‘Koshur’ has lost its meaning , deserves recognition says Haksar

New Delhi: Speaking on the urgency to revive the Kashmiri language, diplomat and scholar Aditya Narayan Dhairyasheel (AND) Haksar said that over the years ‘Koshur’ has lost its essence and has now become a mere hodge-podge of Urdu and Hindi.
Speaking at the book launch event of his translation of Pandit Srivara’s Kathakautukam on Friday, Mr Haksar said, “It is very unfortunate that today in order to comprehend Kashmiri we have to take help of Urdu, Hindi and English,” adding that if Koshur is to survive and prosper then it needs a better treatment and recognition.
Haksar’s translation ‘A Tale of Wonder: Kathakautukam’ is a tale of cross-cultural harmony from medieval Kashmir. It’s original writer Srivara was a significant Sanskrit scholar and poet, who was active in Kashmir in the fifteenth century.
Srivara’s best-known work is the third ‘Rajatarangini’, a sequel to the famous history of Kashmir which was commenced with the same name by Pandit Kalhana three hundred years earlier and continued by Jonaraja. His present work had, however, become obscure and its manuscript was found there only in the nineteenth century.