Vijaydan Detha

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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
GenreSatire, folklore
SubjectSocialism, Antifeudalism, feminism
SpouseSayar Kanwar
Children5, including Kailash Kabir

Vijaydan Detha (1 September 1926 – 10 November 2013), also known as Bijji, was a noted Indian writer of Rajasthani literature.[1] He was a recipient of several awards including the Padma Shri and the Sahitya Akademi Award.

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 (1973),[2] Habib Tanvir and Shyam Benegal's Charandas Chor (1975),[3] Prakash Jha's Parinati (1986),[4] Amol Palekar's Paheli (2005),[5] Pushpendra Singh's The Honour Keeper (2014),[6] Dedipya Joshii's Kaanchli Life in a Slough[7] (2020), Pushpendra Singh's Laila aur Satt Geet (2020)[8]

Biography[edit]

Vijaydan Detha hailed 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 considered 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.

Detha's stories have been adapted into various films and dramas. 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 film based on Detha's story. Habib Tanvir adapted his 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 in the year 2020 Writer-Director Dedipya Joshii has made the Hindi-Rajasthani film Kaanchli Life in a Slough & Director Pushpendra Singh also made the Gojri film Laila aur Satt Geet on his famous story 'Kenchuli'.

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". Detha, was inspired by Shah Govradhan Lal Kabra to write in Rajasthani "till date I have not written in any other language", he said regarding his love for the language. He portrayed the sufferings of the poor in his writings and was also tipped for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2011 which ultimately went to Tomas Tranströmer.[9] Vijay Dan Detha is survived by four sons and a daughter.

Works[edit]

Rajasthani[edit]

  • 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

Hindi[edit]

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.[citation needed]

  • 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

Detha also been credited for editing following works[10]

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

Awards and honours[edit]

References[edit]

  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. ↑ "The Whole Idea of borders redundant: Laila aur satt geet director Pushpendra Singh".
  9. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Who's who of Indian writers 1999
  11. ↑ Bihari K. K. Birla Foundation
  12. ↑ Interview on Tehelka
  13. ↑ Indian National Portal, Govt. of India

Bibliography[edit]

  • 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.

External links[edit]

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