Tagore in Sindhi

Vasdev Mohi

Greatness creates new watermarks for itself when it gets attached to some names. It strives to equate itself in status with those names. It is a rare phenomenon and occurs in centuries. We can say this about our great poet Shah Abdul Latif (1689 - 1752). Centuries have passed by; greatness hasn’t got such a chance to stand on its toes to increase its stature . Same phenomenon applies to Rabindranath Tagore. Rabindranath Tagore placed Indian Literature on an honourable seat in world literature after acknowledged Sanskrit Literature. Nobel Prize on English translation of Tagore’s ‘Gitanjali’ in 1913 drew world’s attention to eminence of Indian literature. Not only in poetry , Tagore proved multiplicity of his creative talent - as a novelist, storywriter, playwright, composer, artist, educationist, too, and the list does not stop here. His apparently spellbinding persona, long flowing locks, one piece garb from the neck to the toes, created a prophet like aura in the western , North America as well as in the East Asian countries when he visited more than 30 countries between the years 1878 and 1932. His spiritual bent elevated the effect of that aura. His literary works are widely acclaimed for their lyrical impulse , rhythmic and lucid style.

Sindh’s relation with Bengal is very old. Since 16 th century, Sadhus, Jogis and Bairagis , the devotees of Shakti from Bengal passed through Karachi (Port city of Sindh) for pilgrimage of Hinglaj based on the Hingol Mountain in Balochistan. Sindh was greatly influenced socially and religiously by Arya Samaj and Brahmo Samaj. Staunch supporter of Brahmo Samaj Sadhu Nav alrai Advani (1848 - 1893), in 1875 invited Rabindranath’s elder brother Satyendranath Tagore, who was Sessions Judge in Hyderabad, Sindh at that time, to lay foundation stone of Brahmo Temple. Sadhu Hiranand Advani, younger brother of Sadhu Navalrai, also h ad affinity with Bengal, as he graduated from Calcutta and enjoyed companionship of Keshab Chandrasen, Vivekanand, Ramkrishna Paramhans and Rabindranath Tagore and learnt a lot from them. Besides, the East India Company, based in Calcutta had a branch in T hatta, the southern city of Sindh, thereby establishing trade relation of Bengal with Sindh. And in the last decades of 19 th century, Bengal’s literary relations with Sindh started with the release of booklets on biographies of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Keshab Chandrasen and Rabindranath’s father Maharishi Debendranath Tagore, all connected with Brahmo Samaj.

After the announcement of Nobel Prize, not only in Sindh, but in the whole country and in many countries of the world, creative talent of Rabindranath was viewed with reverence. In Sindh, many writers translated Rabindranath’s books into Sindhi, and thus widened literary relation of Sindh with Bengal. But before translations appeared on the literary scene, Khanchand Daryani (1898 - 1965), the promoter of solem n and sober Sindhi theatre, with Mangharam Malkani

1

(1896 - 1980) , who later was conferred Fellow ship of Sahitya Akademi, Jethmal Parsram (1885 - 1948), Lalchand Amardinomal (1885 - 1954) and with other literary figures of the time, established Rabindranath Literary & Dramatic Club in 1923 in Hyderabad , Sindh and invited Rabindranath to inaugurate it. Rabindranath re adily obliged and visited Sindh . He stayed at ‘Narain Mahal’, the abode of Narain Dialdas, brother of Bhai Pratap, the founder of Gandhidham, Ku tch in Gujarat , from 19 th to 31 st March, 1923 . At the time of inauguration, some scenes from his play ‘ Chitra ’ were staged in front of Rabindranath. Mangharam himself acted in the role of Arjan. Rabindranath lavishly appreciated the presentation.

Like in other languages, in Sindhi also Gitanjali is translated by more than one writer. The first one to come on the literary scene was Jogi Shikarpuri’s in 1925 (only one copy is available in Aziz Library, Ulhasnagar , Maharashtra ) . It came into Sindhi through Urdu translation of Gitanjali. It was in free verse. The second one was Dilip Singh Mankani’s (192 7 ) which also was in vers libre. But in 1942, Gitanjali was translated into met rical form by Mangharam Malkani. No doubt, it mus t have been a strenuous job, but the translator seems to have enjoyed the great creative process he might have undergone . The reader can relish it even today. He could translate songs of Gitanjali in perfect Pingal Chhandas and in Urooz - the Perso - Arabic metrical forms - with rhyme and soothing rhythm. He has innovatively employed different forms of poetry, maintaining the flavour of Sindhi and also keeping the nuance of the original work . Looking at the forms employed for the translation, Ghazal form deser ves special mention. Ghazal is an exacting form for its strict metrical requirements and also for its structural restrictions. Mangharam Malkani translated Gitanjali from Rabindranath’s free verse English translation; o ne can imagine the marathon creativit y that might have been put into for the job. In many songs, Mangharam Malkani also used a combination of Dohas and Sorthas which our great 18 th century poet Shah Abdul Latif used for his Baits (a Sindhi form of poetry). It’s known to litterateurs that poetry of every language has its own distinct lingual and cultural attribute . Those who are lucky to read Tagore in Bengali will not stop talking of metrical skill, rhythmic beauty , powerful idiom and unusual reflection of Tagore’s poetry. And this fact also is equally known to litterateurs that in translation of any poetry, those finer poetic traits are almost lost. In this context, Mangharam Malkani’s translation can be viewed with veneration that it could create some aura of Tagore’s poetry through his metrical skill in the translation. The second edition of Mangharam’s Gitanjali translation came in 1956. After twenty years, in 1976, Gobindram Salamatrai Raisinghani ‘Sayal’ brought out Giatanjali’s translation in free verse. He freely took help of his Bengali friends who were mainly lawyers and judges. And his sincere efforts can easily be seen in the appealing translation. After Partition, Hindu Sindhis migrated to India and settled in different cities. Muslim Si ndhis remained in Sindh. It is naturally possible to think that t ranslations of Gitanjali must have been carried out in Sindh after Partition, too, but due to difficulty in exchange of books between India and Pakistan, I could lay my hands on only one tran slation of Gitanjali , which is done by Dr Gul in 1995.

2

The translation of Gitanjali by Sindhi writers must have been a journey to the ir own medieval literature since 15 th century, right from Qazi Qadan (1463 - 1551) to Shah Abdul Latif (1689 - 1752) which is fraught with spirituality and yearning for the Supreme Soul.

Sindhi writers did not restrict themselves to various translations of Gitanjali only. They turned to ‘ Gardener ’ , ‘ Crescent Moon ’ , ‘ Fruit Gathering ’ , too. ‘ Gardener ’ was translated by Mangharam Malkani in the name of ‘Preet Jaa Geet’ which was brought out by Ratan Sahitya Mandal, Karachi in 1940. In the Preface Mangharam has written that he translated ‘ Gardener ’ in 1921, but the book could see the light of the day aft er about 20 years. ‘ Gardener ’ was translated by Lalchand Amardinomal , too . Though the year of publication is not mentioned in the book, but it was included in the college curriculum in Sindh before Partition. Influenced by Tagore’s poetry, Lalchand himself wrote a few poems toeing the line and included those in ‘Sada a Gulab’, the title that he assigned to the Sindhi translation of ‘ Gardener ’ . Tagore’s ‘Crescent Moon ’, based on psychology of the young minds , was translated into Sindhi by Arjan Issrani and w as published by Ratan Sahitya Mandal, Karachi in October 1940. ‘Fal Choonda’ by Hariram Maariwala is the translation of Tagore’s ‘Fruit Gathering’ which was brought out by Hindustan Kitab Ghar in 1956. In his preface to the book Hariram writes that he translated these poems while serving jail term in Karachi District jail in 1944 for taking part in ‘Quit India’ movement. He further says in the preface that in prison he translated Tagore’s ‘Post Master’, ‘Chitra’, ‘Stray Birds’, ‘Lover’s Gift & Crossing’ , too. Yet another translation of Tagore’s poems ‘Geet Ganga’ by Fatan Purswani appeared in 1995 and in it poems are grouped according to their subjects and themes.

In a way, one can notice that Tagore has maintained his presence in the Si ndhi poetry through out the last century. During the long years of the century, it’s but natural that some traits of T agore’s poetry may be traced here and there in the poetry of some Sindhi poe t s. One can see a few poems of Kishinchand ‘Bewas ’(1885 - 1947), or of Krishin Khatwani (1927 - 2008), who was educated at Santiniketan, or of Mangharam Malkani or of Nirmal Jivtani ( who died at the age of 23 in 1944 and who followed some of the t opics of Tagore rather earnestly and who according to A. J. Ut tam’ in ‘Tagore Hika Jhalak’ , read from ‘Gitanjali ’ everyday when Jivtani was with him in jail after taking part in ‘Quit India’ moveme n t ) , where in some traces of Tagorean poetry may be found, but it will be a misstatement if someone calls it an influence on Sindhi poetry . In the last two centuries, Ghazal has been the dominating form of expression in the Sindhi poetry as it is in many other languages like Urdu, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Hindi etc. And Ghazal has a totally different temperament; so far the conte nt and expression are concerned. Its wavelength is at variance from that of Tagore ’s poetry. But Tagore is close to Sindhi poetry on a different plane. Shah Abdul Latif brought in heroines of folktales of Sindh in his poetry and made them immortal in diffe rent musical Surs (notes) . In Tagore’s poetry and compositions folk is pervasive. Both Shah and Tago re had master strokes of poetic imagery mingled with innate music that could

3 reach inner recesses of the readers and listeners. Tagore could perceive the strength of heritage and could mingle tradition with trend and added his dynamic aesthetic to create the magic. He tested tradition in different perspective, verified its veracity and made it relevant to the modern times.

All the eight novels and four novelettes of Rabindranath are translated into Sindhi by different writers and some novels are translated by more than one writer, like his poetry books. A few such novels are: ‘Choukher Bali’ (Eyesore) , which was first trans lated by Chuharmal Hinduja who brought it out in the abridged form with the title ‘Maya’ in 1936. Later it was published in the full form by Sahitya Akademi in 1973 with the title ‘Akhu Soor’. Again, Chuharmal Hinduja was the translator. The book once more was translated by Lachhman Saathi and was brought out by him in the shorter version in the name of ‘Sarita’ in Mumbai. The novel is rather bold for Bengal society of Tagore’s time, as it brings in extra marital relationship.

Similarly, ‘Nouka Doobi’ (The Wreck) also was translated by three different translators and published with the different titles viz ‘Budal Beri’ (in very short form) by Jethmal Parsram (1926); ‘Toofaani Rang’ by Chuharmal Hinduja (1939); its second edition also appeared by Nargis Publi cation, Poona ; its next version in Sindhi came in the name of ‘Milan’ (abridged) by Lachhman Saathi. ‘Gora’, too came out in the three different translations by Guli Kripalani ( Sadarangani ) (1938) in the abridged version; same novel was brought out by Central Hindi Directorate, New Delhi (1983); the second version was by Das Taalib. ‘Gora’ evoked much interest among the elites of Sindh. Though the protagonist in ‘Gora’ followed strict code of conduct as per elementary Hind u dictates, Sindhi elites were all for characters who were bent towards Brahmo Samaj, as Brahmo doc t rines were finding much acceptance among the Sindhi educated. Two translations of ‘Ghare Baire’ (Home and the World) were brought out in 1956 by two transla tors: Rochiram Gangaram Sadaani (Hindustan Kitab Ghar, Mumbai) and Narain Bharati ‘Adeeb’ (Saraswati Publication, Ulhasnagar) with little variation in the titles, respectively ‘Ghar ain Duniya’ and ‘Ghar ain Baahir’ . By some critics this novel is constru ed as criticism of Gandhi’s ideas of nationalism, Swadesi Movement and boycott of foreign goods and that Tagore’s inclination was to the western culture. But dominating concept by many critics is that Tagore could not go against Gandhi despite his many ideological differences with him . Those critics take humanist and idealistic approach of the protagonist as the focal point of the novel. The complete translation of ‘Joga Jog’ came in 1963; translator and publisher respectively were Chuharmal Hinduj a and Sahitya Akademi , New Delhi . The title given was ‘Sanjog’. Its shorter form was brought out by Jagat Advani through his publication ‘Kahani Sahitya Mandal, Mumbai’ with the title ‘Kumudini’. ‘Dui Bon’ (Two Sisters) also was in two translations ‘Ba Bhenar’ by Bhavan Panjwani (1947) and ‘ Lalita and Mukta’ by Narsingh Motumal in 1955 . Perhaps only four novels of Rabindranath appeared in single translations in Sindhi, those were ‘Bo Thakuranir Haat’ ( Young Queen’s Mart - translation by

4

Melaram Vaswani, wi th the title ‘Duhaagan Raani’, in 1946) , ‘Rajrishi’ ( The Royal Sage: translation by Melaram Vaswani, title ‘Baghaavat’, in 1943; translation from Urdu), ‘Shesher Kobita’ ( Farewell My Friend - translated by Narayan Bharati) and ‘Char Adhyaya’ ( Four Chapters - translation by Mel a ram Vaswani , with the title ‘Manzil’ in 1945) . There can be viewed continuous flow of Tagore’s novels in Sindhi.

There are some long stories of Tagore which are published as n ovellas in Sindhi. For instance , ‘Nashta Nirha ’ with the title ‘ Ujaryal Aashiano ’ by Jagat Advani in 1941 and as ‘Bhar Bhaang’ by Tirth Hingorani in 1955. The inference of many critics cannot be ruled out that the ‘Nashta Nirha’ is modelled on Tagore’ s undefined affinity with his sister - in - law Kadambari. Others were ‘Fulwaari’ by Krishin Hemrajani in 1946; ‘Suhini’, the translation of ‘Laboratory’ by Jagat Advani in 19 55 ; ‘Keru Kanhinjo’ translation by Moti Chhaabriya (1948); ‘Shaahi Taj’ by Jethanand Lalwani in 1953 and published by his own pub lication Bharat Jeevan, Kalyan. Similarly, ‘Hungry Stones’ was brought out by Atmaram Kripalani in the name of ‘Rajaai Rang Mahal’ in 1928. The eerie atmosphere created in the story was very much appreciated by Sindhi readers.

Tagore’s stories are published in Galpaguchchha in three volumes , containing 84 stories . Though like all the novels and novelettes of Tagore, his stories too, almost all, are translated into Sindhi, but unfortunately many have not been published in collection form and have remained in several magazines since third decade of the 20 th century. However, at least three collections are av ailable in Sindhi libraries based in major Sindhi pockets like Ulhasnagar, Ahmedabad, Gandhidham, etc. One is Girdharilal Kripalani’s ‘Rabindranath joon Aakhaaniyoon’ (1927). Girdharilal was educated at Santiniketan. In translation, he has changed the name s of characters and places to create Sindhi background and atmosphere. Perhaps, this may not be appreciated by many. The second collection is ‘Neema’ , a collection of three stories translated by Lachhman Sathi, Notan Golani and Hemraj ; published by Rani Publication, Mumbai in 1956. Another is Somnath Mitra’s collection of 21 stori es published by Sahitya Akademi, which was translated by Fatehchand Vaswani and Sindhi version also was brought out by Sahitya Akademi in 1963. Fatehchand has been able to creat e Sindhi atmosphere through the magic of befitting Sindhi phraseology for translation, he didn’t have to change the names and places for the purpose like Girdharilal had earlier done.

Rabindranath Tagore’s plays have generously been translated , too, into Sindhi. Tagore’s famous play ‘Dak Ghar’ (Post Office) written in 1912, was translated by Bherumal Meharchand ( 187 5 - 1950 ), the pioneer prose writer of Sindhi , in the name of ‘Azadi - a - ji Kodi’ and published by Ratan Sahitya Mandal in 1938. Surprisingly, Bherumal changed the main character Amal, the boy, to a girl. After Partition , two versions of ‘Dak Ghar’ appeared in the year 1957. Narayani Advani and Hariram Mariwala were the translators. Both retained the Bengali title ‘Dak Ghar’.

5

It is perhaps shock ing to note that though many plays of Tagore were translated into Sindhi but none saw the stage till, of course, 22 nd October, 2011 . It is true that during Tagore’s visit at the time of inauguration of ‘Rabindranath Literary & Dra matic Club’ in Hyderabad, Sindh in the year 1923 , some scenes of his play ‘Chitra’ were presented, but those scenes were in English and not in Sindhi. Possibly, Khanchand Daryani, the founder of the club, and others might have kept the fact in mind that Tagore might not be able to comprehend Sindhi and might not fully enjoy the drama. Their apprehension may not be unwarranted, but the risk involved was not devastating, and should have been taken. Later, though during the years from 1924 to 1927 and also in 1937 as well as in 1939 M angharam Malkani continued staging Tagore’s plays like ‘Malini’, ‘Raja and Rani’, ‘Balidan’ , ‘Dak Ghar’ etc to packed hous es in Hyderabad and Karachi, but they were all in English, and not in Sindhi.

During the Sahitya Akademi’s Seminar on ‘Tagore and Sin dhi Literature’ in collaboration with Indian Institute of Sindhology, Adipur, after day’s paper readings, in the evening, Sindhology staged ‘Dak Ghar’ and Gobind Malhi’s ( 1921 - 2001 ) dramatic rendition of Tagore’s famous story ‘Kabuliwala’ , respectively on 22 and 23 October 2011. After years of stage negligence of Tagore’s plays, these two plays were really memorable . Though the amateur group with limited resources staged the plays, but both proved soul - stirring. All the departments - stage - ma nagement, casting, acting, lighting, acoustics, direction, everything was well - looked after. The young boy Amal, of ‘Dak Ghar’ , is rightly thought of representing Tagore in his childhood days , when he was subjected to the autocracy of servants, and later out of irritation called it ‘servocracy’ . Amal , who defies confines of home, wants to go out in the open , ultimately collapses, allegorically signifying that his soul eventually got freed. Pathos and poetry of t he play left the audience spellbound. Simila rly, ‘Kabuliwala’ also impressed every viewer. Both presentations proved that plays sans action can survive, and surely, purely on feelings.

In 1926, Assudomal Gidwani translated Tagore’s drama ‘Rathyatra’ which was published by Jethmal Parsram in the same year. Tagore forcefully brings in ambient social evil of untouchability in the play . It is well known that in 1930 he vehemently assailed the un acceptab l e caste consciousness and practice of untouchability. He tried to arouse awareness against these evils and created Dalit heroes for his poems and dramas. He campaigned for the rights of Dalits for temple entry and he was successful in opening of Lord Krishna’s celebrated Guruvayoor temple (Kerala) for Dalits.

Tirth Basant (1909 - 1994) brought ‘Chitra’ (Chitrangada) into Sindhi , which was published in 1944. Tirth Basant has creatively used becoming language to suit the characters and has been successful in assigning poetic effects in the translation. A few scenes of ‘Chitra ’ were also translated by noted poet Krishin Rahi (1932 - 2007), which were published in 1961 in the literary magazine ‘Koonj’.

6

In 1961 , ‘Koonj’, ‘Nai Duniya’, ‘Kahani’ and other Sindhi literary journals brought out special issues on Tagore to mark his 100 th birth anniversary. Acknowledged poet Narayan Shyam’s (1922 - 1989) and Vasdev Nirmal’s (b.1936) translations in free verse of Tagore’s ‘Urvashi’ appeared respectively in ‘Kahani’ and ‘Nai Duniya’ on this occasion. ‘Balidaan’ was translated by Gobind Malhi (‘Visarjan’, based on Tagore’s novel ‘Rajrishi’) . It was based on horrific practice of animal as well as hum an sacrifice to appease goddess .

Only a few selected pieces of ‘Muktadhara’ (The Waterfall) were translated by Chuharmal Hinduja. Those pieces appe ared in the book form in 1942. Asanand Mamtora ( 1903 - 1993 ) translated ‘Uma & Vinayak’, which was based on communal harmony , but it did not come out in a book form. However, it was published in Amarlal Hingorani’s magazine ‘Fulwaari’ in 1930. Asanand Mamtor a’s dramatic idiom for the play is important aspect of the translation. There are many other plays too which were translated into Sindhi but remained in different mag azines and could not be brought out in the book form ; ‘Karan Kunti’ (Karan Kunti Sambad) is among those examples.

It’s really inspiring fact that most of the fiction and dramas of Tagore are translated into Sindhi through Hindi, English, Urdu and Gujarati translations. There is nothing on record that may show direct translation from Bengali. T agore was so popular in Sindh that even in prison, he was read and translated by many freedom fighters as mentioned earlier . Veerumal Begraj, a far famed freedom fighter and journalist, while in prison at Yerwada, Pune, along with Mahatma Gandhi, translated Tagore’s ‘Sadhna’ and brought it out as ‘Sadhna Pustak’ in 1923 ( as mentioned in Sindhi Nasur ji Tareekh - History of Sindhi Prose by Mangharam Malkani, pp226). So far poetry is concerned; one cannot claim that everything is brought into Sindhi. There are more than two thousand songs of Tagore (figure is 2230) . But the gratifying factor is that all the major poetic works of Tagore, that have appeared in the four languages mentioned above, have been translated into Sindhi, and no doubt, beautifully . However, Tagore’s non fiction literature still lies in several issues of literary journals, waiting for being put between two covers.

It is always interesting to note some great writer’s influence on his contemporaries and on writers of later generations. But it is a slippery ground; no one should be carried away by emotive responses. Comparisons should rationally undergo acid tests to establish the influence. It’s true that some of the prominent Sindhi writers like Krishin Kh atwani who were educated at Santiniketan and have acknowledged its atmospheric spell on their conscious/unconscious mind (Krishin Khatwani’s novel Yaad Hika Pyaar Ji is set in Santiniketan) , but to prove the out and out Tagore’s influence to the bone will be a steep task. The chief reason for it is a wide dichotomy between Bengali and Sindhi social milieu. Bengali society in the early 20 th century followed strict caste and class constraints, whereas in Sindh caste discrimination was /is absent. For centuries Sindh has remained under secular

7 mind set. Though feudal society has been there, hence class conflict now and then surfaced, which found its way in literature, too. Content wise, therefore, there is no similarity between the two social persp ectives , hence treatment of the content differs, too. A few among Sindhi critics believe that famous fiction writer Mohan Kalpana’s (1930 - 1992) children novel ‘ Surg ji Golha ’ (In Search of Paradise) in some instances , bears similarity to Tagore’s children literature (Jadoo ke Khel, Lakshmi ki Pariksha). Some critics believe that style of Rabindranath’s prose was followed by some writers like Krishin Khatwani and Guli Kripalani (Sadarangani) ; Guli Kripalani in her novels and Krishin Khatwani in both, his stories and novels. But the analytical minds will definitely dispel this contention, too, as language and style of any fiction is an inherent requirement of the individual creation and may vary from one piece of writing to another, from one character to a nother. But one fact cannot be denied, and that is , with s o many Tagore’s translations around them, literary outlook of Sindhi writers must definitely have gone sharper

Rabindranath embarked upon paintings at the ripe age. He didn’t name his paintings. F or many Indians those may appear ‘just paintings’. Rece ntly (15.10.2011) in Ahmedabad , during the seminar on ‘Understandin g Tagore ’ at Vishwa Kosh, I happened to see a slide show of Tagore’s paintings. For my eyes, those were a rare aesthetic feast . They were free from bounds of any time period. Presence of nature, with all its serenity, was predominantly felt. A feeling crept in, that visuals had enriched the viewers’ minds. Perhaps, Rabindranath realised attitude of Indians towards his paintings, hence the first exhibition of his paintings was held in Paris, and then in many major cities of Europe. Rabindranath once remarked that for my countrymen my songs are there, for foreigners, my paintings. But in a National Seminar on ‘Life and Work of Gurud ev RabindranathTagore & Sindhi Literature’, organised by Sindhi Academy, Delhi , on 6 th and 7 th August 2011, talking on Taogore’s art in his paper, our renowned sculptor and artist Metharam Dharmani, who was educated at Santiniketan, claim ed that he was greatly influenced by Tagore’s art. Metharam won the Lalit Kala Academy National Award in 1960 on his cement s culpture . His work has been exhibited and stored in National and International exhibitions and art museums like in Brazil , China, Yug oslavia, Belgium , etc . Rabindranath might not have been sure of his art istic skill of his brush strokes, but his paintings amply and assertively display his capability in art. He believed in creativity, and it’s creativity that teaches us to view the world around us differently.

Rabindranath’s versatility did not end on borders of art fields. He was a visionary too, and advocated old Gurukul method of education. He could translate his vision into reality by establishing school at Santiniketan in 1901. He s trongly condemned imported system of education that disturbed the harmony of life and thought and which was but a bundle of insipid exercises. He emphasised on music (he believed life is a mistake if music is not in it) and art as ingredients of education. And here I can’t resist recording the well known fact that Tagore insisted on mother tongue as the medium of instruction for basic education. One

8 could only wish that wisdom dawned in the Indian minds that are (mis)led by global rat marathon.

Incidently , one among the first four teachers appointed for Santiniketan, was one Rewachand, a Sindhi who had converted to Christianity along with Parmanand Mewaram(1865 - 1938), the renowned writer and lexicographer. Nothing much is not known about Rewachand. Santiniketan school attracted young Sindhi minds that had artistic mould. Names of Krishin Khatwani (eminent writer), Metharam Dharmani (renowned artist and sculptor), S obho Gyanchandani(famous writer and an activist, who is still based in Sindh, Pakistan , and who was accorded unrestrained access to Tagore’ s personal library as recorded in his reminiscences ‘Santiniketan’ ), Girdharilar Kripalani (who profusely translated Tagore into Sindhi). The list is endless but one name can be added, that of Padma Bhush an Krishin Kripalani who became the first Secretary of Sahitya Akademi (1954 - 1971) and wrote many books including biography of Rabindranath, not in Sindhi, but in English. This is respectfully considered authority on Tagore’s life. Krishin Kripalani was married to Tagore’s grand daughter Nibedita. He had earlier taught English and Political theory in ‘Viswa Bharati’ (1933 - 1946) . He spent his last years at Santiniketan.

Great writers are always around us. Centuries can’t take them away from us. They ever r emain present, as our mentors, as fountains of our inspiration, to enable us to meet our own self in its layer less form, they never become irrelevant. Rabindranth is related to Sindhis in many ways, but by adding ‘Sindh’ in the national anthem, he added new significant dimension to that relationship. Through ‘Jana Gana Mana’, he will not only remain among the ‘Jana’ (people) but will remain in their ‘Man’ (mind) too, for ever.

References:

1 ) Tagore Hika Jhalak - A J Uttam 2 ) Sahitkaaran joon Smrityoon - Mangharam Malkani 3 ) Sahitya Akademi’s ‘Rabindranath Tagore - A Centenary Volume’ 4 ) Yaadgeeryoon ain Rihaaniyoon - Hariram Mariwala 5 ) Sobho Gyanchandani’s reminiscences ‘Santiniketan’ 6 ) Sindhi Nasur ji Tarikh - Mangharam Malkani 7 ) Several literary Journals like ‘Koonj’, ‘ Nai Duniya’, ‘Rachna’, ‘Kahani’ etc.

04.11.2011

9