Union Budget 2020: Who is Dina Nath Kaul, the Kashmiri poet FM invoked in the Budget Speech?

During the presentation of Union Budget 2020 on February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recited a few lines from a verse written by a Kashmiri poet Pandit Dina Nath Kaul. She recited the original Kashmiri poem followed by its Hindi translation, which goes - "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 country is like the blooming Shalimar garden, our country is like the Dal Lake's blooming lotuses, like the hot blood of the young soldiers, my country is your country, our country, the world's most beloved country.."]

Who is Pandit Dina Nath Kaul?

Dina Nath Kaul Nadim, widely considered an epoch-maker and trendsetter in Kashmiri poetry and prose, was born in 1916 in Srinagar. Nadim's growth as a poet can be credited to the influence of his mother, especially after the death of father Pandit Shankar Kaul when Nadim was only eight years old.

His mother would sing the Vaks of Lalla and would recite Lilas of other poets and sometimes, her own composition as well. She came from a village called Muran where the oral tradition of poetry was part of the culture. Nadim was educated in local schools. He matriculated in 1930, received his BA in 1943, and earned the Bachelor of Education degree in 1947.
Most of Nadim's poems were published in local journals, and he wrote about 150 poems. Apart from Kashmiri, he also wrote in Hindu, Urdu and English languages. But the bulk of his work was produced in Kashmiri, as he himself said, "my mother tongue has a greater claim on me."

Nadim's poems explored the quest for freedom, the yearning for peace of the Kashmiris. But it was not until 1946 that Nadim full-fledgedly expressed his political sentiments. In the late 1940s when Pakistan was in turmoil because of Pakistan aggression and Maharaja Hari Singh's inability to handle the situation, the National Cultural Front was formed by the writer and poets of Kashmir, and Nadim was at the forefront of that group.

Some of his poems are Tsi Mir-i Karavan ban ('You Become the Leader of the Caravan'), Naray Inqalab ('The Call for Revolution'), Me Chu H'ond ti Misalman beyi Insan Banavun ('I have to turn Hindus and Muslims into human beings again'), Servani Sund Khab ('The Dream of Sherwani'), and Pritshun Chum ('I Must Ask').

In his 1950 poem, Bi G'avi ni Az ('I Will Not Sing Today'), he introduced blank verse, a not-so-traditional form in Kashmiri literature. He was elected the General Secretary of the State Peace Council (1950). He participated in the Indian Peace Conferences of 1951 and 1952.

In 1986, he received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his poem, 'Shihul Kul', till date, the influence of Nadim is very much alive in the Kashmiri literature.