Both of us ate Rice and curd together Off the same plate, and Still you preserved your own entity I my own. But eventually The plate broke apart Spilling rice and curd on the floor. And then You established your own house I my own. We bought new plates And thus Divided became rice and curd. But alas! We didn't care to see While eating from the broken plate That underneath was A snakeling silently thriving On seeping milky juice That grew into a huge python. And Devoured both of us mercilessly.
Bashir Athar is a noted Kashmiri Poet poet widely known for his powerful expression and more so for the human values he enlivens/embodies in his well conceived poems. He lives in Srinagar, Kashmir.
Shiben Krishan Raina is a well-known writer and translator. He is a winner of several academic awards. An authority on Kashmiri literature and politics, he has translated the poems of Bashir Athar.
