Prof. Mohan Pal Singh Ishar
I happened to know that first book among all the regional languages of Jammu and Kashmir has been recently translated into English and published by the Oxford University Press and thrown before the world to read. It definitely ignited my curiosity to read the book of my soil before anyone else does.
Pahari and Dogri were the first languages that I heard in my home, school and the neighbourhood from early childhood. Dogri is a very sweet and living language spoken by nearly ten million people in the pre-partition Jammu and Kashmir, State of Himachal Pradesh, parts of Punjab, and Sialkot as well as its other adjoining areas in Pakistan. Its literary treasure trove is also very young with around 50 odd novels in addition to other books in its kitty. First novel in Dogri was published only in 60’s. Since only a few dozen Dogri novels have been published so far, as a natural corollary, their themes also remained by and large limited to certain issues. ‘Hashiye Par’, is the first volume to encompass contemporary but hitherto untouched theme in Dogri novels. Some books have the power to change us profoundly and cast a literary hang over and agitate our thought process. ‘Hashiye Par’ is among those publications, which has created ripples in Dogri literary world within a short span. The day ‘Hashiye Par: for a Tree to Grow’ is translated and published in English by the Oxford University Press, world’s leading publishing house, the story of marginalized has started flying at much higher horizons, and the unheard voice is echoing at louder frequency in all continents. This novel, I am confident, must have touched the hearts of readers, as the story being close to reality depicting the unpleasant dynamics of almost 1/3rd population of India who live ‘Hashiye Par’.
During thirties and forties of the last century, Malika Pukhraj, famous singer of the region, had the distinction of steering the Pahari vocal music to the highest pinnacles of glory by her melodius voice which still reverberates in the air-Abhi Tou Mein Jawan Hoon. Similarly, I feel, ‘Hashiye Par: for a Tree to Grow’ is indeed a quantum jump towards valuable addition to the literature from Dogri speaking region which has attracted perhaps highest number of reviews.
It is for the first time that a laudable maiden literary work of Shailender Singh in Duggar land has found a well-deserved place in the international literature. This thought provoking tale compelled me to reach the last page in one sitting.
Like the ice cold waters of Chander-Bhaga in Kishtwar area the story starts with a cold note and emotions gush up and down like cascading Chenab and leaves open after hitting the climax and reader’s string of thought. The 160-page novel is compact and to the point. The beauty of the book is that much has been said in minimum words. ‘Hashiye Par: for a Tree to Grow’ has enabled Dogri voice heard for the first time on the global stage and made Dogras proud for their mother tongue getting international recognition. This creative work has been accomplished by son of the soil in midnight shifts, as Police uniform duty schedule is time demanding in the State, which passed through a very difficult phase.
Mr. Shailender Singh, a young Police officer in Jammu and Kashmir, the author of ‘Hashiye Par: for a Tree to Grow’, has done full justice to the core subject matter of the novel having most befittingly dealt with a highly sensitive theme, though his profession might be considered to be insensitive. ‘Hashiye Par’, by all standards, is undoubtedly an insider’s story. It is a matter of great pride and rejoicing for the Dogri speaking people of the region that this novel by Mr. Shailender Singh, who was born at Chhamb (now on the other side of Line of Control), brought up, educated and serving the State, has been published by the Oxford University Press in English language. It is a very inspiring story of struggle and ultimate breakthrough of a young man. The hardships faced by the people due to abject poverty, compounded further by inadequate delivery of benefits by the concerned agencies, of various socio-economic upliftment schemes launched by the Government for the empowerment of people living on the margins, and their urges and aspirations to grow and progress like others, have been most sensitively portrayed in the novel. This makes the novel a class in itself. The moment one starts reading this literary creation then last word is the limit as curiosity increases page after page to know what next. To sustain the interest of readers to such an extent is another remarkable hallmark of ‘Hashiye Par’. This is because the story of the novel matches with the experiences, hardships and agonies of every poverty-stricken person. Except for the names of characters being that of local parlance otherwise the dynamics in the fiction is true of many areas in the South-Asian region.
Apart from serious aspects, ‘For a Tree to Grow’ provides a deep insight into sweet Dogri language, rich culture, unique lifestyle of Dogras and tough life of people in rural areas.
‘Hashiye Par: for a Tree to Grow’ is the tale of a poor family belonging to marginalized strata of the society living on the banks of river Chenab in Jammu region. Due to the social structure, it was unthinkable for certain marginalized classes like the one referred to in the novel to own farming land. Members of such communities were generally performing menial tasks in the houses of influential landlords.
Story unfolds with Madan, the protagonist in the fiction, who is a victim of social structure, insensitiveness and apathy of administrative mechanism and unhealthy politics, lives with his family on the fringes of a literary created hamlet. Though dismally poor, he has dreams of a better life, a well-lit pukka house which withstands the vagaries of hostile weather, a good education for his children facilitating government jobs for them and adequate food for all to eat. He is not dreaming for moon but wishes bare minimum shelter, which may be far less than a cowshed in a developed country. Due to hard work and determination of the entire family his eldest son Kamal lands in an Engineering College. He gets a chance to compete his peer group on a comparatively level playing field and surpasses all his tutored meritorious classmates. It secures him a scholarship, recognition and what next. The achievement of ‘Hashiye Par’ portrays a trend of global significance in the existence of a marginalised Dogra family of Jammu.
The author has created situations like vivid pictures, carries the readers with sentiments of the story of Madan who goes early in the chilly morning to the riverside to collect fish catch, sell it to a dhabawalla, take money, buy articles of daily use from a shop and return to his kullah made of cane and saroot grass. And so on. Bare resources and the jugglery of picking only few out of the basic needs for survival by a deprived village family has been so superbly described that it takes time for a reader to come out of the hangover of the story.
The ambition nursed by Madan to have a brick house which would save him, his tender children and wife from the vagaries of weather in a kullah and how his hopes shatter with the partisan politics, has been very delicately characterised by the author.
The author has endeavoured to pin-point the grey areas, which are the root cause of status quo despite more than six and a half decades of self-governance. The author has woven the web of dynamics of a common ignorant citizen, bureaucracy and politics in the medium of Indian societal set up. He has attempted to analyse these key players in the evolving modern Indian democracy. Who could better analyse this than Mr. Shailender Singh, a Commando cop, who had to leave his birthplace on other side of LoC, seen more than six government schools to continue his education due to migrations and unrest in the region, a Civil Engineering Graduate and Post-Graduate in Management! The main character in the story comes full circle when he most successfully braves the challenges of poverty and enables his ward to graduate from Regional Engineering College, Srinagar (now National Institute of Technology) in the backdrop of Hazratbal Shrine and snowfall amidst beautiful ambience around with majestic Zabarwan hills and world famous Dal lake.
For the convenience of readers some of the chaste Dogri terms, particularly in a rural setting, not possible to translate into English, an appreciable effort has been made to explain words like tuala, parola, behngi, dahn and ambal in the footnotes of the book. The novel beautifully showcases Dogra cultural heritage and hopefully would encourage young Dogri writers to choose serious and socially more relevant themes for their novels.
Translation is an art and that too very challenging. In this context, there are many words and things mentioned in the novel which are specific to the Dogra culture and traditional lifestyle, particularly in the countryside, which are to be felt and at the most can be explained. Mr. Suman K. Sharma, who is originally a Dogra but pursued his life and career investing in English, has done justice in translating a Dogri story into English, preserving the transformation in the category of ‘must read book’. Readers will find many new things about Dogra lifestyle and culture hitherto bound in the limits of regional language.
(The writer is the former Vice Chancellor of University of Jammu)
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