Vijaydan Detha
Encyclopedia
Vijaydan Detha also known as Bijji is a noted writer from Rajasthan
and a recipient of Padma Shri
award. He is also recipient of several other awards such as Sahitya Akademi Award
and Sahitya Chudamani Award.
He has more than 800 short stories to his credit, which are translated into English and other languages. He is co-founder of Rupayan Sansthan with late Komal Kothari
, an institute that documents Rajasthani folk-lore, arts and music. His literary works include Bataan ri Phulwari (garden of tales), a fourteen volume collection of stories that draws on folk-lore and spoken dialects of Rajasthan. His stories and novels have been adapted for many plays and movies including Habib Tanvir
's Charandas Chor
and Amol Palekar
’s Paheli
.
caste. His father Sabaldan Detha and grandfather Jugtidan Detha were also well known poets of Rajasthan. Detha lost his father and two brothers in a feud at the age of four year. At the age of six he moved to Jaitaran
(25 km from Borunda) where his brother Sumerdan used to work in civil court. He studied there till class IV. His brother had transferable job hence Vijaydan also had to move with him. Vidaydan did his school study at Bihar and Barmer. Detha in his school years was poor in English language and had to face many embarrassing moments. In Barmer, while competing with another student Narsingh Rajpurohit, he realized that he wants to be a writer. His brother then transferred to Jodhpur
where Detha studied in Durbar School.
Vijaydan Detha considers Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay as his first inspirer. He is equally good fan of Chekhov
. In beginning he was critical of Tagore
but after reading Tagore's Stripatra he became fan of Tagore.
Detha joined college in 1944, by that time he had already established his name in poetry, however he gives credit for it to his cousin brother Kuberdan Detha, who had left school after standard X. Vijaydan says he use to pass his cousins poems in his name, applause brought from those poems made him to think to establish his own name in writing.
One of his first books to create a storm was Bapu Ke Teen Hatyare. The book is critique of the work of Harivanshrai Bachchan, Sumitranandan Pant
and Narendra Sharma. The trio brought out books about Gandhi within two months of Gandhi's death.
In 1950-52, Detha read and was inspired by 19th Century Russian literature. That is when he thought: "If you do not want to be 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.
In 1973, renowned filmmaker Mani Kaul, directed ' Duvidha', based on Bijji's story' duvidha'. The film was appreciated all over the world. much of it was shot at his village Borunda in Jodhpur district. Later Shah Rukh Khan made ' Paheli' on the same story, which was directed by Amol Palekar. "Paheli' was also India's entry in Oscar. Prakah Jha made' Parinati' , a wonderful film based on Bijji's story.Habib Tanvir, adapted Bijji's story into one of his most acclaimed play' Charandas Chor' , the same was converted into a film by Shyam Benegal. Bijji's stories have been converted into various films and dramas all over. 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.
Bijji, was inspired by Shah govradhan Lal Kabra to write in Rajasthani' till date I have not written in any other language, he says regarding his immense love for the language.
His favourite authors include Sharat Chandra Chattopadhya, Anton Chekhov and Rabindranath Tagore. Bijji has always portrayed the sufferings of the poor in his writings,' he is one of the finest authors, the world has ever produced, says Professor Gopal bharadwaj, former head of Sociology department of Jai Narayan vyas university, Jodhpur.
Bijji was also tipped for the Nobel prize for literature in 2011 which ultimately went to Tomas Tranströmer
Bijji was awarded rao Siha award by Mehrangarh Museum trust on 24 November 2011.
Soratha, 1956–1958
Detha also been credited for editing following works
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
and a recipient of Padma Shri
Padma Shri
Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...
award. He is also recipient of several other awards such as Sahitya Akademi Award
Sahitya Akademi Award
Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honor in India which Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of outstanding works in one of the following twenty-four major Indian languagesAssamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri,...
and Sahitya Chudamani Award.
He has more than 800 short stories to his credit, which are translated into English and other languages. He is co-founder of Rupayan Sansthan with late Komal Kothari
Komal Kothari
Komal Kothari , commonly known as Komalda, was an Indian folklorist and ethnomusicologist from Jodhpur, Rajasthan. A pioneer in the study of Indian folkore, he is most known for his work on the folklore of Rajasthan and its links to Music of Rajasthan and its instruments...
, an institute that documents Rajasthani folk-lore, arts and music. His literary works include Bataan ri Phulwari (garden of tales), a fourteen volume collection of stories that draws on folk-lore and spoken dialects of Rajasthan. His stories and novels have been adapted for many plays and movies including Habib Tanvir
Habib Tanvir
Habib Tanvir was one of the most popular Indian Urdu, Hindi playwrights, a theatre director, poet and actor. He is the writer of plays such as, Agra Bazar and Charandas Chor...
's Charandas Chor
Charandas Chor
Charandas Chor is 1975 children's film made by noted director Shyam Benegal, based on the famous play by Habib Tanvir, which itself was an adaptation of a classical Rajasthani folktale by Vijaydan Detha...
and Amol Palekar
Amol Palekar
Amol Palekar is an Indian actor of the 1970s and a director of Hindi and Marathi cinema.-Theater career:Palekar began in Marathi experimental theatre with Satyadev Dubey, and later started his own group, Aniket, in 1972 [citation needed]...
’s Paheli
Paheli
Paheli is a Bollywood ghost movie, released in India on 24 June 2005, directed by Amol Palekar and produced by Gauri Khan, Sanjiv Chawla and Shahrukh Khan, who also plays the male lead...
.
Early life
Vijaydan Detha hails from charanCharan
Chāraṇ is the term for a caste living in the Gujarat and Rajasthan states of India. According to Shrimada Bhagwata Skand Charans were created along with other divine forms such as Yaksha, Gandharvas, Kinnara, Sidhdhas, Apsara, etc. and lived with them in Heaven...
caste. His father Sabaldan Detha and grandfather Jugtidan Detha were also well known poets of Rajasthan. Detha lost his father and two brothers in a feud at the age of four year. At the age of six he moved to Jaitaran
Jaitaran
Jaitaran is a city and a municipality in Pali district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.-Geography:Jaitaran is located at . It has an average elevation of 307 metres .-History:...
(25 km from Borunda) where his brother Sumerdan used to work in civil court. He studied there till class IV. His brother had transferable job hence Vijaydan also had to move with him. Vidaydan did his school study at Bihar and Barmer. Detha in his school years was poor in English language and had to face many embarrassing moments. In Barmer, while competing with another student Narsingh Rajpurohit, he realized that he wants to be a writer. His brother then transferred to Jodhpur
Jodhpur
Jodhpur , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located west from the state capital, Jaipur and from the city of Ajmer. It was formerly the seat of a princely state of the same name, the capital of the kingdom known as Marwar...
where Detha studied in Durbar School.
Vijaydan Detha considers Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay as his first inspirer. He is equally good fan of Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
. In beginning he was critical of Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
but after reading Tagore's Stripatra he became fan of Tagore.
Detha joined college in 1944, by that time he had already established his name in poetry, however he gives credit for it to his cousin brother Kuberdan Detha, who had left school after standard X. Vijaydan says he use to pass his cousins poems in his name, applause brought from those poems made him to think to establish his own name in writing.
One of his first books to create a storm was Bapu Ke Teen Hatyare. The book is critique of the work of Harivanshrai Bachchan, Sumitranandan Pant
Sumitranandan Pant
Sumitranandan Pant was one of the most famous modern Hindi poets. He is considered one of the major poets of the Chhayavaadi school of Hindi literature. Pant mostly wrote in Sanskritized Hindi. Pant authored twenty eight published works including poetry, verse plays and essays.Pant was born at...
and Narendra Sharma. The trio brought out books about Gandhi within two months of Gandhi's death.
In 1950-52, Detha read and was inspired by 19th Century Russian literature. That is when he thought: "If you do not want to be 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.
In 1973, renowned filmmaker Mani Kaul, directed ' Duvidha', based on Bijji's story' duvidha'. The film was appreciated all over the world. much of it was shot at his village Borunda in Jodhpur district. Later Shah Rukh Khan made ' Paheli' on the same story, which was directed by Amol Palekar. "Paheli' was also India's entry in Oscar. Prakah Jha made' Parinati' , a wonderful film based on Bijji's story.Habib Tanvir, adapted Bijji's story into one of his most acclaimed play' Charandas Chor' , the same was converted into a film by Shyam Benegal. Bijji's stories have been converted into various films and dramas all over. 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.
Bijji, was inspired by Shah govradhan Lal Kabra to write in Rajasthani' till date I have not written in any other language, he says regarding his immense love for the language.
His favourite authors include Sharat Chandra Chattopadhya, Anton Chekhov and Rabindranath Tagore. Bijji has always portrayed the sufferings of the poor in his writings,' he is one of the finest authors, the world has ever produced, says Professor Gopal bharadwaj, former head of Sociology department of Jai Narayan vyas university, Jodhpur.
Bijji was also tipped for the Nobel prize for literature in 2011 which ultimately went to Tomas Tranströmer
Tomas Tranströmer
Tomas Gösta Tranströmer is a Swedish writer, poet and translator, whose poetry has been translated into over 60 languages. Tranströmer is acclaimed as one of the most important Scandinavian writers since the Second World War...
Bijji was awarded rao Siha award by Mehrangarh Museum trust on 24 November 2011.
Hindi
- 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
Rajasthani
- 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
Detha also been credited for editing following works
- Complete work of Ganeshi Lal Vyas for Sahitya Akademi
- Rajasthani-Hindi Kahawat Kosh
Awards and honors
- Sahitya academy award for Rajasthani in 1974
- Bhartiya Bhasa Parishad Award in 1992
- Marudhara Puraskar in 1995
- Bihari PuraskarBihari PuraskarBihari Puraskar is a literary award instituted by K. K. Birla Foundation . The award is named after the famous Hindi poet Bihari and is awarded to an outstanding work published in Hindi or Rajasthani by a Rajasthani writer. It carries a citation, a plaque and prize money of Rs. 1 lakh.The list of...
in 2002 http://www.kkbirlafoundation.com/bihari-r.html - Sahitya Chudamani Award in 2006
- Padmashri in 2007