Article 370 revoked: Carnatic vocalist TM Krishna responds to the crisis in Jammu and Kashmir through poetry, music

Noted Carnatic vocalist TM Krishna, in his response to the current political situation in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, posted a video on Twitter on 7 August. Krishna, otherwise known for being a sharp social commentator and activist, chose not to speak or opine on the situation but expressed his emotions with the mediums of poetry and music.

Cutoff: Postcard to Kashmir
A postcard to phones in Kashmir which do not ring#Kashmir #Democracy #KashmirBleeds pic.twitter.com/yNx4g6Dss4

— T M Krishna (@tmkrishna) August 7, 2019

The video shows a page from Agha Shahid Ali’s popular poem ‘Postcards from Kashmir’ with Krishna reciting it in the background. Krishna begins the poem with an aalapana (Carnatic equivalent of the Hindustani aalaap) and then follows his recital of the poem. He ends the poem with a rendition of Lata Mangeshkar’s iconic song ‘ Allah Tero Naam’ from the 1961 film Hum Dono. Shahid Ali’s poem reads: Kashmir shrinks into my mailbox, my home a neat four by six inches. I always loved neatness. Now I hold the half-inch Himalayas in my hand. This is home. And this the closest I’ll ever be to home. When I return, the colours won’t be so brilliant, the Jhelum’s waters so clean, so ultramarine. My love so overexposed. And my memory will be a little out of focus, in it a giant negative, black and white, still undeveloped. On 5 August, Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah announced in the Rajya Sabha that Article 370 of the Indian Constitution is to be abrogated under the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019 signed by President Ram Nath Kovind. CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES ON KASHMIR AND PARLIAMENT OVER ARTICLE 370