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Therein is the socio-cultural
landscape of this hill-state which may be of immense value to
people who treat literature as a source material to construct
social histories, people who are interested in knowing the
anxieties and aspirations and the self-image of this fast
changing society, especially in villages. In this regard, the
fiction writers of Himachal have done their work with a
simplicity, both at the level of sense and sensibility, and
also at the level of expression, which is refreshing. Can’t
it be said that Hindi fiction in general lack this quality?
Isn’t it a prisoner of an idiom carved out of city life of
maidans and moulded solely by literary sociology of Hindi in
Ganga-Jammu basin?
Hindi fiction
of Himachal has its own rhythm, its failures apart, if any.
And that comes out in the backdrop of deodars, chinars,
heights, seasons, songs, dances and customs of Himachal!
We have a
galaxy of talented Hindi fiction writers from Himachal, old
and not very old. Sadly, only a few of them have their full
work published. And only one or two among them who were
successful in catching the attention of big publishing houses
of Delhi. Kudos to Adhar Prakashan of Panchkula, fast emerging
as publisher of serious literary stuff in Hindi, for
publishing many of these writers. They first published
Yogeshwar Sharma’s "Nanga Aadami" way back in
1991.
This
collection of short-stories of Yogeshwar Sharma contains only
selected stories but enough to show his potential. Though at
times appearing a little cynical and melodramatic in the
treatment of the themes, Sharma’s story-craft has a
classical touch, reminiscent of the best. So is his commitment
to the common man and the downtrodden. A humble man though, he
is considered a doyen of Hindi fiction in Himachal.
On the
contrary, Sushil Kumar Phull enjoys wider publicity. A Punjabi
but now permanently settled in Palampur, Phull has a keen eye
for life around him and he has always been quite active in
Hindi literature. He even tried start a literary movement in
Hindi short story namely Sahaj Kahani. With more than a dozen
books to his credit , his journey as a fiction writer goes on.
Phull has such a stature in literary society of Himachal that
even those who do not agree with him (he is also a critic and
historian) recognise his importance.
One such
person is Sunder Lohia of Mandi.
Lohia had
also to wait till 1992 for his first book "Koltar"
to see the light of the day. Lohia who was taught by
playwright and story-writer Mohan Rakesh exhibits some of the
best attributes of the art of story-writing. For instance, one
of his hallmarks is precision, both in the content and form.
Like Yogeshwar, he is also on the side of the weak and he
calls himself a Marxist.
And Sudershan
Vashistha manner ends his short-stories in undramatic way.
That in my opinion is the art of literature. He seems to be
having an intuitive observation power for the details of
day-to-day life, a highly communicative and sensitive language
and also the pathos — true ingredients of fiction. Vashstha
is a highly engaging writer, in a little hurry may be, but he
knows his people very well..
Is Keshav the
finest example amongst the relatively younger lot? Many in the
Hindi heart land would say yes. he has earned an honourable
place on the larger map of Hindi fiction. The milieu in his
stories or in the novel "Havaghar" is generally the
city, and one finds an artistic and intellectual refinement,
peculiar to such subjects. His writing style is wrongly
compared with Nirmal Verma by some. Keshav, as a writer, has a
powerful identify of his own and shares an unusual maturity of
language with Rekha another significant short-story-writer
whose tales also have a predominantly urban background.
Rekha makes
fiction writing scene of Himachal complete. Not only she is
delicate and subtle, and a woman-writer comparable to anyone
around; she also has an sinsight into human dilemmas and
ironies. Add to it an artistic presence which attracts the
readers immediately for its depth and richness. It is
unfortunate that the Hindi world in general and Rekha herself
in particular has been oblivious of her full worth. She still
commands respect, however.
Naresh Pandit,
Raj Kumar Rakesh, S.R.Harnot and Badari Singh Bhatia are other
emerging stars on the horizon of Hindi fiction of Himachal. A
former student of Arts College of Chandigarh. Naresh burst on
the scene in a Manto-ian spirit. Having a fascination for the
bizarre, lumpen, marginalised and unconventional, his stories
bring forth strong characters Naresh surprised his friends
with his exceptional literacy capabilities as he started
writing in his thirties. Is he nursing his best, for the
future, for posterity?
Raj Kumar
Rakesh who has already produced one voluminous novel "Haveli
se Bahari" (Aadhar) is a sort of avant garde writer,
representing a path-breaking development. With time, he is
bound to realise his potential Look out for him.
Arun Bharati
has this exceptional understanding of the character of
Himachali women ("Aurtein tatha anya kahanian") and
he builds his diction with the help of dialects of Simla-Solan
region. He questions sexual morality. Arun Bharati is one
writer whose very unusual merits as a short-story writer are
going unused for want of proper exposure. But S.R. Harnot has
stood his ground. Harnot’s sheer preservance and
single-mindedness has made him a name to reckon with. His
stories paint large canvasses, almost a novel.
And who can
forget Badari Singh Bhatia. Assistant Editor of Himprastha, as
authentic as are men and women of his stories. Bhatia’s
"Yatana Shivir" underscores again the realism of
Hindi fiction of Himachal.
About P.C.K Prem?Let us first
go through his highly publicised five-volume novel "Kalkhand"!
And about Vijay Sehgal? Well everybody knows that writer of
"Aadha Sukh" (short stories) now has the reputation
of being one of the senior journalists of Hindi.
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