Guwahati teacher's poem on Kashmiri youth features in Penguin Book of Poems

Story by ATV | Posted by Aasha Khosa | Date 20-05-2025

Guwahati-based school teacher Saikh Md. Sabah Al-Ahmed

Daulat Rehman/Guwahati

At a time when Pakistan’s sponsored terrorism in India has drawn global attention, a Guwahati-based school teacher Saikh Md. Sabah Al-Ahmed has tried to highlight the same issue through a different medium. His poetry “In the Valley of Red,” which talks about the loss of lives of Kashmiri youths, has featured in the Penguin Book of Poems on the Indian City.

From Ghalib’s Delhi and Nissim Ezekiel’s Bombay to Agha Shahid Ali’s Srinagar and Kamala Das’s Calcutta, from Sarojini Naidu’s Hyderabad to Arundhathi Subramaniam’s Madras to Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih’s Shillong; The Penguin Book of Poems on the Indian City takes readers on a spectacular poetic journey across 37 cities in India.

his anthology contains nearly 300 poems, some written in English, and those translated from 25 regional languages. This collection offers an immersive lyrical exploration of India’s urban landscape.

Sabah Ahmed with renowed author from Penduin Zubaan (Women) Preeti Gill

Speaking to Awaz-The Voice, Sabah Ahmed said his poem “In the Valley of Red” talks of the plight & irony of innocent Kashmiri youths who are brainwashed and taken to the other side of the border to become terrorists. He said these youth again come back to their home (Kashmir) to kill their people, and eventually they also get killed in the hands of security forces in different encounters.

“Through the poem, I try to capture the emotions of parents of these Kashmiri youths who eagerly wait for their sons to return home one day. But in the end, these parents have to receive their dead bodies. My poem tries to depict how a paradise (Kashmir) has been destroyed by Pakistan,” Sabah Ahmed said.

Before the Penguin Book of Poems Sabah Ahmed poem on Kashmir was published in WITNESS: The Red River Book of Poetry of Dissent (2021), an anthology of “Poetry of Dissent from the Margins” as seen by Indian poets, edited by Nabina Das. Subsequently, it was also published in the London-based Joao-Roque Literary Journal on February 28, 2022, edited by British-Asian writer and editor Selma Carvalho.

Another poem of Sabah Ahmed on Guwahati Diaries has also been featured in the Penguin Book of Poems on the Indian City. This poem highlights the situation of Guwahati during Covid-19 pandemic.

The Penguin Book of Poems on the Indian City is edited by Bilal Moin from Oxford University. The anthology is slated for release on May 30, 2025.

Sabah Ahmed, 50, who teaches social science in the prestigious Don Bosco School Pan Bazar in Guwahati, is popular among students, parents, and his peers for his affable nature.

“I scribbled a few lines, way back in 1988 or 1989, when I was in class 8 or 9. I felt like a 14-year-old while putting down my feelings on paper. The rest is this long journey since then. I was awarded the Reuel International Prize for Poetry in 2019 for the best upcoming poet from the North East. My poems were translated into Italian by Italian poet Giorgio Moio, based in Naples, Italy. My poems were also translated into Manipuri by veteran Manipuri critic Laishram Memo Singh,” Sabah Ahmed said.

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Sabah Ahmed is very disturbed about the present situation in Kashmir. “Things were coming back to normal in Kashmir after decades. But the Pahalgam attack has finished everything. But I am still hopeful for better days in Kashmir. It will be the happiest moment in my life if my poem touches the Kashmiri youths and they quit the wrong path shown from the other side of the border,” he said.