Exquisitely craftedPage 4 Mithi Mithi Dogri Bolde n...
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Suman K Sharma Mithi Mithi Dogri Bolde n Dogre…goes a popular Dogri song. But meet any tiny-tot or her elders in Jammu and chances are that they will respond to your Dogri in Hindi or English. The borrowed lan- guages are not always spoken correctly, as Himmat – my host’s three year old daughter – demonstrated when pointing out to the new 40-inch TV her father had purchased, ‘Yeh TV hum ka hai.’ That the child did not know when not to use the possessive adjunct ka did not seem to bother her parents who stood smil- ing proudly beside her. Their daughter was speak- ing Hindi after all. Strange too is the penchant of the Matador drivers for mind- lessly drumming Punjabi songs into the ears of already harried passengers. If drivers indeed wished to share their taste for music with their passengers, what is the wrong with Dogri songs? But perhaps Dogri music CDs are not as freely avail- able in the market as are Punjabi or Bollywood songs. It is a Catch-22 situation. Matador drivers can’t play Dogri songs because there are only so few Dogri CDs to be had; Dogri music CDs are scarce since there are hardly any takers for them. Or take Dogri books. Prof Lalit Magotra, Convenor of Dogri at the Sahitya Akademy, New Delhi, who is himself an author of over a dozen books in Dogri, asserts, not without a touch of pride, ‘Prior to 1940s, you could literally count the number of Dogri books published on the fingers of your hand ….’ Seven- ty years later, we see ‘an exponential increase in the number of books being published in the language.’ There is abundant truth in what Prof Magotra claims. To cite just one instance, we have Inderjeet Kesar, 75, who has been publishing a Dogri book almost every year, ever since he retired from Kashmir Admin- istrative Service in 1998. Today he has six novels (including one in press), one collection each of short stories and essays and eleven anthologies of poetry to his credit. Keser says pub- lication of each book costs some thirty thousand rupees. The flip side of the story however, in the words of Janak Khajuria, a theatre personality and activist of Jammu, is that the authors and poets themselves have to bear the cost of publication of their books, and then – which is the most aggravating part – expend some more money and energy to organise a public func- tion, only to distribute their works free of cost to the audience. Films do better, but only that much. Shiv Dutt’s Lakeer set a record of sorts by remaining in circulation well over a year. But perhaps citing Lakeer in the present context won’t be apt. First, it was a Pothowari film rather than a Dogri one. Second, being digitalised, it did not require the paraphernalia of a big cinema hall to be screened. Last, but not the least, the film could never have reached the remotest places where it did, but for Shiv Dutt’s own commitment, market tactics, resourceful- ness and E-N-E-R-G-Y (all in capital letters!). In contrast, recent Dogri films such as Maan Nayeen Mildi proved damp squibs. Kunwar Ishan Singh, 27, post-production creative head, tele-serial Begu Sarai asks pointedly: ‘In Jammu, the highest ticket to a cinema show goes for Rs 120. With such returns, what financier or producer would think of sinking the kind of big money into production of a Dogri film to match a glitzy Bollywood film?’ No wonder that even Shiv Dutt has yet to show the courage to produce a full length Dogri feature film. Nevertheless, it seems Dogri is going places. On 28 Novem- ber, 2015, as a part of a three-day event held under the auspices of Samanvay Indian Languages Festival and the IGNOU School of Translation Studies, Prof Lalit Magotra recited three of his poems before a select gathering of academics and scholars from all over India. The venue was India Habitat Centre, New Del- hi. It was heartening to see Dogri poems being spontaneously translated into Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Telegu and even French (yes, French!) by young scholars. This writer had also had the privilege to recite his rendition of those poems into Eng- lish and engage in a discussion with Prof Magotra on them. Later that day, the lilting tones of Dogri music held every- one spell-bound when young and unassuming Promila Man- has sang snippets from a variety of folksongs while reading her comprehensive paper on Dogri Folk Music. What gave her exhilarating presentation a particular significance is that Jam- mu-based Manhas is primarily a school lecturer in Botany in direct contact with Jammu’s Gen X. Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Lan- guages is also exerting itself to promote Dogri, particularly to conserve the aspects of the folklore which face extinction. Dr Arvinder Singh Amn, Academy’s suave Additional Secretary, said that on the literary side, the bi-monthly Shiraza is brought out regularly and the Academy is also bringing out books on the lives of illustrious personalities. For propagation of culture, Jammu province has been divided into four zones. With col- leges as the focal points, mushairas and ‘folk-melas’ are regu- larly organised to give voice to young talent. Performances of Phumaniyan, Masaade and Jadiyan et cetera are regularly organised. The Academy video-graphed 650 such events which were later televised by DD’s Kashir channel in seven episodes. Dr Amn narrated how Academy went an extra mile to curate Bhagtiyan, a dying theatrical form of Dogras. Today, there is just one Bhagtiyan talib around. The 84-year old doyen and his 80 year old brother were reluctant to give a public perform- ance. Girdhar, the talib’s 40-something son, however allowed himself to be persuaded on their behalf with an incontrovert- ible argument. ‘A drunkard,’ Dr Amn said to the publicity-shy artistes, ‘falls in a gutter because of his overindulgence. He has no shame at all to go to the nearest theka the very next day for a pouch of hooch. You in contrast would be doing your ances- tors proud by rendering an invaluable service to the coming generations in preserving your heritage.’ Happily, the Acade- my went on to organise a Bhagtiyan performance in the talib’s mohalla itself. The Academy’s high point of propagation of Dogra culture was CM’s inauguration of Abhinvav Theatre at Jammu on 6 December. At a glittering ceremony attended by the State finance minister, MOS, Culture and hoi polloi of Jammu, Mufti Mahammed Sayeed declared his commitment to give whole- hearted support to cultural activities in the State, while Finance Minister Drabu assured the audience that there would be no dearth of funds for the purpose. Radio Kashmir, Jammu is doing its own bit to promote Dogri at national level. January, the coming year, Prof Mago- tra has been invited to Nagpur to recite a few of his Dogri poems, to be broadcast at the All India Radio. Hindi rendition of his poems by eminent Dogri/Hindi writer Chhattrapal will also be read alongside, as will be their English version, which this writer has attempted. Of no less significance are the endeavours of Dogri Sanstha and similar organisations to bring Dogri language and culture to the fore. On the Basant Panchami day of the year 1944, in the parikrama of Dawana da Mandar, Dinubhai Pant read his poem Utth Mereya Desa/Hun Lo Hoi Gai (Rise, My Country/It Is Already Dawn). Present on the scene were his friends Prof Ramnath Shastri, N.D. Mishra, Dharamchand Prashant, Bhag- wat Prasad Sathe and a few other like-minded Dogras. It was then that the Sanstha was born. Seventy-one years on, the non- profit organisation has stood by its four-fold manifesto: to develop Dogri language, build up Dogri literature embodying all aspects of Dogra life, conduct and publish research work into the history of Dogras and most important of all, forge links among the disparate sections of Dogra community and secure for them a place of respect among other Indian communities. There is also Duggar Manch, founded in 1976 by an accom- plished poet and theatre personality Mohan Singh and his friends Pritam Katoch, Parveen Kesar and Sham Raina. Dug- gar Manch was purely a literary organisation to start with, but it has since branched out to theatre. Mention may also be made of Dogri Research Institute established by the renowned lin- guist and research scholar Dr Siddheshwar Verma, Dinu Bhai Pant’s Dogra Mandal, Bandralta Sahitya Sabha of Ramnagar and Dattu Sahitya Sabha of Paddu Billawar. Most of these organisations have now been wound up for one reason or the other, but they also have contributed their mite to the further- ance of the Dogri cause. Dr Siddheshwar Verma established in his seminal article, The Place of Dogri in the Languages of India, that Dogri is a distinct language in its own right and not a Punjabi dialect as was mistakenly believed. Today, Dogri finds a place in the VIII Schedule of the Constitution. It is an elec- tive subject at the secondary-school level and taught at post- graduate level in the University of Jammu. Dogri is an option- al subject in the Civil Services Exam. Dogra Art Gallery is a last- ing testimony to the efforts of the Sanstha’s members, Sansar Chand Baru, Vidya Rattan Khajuria and others - who diligent- ly collected, restored and displayed old paintings, sculptures and manuscripts for public viewing. Prof Lalit Magotra, for- mer president of Dogri Sanstha, recalls how Baru, Khajuria and Prof Shastri saved priceless paintings and door panels of the Poonchh House – Raja Moti Singh’s palace – from oblivion. Salvaging the irreplaceable pieces of art from the palace, they installed them in the Dogra Art Gallery for permanent display. Prasar Bharati is on record having mooted a proposal to meet a long standing demand of Jammu’s Doordarshan Approved Drama Artistes Association (DAADA) to convert DDK Jammu on satellite mode with a 24x7 hours channel. An official letter dated 1 January, 2015, issued by Baiju Chandran, Deputy Director Programme, Dte General Doordarshan, New Delhi indicates that the proposal was submitted for the budg- et requirement well before the issue of the letter. Intriguing- ly, however, nothing appears to have happened on ground even after the lapse of a year. Now to the issue at hand: when everyone - from Chief Min- ister of the State to the region’s opinion makers - seems to be so keen on promoting Dogri art, culture and language, why don’t we hear much Dogri in Jammu? Doordarshan’s dilly- dally approach to the implementation of its own decision is one clue. One may also cite the faux pax committed by overzeal- ous functionaries at the inauguration ceremony of 6 December attended by CM and other dignitaries. As the guests started pouring in at nine in the morning, it was heartening to see that the first half a dozen rows of Abhinav Theatre were occupied by boys – dressed up in their school uniforms - beaming with anticipatory joy. But as the time approached for the ceremo- ny to begin, the boys were unceremoniously asked to vacate their seats for some important looking personages who start- ed pouring in. The truth came out bit by bit. The boys had been brought all the way from Miran Sahib Higher Secondary School to keep the seats occupied till the VIP invitees arrived. The young faces looked embarrassed as they quietly walked away, perhaps to the gallery. Where was the need to use adolescent boys as disposable fillers when plain paper inscribed ‘RESERVED’ could have served the purpose? To the boys, the insensitive action conveyed that they were incidental to the function which was actually meant for people in high positions; to the ordinary people present inside the theatre it said the authorities did not trust them to be cultured enough to let the reserved seats lie for special invitees. In both the instances involving Prasar Bharati at New Delhi and the State Cultural Department/Cutural Academy, there is a fatal hiatus between the declared intent and its implementation. Government alone is not responsible for this sort of affairs. Says Aditya Samnotra, 25, an engineering graduate and a Civil Services aspirant, ‘Our parents force us to learn English in pref- erence to the mother tongue. I think it is a hangover from the British Raj days. Have not countries like Germany, China and Russia done without English? The utility of learning provincial languages such as Dogri is itself questionable. And then the material in Dogri is so scarce on the internet.’ Samnotra has a point. We live in a Utilitarian world and Dogri ranks at the bot- tom of the four-tier hierarchy of languages, the other three being Punjabi, Hindi and English in the order of ascendance. Dogri Sanstha has taken an important step to outreach chil- dren. With the patronage of Governor N.N. Vohra and finan- cial help of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, the Sanstha has brought out a series of Dogri literary works translated into Hindi and English. Of special mention are the seven comic books in Dogri which Sanstha has published for children. While six of these comic books have been published in collab- oration with Amar Chitra Katha, one, Baba Jitto is the first original Dogri comics brought out by the joint efforts of Board and Dogri Sanstha - a historical event in that it connects Dogra children directly with a rousing tale of a son of soil. Language connects. When a mother coos joyously to her new-born in her own tongue and the infant smiles back at her, a lasting bond is created between the two, a bond that tran- scends all worldly considerations of utility. But mothers today begin addressing their children in the borrowed languages like English or Hindi from day one, weakening the first link of the bond. Later in life, the children would blame them for not incul- cating in them the love for their mother tongue. But little do the parents care. A couple of generations ago, the Dogri-speaking men were called ‘pandi’ (men who carry loads on their heads) and ‘mundu’ (menials) behind their backs. Perhaps, there is still a trace of shame in speaking the language in the sub conscious of Dogras. It is time for the parents consciously to rid ourselves of that shame and take pride in Dogri. Not for nothing did Indira Gandhi strictly follow a rule in her immediate family – inside the house the members shall speak in Hindi and nothing but Hindi. Could not we emulate that resolute woman who despite her flaws contributed to make India what it is today? As Pad- ma Sachdev puts it evocatively – Nikke phangdu, uchchi udaan Jaiye thammna kiyan shaman Chananiyan galein kiyan laaniyan… Tiny are the wings, flight is high How shall I sore to the sky How shall I hug the moon. A tall order it is for the Dogras. But they have to strive to achieve it. Prof Neeraj Dubey Udhampur is an important district which was one of the largest district of the state before bifurcation of its territory which led to a separate district of Doda. Udhampur district is important not only because of the location of the Headquar- ter of Army Northern Command, but also because of no. of Tourist and Pilgrim centre. Udhampur town is the headquar- ters of this district. Patnitop and Sudh Mahadev are also tourist places. Major attractions in Udhampur city include Gole Market, Devika Ghats, Jakahni Park, Ramnagar chowk (Pandav mandir), Salain Talab, and the Main Bazar. HISTORY: - Udhampur had been named after Raja Udham Singh, the eldest son of Maharaja Gulab Singh, the founder of Dogra rule in J&K. The town is said to have been built in place of dense forests to which Udham Singh occa- sionally went on hunting trips. He developed great love for the spot and chose it as site for a township. Udhampur - the fifth largest district of the state is situated in the southern part of J&K State. The district lies between 32 degrees - 34 min- utes to 39 degrees - 30 minutes north latitude and 74 degrees - 16 minutes to 75 degrees - 38 minutes east longitude. The district having an area of around 3000 sq. kms. Due to alti- tudinal variation ranging from 600 meters to 2000 meters, there is wide variation in temperature in different parts of the district. The temp. rises sometimes as high as 42- degrees cel- sius a very seldom goes below 1.5 degrees Celsius in low alti- tude areas. May, June, July are the hottest months, while December, January, February are the coldest months. CULTURE:- The culture of this area is PAHARI which resembles the culture of other areas of Duggardesh. The oth- er part of the district has Dogra culture. Dogri is the main lan- guage spoken by the people of the district. The Dogri spoken here is known for its sweetness in tone. Their main language is DOGRI/PAHARI. The language is the rural and hilly areas has maintained its native purity, accent and sweetness. Gojri is also spoken by the Gujjar Community settled here and there. However, Dogri is main language spoken in the dis- trict. The district is culturally an integrated part of Jammu region and all important religious fairs like Lohri, Maha Shiv- ratri, Id-ul-Fitr, Holi,Ramnavmi, Baisakhi, Basant-pancha- mi, Martyr's day of Guru Arjun Dev, Raksha Bandhan, Janam Ashtami, Mahanavami, Dussehra, Diwali, id-ul-zuha, Guru Ravi Dass's b'day, Mahatama Gandhi's b'day Guru Govind Singh's b'day, Chacha Nehru's birthday. Above all, the Inde- pendence Day & Republic Day are celebrated with great enthusiasm. Holy Navratras also provide special occasion for worship and pilgrimage to holy places culminating into small to big fairs. The Dogras of Udhampur are stout people with a tradition of culture and chivalry going back to the hoary past. Their contribution to the cultural heritage of India is Price- less. The dialects of the area are Dogri, Pahari and Gojri. The folk dances are Kud , Yatars and Bhangara. Kud dance is based on traditional dogri folk and performed mainly in Panchari and Dudu-Basantgarh. The folk songs of the district are Lok Geet, Bhakha etc. Bhakha are certain songs sung independ- ent of musical instruments. The Sudh-Mahadev , Krimchi , Panchari , Mantalai , Kud , Patnitop are the important attrac- tions of the district. Sudh-Mahadev :- It is situated at distance of 42kms from Udhampur. During the time when Lord Shi- va married Parvati , the daughter of Raja of Himachal at this place, there lived a cruel person named Sudeva who was a extortionist and used to put the people of this area to great miseries. Mahadeva put him to his doom. In this way after the name of Sudeva and Mahadeva, the place became famous as Sud-Mahadev. Every year , pilgrims in thousands from in and around Jammu province pay their obeisance to Mahade- va at this place on the occasion of Jeshta-Purnima. Holy Devak originates from here. It is called Gupt-Ganga. In the south west of Sudhmahadev there is Gouri-Kund spring named after real name "Gouri" or Parvati Devi. Krimchi :- A small village situated at a distance of 10 kms from Udhampur. It is famous for old ancient temple called Pandavas temple. Ramnagar :- It is a hilly area and a largest Tehsil of dis- trict Udhampur , which is famous for its ancient temples , Forts and Palaces, namely called Sheesh Mahal. Panchari :- A small village situated at a distance of 37 kms in the North West side of Udhampur. It is Famous for natural charm , hilly spots , lush green and good climatic con- ditions. It is also called Mini-Patnitop. Importance of River Devak :- The holy Devika River flows through the Udhampur town which is famous for its spiritual and sacred values. This riv- er has got a great importance & spiritual significance like Gan- ga especially for the people of Hindu's and Sikhs communi- ty, which after performing the last rites of human body on the bank of river Devika immersed their ashes in the devika riv- er. It is seen that the ashes gets disappeared very soon after immersing. In the end , it is worthwhile to mentioned here the five nat- ural characteristics by which Udhampur town is famous for :- Hawa(Air) , Badh(Pipal) , Bakhay(Gossips) , Bhodi(tree) & Bhayian( Natural Spring ). The author like to conclude this article by these sweet lines, "Udhampuray Dey Sharay Di - Tuseygi Gal Suna - Jeethey Char Pasey Rounsali Tarah - Jeethey Far Far Chuldi Hawa." (The author is Sr Faculty - GCET Jammu ) SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2015 INTERNET EDITION : www.dailyexcelsior.com/magazine Exquisitely crafted.........Page 4 You can make a ........Page 3 Mithi Mithi Dogri Bolde n Dogre... Time to explore Udhampur
Transcript of Exquisitely craftedPage 4 Mithi Mithi Dogri Bolde n...
Suman K Sharma
Mithi Mithi Dogri Bolde n Dogre…goes a popularDogri song. But meet any tiny-tot or her elders inJammu and chances are that they will respond toyour Dogri in Hindi or English. The borrowed lan-guages are not always spoken correctly, as Himmat– my host’s three year old daughter – demonstratedwhen pointing out to the new 40-inch TV her fatherhad purchased, ‘Yeh TV hum ka hai.’ That the childdid not know when not to use the possessive adjunctka did not seem to bother her parents who stood smil-ing proudly beside her. Their daughter was speak-ing Hindi after all.
Strange too is the penchant of the Matador drivers for mind-lessly drumming Punjabi songs into the ears of already harriedpassengers. If drivers indeed wished to share their taste formusic with their passengers, what is the wrong with Dogrisongs? But perhaps Dogri music CDs are not as freely avail-able in the market as are Punjabi or Bollywood songs. It is aCatch-22 situation. Matador drivers can’t play Dogri songsbecause there are only so few Dogri CDs to be had; Dogri musicCDs are scarce since there are hardly any takers for them.
Or take Dogri books. Prof Lalit Magotra, Convenor of Dogriat the Sahitya Akademy, New Delhi, who is himself an authorof over a dozen books in Dogri, asserts, not without a touch ofpride, ‘Prior to 1940s, you could literally count the number ofDogri books published on the fingers of your hand ….’ Seven-ty years later, we see ‘an exponential increase in the number ofbooks being published in the language.’ There is abundant truthin what Prof Magotra claims. To cite just one instance, we haveInderjeet Kesar, 75, who has been publishing a Dogri bookalmost every year, ever since he retired from Kashmir Admin-istrative Service in 1998. Today he has six novels (includingone in press), one collection each of short stories and essaysand eleven anthologies of poetry to his credit. Keser says pub-lication of each book costs some thirty thousand rupees. Theflip side of the story however, in the words of Janak Khajuria,a theatre personality and activist of Jammu, is that the authorsand poets themselves have to bear the cost of publication oftheir books, and then – which is the most aggravating part –expend some more money and energy to organise a public func-tion, only to distribute their works free of cost to the audience.
Films do better, but only that much. Shiv Dutt’s Lakeer seta record of sorts by remaining in circulation well over a year.But perhaps citing Lakeer in the present context won’t be apt.First, it was a Pothowari film rather than a Dogri one. Second,being digitalised, it did not require the paraphernalia of a bigcinema hall to be screened. Last, but not the least, the filmcould never have reached the remotest places where it did, butfor Shiv Dutt’s own commitment, market tactics, resourceful-ness and E-N-E-R-G-Y (all in capital letters!). In contrast,recent Dogri films such as Maan Nayeen Mildi proved dampsquibs. Kunwar Ishan Singh, 27, post-production creativehead, tele-serial Begu Sarai asks pointedly: ‘In Jammu, thehighest ticket to a cinema show goes for Rs 120. With suchreturns, what financier or producer would think of sinking thekind of big money into production of a Dogri film to match aglitzy Bollywood film?’ No wonder that even Shiv Dutt has yetto show the courage to produce a full length Dogri feature film.
Nevertheless, it seems Dogri is going places. On 28 Novem-ber, 2015, as a part of a three-day event held under the auspicesof Samanvay Indian Languages Festival and the IGNOU Schoolof Translation Studies, Prof Lalit Magotra recited three of hispoems before a select gathering of academics and scholars fromall over India. The venue was India Habitat Centre, New Del-hi. It was heartening to see Dogri poems being spontaneouslytranslated into Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Telegu and evenFrench (yes, French!) by young scholars. This writer had alsohad the privilege to recite his rendition of those poems into Eng-lish and engage in a discussion with Prof Magotra on them.
Later that day, the lilting tones of Dogri music held every-one spell-bound when young and unassuming Promila Man-has sang snippets from a variety of folksongs while reading hercomprehensive paper on Dogri Folk Music. What gave her
exhilarating presentation a particular significance is that Jam-mu-based Manhas is primarily a school lecturer in Botany indirect contact with Jammu’s Gen X.
Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Lan-guages is also exerting itself to promote Dogri, particularly toconserve the aspects of the folklore which face extinction. DrArvinder Singh Amn, Academy’s suave Additional Secretary,said that on the literary side, the bi-monthly Shiraza is broughtout regularly and the Academy is also bringing out books onthe lives of illustrious personalities. For propagation of culture,Jammu province has been divided into four zones. With col-leges as the focal points, mushairas and ‘folk-melas’ are regu-larly organised to give voice to young talent. Performances ofPhumaniyan, Masaade and Jadiyan et cetera are regularlyorganised. The Academy video-graphed 650 such events whichwere later televised by DD’s Kashir channel in seven episodes.Dr Amn narrated how Academy went an extra mile to curateBhagtiyan, a dying theatrical form of Dogras. Today, there isjust one Bhagtiyan talib around. The 84-year old doyen andhis 80 year old brother were reluctant to give a public perform-ance. Girdhar, the talib’s 40-something son, however allowedhimself to be persuaded on their behalf with an incontrovert-ible argument. ‘A drunkard,’ Dr Amn said to the publicity-shyartistes, ‘falls in a gutter because of his overindulgence. He hasno shame at all to go to the nearest theka the very next day fora pouch of hooch. You in contrast would be doing your ances-tors proud by rendering an invaluable service to the cominggenerations in preserving your heritage.’ Happily, the Acade-my went on to organise a Bhagtiyan performance in the talib’smohalla itself.
The Academy’s high point of propagation of Dogra culturewas CM’s inauguration of Abhinvav Theatre at Jammu on 6December. At a glittering ceremony attended by the Statefinance minister, MOS, Culture and hoi polloi of Jammu, MuftiMahammed Sayeed declared his commitment to give whole-hearted support to cultural activities in the State, while FinanceMinister Drabu assured the audience that there would be nodearth of funds for the purpose.
Radio Kashmir, Jammu is doing its own bit to promoteDogri at national level. January, the coming year, Prof Mago-tra has been invited to Nagpur to recite a few of his Dogri poems,to be broadcast at the All India Radio. Hindi rendition of hispoems by eminent Dogri/Hindi writer Chhattrapal will also beread alongside, as will be their English version, which thiswriter has attempted.
Of no less significance are the endeavours of Dogri Sansthaand similar organisations to bring Dogri language and cultureto the fore. On the Basant Panchami day of the year 1944, inthe parikrama of Dawana da Mandar, Dinubhai Pant read his
poem Utth Mereya Desa/Hun Lo Hoi Gai (Rise, My Country/ItIs Already Dawn). Present on the scene were his friends ProfRamnath Shastri, N.D. Mishra, Dharamchand Prashant, Bhag-wat Prasad Sathe and a few other like-minded Dogras. It wasthen that the Sanstha was born. Seventy-one years on, the non-profit organisation has stood by its four-fold manifesto: todevelop Dogri language, build up Dogri literature embodyingall aspects of Dogra life, conduct and publish research workinto the history of Dogras and most important of all, forge linksamong the disparate sections of Dogra community and securefor them a place of respect among other Indian communities.
There is also Duggar Manch, founded in 1976 by an accom-plished poet and theatre personality Mohan Singh and hisfriends Pritam Katoch, Parveen Kesar and Sham Raina. Dug-gar Manch was purely a literary organisation to start with, butit has since branched out to theatre. Mention may also be madeof Dogri Research Institute established by the renowned lin-guist and research scholar Dr Siddheshwar Verma, Dinu BhaiPant’s Dogra Mandal, Bandralta Sahitya Sabha of Ramnagarand Dattu Sahitya Sabha of Paddu Billawar. Most of theseorganisations have now been wound up for one reason or theother, but they also have contributed their mite to the further-ance of the Dogri cause. Dr Siddheshwar Verma established inhis seminal article, The Place of Dogri in the Languages ofIndia, that Dogri is a distinct language in its own right and nota Punjabi dialect as was mistakenly believed. Today, Dogri findsa place in the VIII Schedule of the Constitution. It is an elec-tive subject at the secondary-school level and taught at post-graduate level in the University of Jammu. Dogri is an option-al subject in the Civil Services Exam. Dogra Art Gallery is a last-ing testimony to the efforts of the Sanstha’s members, SansarChand Baru, Vidya Rattan Khajuria and others - who diligent-ly collected, restored and displayed old paintings, sculpturesand manuscripts for public viewing. Prof Lalit Magotra, for-mer president of Dogri Sanstha, recalls how Baru, Khajuria andProf Shastri saved priceless paintings and door panels of thePoonchh House – Raja Moti Singh’s palace – from oblivion.Salvaging the irreplaceable pieces of art from the palace, theyinstalled them in the Dogra Art Gallery for permanent display.
Prasar Bharati is on record having mooted a proposal tomeet a long standing demand of Jammu’s DoordarshanApproved Drama Artistes Association (DAADA) to convertDDK Jammu on satellite mode with a 24x7 hours channel. Anofficial letter dated 1 January, 2015, issued by Baiju Chandran,Deputy Director Programme, Dte General Doordarshan, NewDelhi indicates that the proposal was submitted for the budg-et requirement well before the issue of the letter. Intriguing-ly, however, nothing appears to have happened on ground evenafter the lapse of a year.
Now to the issue at hand: when everyone - from Chief Min-ister of the State to the region’s opinion makers - seems to beso keen on promoting Dogri art, culture and language, whydon’t we hear much Dogri in Jammu? Doordarshan’s dilly-dally approach to the implementation of its own decision is oneclue. One may also cite the faux pax committed by overzeal-ous functionaries at the inauguration ceremony of 6 Decemberattended by CM and other dignitaries. As the guests startedpouring in at nine in the morning, it was heartening to see thatthe first half a dozen rows of Abhinav Theatre were occupiedby boys – dressed up in their school uniforms - beaming withanticipatory joy. But as the time approached for the ceremo-ny to begin, the boys were unceremoniously asked to vacatetheir seats for some important looking personages who start-ed pouring in. The truth came out bit by bit. The boys had beenbrought all the way from Miran Sahib Higher Secondary Schoolto keep the seats occupied till the VIP invitees arrived. Theyoung faces looked embarrassed as they quietly walked away,perhaps to the gallery. Where was the need to use adolescentboys as disposable fillers when plain paper inscribed‘RESERVED’ could have served the purpose? To the boys, theinsensitive action conveyed that they were incidental to thefunction which was actually meant for people in high positions;to the ordinary people present inside the theatre it said theauthorities did not trust them to be cultured enough to let thereserved seats lie for special invitees. In both the instancesinvolving Prasar Bharati at New Delhi and the State CulturalDepartment/Cutural Academy, there is a fatal hiatus betweenthe declared intent and its implementation.
Government alone is not responsible for this sort of affairs.Says Aditya Samnotra, 25, an engineering graduate and a CivilServices aspirant, ‘Our parents force us to learn English in pref-erence to the mother tongue. I think it is a hangover from theBritish Raj days. Have not countries like Germany, China andRussia done without English? The utility of learning provinciallanguages such as Dogri is itself questionable. And then thematerial in Dogri is so scarce on the internet.’ Samnotra has apoint. We live in a Utilitarian world and Dogri ranks at the bot-tom of the four-tier hierarchy of languages, the other three beingPunjabi, Hindi and English in the order of ascendance.
Dogri Sanstha has taken an important step to outreach chil-dren. With the patronage of Governor N.N. Vohra and finan-cial help of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, the Sansthahas brought out a series of Dogri literary works translated intoHindi and English. Of special mention are the seven comicbooks in Dogri which Sanstha has published for children.While six of these comic books have been published in collab-oration with Amar Chitra Katha, one, Baba Jitto is the firstoriginal Dogri comics brought out by the joint efforts of Boardand Dogri Sanstha - a historical event in that it connects Dograchildren directly with a rousing tale of a son of soil.
Language connects. When a mother coos joyously to hernew-born in her own tongue and the infant smiles back at her,a lasting bond is created between the two, a bond that tran-scends all worldly considerations of utility. But mothers todaybegin addressing their children in the borrowed languages likeEnglish or Hindi from day one, weakening the first link of thebond. Later in life, the children would blame them for not incul-cating in them the love for their mother tongue. But little dothe parents care.
A couple of generations ago, the Dogri-speaking men werecalled ‘pandi’(men who carry loads on their heads) and ‘mundu’(menials) behind their backs. Perhaps, there is still a trace ofshame in speaking the language in the sub conscious of Dogras.It is time for the parents consciously to rid ourselves of thatshame and take pride in Dogri. Not for nothing did IndiraGandhi strictly follow a rule in her immediate family – insidethe house the members shall speak in Hindi and nothing butHindi. Could not we emulate that resolute woman who despiteher flaws contributed to make India what it is today? As Pad-ma Sachdev puts it evocatively –
Nikke phangdu, uchchi udaanJaiye thammna kiyan shamanChananiyan galein kiyan laaniyan…Tiny are the wings, flight is highHow shall I sore to the skyHow shall I hug the moon.A tall order it is for the Dogras. But they have to strive to
achieve it.
Prof Neeraj Dubey
Udhampur is an important district which was one of thelargest district of the state before bifurcation of its territorywhich led to a separate district of Doda. Udhampur districtis important not only because of the location of the Headquar-ter of Army Northern Command, but also because of no. ofTourist and Pilgrim centre. Udhampur town is the headquar-ters of this district. Patnitop and Sudh Mahadev are alsotourist places. Major attractions in Udhampur city includeGole Market, Devika Ghats, Jakahni Park, Ramnagar chowk(Pandav mandir), Salain Talab, and the Main Bazar.
HISTORY: - Udhampur had been named after RajaUdham Singh, the eldest son of Maharaja Gulab Singh, thefounder of Dogra rule in J&K. The town is said to have beenbuilt in place of dense forests to which Udham Singh occa-sionally went on hunting trips. He developed great love forthe spot and chose it as site for a township. Udhampur - thefifth largest district of the state is situated in the southern partof J&K State. The district lies between 32 degrees - 34 min-utes to 39 degrees - 30 minutes north latitude and 74 degrees- 16 minutes to 75 degrees - 38 minutes east longitude. Thedistrict having an area of around 3000 sq. kms. Due to alti-tudinal variation ranging from 600 meters to 2000 meters,there is wide variation in temperature in different parts of thedistrict. The temp. rises sometimes as high as 42- degrees cel-sius a very seldom goes below 1.5 degrees Celsius in low alti-tude areas. May, June, July are the hottest months, whileDecember, January, February are the coldest months.
CULTURE:- The culture of this area is PAHARI whichresembles the culture of other areas of Duggardesh. The oth-er part of the district has Dogra culture. Dogri is the main lan-guage spoken by the people of the district. The Dogri spokenhere is known for its sweetness in tone. Their main languageis DOGRI/PAHARI. The language is the rural and hilly areashas maintained its native purity, accent and sweetness. Gojriis also spoken by the Gujjar Community settled here andthere. However, Dogri is main language spoken in the dis-
trict. The district is culturally an integrated part of Jammuregion and all important religious fairs like Lohri, Maha Shiv-ratri, Id-ul-Fitr, Holi,Ramnavmi, Baisakhi, Basant-pancha-mi, Martyr's day of Guru Arjun Dev, Raksha Bandhan, JanamAshtami, Mahanavami, Dussehra, Diwali, id-ul-zuha, GuruRavi Dass's b'day, Mahatama Gandhi's b'day Guru GovindSingh's b'day, Chacha Nehru's birthday. Above all, the Inde-pendence Day & Republic Day are celebrated with greatenthusiasm. Holy Navratras also provide special occasion forworship and pilgrimage to holy places culminating into smallto big fairs. The Dogras of Udhampur are stout people with a
tradition of culture and chivalry going back to the hoary past.Their contribution to the cultural heritage of India is Price-less. The dialects of the area are Dogri, Pahari and Gojri. Thefolk dances are Kud , Yatars and Bhangara. Kud dance is basedon traditional dogri folk and performed mainly in Panchariand Dudu-Basantgarh. The folk songs of the district are LokGeet, Bhakha etc. Bhakha are certain songs sung independ-ent of musical instruments. The Sudh-Mahadev , Krimchi ,Panchari , Mantalai , Kud , Patnitop are the important attrac-tions of the district. Sudh-Mahadev :- It is situated at distanceof 42kms from Udhampur. During the time when Lord Shi-
va married Parvati , the daughter of Raja of Himachal at thisplace, there lived a cruel person named Sudeva who was aextortionist and used to put the people of this area to greatmiseries. Mahadeva put him to his doom. In this way afterthe name of Sudeva and Mahadeva, the place became famousas Sud-Mahadev. Every year , pilgrims in thousands from inand around Jammu province pay their obeisance to Mahade-va at this place on the occasion of Jeshta-Purnima. HolyDevak originates from here. It is called Gupt-Ganga. In thesouth west of Sudhmahadev there is Gouri-Kund springnamed after real name "Gouri" or Parvati Devi.
Krimchi :- A small village situated at a distance of 10 kmsfrom Udhampur. It is famous for old ancient temple calledPandavas temple.
Ramnagar :- It is a hilly area and a largest Tehsil of dis-trict Udhampur , which is famous for its ancient temples ,Forts and Palaces, namely called Sheesh Mahal.
Panchari :- A small village situated at a distance of 37kms in the North West side of Udhampur. It is Famous fornatural charm , hilly spots , lush green and good climatic con-ditions. It is also called Mini-Patnitop.
Importance of River Devak :-The holy Devika River flows through the Udhampur town
which is famous for its spiritual and sacred values. This riv-er has got a great importance & spiritual significance like Gan-ga especially for the people of Hindu's and Sikhs communi-ty, which after performing the last rites of human body on thebank of river Devika immersed their ashes in the devika riv-er. It is seen that the ashes gets disappeared very soon afterimmersing.
In the end , it is worthwhile to mentioned here the five nat-ural characteristics by which Udhampur town is famous for:- Hawa(Air) , Badh(Pipal) , Bakhay(Gossips) , Bhodi(tree) &Bhayian( Natural Spring ). The author like to conclude thisarticle by these sweet lines, "Udhampuray Dey Sharay Di -Tuseygi Gal Suna - Jeethey Char Pasey Rounsali Tarah -Jeethey Far Far Chuldi Hawa."
(The author is Sr Faculty - GCET Jammu )
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2015 INTERNET EDITION : www.dailyexcelsior.com/magazineExquisitely crafted..................PPaaggee 44 You can make a ........Page 3
Mithi Mithi Dogri Bolde n Dogre...
Time to explore Udhampur
