Roshay

3 min readJan 23, 2021

I recently watched an intriguing T.V. series on Amazon Prime — Made in Heaven, which is a modern take on India’s marriage traditions and the accompanying bandwagon. It’s basically a satire — knots aren’t being tied in heaven; but are rather strategic maneuvers for status, money, and more. What drew me to the series wasn’t the story itself — but two incredible songs in its soundtrack which I encountered by chance on YouTube (all hail the mighty algorithms!). These songs were — Ae re sakhi, more piya ghar aye sung by Nizami brothers and Roshay sung by Vibha Saraf. Here, I will write about the latter song; in particular, its lyrics and their translation from the original Kashmiri scourged from sources around the internet. I could not find a complete version along with the translation, and this article aims to fill that void.

Dal Lake in Kashmir — Photo by Raisa Nastukova on Unsplash

Before I head to the lyrics, it would be an injustice to the composition if we were to not listen to it. Here are two beautiful renditions on YouTube of it — Vibha Saraf and Noor Mohamamd. The second video is brilliant and the singer really brings the melody out, although it ends rather abruptly.

The poem was written by Habba Khatoon, a Kashmiri poet from the 16th century. She was a pioneer in poetry and is claimed to have introduced lyrical or ‘loal’ poetry into Kashmiri. Lyrical poetry expresses personal emotions or feelings typically from the point of view of a first-person. After all, the word Roshay means upset and angry, and the poet is describing this particular emotion from a lover’s perspective. Interestingly, it is her, longing for her male lover, an inversion that is bold and ahead of the times it was written in.

Let’s dive in. The poem goes as follows. The second stanza is featured in the Made in Heaven version.

Roshay madno cholhoma

Upset with me, my lover has left.

Wal weis gaswai abas,
Duniya neendri te khwabas
Roshay, roshay madno cholhoma

Let us go my friend, to fetch water;
The world is fast asleep, love;
My lover being upset has left me.

Wal weis gaswai babrai,
Chok looi namo loole tabri
Zah na aak myani khabrai
Walo myani roshay madno

Let us go, friend, to gather basil,
He wounds my heart with an axe,
Disdains even to inquire of me,
Come, come my upset lover.

Wal weis gaswai hyandai,
Paneneo kaed haso rhandai
Teman teo moun hue banay
Walo myani roshay madno

Let us go friend to gather herbs,
Heartless people make fun of me,
What would happen if they were in a similar plight?
Come, come my upset lover.

Wal weis gatchav van tay
Lookav barihas kan tay
Tee booz tami saadan tay
Walo myani roshay madno

Let us go, friend, to the woods:
People poison his ears against me,
Naively, he listens to them!
Come, come my upset lover.

Wal weis gaswai abas,
Duniya neendri te khwabas
Kus weni dedi tai babas,
Walo myani roshay madno

Let us go my friend, to fetch watch;
The world is fast asleep, love;
I yearn for a response from you,
Come, come my upset lover.

I do not claim all the credit for this translation, and any mistakes rest with me. I have used online sources, some intuition about subcontinental languages, and simply googling. I have edited the versions available to make it easier to follow. Google yet does not have translate in Kashmiri which would have made this much easier.