Abstract

Khattak dialect is one of the highlighted dialects of the Pashto language. The speakers of Khattak dialect fall between 2-3 million still this dialect is considered as a low resource language and is deprived of recognition which resultantly limits Khattak poetry only to its true natives. Yousafzai dialect has gained the status of lingua franca in documentation which has suffered the Khattak dialect on a large scale. This paper aims to highlight Danish Khattak’s poetic work, which is unveiling the profound potential of Khattak’s poetry and how it is alarming for the art of Khattak dialect, which is short-lived and asks for recognition. This research paper aims to explore the significance of the Khattak dialect in the poetic expression of Danish Khattak’s work.

Key Words

Khattak Dialect, Yousafzai, Danish Khattak Poetic Work

Introduction

Man cannot live without entertainment. It is a universally acknowledged fact that the human mind needs relaxation after a strong-headed day. Humans can find their happy times in multiple ways.

Even though we have been living in this technological age where technology has made its place on the palms of everyone's hands still, it has not taken the position of art. A high percentage of people go for watching either television or ended up engaging themselves on social networking sites, but others prefer to stay around the art. Therefore, art can be the perfect solution to bring ease to tired souls. Art itself is a broad concept. Numerous definitions of art are reported so far. Art is considered a medium of communication. This simply means that whatever the artist intends to communicate, this can be conveyed and jumbled up in different forms. Whether we name it painting or we name it the aesthetic moves, or if we place it in a poetry medium, everything comes under the huge umbrella of art. It allows the room for the expression of one’s thoughts and observation through songs, poetry, dance, paintings, and drama. These are all the tools that can be utilized to communicate the unsung and uncelebrated thoughts of one’s mind.

Defining art is a difficult task; it is one that many theorists, artists, and critics have tackled, trying to decide upon the best approach to understanding what we mean by art. It is a question still being asked in contemporary literature (Crowther, 2007, Currie, 2010, Clowney, 2011). Art always demands appreciation as it unlocks complex thoughts and puts them without being judged.

Betty Seabolt suggests that the appreciation of art comes down to “understanding and enjoying art” (Seabolt, 2001). The world is full of artists, and it is mandatory to secure it for the upcoming generation to witness.

'Art has no boundary' is a phrase that is on everyone’s lips, but when it comes to documentation, then it bounds the art only to its particular region. In the context of the English language, which has received the status of lingua, franca welcomes a couple of dialects having the privilege of their orthography medium, which does not limit the art from going outside the country’s borders. And this is how English poetry travels across the world. Therefore T.S Eliot, William Wordsworth, Robert Browning, Robert Frost, John Keats, W.B Yeats, Sylvia Plath, Rudyard Kipling, Oscar Wilde, Charlotte Bronte, William Blake, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Samuel Tylor Coleridge, Alexander Pope, Edmund Spenser, Philip Larkin, Ted Hughes and John Dryden, etc. are few to name. All of them have left a rich legacy that has contributed a lot to English poetry as a whole. The reason for this strong legacy is all about having a standard orthography but does every language provides this privilege to its multiple dialects is thought-provoking.

In the context of the Pashto language, as this language is inclined to the Iranian branch of the Indo- European family is widely spoken by more than 40 million people. This is the overall figure of speakers of Pashto that reside in Pakistan and Afghanistan collectively. It is nonetheless considered as an official language in Afghanistan, but the case is not the same in Pakistan as the official language of the state is Urdu. The language activists are struggling hard to prioritize Pashto in various domains for a long but in vain.

The late 1920s and 1930s are significant for the development of Pashto nationalistic prose and poetry. According to Ghani Khan, Makhfi of Charsadda, Abdul Malik Fida, Abdul Akbar Khan, and Ghani Khan himself wrote nationalistic literature. (Interview, Ghani Khan, 2 Nov 1993). This paper aims to investigate the issue of one of the dialects of the Pashto language, which is highly alarming for the survival of its art to leave its footprints for generations to come. Because

Limited corpora and Human Language Technology (HLT) services are available for Pashto. At the same time, in the catalogues of LDC1 and ELRA, the language resources for Pashto are not available. There are variant dialects in Pashto, including Khattak, which is not supported by Google in its search engine or translation services. Even the standard Yousafzai dialect is not facilitated by Microsoft as the latter does not allow a language pack on Windows 8 or Vista operating systems. The fact is there to consider Pashto as a low resource language. The Khattak art, including poetry, is always handwritten. This again reveals that the Khattak dialect also needs orthography to be considered as a smooth medium of expression. Contrary to this, the Yousafzai dialect has already paved its way to be used as a medium of expression. But the Khattak dialect has not got the status of a strong medium of expression yet. And this eventually limits the great work of Khattak artists as a whole as no standard status has been given to the dialect for official documentation. In the scope of a Khattak dialect’s art, Danish Khattak’s poetic work is selected to investigate the rich art of this very dialect.

The speakers of the Khattak dialect are found in Karak, Bannu, and Waziristan, which come in the southern areas of Pakistan. The native speakers also come in a huge number of 2-3 million.

It is equally important to acknowledge that Pashto can be pronounced with many variants such as Pushto, Pukhto, Pakhto, Pashtu, etc. This variation in spelling shows the distant pronunciations in different regions where the first vowel is pronounced as /a/ or /u/, similarly fricative is pronounced as /sh/ or /kh/, and the last vowel is pronounced as /o/ or /u/.

The main issue of the Pashto writing system is the lack of standard orthography (Kathol 2005). Two different writing systems coexist for Pashto. Yousufzaï and Afghani Pashto, the Yousafzai is spoken in the Pashto areas of Pakistan and is influenced by Urdu and English on the other hand, Afghani Pashto is used in Afghanistan and seems to be influenced by Dari. There is a great difference between the vocabularies of Yousufzaï and Afghani Pashto. Apart from this, millions of speakers speak and express their thoughts in the Khattak dialect as well, which are not easily inferred by any Yousufzaï Pashto mother-tongue speaker. Yousafzai, being the lingua franca of Pashto this serves as a medium of expression between two speakers of different dialects, yet this has not witnessed the epic work of many artists. Even the list of poets who made it to the world’s appreciation is not long to surpass the English poets. They can be at everyone’s fingertips. But still, the artists and the poets have managed to take their art to the last corner of the world through their specific orthography. To name a few, the list includes Khushal Khan Khattak, Rahman Baba, Khan Abdul Ghani Khan, Hamza Baba, Afzal Khan Khattak, Ahmad Shah Abdali, Ameer Hamza Shinwari, and Ajmal Khattak. But out of these poets, only a few have been blessed with recognition. Where Khushal Khan Khattak, Rahman Baba, and Khan Abdul Ghani Khan are the names that have highlighted the Pashto literature with their immense contribution, but it is important to consider that they have opted for the medium of Yousafzai dialect of the Pashto language.

Khushal Khan Khattak, who has left a strong legacy of rich Pashto poetry in the Yousafzai dialect, has claimed that “I have a great right over Pushto language, whether it is poetry, prose, or script. There was neither a book nor writing in it at first; it was I who authored a few books in it” (Rasa, M. S. R., 2001, p. 75). Khushal Khan Khattak has gained the world’s attention as he is considered the father of Pashtun Literature. Moreover, he is also called the national poet of Afghanistan.

Khushal Khan Khattak cannot be defined by a single adjective. His personality gave the vibes of a multidimensional persona that has covered the essence of morality, a great religious scholar, a thinker, and an ideal leader by all means. Whereas kindness, chivalry, self-esteem, intelligence are other traits that add more meaning to his introduction. He wanted his readers as a nation to be more skilful and polish deeply their innate skills. Like, Rahman Baba, Kaushal Khan Khatam also urges the nation to follow the righteous path and seek morality. His Pashto poetry is a true reflection of his noble thoughts, which are delivered to the world in Yousafzai Pashto.

Kaushal Khan Khatam was also acknowledged by Allama Muhammad Iqbal, who is considered the national poet of Pakistan. Even though the medium of expression was Yousafzai dialect, yet it had reached the knowledge of Allama Iqbal through some orientalists. He had expressed his desire that it was capable of understanding the Pashto language, he would have translated his poetry into the Urdu language.

Khushal Khan Khattak has penned down 45,000 poems, and his comparison is also made with British playwright William Shakespeare. And sometimes with the German writer and politician Johann Goethe. In the same manner, history also reveals to us about Khan Abdul Ghani Khan, whose comparisons were made with John Keats and Faiz Ahmed Faiz as the glimpses are there in the research work of Dr Shazia Babar and Rubina Islam Mohammadzai. The notion of Khan's work strongly conveyed that he was battling with stereotypes, and he showed his firm belief in the strength of the Pakhtun youth through his poetry. He was the driving force to uphold the Pakhtun, to be forward-looking and progressive, and to bring about a substantive change in their societal fabric.

Rahman Baba is yet another shining name in the Pashto literature whose work has spread over 343 poems. Where he has credited most of the work in his own native language Pashto. If we talk about 'The Diwan', it was in wide unstoppable circulation by 1728. Moreover, 25 original hand-written materials of the Diwan are dispersed in different libraries around the world, which covers ten in the Pashto Academy in Peshawar. Similarly, four in the British Library while three in the Bibliothèque Nationale, which is in Paris. Some of the copies are also present on the shelves of John Rylands Library that is located in Manchester, the Bodleian Library in Oxford, and the University Library Aligarh.

The highly acclaimed mystic Rahman Baba was known to be the reformer of society. His entire also gives the lesson to the people to follow the right direction. His work is so profound that if it is allowed to become a part of our curriculum, then it can develop self-realization in peoples’ minds and will deeper the humans' bonds with God. And this one connection of man with God is sufficient enough to battle against all odds. His poetry has the power of preaching all alone.

Therefore, all of his work has revolved around rich subjects. This has benefited the nation in almost all genres of life. His only mantra was to build your bond with God. Therefore, the world has experienced this element of mysticism in his personality. But it was expressed in his Pashto poetry which has made the audience clear about the concept of God. Rahman Baba says.

Don’t dig a well in another’s path;

You may come to the well’s edge and fall in it.

Ghani Khan was marked significant for his outstanding aura as his style of poetry did not go parallel with his contemporaries. He made his poetry remarkable with his input of allusions. Ghani Khan also opted for the Yousafzai dialect to express his thoughts concretely. He is considered a pioneer who did a great experiment by introducing free verse in Pashto Poetry. One of his poems, “Latoon” is poetry that is full of free verse.

Ghani Khan has very humorously depicted the humans' follies and fanaticisms. He has been given this credit to artistically blend the thoughts of Western and Eastern hues both into Yousafzai dialect.

Khushal Khan Khattak, Khan Abdul Ghani Khan, Rahman Baba are the artists who let the world aware of the artistic beauty of Pashto. No doubt, these artists have revived and cherished Pashto literature. But when the miracles are penned down in Khattak dialect, then the doors get closed. The speech variation between Yousafzai and Khattak dialects is vividly there, which demands its documentation so that the art gets preserved for the upcoming generations to experience.

The established dictionaries and conventions for orthography will still make it clear if developed that how the words can be spelt out in different ways as depicted in Table. Words from the chosen work of Danish Khattak’s poetry ‘Ay da wareekwali Umra’ are selected for comparison with the Yousafzai’s dialect, which foregrounds the significant variation in speech sounds.

Table 1

Word	Variant 1	Variant 2
English	Yousafzai	Khattak
Foot	خپہ	پشہ
Kid	ماشوم	ووڑکا
Youth	زوانی	زنیاتو
Manners	عادت	سڑی توب
Asking	تاپوس	اوپشتا
Run	تختےدل	منڈا
y Cla	خاورہ	خاٹے
Annoyed	خفا	مراوار
er Ang	غصہ	کار
Found	میلاویگی	میمی

The above table 1 reveals the outstanding variety of the Yousafzai and Khattak dialects vividly. At the same time, the Yousafzai dialect also finds similarity with the Urdu language as well. But Khattak dialect is finding no bonds. This, too, emphasis the idea of the need for recognition for the Khattak dialect so that the Khattak literature also makes it possible for the world’s audience. Because the Khattak dialect has effectively laid down the foundation of the Pashto literary tradition.

Methodology

In this present study, the poetic analysis will be used to investigate Danish Khattak's poem, 'Ay da Wreekwali Umra' to unveil the structure, form, theme, language, and metrical pattern. All these components work together to unfold the plot and also create a complexity that is even more unique to the poetic verse. The purpose of the present study is to appreciate Danish's poetic work in the Khattak dialect on a deeper level.

Danish Khattak’s Introduction

Danish Khattak is a multi-dimensional personality. The art and work of Danish are limited to the natives of Karak as his mode of expression lies in Khattak’s dialect. However, the standard Yousafzai is the lingua franca that has welcomed the poetry of Khushal Khan, Rehman Baba, Ghani Khan, and many others. But Khattak dialect is confining the art of its natives like Danish Khattak only to the roots of its region. Due to which the art of Khattak’s poetry will not make its way to the international audience. The Khattak dialect is extremely rich and pure, and it needs to be noticed in the public eye. Danish Khattak’s poetry is of great caliber. The major works of Danish Khattak poetry are listed below.

دا اوے کشمیری پیغلے احساسات

نیو نا میں نینے

یو کلی وول عاشق د معشوقے پہ کور کے

تا چے رقیب سرا شپیلاۓ واۓ

دو غریب سڑی زمن

د وڑوکوالی عمر

چے نہ درے وی نہ سلور وی

خودکشی مہ کوہ

کاش چی درے شزو خاوند وے

یا خو زہ خیرہ زون یا

The above listed poems are the prominent work of Danish Khattak where he has penned down his thoughts almost on every subject whether the subject revolves around The Feelings of Kashmiri's Miss or to share his stance on The Poor Man's Sons, he has done a marvellous job. The purpose of the present research is to evaluate the essence of Danish Khattak's poems which he has done in the regional Khattak dialect. So this article focuses to bring the poetic work of Danish Khattak in its regional dialect to sustain its glory.

اے دا وڑیک وولی عمرا

دومرہ ذر تیرےگا مہ

اے دا وڑیک وولی عمرا

دومرہ ذر تیرےگا مہ

Oh my childhood!

Don't pass in hurry

Oh my childhood!

Don't pass in hurry

ستا پہ سر مزے ویم

ستا پہ سر روژے ویم

I am having fun because of you

All my pleasures are your reward

خلق ٹول دا وژے مری

ذا میوے تروے ویم

People are dying from hunger

I am full of sweets and soars

پلار مہ وی سکول تہ ذا

ذا ٹولے میلے ویم

My father orders me to go to school

Instead I enjoy all feasts around

چاۓ چے درے پیالے نہ وی

جام پیالہ پو پشے ویم

Three or four cups of tea are the only fun

If not I kick out the cup and bowl

بیا چہ مراوار شم ذا

کور کہ گڈے وزے ویم

When I am sad

I hit hard goats and sheep at home

نور کا سہ وییاے نہ شم

خو چگے برغاڑے ویم

I cannot say anything

Then cry hard or yelling for no reason

مور میں گوڑا غوندے روکھی

یائ چہ جاڑےگا مہ

My mother hide me in her warm laps

Consoling me not to weep

اے دا وڑیک وولی عمرا

دومرہ ذر تیرےگا مہ

Oh my childhood!

Don't pass in hurry

ذا کا شیطونات کوم مور میں وئ ووڑکا دا

شپہ ورز کوڑی کات کوم مور میں وئ ووڑکا دا

سپئ غوندے عادت کوم مور میں وئ ووڑکا دا

یا دا زان صفت کوم مور میں وئ ووڑکا دا

شپے لیبے پوس پو چات کوم مور میں وئ ووڑکا دا

او یا نورا کڑت پڑت کوم مور میں وئ ووڑکا دا

او پلار تہ میں تل وئ چہ بچی تہ مہ کاریگہ ما

اے دا وڑیک وولی عمرا

دومرہ ذر تیرےگا مہ

If I commit something wrong, my mother consider it childish

I play day and night my mother consider it childish

I do things mischievously my mother consider it childish

Or if I praise my true self my mother consider it childish

At night I play on rooftop my mother consider it childish

Even if I do something unlawful my mother consider it childish

She always request my father not to give me a cold glance

Oh my dear childhood!

Don't pass in hurry

او یا خو ذا وڑوکے یم ہر کور تہ ور تلالے شم

چرتہ میں چہ حواحہ وی التہ گرزےدلے شم

چا نہ چے سا غلا وکم فوراً تختےدلے شم

اے چرگو کوٹلے کہ خو کڑونگ شم پٹےدلے شم

ووڑکو سرہ لانڈ لاغاڑ ڈانڈ کے لامبےدالے شم

ورور میں کا پوشتنہ وکی

جھوٹ ویتا وییالا شم

خو نن ارباندے پوے شوال

راتہ ویل یے چے چتے گا مہ

اے دا وڑیک وولی عمرا

دومرہ ذر تیرےگا مہ

I am so immature I can be at anyone's house

I knock at every door as I like

I can steal anything from anyone

Then I can hide my existence in chicken's coop

I can take a naked bath outside with friends

If my brother asks me of anything

I can be a good liar.

But today he has caught me

And said don't twist the words

Oh my childhood!

Don't pass in hurry

نہ منم

نہ میں ژنیاتو لاگی

نہ میں بوڈاتھوب لاگی

نہ میں گھیرا بریت لاگی

نہ میں سڑی توب لاگی

نہ میں سکول تا ذڑا کیگی

نہ میں پین کتوب لاگی

خپلہ پہ روب پوۓ نہ یم

نہ میں دا بل روب لاگی

خواند کوی سدا جوڑا

نہ میں دا سانگ جوب لاگی

مو خو پو الگاڈو کے ڈھیر لوفرتوب لاگی

نہ منم دا ایچا

کا سوک ڈیھر ویائ گرزییگمہ

اے دا وڑیک وولی عمرا

دومرہ ذر تیرےگا مہ

Doesn't bother me

I don't like to be younger nor to be older

I don't like to have my beard and moustache

Nor do I have good manners

I don't want to go to school

I have no interest in pen and the books

I am unaware of the decency

And I cannot bear other's dominancy

I am happy to have simple clothes

Don't want side pockets

All I want is to roam like loofer

I don't listen to anyone

If anyone tries hard to prohibit me

My walk never gets disturbed

Oh my childhood!

Don't pass in hurry

ورشہ حال یہ اوپشتہ

سوک چہ بوڈاگان دی نن

کیپی تہ پیسے نہ میمی

زان پورے حیران دی نن

ذی دا قبرستان پہ لور

رو رو وراوان دی نن

ووڑکی پسے منڈے وئ

چگ چگ پورے خاندے نن

خاٹے پو جھولۓ جھولۓسترگو تا ورولاندے نن

عمر تیراول دانشہ کلی کے ڈھیر گران دی نن

ذا چرتہ پٹیگہ

غلہ اوزا اسریگا مہ

اے دا وڑیک وولی عمرا

دومرہ ذر تیرےگا مہ

Go and see the geriatric ones

Who are yearning for boozing?

They are clueless about themselves

Everyone is stepping towards graveyard

Children are running after them

Mocking them around

Throwing dusts in their eyes

Life is difficult to pass in village

O Danish!

Get away and hide yourself

Go slowly and gradually but don't stop

Oh my Childhood!

Don't pass in hurry

Discussion and Conclusion

Theme

Danish Khattak has very convincingly conveyed the idea of childhood which is considered the golden period of one's life. As childhood is the central theme of 'Ay da Wareekwali Umra' where the poet asks and requests childhood to stay longer. He has purposely expressed his idea of freedom which is the gift of childhood as his every act can be taken for granted and every flaw will be forgiven in the name of a child. This idea continues to create an impact on the reader's mind till the last word of the poem.

Language

Danish's selection of words is perfectly aligned to build the mood and tone of the poem. The powerful imagination is contributing significantly to the rhythm of a poem. There is a vivid shift from one stanza to another by revealing another different aspect of childhood. This eventually paves the road for freedom and this freedom meets its deathbed when adult life starts.

Structure

The poem demands from the reader to read it the way it is written? The study reveals that how the execution of the idea is done through 5 stanzas. Tons of examples of rhyme patterns are there in every stanza which are thought-provoking. How the line breaks are the clear representation of punctuation and pauses.

The prominence of these components and others in this poem 'Ay da Wareekwali Umra' urges recognition and acceptance from the world to admit the rich and profound essence of Khattak dialect as well as other recognized work because admiration is the food of poetry. This is how we can say that the components which are responsible for the composition of poetry are followed properly in “Ay da Wareekwali Umra” poem by Danish Khattak. This again compels planning and recommendation from the language practitioners to consider and allocate a standard orthography for the Khattak dialect so that the art gets secured instead of going into the air.

Like several poems on the same subject are written by famous writers which includes David Bates whose poem name is Childhood. Not only this, Abraham Lincoln's My Childhood Home, I See Again also revolves around the same subject of Danish Khattak's poem.

Childhood by Rainer Maria Rilke is yet another poetic achievement where the poet has expressed his thoughts vividly on a piece of paper in the English language which possesses a profound orthography. As I mentioned earlier that art lies beyond boundaries therefore it is the need of an hour to give due credit to Khattak dialect as well as other standard dialects of the available languages so that this does not block the art in its surrounding region but it must provide the track to travel across the globe and receive appreciation.