakshman led an unpretentious routine of observing the people and society around him. He was a reader of the common Kashmiri. He saw the corruption, hypocrisy, and all the blemishes in society - tainted through the eyes of a witty satirist with a heart, who was willing to translate that understanding into poetry. Before satirist Poet, he was working as a watchman in his village. The major distinction in his poetry was its purpose - he did not write for the sake of entertainment, nor did he write simply for laughs alone, he wrote to reform, he wrote to produce guilt. His satires never were obscene, always respectable, and never immersed in cacophony, as literature too often is in contemporary Kashmir, but he remained measured, sharp, and influential. He wanted to cleanse his local social life of rot whether that rot existed in government offices, police stations, or perhaps at the local shopkeepers’ produce stall. His words slid beneath the burnt tin can of accusations that were hidden behind layers of hypocrisy and shame - where, like others in the tradition of satire that Kashmir had from Kshemendra and the 10th century through present, he continued on with a unsuspecting tool that allowed him free reign literary expression to flat out call out things that people would generally like to see hidden aways.

The Unparalleled Satirist of Kashmir

Lal Lakhman was a simple and down to earth man and was a villager. Humour and satirical poetry reached to its top with Lal Lakshman’s poetry.It was heard of him that he could instil fear if provoked and he could do poetry from any situation. So people tried to keep him pleased and in good mood as not to invite satirical poety.So people took care not to offend him. He was so great a satirical poet that Shivate scholar and professor Dr. Balji Nath Pandit equated Lal Lakshman to Kshemendra of the tenth century. The epithet Lal is basically the name of his friend who was his colleague.It is said of the Lal Lakshman that once he went to Ganesh Bal shrine of his village and he was tired and fell asleep there and when he woke in the morning poetry spontaneously was on his tongue. 

Satire as an Instrument of Social Reform

Lal Lakshman’s poetry’s aim was to reform society and remove ills and problems from society. He spoke satire on government offices and even police and once he spoke’’Khut Arshas Kulgamy Thane. His poetry was also aimed to remove corruption from government offices and also the criminal practices of shopkeepers and bread-makers. He tried through his satirical poetry to reform the society and remove or at lest to minimise the ills of the society of the 19th century. He would often spoke satirical poetry on the ordinary public. Some have criticised him and his poetry to be crude at the same time accepting that his poetry was enjoying and so his poetry cannot be discounted and written off as it has great value as it was aimed to eradicate corrupt practices from government offices and shopkeepers and the common men. 

Once he and his friend Jiya Lal went Village Gudar to Tota Ram’s house. It is said that Lal Lakshman did not enjoy or like the tea served to them at Tota Ram's home and thus spoke satire as follows - "Samavar osukh goshey - Tath oas variyuk koshey. Malayi kani traevith haay - Chete Toteh Gudrenie chai.’’ It roughly translates as under: The Samavar had remained shabby for in corner of the house and had gathered yeteaar’s dust. They gave soot for cream. Enjoy Tota Gudri’s tea. This great son of soil had passed away unsung and unwept. His poetry has both satire and humour and people took care that he was not offended because that would definitely bring satire against that family in the form of poetry. It is unfortunate that there is very little record of his works and no research has been undertaken about his poetry. The cultural academy should collect his poetry which may be scattered and compile a book about his life and works very little is known. Shri. M. K. Raina highlights Lal Laximan’s famous poem "gadu degul'" in his book. A noted writer and poet has also written a research paper on the personality and works of this great poet. 

Preserving the Forgotten Legacy of Lal Lakshman

Let me produce a bit of his poetry such as at one time he cast a satire on a marriage in his village which was solemnised in harsh winter when there was snow every where.He Spoke, "Shine pe pe aaw yanivolue Pathwankyu Hapat Walyu Za te Yeehana Ritkolu". In those good olden days mostly the Muslim community in rural Kashmir was uneducated and they could not read and write letters. Lal Lakhman being a post man and while delivering letter he used to read the letters for the people and once reading a letter to a village women he made a satire like - Pnch Hne Chm Pnchvy Punjab, Rum, Ashur, Te Ama Subhanay Roze Dama Te Boz Afsanay. He did not spare his wife and spoke "Vuchtoon Yi Pooshkuj Zen Chi Hardej Mug" roughly translated as see this Pooshkuj, she resembles a radish of the autumn season. There is great and urgent need to undertake research on the life and works of Lal Lakshman so that his poetry is not lost with the effluxion of time. The cultural academy should take an initiative in this regard and undertake research and compile a book covering all his poetry. May Lord Ganesh give peace to his soul.

(Vivek Koul)

Link to some older posts: 

1. https://vivekkoulinsights.blogspot.com/2025/03/great-scope-of-pilgrim-tourism-in-jammu.html

2. https://vivekkoulinsights.blogspot.com/2025/01/surinsar-lake-must-visit-tourist.html

3. https://vivekkoulinsights.blogspot.com/2025/01/jia-pota-ghat-of-akhnoor-emerging.html

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