“Riddles,” writes the late Pandit Anand Kaul, “raise a momentary sensation of wonder and afford a light intellectual pastime. Their literature constitutes a relic of ancient folk-lore. Besides amusing children, they appeal most to students of anthropology, Philology and research. They are valuable in shedding light upon the remote past of the Kashmiris.”
1) Oh my piebald horse and horseman !
Carry me slowly across the bridge
Thou hast not got the tresses (i.e. strings).
And I shall plait them for thee.
Answer – Wooden Sandals.
2) An Old woman descended from the sky
Her feet touched the earth!
There is none but God!
I will rejoice, I will ask five villages as Jagir.
Answer – Snow.
3) A doe is shedding tears on a hill
Answer – Straining boiled rice in a pot.
4) An ass is dancing with the doors shut.
Answer – A mill grinding corn.
5) Live intestines in a dead female elephant.
Answer – The inmates of a house.
6) A pandit came downstairs with three griddles girt.
Answer – A load of timber.
7) A Pandit came downstairs wearing red colored clothes
Answer – Red Pepper.
8) Eatable, drinkable, crushable,
Seed for the garden and food for the cow.
Answer- A Water-melon.
9) There is small fence round a lake.
Answer – Eye-lashes.
10) It has thirty-six windows, thirty-six doors.
It is thirty-six yards in width.
The King happened to build it.
There is a maund of gold on its spires.
Answer – The Jamia Masjid.
Reference:
Sufi,G.M.D (1996). Kashmir Under The Mughals. Kashir: Being A History Of Kashmir(pp.439-440) Delhi:Capital Publishing House.
