That the world cares two hoots for your talent, dedication and contribution, was made clear in ample magnitude on 22 December. It is the day Dogri language was included in the eighth schedule of the constitution of India, in the year 2003. Occasion was being celebrated by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, at the Writers’ Club, Jammu.
This inclusion made Dogri an official language of the Republic of India ; there are 21 other official languages. It is pertinent to note that the states are free to choose their own official languages, which need not be from this schedule. For example, Sindhi is included in the eighth schedule, but no Indian state has adopted it as an official language. Incidentally, Dogri is one of the five official languages of Jammu & Kashmir. The other four are: Urdu, Kashmiri, English and Hindi.
The top executives of the oldest institution established to promote the language, Dogri Sanstha, as well as the head of a rebel group called Duggar Manch, vied with each other to tell those present that they made the maximum and significant sacrifices to attain the said inclusion of Dogri in the coveted schedule.
Nobody remembered those who made significant contributions to the struggle that led to recognition of Dogri. They are the acknowledged pioneers of the language. Presently, I recall the role played by one of the pioneers, Ram Nath Shastri. I enjoyed his goodwill, confidence and blessings. Over to the 80s.
I married the renowned singer of Dograland, maiden name Seema Sharma, on 10 March 1984 at Jammu. On 11 March, we, the newlyweds, had the privilege and honour of enjoying the early morning tea and breakfast with none other than Professor Ram Nath Shastri ( RNS ), the doyen of Dogri language and literature !
He was kind and graceful to come, greet and bless us, on the first day of our wedded life. As a wedding gift, he brought to us the dictionaries of Dogri language, compiled by him, duly autographed with his blessings. That was the very first gift we received on the first day of our married life.
Most of my friends were way elder to me and RNS gloriously headed the list of my friends. I can rattle a listing of some of the most prominent ladies and gentlemen from the world of media, literature and politics as my friends.
After passing my High School in Prayagraj, in 1967, I enrolled for the PUC ( Pre University Course ) at the Government Gandhi Memorial Science College, Jammu. At the erstwhile Allahabad, we used to converse mostly in chaste Hindi with fellow students and at the marketplace. Jammu was different. Here, most of the conversations were being conducted in a variable mix of Hindi, English, Punjabi, Dogri and Urdu. It all depended on the people you interacted with. I was just settling down in the new milieu of my hometown Jammu.
One day, I confronted a lean, thin, tall, thoroughly ” bharatiya” looking person, near the famed Maha Lakshmi temple, in Pakka Danga area. He was clad in a well fitting brown sherwani with a matching brown Gandhi cap, and white, loose Aligarian pajamas, wearing something akin to a mojari. He held a leather satchel in his left hand. He was the perfect character from an early twentieth century Hindi film enacting the role of a sauve and differential Satyagrahi of Gandhi Ji !
There was an aura around him. Instinctively, I touched his feet. This was the way we were taught to pay our respect to the elders. My friend accompanying me told he was a writer and a teacher. I learnt his name was Ram Nath Shastri. After blessing me, he enquired who I was. To my reply, he rolled out the complete family tree of my paternal side ! He knew everyone in our family tree.
Full of enthusiasm, he took us to the nearby office of Dogri Sanstha and gave me a few copies of Nami Chetna, the magazine published by the Sanstha. That was my first encounter with RNS, and through him, to the world of Dogri language and literature. This chance meeting was enough for us, me and him, to foster a lifelong relationship. He was five years senior to my father.
Shastri Ji, as he was popularly addressed, was one of the founding members of Dogri Sanstha, established in 1944, along with poet Deenu Bhai Pant, short story writer Bhagwat Prasad Sathe, and writer-journalist Dharam Chand Prashant, among others. He very ably guided and spearheaded the Sanstha for over 40 years.
Certain young turks of the Santha decided to unseat him from the organisational position he held in the Sanstha. They wanted to take over the reins of the Sanstha. Nevertheless, this cartel had nothing against Shastri, the litterateur !
They acknowledged his scholarship and his contribution to Dogri language and literature . They also valued his sustained efforts at promotion of Dogri language. Their only grouse was that he had been at the helm of the affairs for too long. Now was the time the young blood came in to give a new direction to the organisation, so they argued.
Irony of the fate is that one of these gentlemen who spearheaded the group against Shastri Ji, is himself in the driving seat for a period far longer than RNS !! Perhaps, it is learnt that some other contenders, more youthful and sharper, envisage to give him a taste of his own medicine. Many a time RNS spoke to me about his dismay over the issues that were sporadically erupted in the Sanstha.
There are those who assert that Shastri Ji was displaced from the very organisation he so assiduously nurtured ; though it is also widely rumoured, advertised and claimed that RNS himself wanted to be relieved of the burden of his duties at the Sanstha. Nonchalance prevails amongst the litterateurs. The Dogras are too mild to reveal the truth.
Professor Shastri was decorated by the Sahitya Akademi thrice. First, he won Sahitya Akademi Award for literature in 1977 for his short story collection “Badnami Di Chhan”. It was followed by the Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize in 1989 for the Dogri translation of the Sanskrit drama, Mricchakatikam. And, above all, for his contribution to Dogri language, the Sahitya Akademi conferred the Fellowship of the Akademi on him in the year 2001. A Fellowship of the Akademi is the highest literary honour conferred by the Government of India.
He earned the state cultural academy award twice : in 1981 for the collection of Dogri ghazals “Talkhiyan” and in 1991 for his Dogri prose work “Duggar De Lok Nayak”. Interestingly, the state awards came after the Sahitya Akademi Award !
RNS was a pioneer in every sense. He was amongst the very first batch of Hindi writers who started writing in Dogri in the 40s. In fact, he motivated several other writers, like Yash Sharma, the Prince of Dogri Songs, to change over from Hindi. Under the influence of indomitable Harivanshrai Bachchan, Yash Sharma was writing in Hindi.
Shastri is also recognised as a father figure of Dogri renaissance. From poetry to prose to essays to dramas, Professor Ram Nath Shastri has written in almost all the genres of literature.
He is a celebrated poet, fiction writer, essayist, dramatist and educationist. Through his writings in the various genres, he has succeeded in reaching out to the people and inspire them to consider using their mother tongue in conversation and writing. He has significantly contributed towards development and advancement of the language to make her fit for literary pursuits.
Professor Ram Nath Shastri was born at Jammu on 15 April 1914. He did his post-graduation in Sanskrit and Prabhakar in Hindi and started his career as a high school teacher. Later, he became a college lecturer and retired as professor in the J&K State Education Department, in 1970.
He was a prolific translator. He has intro- duced to Dogri the six Upanishads, besides a number of classics like Bhartrihari’s Neeti Shatak, Shudraka’s Mricchakatikam, four short plays of Bhasa, Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali, Balidan, Malini and Dakghar, Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography, Vinoba Bhave’s Gita Pravachan, C. Rajagopalachari’s Ramayana, Dharamveer Bharati’s Andha Yug and Gorki’s Lower Depths.
While working as the chief editor in Jammu & Kashmir Academy of Art, Cultural and Languages, he edited the Dogri to Dogri dictionary which is regarded as a monumental addition to the development of the Dogri language.
Besides, Professor Shastri has compiled and edited a large number of books which have proved to be milestones in the gradual growth of Dogri language and literature.
The honours he received include the Saraf Award, 1989, the Padma Shri, 1990, D. Litt. (Honoris Causa) from University of Jammu, 1994, among others. He was the most steady and devoted litterateur of Jammu I have come across in my life.
In the words of Padma Sachdev, the eminent Dogri litterateur : Professor Ram Nath Shastri is the Bharatendu Harishchandra of Dogri. There is not a single person who is writing in Dogri now who has not been influenced by him. Not a single word is there in Dogri on which his stamp has not been registered.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
