Prof Rabindra Nath Ojha's Daring View on 'Short Story' (Laghukatha)

 

Prof Rabindra Nath Ojha's Daring View on 'Short Story' (Laghukatha)

At the very outset let me make an honest statement, let me make my position clear regarding my approach to लघुकथा. Well, I must confess, I am no great, I am no enthusiastic admirer of Laghukatha as a form of literary expression. Somehow, over the years I have gathered the feeling that a Laghukatha can not do full justice to any kind of serious literary theme or content. Laghukatha because of its being rather too short, too brief, does not find adequate or ample scope for full ripening of 'रस' and without 'पूर्ण रसपरिपाक' no work of literature can claim to be सरस and सजीव, रम्य, रमणीय. In order to become a work of art it has got to go through certain inner essential processes. If it does not, it fails as a work of art. The generality of Laghukathayen that are published today does not at all satisfy the rigorous artistic demands and standards. The Laghukathayen of today generally do not meet the requirements of a literary work of creation. Laghukathayen in order to satisfy the aesthetic or artistic sense must necessarily be creative , must be an act o creation. While judging any work of creative literature two things must always be borne in mind. First, it must be literary, second, it must be creative. If it fails to satisfy these two basic demands, then the thing one will have is scarcely the thing we call creative literature .

While enumerating the deficiencies inherent in the form of Laghukatha, I must also admit that I have come across quite a few Laghukathayen which have held my attention, which have given me light and delight, sight and insight and have satisfied my artistic and aesthetic sense. So I feel that even in the small compass of Laghukatha there is definitely some scope for ripening of 'रस' if only the writer is fully ripe for the task. So ultimately it all depends upon the creative writer himself. If he is really creative, if he is really gifted with some deep insight, if he is really enriched with innate artistic sensibility, he will be able to create good literary Laghukathayen which will be of lasting value and, unfading and undiminished appeal. So what I mean to say in this connection, in brief, is this that a creative work, if it is a creative work, must have some charm, something to attract, and must be of lasting significance and universal appeal.

In the contemporary world of Hindi Laghukatha there are certainly some personalities who are devotedly dedicated to the enrichment and uplift of Laghukatha. They have the necessary artistic sense and creative urge. They have deep insight and deep capacity to feel and think. They have acquired a mastery over language owing to their long and continuous struggle with words, they have developed a suitable form, style and technique for the compact and inevitable expression of their thoughts and feelings, their impressions and experiences, their visions and realisations. In fact all literature is rooted in life, draws its sustenance and nourishment from life and the deeper the roots of the writer, the greater the success . A creative writer must swim in the stream of life, must plunge in the flow of life, must taste life, must participate in it and the greater the writer's participation, involvement and identification with life, the greater his success and achievement .

I feel no compunction or hesitation in saying that Sukesh Sahani is one of the few personalities which have attracted me by their genuine creative urge and inspiration, by their full-ripened artistic sense and sensibility in the modern Hindi Laghukatha world. So I read his Laghukathayen with great taste and avidity, with great zeal and gusto. He has almost always been a perfect satisfaction to me, seldom or never has he been a total or dismal disappointment, invariably retaining and preserving same redeeming feature, same saving grace, same silver linings. Mr Sahni, I have often found is a very conscious and responsible creative writer and seldom gives anybody any cause or any occasion to find fault with or to point out an accusing finger at his creative work. He takes all necessary trouble and in fact spares no pains to make his work artistically satisfying, creatively enjoyable, flaw-less and faultless as far as humanly possible and practicable in this rather much too challenging field of Laghukatha.

I have been told and my own impression has been deepened and confirmed that Sukesh is no mean writer of half a dozen novels and quite a few dozen short stories some of them much talked-about, much - discussed and appreciated in the established literary circles. Looking at the vitality, variety and richness of these writings one can easily surmise that he could have definitely done better in these fields, and earned name and fame, recognition and reward the easier way but he deliberately and quite consciously chose the more difficult path for himself, he opted for himself a new and challenging medium. In Laghukatha world where scope for exploitation and enterprise, adventure and experiment is enormous but where possibility of recognition is very thin and chances of success, quite meagre . This shows his mettle - the stuff of which he is made, this indubitably displays his spirit of adventure, conducively exhibits his rather total commitment to this little-known, little-recognised and the least appreciated form of literary writings .

Sukesh Sahni is one of the few talented band of writers who seem to have dedicated themselves completely to the emerging and evolving and as yet controversy-ridden literary form known as Laghukatha. He has made this particular and distinguished, this difficult and challenging form the principal or main medium of his creative expression. Thank God, he is endowed with ample creative energy and a rich store of varied and variegated experiences. His own experiences of life, gleaned and gathered direct and first hand, from the field of life give him authentic and abundant raw-material for his creative writings - the urge and inspiration coming from his inner artistic perception, his inner aesthetic sensibility without which no genuine work of art is possible .

Since the range of Sukesh's experience is sufficiently wide and he is intensely alive and abundantly receptive, his world of creative writing presents a multi - coloured spectacle. It invariably appeals and attracts, invites and illuminates, energises and inspires, captures and captivates .

I have the good fortune of reading some two or three dozen Laghukathayen written by Sukesh in Hindi. He writes in Hindi and being a scientist and having a scientific education and training and also following a scientific vocation. We wonder how he manages to keep his innate artistic sense intact, how he manages to keep his creative urge youthful, fresh and vigorous, how he manages to sharpen his sensibility and to master the tools of his creative expression, it is nothing short of a miracle, it is something like maintaining a subtle balance, a subtle harmony between opposing pulls and pressures between conflicting techniques and tempers.

A good and genuine creative writer does not belong to any particular caste or religion, any particular state or region, any particular language or nationality. He rises above all these demarcations and distinctions, rises above all bounds and boundaries, all labels and all 'isms'. His home is entirely humanity, the whole world, the whole universe is his play-ground, his field of activity, his laboratory. The themes and the treatment of Sukesh Sahni's Laghukathayen entitle him to a place among genuine creative writers. His works, though products of his own age and environment, contain meaning and message, value and significance for all ages, for all lands, and herein lies the sweet and secret success of art - its timeless appeal and ageless splendours. 

Quite recently, I had the good fortune of going through some Laghukathayen of Sahni originally written in Hindi but rendered into English by Mr. D.D. Sharma of Lucknow. This is for the first time that I had the pleasurable occasion to go through the English translation of his selected Laghukathayen. Since I myself am a teacher of English literature and relish and enjoy it, I have no hesitation in saying that I fully enjoyed this English translation of his self chosen Laghukathayen. I must congratulate the translator, who has done his job wonderfully well with the full sense of responsibility of a translator of creative literature. We all know (and some from our own experiences) how difficult and challenging this job is to translate a creative work from its original language into any other language. It is something nearly impossible and only a few gifted souls can be a proper match for it. Only a person himself blessed with rich artistic and creative sensibility and having complete mastery over two languages can do justice to the original creative writing. So I am fully aware of the dangers and difficulties of a translation of this type and initially I had my own reservations and apprehensions about the complete success of this project, of this venture. But after going through the whole translation work with considerable caution and patience, now I am in a position to announce that this translation work has been of a very high standard. Mr. Sharma has remarkably succeeded in keeping the charm and the colour, the taste and the flavour of the original. While journeying through this rich and splendid land of creative writing, we do not feel that we are traversing some barren area of translation\; we have always the impression that we are enjoying the original in all its freshness and glory, and herein lies the success of the translator. Three cheers to Mr. Sharma for his enviable performance.

Now. a few words about the collection of Sukesh's Laghukathayen, they cover a variety of subjects- they present a variety of moods, situations and glimpses of real life. Every Laghukatha is fresh from the mint of life, fresh from the oven of life. They are all fresh as the pearls of the morning dew, they have the freshness of the dawn. They possess and present a charming and colourful variety of a rich and ripe flower-garden. So each of the collection is a world in itself, a creation in itself, and like a genuine creation, unique and irreplaceable. Sahni, as we come to know from his various writings, seems to possess a deep insight into human life, human working and human psychology. He is a keen observer of men and things, he has a capacity to feel and think, to analyse and co-relate the different strands, he keeps his mind and sensibility open to all impressions - he lets in al kinds of winds. His is not at all a closed mind, his is all embracing, all-encompassing mind, this is why he is seldom seen to repeat himself, seldom does he taste dull or stale, seldom does he look lukewarm or appear uninviting. For him every moment, every mood, every situation, every man, every experience is unique and provides raw material for his creative productivity and last but not the least, he has the requisite capacity and qualification to render all this into artistic works of rare beauty and lasting appeal .

Almost all the Laghukathayen of this collection create a lasting impression on the reader's mind. Some give light and delight, some insight, some enlightenment, some provocation to think and act. Each one of these satisfies some inner hunger of ours, each of them creates an aptitude, a desire and a dream in us. They lengthen our longing life, they nourish our fighting spirit and they people our minds with visions of a better tomorrow, of a nobler and richer life of a more hospitable and habitable world.

The Laghukathayen which impressed me more are,  (1)Vain Quest (2) The Musk Dear (3) Reality (4) Pendulum (5) Descendants of Pluto (6) The Last Halt of the Journey (7) Happy Martyrdom (8) Man-eater (9) Halves and Half-done (10) Disillusionment (11) Imitating (12) Back to Square One (13) Sham (14) The Return (15) False Pride (16) Thirst (17) Sun and Shade (18) Take It easy (19) Devil's Domain (20) The Leeches (21) The Death Scare (22) Craze for Unmerited Credit (23) Gaze (24) Blood (25) Dust (26) Policy Maker (27) Scarcity (28) Scared People (29) Dadaji (30) Conflicting Contexts (31) Beware of the Dog.

His Laghukathayen can be broadly put under several heads - for example,

(1) There are those dealing with social taboos and inhibitions, social systems and customs, rites and rituals, hypocrisy and ostentation.

(2) Then there are those dealing with the growing problems of disintegration of joint family and its time tested ties and harmonies, the decline and dissolution of the emotional warmth in the family and individual relationship, the problems of growing superficiality, increasing hollowness, rising formality in our relationships, all perhaps due to the ever increasing population and economic pressure, perhaps due to the growing materialistic outlook   - the urbanity, sophistication and commercialisation .

(3) Then there are those dealing with the pathetic situation and pitiable plight of the people caused by the top-to-bottom corruption-ridden political and administrative machinery. There are the burning problems  - all-pervasive, all-devouring. We all have to face all kinds of corruptions and criminalities at all levels. Hardly there is any relief or respite, any relaxation or exception at any stage or level. The ever-mounting  wave of corruption and criminality engulfing the entire machinery, is turning all welfaric auspicious slogans into deceptive forces, all good-intentioned policies and programmes into frightening fiascos.

(4) Then there are those dealing with individual human psychology - how the heart and mind of a man, of a genuine and authentic man works under pressures of particular situations. What motives and motivations, what conflicts and confrontations, what cares and consideration, what pulls and pressures, what urges and inspirations invade and assault, bedevil and besiege his mind and how he manages to come out of this vortex with a definite decision, with a definite step and with a definite action - these are very interesting readings and realisations and offer a very rich fertile field for genuine creative writings having permanent value and interest, universal appeal and attraction.

(5) Then there are those dealing with the ever growing and ever gripping problems of pollution - pollutions of all kinds and all natures at all levels and on all fronts - that all-round pollution - pollution of nature, pollution of environment, pollution of atmosphere, pollution of politics, pollution of religion, pollution of ideas and ideologies, pollution of historical places and places of worship and pilgrimage.

(6) Then there are those dealing with the individual soul's thirst for peace, for happiness, for harmony, the individual's thirst for deeper truths of life, the individual soul's yearnings for deeper and richer experiences and realisations of life, his untiring efforts for solving the mysteries of life and universe, of the creator and the creation. There are the eternal thirsts and hungers of humanity - universal and eternal humanity - these are the themes that relate Mr. Sahni to religion, philosophy and spiritualism- a really difficult territory for an average man, for an average writer - but Mr. Sahni, we are happy to note, is neither an average man nor an average writer. He is much beyond that and that makes him, capable of tackling all kinds of situations with a rare confidence proving that his range of experiences and relations is much wider and deeper - his grip stronger, his roots firmer.

In Mr. Sahni's word of creation there is 'God's plenty'. Sukesh's world of creation is all-inclusive, all-embracing, all-encompassing; here nothing is excluded or expelled. Here all is welcome, all is received with warmth and feeling, all is given a VIP treatment.  Here every visitor is सवर्ण and ब्राह्मण, here none is अवर्ण  or  अवर्ण्य, none is untouchable. So the dish and dinner he offers comprise and contain all kinds of रस, all kinds of व्यंजन (delicacies). He offers a variety of dishes, a variety of delicacies, each item, each delicacy fully justifying its presentation, giving full satisfaction to the रसिक  and रसज्ञ .