Uttarakhand has a great literary tradition and many writers who are known all over the world belong to this Himalayan region. These names include Sumitranandan Pant, Gaura Pant Shivani, Shailesh Matiyani, Shekhar Joshi and Manohar Shyam Joshi. It is a matter of great pride for the mountain State that one of our country’s well-known literary sons, Shekhar Joshi, was born here. Joshi was born in Almora in September 1932. Along with Shailesh Matiyani, known as the ‘Premchand of Uttarakhand’, Joshi gained great popularity and is counted among the major writers of the “Nai Kahani.”
Joshi has a rare insight into the culture, traditions and lifestyles of people of Uttarakhand. Matiyani and Joshi together created a composite image of the Kumaoni ethos for the rest of the country. In the year 2012, Shekhar Joshi was honoured with the prestigious Shrilal Shukla literary award. This award, instituted in the memory of Hindi writer Shrilal Shukla, is given to writers for highlighting life in the rural areas of the country in their literary works. Shukla passed away on October 28, 2011. His best known work “Raag Darbaari” has been translated into several languages. It brought him the Sahitya Akademi award in 1969. Shekhar Joshi is known to most readers through his crisp and realistic short stories including the famous stories “Dajyu” and “Kosi Ka Ghatwar”. He uses not a single extra word in his writings and can be compared to Ernest Hemingway, the great American author.
The writings of Joshi, who is now settled in Allahabad, are rooted in Kumaon and can be described as “modern” in many ways-in their themes, treatment of the subject and the use of language.
Joshi is associated with the growth and evolution of the “Nai Kahani” in Hindi. He chose themes like industrial and urban labour. His widely acclaimed story, Dajyu (Big Brother) has been been made into a Children’s film by Children Film Society of India. “Kosi Ka Ghatwar “ (The Miller of Kosi) and many other stories have been translated into English, Russian, Czech, Polish and Japanese.
“Dajyu” is an extremely simple sounding tale but touches serious social and emotional issues. Madan is a young boy working at a tea shop in a town. A person who has come from the hills of Almora to town to work there comes to the cafe to have tea and meets the boy. Soon, an affinity develops between Jagdish Babu and Madan after they discover that they belong to neighbouring villages in Almora. The boy, alone in the town, gets emotionally attached to the man and addresses him as “Dajyu” (elder brother) .
Here is an excerpt from the English translation:
“Within a few days, the gap of unfamiliarity between Madan and Jagdish Babu had disappeared. As soon as the gentleman sat down, Madan would call out-‘Greetings, Dajyu!’ ‘Dajyu, it’s very cold today.’ ‘Dajyu, will it snow here too?’ ‘Dajyu, you didn’t eat much yesterday.’
Then from some direction would come a cry of ‘Boy!’ Madan would be there even before the echo of the call could be heard.
‘Anything for you, Dajyu?’ he would call out repeating the word ‘Dajyu’ with eagerness and affection of a mother embracing her son after a long separation.
After some time, Jagdish Babu’s loneliness disappeared. Now, not only the market-place and the cafe, but the city itself seemed like home to him.”
However, the ego of Jagdish Babu cannot accept this manner of addressing for very long. “This repetition of the word ‘Dajyu’ aroused thebourgeois temperament in Jagdish Babu. The thin thread of intimacy could not stand the strong pull of ego. ‘Shall I bring tea, Dajyu?’
‘No tea. But what’s this “Dajyu, Dajyu” you keep shouting all the time? Have you no respect for a person’s prestige?”
The boy’s feelings are badly hurt and he begins to maintain a distance from the man. It is actually that simple a story. But the use of words and symbols together evokes emotions among the readers. The element of pathos is very strong in “Dajyu”. The innocence of the boy and how the words of the adult kill it is the thrust of the story.
In his story “Scenario”, the beauty of the Himalayas is brought out by word-pictures and seen from the eyes of Ravi, a young documentary film maker who is visiting the mountains to make a film on the Himalayas.
Joshi’s rare insight into the culture of the Uttarakhand Himalayas has made him stand out among litterateurs. From his works, one gets an in-depth understanding of the culture of this picturesque mountainous region.
