Vijaydan Detha

Vijaydan Detha (1 September 1926 – 10 November 2013), also known as Bijji, was a noted writer from Rajasthan and a recipient of the Padma Shri award.[1] He was also recipient of several other awards such as the Sahitya Akademi Award.

Vijaydan Detha
Born(1926-09-01)1 September 1926
Borunda, Jodhpur State, British India
(now in Rajasthan, India)
Died10 November 2013(2013-11-10) (aged 87)
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
Pen nameBijji
Occupationwriter
Genrefiction, satirist, folk-lore
Subjectsocialist, anti-feudal, feminist
SpouseSayar Kanwar
ChildrenKailash Kabir,Premdan,Late Shri Satyadev,Mahendra Detha

Detha has more than 800 short stories to his credit, which have been translated into English and other languages. With Komal Kothari, he founded Rupayan Sansthan, an institute that documents Rajasthani folklore, art, and music. His literary works include Bataan ri Phulwari (garden of tales), a 14-volume collection of stories that draws on folklore in the spoken dialects of Rajasthan. Many of his stories and novels have been adapted for the stage and the screen: adaptations include Mani Kaul's Duvidha[2]-Year 1973, Habib Tanvir and Shyam Benegal's Charandas Chor[3]-Year 1975, Prakash Jha's Parinati[4]-Year 1986, Amol Palekar's Paheli[5]-Year 2005, Pushpendra Singh's The Honour Keeper[6]-Year 2014, Dedipya Joshii's Kaanchli Life in a Slough[7]-Year 2020.

Biography

Vijaydan Detha hails from the Charan community. His father Sabaldan Detha and grandfather Jugtidan Detha were also well-known poets of Rajasthan. Detha lost his father and two of his brothers in a feud when he was four years old. At the age of six he moved to Jaitaran (25 km from Borunda), where his brother Sumerdan worked in a civil court and where Detha studied until Class IV. Sumerdan had a transferable job, so Detha moved with him, studying in Bihar and Barmer. It was in Barmer, while competing with another student, Narsingh Rajpurohit, that Detha realised that he wanted to be a writer. Sumerdan later transferred to Jodhpur, where Detha studied at Durbar School.

Detha considers Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay as his first inspiration. He is equally passionate about Anton Chekhov. He was initially critical of Rabindranath Tagore, but he changed his mind after reading Tagore's "Stri Patra."

Detha joined college in 1944. By that time, he had already established his name in poetry. However, he credited his success to his cousin brother Kuberdan Detha, who had left school after Class X. Detha used to pass off Kuberdan's poems as his, and the appreciation he received for those poems made him want to establish his own name as a writer.

One of his first controversial works was Bapu Ke Teen Hatyare, a critique of the work of Harivanshrai Bachchan, Sumitranandan Pant and Narendra Sharma. This trio of authors brought out books about Gandhi within two months of Gandhi's death.

Nathuram Godse may have killed Gandhi physically, but these three writers killed his soul

— Vijaydan Detha, Bapu Ke Teen Hatyare

In 1950–52, Detha read and was inspired by 19th-century Russian literature. That is when he thought to himself: "If you do not want to be a mediocre writer, you should return to your village and write in Rajasthani." By that time, he had already written 1300 poems and 300 short stories.

In 1973, renowned filmmaker Mani Kaul directed Duvidha, based on Detha's story of the same name. The film, much of which was shot in Detha's village Borunda, received worldwide acclaim. Later, Amol Palekar directed Paheli based on the same story, starring Shah Rukh Khan. Paheli was also India's official entry to the Academy Awards. Prakah Jha made' Parinati', a wonderful film based on Bijji's story. Habib Tanvir adapted Bijji's story into one of his most acclaimed plays Charandas Chor, which was later adapted into a film by Shyam Benegal. Later Director Pushpendra Singh Made a feature film The Honour Keeper on his short story "Lajwanti" and Director-Writer Dedipya Joshii has made Hindi-Rajsthani film Kaanchli Life in a Slough on his famous story "Kenchuli". Bijji's stories have been adapted into various films and dramas all over. Talking to Mahendra Lalas in India Today, he said,' My land ( Rajasthan) is full of stories, whatever I've written is just a drop of the ocean. Bijji, was inspired by Shah govradhan Lal Kabra to write in Rajasthani' till date I have not written in any other language, he says regarding his immense love for the language. His favourite authors include Sharat Chandra Chattopadhya, Anton Chekhov and Rabindranath Tagore. Bijji has always portrayed the sufferings of the poor in his writings,' he is one of the finest authors, the world has ever produced, says Professor Gopal bharadwaj, former head of Sociology department of Jai Narayan vyas university, Jodhpur. Bijji was also tipped for the Nobel prize for literature in 2011 which ultimately went to Tomas Tranströmer[8] Bijji was awarded rao Siha award by Mehrangarh Museum trust on 24 November 2011. Vijay dan detha has four sons and a daughter.

Works

Hindi

Due to respect for his mother tongue Rajasthani,'Bijji' has never written in any other language, most of his works are translated into Hindi by one of his sons Kailash Kabeer.

  • Usha, 1946, poetry
  • Bapu ke teen hatyare, 1948, critics
  • Column in Jwala Weekly, 1949–1952
  • Sahitya aur samaj, 1960, essays
  • Anokha Ped, illustrated children's stories, 1968
  • Phoolwari, Hindi translation by Kailash Kabir, 1992
  • Chaudharain Ki Chaturai, short stories, 1996
  • Antaral, 1997, short stories
  • Sapan Priya, 1997, short stories
  • Mero Darad Na Jane Koy, 1997, essays
  • Atirikta, 1997, critics
  • Mahamilan, novel, 1998
  • Priya Mrinal, short stories, 1998

Rajasthani
  • Batan Ri Phulwari, vol. 1–14, 1960–1975, folk lores
  • Prerana co-edited with Komal Kothari, 1953
  • Soratha, 1956–1958
  • Parampara , edited three special issues – Folk songs, Gora Hatja, Jethava Ra
  • Rajasthani Lokgeet, folk songs of Rajasthan, six volumes, 1958
  • Tido Rao, first pocket book in Rajasthani, 1965
  • Uljhan,1984, novel
  • Alekhun Hitler, 1984, short stories
  • Roonkh, 1987
  • Kaboo Rani, 1989, children's stories

Detha also been credited for editing following works[9]

  • Complete work of Ganeshi Lal Vyas for Sahitya Akademi
  • Rajasthani-Hindi Kahawat Kosh

Awards and honours
  • Sahitya Akademi Award for Rajasthani in 1974[9]
  • Bhartiya Bhasa Parishad Award in 1992[9]
  • Marudhara Puraskar in 1995[9]
  • Bihari Puraskar in 2002
  • Sahitya Chudamani Award in 2006[10]
  • Padmashri in 2007[11]
  • Rao Siha award 2011 by mehrangarh museum trust.
  • Rajasthan Ratna award in 2012

Notes
  1. "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  2. "Film flashback, The ghost in the tree, from 1973".
  3. "Moviebuff".
  4. "Fate and Greed in Rajasthan A Long Time Ago".
  5. "'Paheli' is a whim of mine, says Shah Rukh".
  6. "A love story out of a folk take about a woman who claims her freedom in timeless Rajasthan".
  7. "Kaanchli Life in a Slough movie review: Raw, bold & probing".
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. Who's who of Indian writers 1999
  10. Interview on Tehelka
  11. Indian National Portal, Govt. of India

References
  • Dutt, Kartik Chandra (1999). Who's Who of Indian Writers. India: Sahitya Akademi. pp. 317–318. ISBN 81-260-0873-3.
  • "Padma Shri Award". National Portal of India, Govt. of India. Archived from the original on 29 April 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
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