Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 3: Dogri Sanstha, Jammu organized a function to release a book ‘Prayaas-2’ by Colonel Raz Manawari containing critical analysis and evaluation of ghazals written by legendary poet Krishan Smailpuri, who is considered to be one of the pioneers of ghazal writing in Dogri. The book mainly concerns the evaluation based on the grammatic principals of ghazal writing.
Darshan Darshi, who is the convenor of Dogri Advisory Board in Sahitya Akademi, was the chief guest on the occasion. Himself a well-known ghazal writer, he said that this academic endeavour of Colonel Manawari, which can prove to be very instructive for other ghazal writers and can improve the quality of Dogri poetry. He cited portions from the book to elaborate on the scholarly treatment of the subject by the author.
Earlier, Prof Lalit Mangotra, President of Dogri Sanstha, while welcoming the audience said that it auger well for Dogri that books on diverse topics and new subjects are being written in Dogri which indicates the maturity which Dogri literature is attaining. He said almost all Dogri poets are writing ghazals and this book will act as a guideline for them.
He also shared with the audience that the State High Court has directed the Government to implement the teaching of Dogri in all schools of Jammu from class one onwards, which could be a turning point in the history of growth of Dogri language and literature.
The program started with Colonel Manawari sharing with the audience various issues that confront Dogri ghazal based on his study of Dogri ghazal in general and Krishan Smailpuri’s ghazals in particular.
Prof Veena Gupta, a well-known scholar and critic and Susheel Begana, a prominent Dogri ghazal writer responded to the issues raised by the author, through their presentations.
The program was conducted by the General Secretary of Dogri Sanstha, Dr Nirmal Vinod, while Dr Chanchal Bhasin, Secretary presented vote of thanks.