" Saat Phero Se Dhokha" Hindi Novel written by Kamlesh ChauhanReviwed by M S Verma

Saat pheron se dhokha: A Review

Fiction is for entertainment but according to a definition of Sahitya in Hindi (or literature in English) good fiction should also have some message to convey, some purpose for the good of humanity, for it is hard to confine oneself to ‘Art for art’s sake.’ The fact is that ‘Saat Pheron Se Dhokha’ is a novel by a woman, of a woman and for women.’ But of course drawing of such lines to segregate readers is not valid as far as fiction is concerned. The novel deals with the life of Indian brides who are married away to Indian American grooms by the parents of the girls with the fond hope and in most cases firm belief that they were sending the daughters to a world of all happiness and to a world of perpetual spring where flowers bloom round the year. But the moment most of these hapless girls set foot on the foreign soil, their travails begin as happens in the life of Rita, the protagonist of the novel. Kamlesh’s couplet on page 14 of the novel sums up the theme of the novel, “Hum jab bhi roye, jaar jaar roye. Hum jab bhi roye, khud ke saath roye.” (Whenever I wept, it was to weep inconsolably and to weep alone).The newly wed bride hardly finds time to live her dreams on the foreign land when she starts getting glimpses of the type of life that awaits her. The husband who had taken vows to live and die for her, is the first one to give her a cold shoulder and to her horror she finds that the so called true love was just a flimsy flake of snow that melted with the first whiff of foreign air. Rita, the heroin, finds that she doesn’t command the same respect and importance as the other members of Sudhir, her husband’s, family do. She is constantly persecuted by her husband and his family. In desperation she tries to run away from this hell of a life but only to fail. Her romantic encounters with Prakash, Dr. Vimal and Ravi are all failures. By and by her children grow up; find their soul mates and very wisely Rita lets them marry with their lovers. She is by now too tired to struggle any more and manipulates circumstances to have Sudhir by her side at the time of the marriage of the children. Sudhir repents for his miss doings by only mumbling a few clichés and the novel is made to have a precarious happy ending which is much like the silence before another storm breaks. That in brief is the story of the novel.


Rita is a tradition bound beautiful intelligent and educated young Indian girl coming from not a very rich, middle class family. She is married to an NRI, Sudhir, who has ‘chhoti chhoti ankhen, chhota sa kad, dekhne mein jara bhi sundar na thha’ (He had small eyes, was very short of stature and not at all good looking) but he is an engineer in America, making him a very desirable groom for an Indian girl. Rita gives in and marries him much against her inner voice cautioning against it. However, the life Rita is forced to live is pure misery that leaves her with an unquenchable thirst for emotional and physical love. With her husband she is only a sex machine to satisfy his lust. She finds herself a victim of male chauvinism. Throughout the novel Rita is haunted by the idea of her growing age, of being a mother of two children and deprivation of ideal love. It has become a refrain in the novel and an obsession that is very deep rooted. She says to almost everybody she meets, “Mein ladki nahin, aurat hoon, balki maan bhi hoon.” She also seems to be almost regretting unconsciously that she had children who just added to her suffering. The struggle most of the time is between the head and the heart. She is forced to live like an American with Indian mores. She can’t protest to her husband who beats her black and blue like an animal because at the time of her marriage, her parents had gagged, handcuffed and shackled her by telling, “Beti, hamari izzat rakhna. In saat pheron se dhhokha mat karna. (Our dear daughter, please don’t let us be humiliated and disgraced. Do ensure that your marriage vows were genuine, not a ploy.”) These words of her parents clip her wings and she is doomed to drag her existence on the dreary rough ground silently suffering like a bird.


Rita is a pathetic figure who has compromised her life to her cruel fate. She does meekly think of an attempt to free herself but procrastinates like Hamlet, “To do or not to do, that is the question.” Reality and dreams play hide and seek in her life. But, then, Rita has some character traits that are responsible for her predicament. She doesn’t think twice before opening up about her miserable life before even total strangers. No prudence or precaution is shown. She is desperate to find consolation. Occasionally her pain finds expression in poetry. But gagged by the promise she made to her parents, she seems to cling to her shackles, handcuffs and the gag on her mouth. Like a masochist she seems to be enjoying her pain. In desperation she tries to run away from her cruel husband but her attempt was doomed to fail.


She is torn between the demands of the body and the mind. She is bothered by the question of right and wrong and is faced by a moral dilemma whether to fall in love with other men without divorcing her husband is right. She gives in to self pity, “Meri zindagi ke darwajon per charon taraf janziren hain. Mer jeevan ki aazadi ke sabhi raaste band hain.” (All the exits of my life are secured with chains making an escape from this hell impossible.) To a great extent she is herself responsible for this state. Her naivety contributes to this situation. A time comes when she almost loses her identity. Her past constantly affects her present.


Before marriage, her first encounter was with Kanhaya Lal, the teacher. But it was nothing more than a fling of a youthful heart and ends as abruptly as it had started. Later she comes across Prakash, the photographer, Dr. Vimal and Ravi. These male beasts feel as if they had a license to flirt with any woman and are after beauty and find an easy prey in Rita because of her hunger for true love, vanity and naivety. They have nothing but flattery for Rita, knowing well that she would be pleased to hear well of her beauty and talent. They seem to be sharing her concern for her miserable life only as a ploy. Ravi is the worst. He is an expert flirt and an insensitive cheat. In Rita he finds a willing victim and makes good use of every one of her weaknesses. She was warned by her friend but still rushed on into his arms and consequently suffers. Ravi is a very good reader of women’s mind. His two utterances: 1.Samaaj, samaaj, samaaj, pakhandi samaaj and 2. Kya shaadi ka certificate aur mamta, pyaar karne par pahra laga dete hain? (‘Society my foot! It is just hypocrisy personified. ) and (Does a marriage certificate and motherhood prohibit one from falling in love?) just externalized Rita’s unexpressed anguish and the clever flirt succeeds in bringing his victim closer to him with these utterances so that he could pounce on her. He succeeds and not only exploits her physically but also cheats her of her hard earned and much needed money.
Bhanu shares Rita’s character traits minus her naivety. She is an innocent lovable girl, pure, simple and of course beautiful. She finds her match in Dimitry. He is an important character who works to efficiently bring a happy end to not only his marriage with Bhanu, Dhanush and Savera’s but also to Rita and Sudhir’s story and in bringing the family together. The burden of the scheming unscrupulous members of Sudhir’s family are jettisoned and the novel ends as if with the promise ‘that they all lived happily ever after.’

Rita’s personal and social values are shared by her children Dhanush and Bhanu along with Savera and Dimitry. But unintentionally the author has succeeded in taking a dig at women’s fickleness too. One moment Rita or Bhanu would firmly assert not to talk to their lovers but soon this resolution is thrown to winds and they find themselves in the strong arms of their lovers. Except Sudhir and the members of his family there are no villains or vamps in the novel except a one time appearance of Krishan Verma the smuggler. There are minor characters that appear for a short period to give the story line an impetus and coherence. They are like the Indian Sutrdhaar or the backstage announcers

Sudhir is not good looking as mentioned above, yet youthful Rita manages to love him and become the mother of his two children. Later he is described as a butcher, an animal, who behaves like Dr. Jekyll and Hyde, now a repentant lover and the next moment an animal He is insensitive to his wife and his children’s pain and sides with the members of his family who just exploit him. Even in the end he doesn’t gain readers’ sympathy as his promise to be good is just a contrived one.
In the story Kamlesh Chauhan has woven messages to make the novel very purposeful. While the main onus is on the issue of Indian girl’s married to foreigners and their subsequent plight with the conclusion that the Indian American grooms are mismatch for Indian girls, she also advocates women’s education and their freedom to work; the worth of family relations; disintegration of family norms in America; a woman’s dream of a full normal life; the Indian belief in good actions and their fruit and bad actions and their harmful consequences (Karma phal theory). Dimitry says. “Mein karma or Taqdir ki rekha mein yaqeen karta hoon.” (I believe in the principle that none can escape the consequences of one’s actions and can not erase what is written as his destiny.) Kamlesh Chauhan has also poignantly pictured the fractured society of Indian community in America. The attitude to casual sex among Indians in America prompts Rita to retort angrily to Ravi, “Aaj ki kunvari is married and the married one is kunvari.” (Today the virgins enjoy sex till they feel cloyed and married women find sex as a rare commodity to come by.). This one liner is a gem of a dialogue in the novel. However, Kamlesh Chauhan has imparted a picturesque quality to the description of the moments of Rita’s physical intimacy between Sudhir and later with Ravi. In general too, most of the dialogues are short and witty and are very apt and some of them are memorable quotes.
Kamlesh Chauhan has a poetic heart and like the nightingale in Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale, she bursts out in poetry again and again, now a couplet, next a complete touching poem like the one on page-167, which I leave for the reader to read and appreciate.


I have read the author’s first novel “Saat Samunder Paar” and now the current one. I find that Kamlesh Chauhan has taken a very long leap in her progress and from a budding writer she has metamorphosised into an accomplished artist. From Prem Chand

she has moved on to the very intense style of Sharat Chandra Chateree, the famous Bengali writer who happens to be my favorite too. The coherence in the narrative, the

lucidity of diction, the analytical consistent handling of ticklish situations, logical development of the story and characters, steering clear of improbabilities...all touch the heart.

When I read on, I am reminded of the novels of ‘Stream of consciouses by Virginia Wolfe, James Joyce and others. Kamlesh Chauhan’s Rita is an introvert and through flash back of the story, Kamlesh compares her past and present and her pain and regret are enhanced. Pathos occurs. She has very efficiently made use of similes and metaphors with apt comparisons. There is animal imagery. There are symbols too. The absence of the Jai Mala (wedding garland) with Sudhir at the engagement ceremony is very apt reminder of the coming events. Nature makes her contribution in a big way. The moon, the stars, the clouds, birds all contribute to the readability of the novel. The author bursts out into poetic description again and again. Nature adds to the happiness or the sadness of the characters. The half moon and the cloudy sky or the stars and the moon, air etc. make a significant contribution. Kamlesh has also added another dimension by her picturesque descriptions of places of tourist interest in America which are enjoyable like armchair travelogue.

All put together I would say, “Well done Kamlesh Chauhan, well done indeed.”





Prof. M. S. Verma, 16th December, 10

63-B, Sujan Singh Park,

Sonepat-131001 (Haryana) India

Across The Seven Seas : Written by Kamlesh Chauhan Translated by Prof: M S Verma

Prof: M S Verma


Editor, Professor, Translator

From M.S Verma:



A word about why I translated and edited the novel



I came across the novel and casually turned its pages, reading a few lines here or there. But the little sampling I did showed that along with all the realistic ups and downs of human life and predicaments, a purpose was woven into the fabric of the book. Hence I decided to read it leisurely with the seriousness it deserved and still deserves and then there was no stopping. Munshi Prem Chand (early twentieth century) the most respected Indian Hindi and Urdu fiction writer of stories and novels had caught my fancy in my school days and I had read most of his literature much before I graduated. The same was the case with Kamlesh Chauhan’s Saat Samundar Paar. I have read hundreds of novels by American and English authors and had felt that I had had a very good idea of the social and cultural life in those great countries. But it was for the first time for me to read about the Western Society from the perspective of an educated Indian lady of a very refined sensitivity who had observed the western society from very close quarters. Her own life has been, as I came to know later, a part of that society for over a decade. Initially I felt as if I were reading Prem Chand’s Karam Bhoomi or Rang Bhoomi, The celebrated Panjabi writer Amrita Pritam’s writings carry her personal pain in the writings and the readers feel her total emotional involvement in them. Kamlesh Chauhan too has not escaped from this. Her total involvement becomes obvious with the situations and characters especially with that of Sundari and like all great writing, the story sounds as an autographical account. But this impression was soon replaced by the author’s own unique style and the novel achieves objectivity..



The novel tells us very poignantly the story of Sundari, an educated, intelligent, sensitive lady who has imbibed Indian cultural values to the grass roots and struggles in vain to live them in her life. The story begins with the growing up of a girl into a woman; her craving for love that proves to be a mirage for her as the story moves on. A saying goes that ‘The drowning man catches at a straw’. It fully applies to Sundari for every firm catch of her turns out to be a straw and she consistently suffers. The initial blow came when she was married off to the uncle of her lover who had a heart of pure gold. The uncle on the other hand is all guilt through and through. Life of Sundari starts going down the hill as all her hopes and dreams are belied despite her best efforts to make her married life a success and life turns into a mockery. The tragedy becomes all the more painful when her lover Akash again makes an entry into her cursed life. She is forced to ride two horses which she can hardly manage, to function as an ideal housewife and an ardent lover. The author introduces a few moments of transitory but suspenseful relief during which too the reader trembles and is afraid of the next blow that Sundari is bound to receive and he starts sharing the miserable life of Sundari with numerous disastrous compromises in the same way as Sanjay shares the pain of Dhritrashra in the Mahabharta. The trials and tribulations and the misery keep on adding to their dimensions. The suffering is more emotional than the physical. It acquires its frightening starkness with the entry of Sundari’s nemesis, Sheila, an illiterate, crafty, calculating woman, a typical specimen that gives preference to the luxuries of the flesh and blood rather than the spirit. If Sundari’s parents had sent her with her husband with the hope of ensuring her happiness as a married woman, Sheila’s people had sent her to England with the clear object of earning money by hook or by crook and she fully translates their dreams into a grand success. She is so insensitive that right from the first night of her married life in the conjugal bed, she starts planning how to ruin her husband and his people. The contrast between the characters and situations of Sundari and Sheila convey the predicament of most victims of fate and shows the victory of evil over good.



However, there are other characters and events to enhance the readability of the novel. That ‘Crime and criminals prosper but finally meet their ignoble end’ is also conveyed to the reader in the passing.



Kamlesh Chauhan has very lucidly brought out the futility of Indian parents who marry their daughters off with foreigner grooms; mostly NRIs little knowing that they were sending them to suffer a hellish rootless life away from their protective care.



My detailed review, I remember, was published in America earlier. Here it is not my purpose to write another review but just to tell the enlightened readers why I translated and edited this good novel. I requested the author to give her permission to translate it with a little editing here and there and she readily and gladly agreed. The result is in your hands and I am sure the readers will enjoy the novel.



Prof. M. S. Verma,

Department of English,

BMIET, Sonepat, Haryana, 14th October, 2010

India

yehi armaan le kar shabab rafi

Sajda ~~ Khatta Meetha (Full Song) 2010....HQ

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

Duniya Ne Thukraya by Hamsar Hayat Nizami

Hum Do : Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar Ke Dil Abhi Bhara Nahi

Chat With Kamlesh Chauhan The Author : M.S. Verma

My Personal Chat With : Author Kamlesh Chauhan

Prof. M.S.Verma



Q. Ms Kamlesh what is it that convinces you that your book should be reviewed? Why should people be interested in reading your book?


K. I have lived in this beautiful country for …….years and have done my best to keenly observe the culture here. I have particularly noticed the clash of American and Indian culture. Most people in India aspire to migrate to America or to some other western country. The life here as portrayed in Hollywood films or what they have heard about it from NRI's who occasionally visit America and paint very rosy picture of their own life here is mostly misleading. Though human feelings round the globe are similar and akin to each others’, the cultures are miles apart. Any foreigner who comes to America finds another world here and it is almost an uphill task to get adjusted here and assimilated into the western culture. I have attempted to give an idea of the problems the Indians who come here face. This trend is not healthy either for them or for the American society and I have tried to discourage these Indian aspirants to stay back in India and make the most of their life there.



Q. Kamlesh from what you have told me I gather that your main concern in the book has been on the predicament of the migrating Indians. How do you feel the American readers would benefit this book?


K. I wonder if American public has any authentic picture of the NRI’s life as they live here. The younger generation comprising the children born in America has a different perspective of the Indian life and to them India and her culture appear as aliens. I would like to be forgiven for a question that I feel I should ask you as an American. Would you like an American to forget his country and severe roots from the American soil and the countries’ people? Of course the question of loyalty to the country is not involved in our discussion as Indians who have become naturalized citizens of the country are as much loyal as any Native American and are advancing the excellent image of America. There are NRI's who have key posts in many governmental and other organizations. Similarly no American would betray his country’s interests. But I am convinced people in both countries need authentic information so that international understanding and peace could be augmented.


Q. Do you think your book would meet the expectations of the American readers?

K. Yes and also to some extent no. The tastes of reader everywhere differ. I feel thrillers and crime fiction has a large readership and novels on social themes don't have that large readership. But still a big section of the society seeks novels on social themes. Books like the mine would be welcome in libraries and teaching institutions if they are in English. But the NRI's would certainly benefit from the book as the nuances of English or American English are not fully comprehensible to most of them. But there are Native Americans too who know Hindi and would welcome the book.



Q.Kamlesh, do you mean to say that NRI's expect the American media to carry news, reviews etc. about India and activities associated with Indians?

K. Yes I do. Indian papers are not readily available here. In most cases they reach the readers a few days later. Naturally the American papers should include material concerning Indians who reside in America in a sizable number.



Q. Mr….There is a flood of new writers and all want their books to be published, more to earn money than any other concern. They have very poor knowledge of Hindi literature or literature in general. if every book is published, the publisher can't even recover the money he would invest in promoting it. How then do you think Saat Samunder Paar would find readership?


PR. Books are written and rejected outright without even as much as a glance at their title. Books only of known writers are published and advertised for. Once the reading public becomes familiar with their names, every book they publish is sold. But let us not forget that every one was a first timer and fame comes later. Hence it is for the media to come forward and encourage promising works that a message and also afford some hours of relaxation. Saat Samunder Paar is a book with message for the Indians who inspire to migrate to Western countries in treasure hunt dreaming of Utopia and are very soon disillusioned and frustrated. They are given a morphed picture of the life NRIs have in the west as they shy away from confessing their miserable existence there. The book is an eye opener for them.



Q. You mean to say that only the people who intend to migrate would benefit from the book?



PR. Yes and in addition I would like to say that the book deals with a powerful social theme that is of universal interest. It has a web of human relations we find in our day to day life and has a universal appeal. The general public would find this book very interesting. The author has observed life from the perspective of a true Indian who shares the joys and sorrows of the people of Indian origin and would like her compatriots to avoid the pitfalls of western life. The style is so simple and yet it gives a very good picture of the suffering of the women who were victims of circumstances to go to America and were destined to suffer there. Theirs was a journey of no return. Besides certain aspects of literature and art have to be subjectively appreciated and can't exactly be described in words.

Dance of Wounded Tigress in Love --Kamlesh Chauhan C@ Kamlesh Chauhan

Dance of Wounded Tigress in Love
Kamlesh Chauhan

My Soul Care free soul unaware of the world of Love shore

Walking, Dancing, Singing, Chatting silently in small pond

I spoke of tenderness while hiding some disappointments

I spoke of gentles after hiding the harsh reality of providence


I wanted a connection only with my own soul

I was unrevealed, veiled about my heart hole

Hunter came through the crack window of my heart

I was fanatical, find appealing jingle of his love song

Hunter made me his own, drenched in my bone

His love put my body in flame, my heart was in Blaze


I kept him like a rope of pearl, prized gem in my Neck

I danced without feet, couldn’t break the love bond

I was fevered with the intoxication without fault

Truth, Love, Honesty language was in his text


One the Harsh reality of life occurrence called

Their hand in hand joy walks along the pond

Unaware he set his eye on someone else too

I was just his mere joy of his wander heart


I cried, I shouted, I screamed with agony

I was lost in terrible pain ask for mercy

Tears eyes for him was just water salty

I danced all alone with my own agony


All rights reserved in Poetry book " Memoirs Journey" nothing will be allowed to manipulate its contents or changed in any way.

...हम रूठना भूल गये--- लेखक: कमलेश चौहान---2005

सदियों तक तेरी मीठी याद की गुलामी करती रही
तेरी यादो नै बांध के रखा, संगदिल; में उलझी रही

ना जाने कॉलेज के एक बगीचे में खामोश खड़ी थी
तू जाते जाते रुका तेरी चेहरे पर मस्त ख़ुशी सी थी

मेरी जुल्फों को कभी मैकदा और काली घटा कहा था
मेरी झुकी नज़रो से मे ना जाने तू क्या खोज रहा था

मै़ने तुमसे नज़ारे भी ना मिलायी बस बुत बनी खड़ी रही
तुम मेरे पास आऐ लेकिन अपनी जुबा ना खोली थी

बरसते भीगते मौसम मे आज भी धुवा उठता है
तरसती आँखों मे आज भी एक नज़ारा बसता है

सदियों तक तेरी याद के सहारे बैठी रही
निगाह दूर तक तेरी राह सदियों देखती रही

खो गए वोह लम्हे रह गया द्शते-जुनू-परवर वहा
ना जाने तू मेरी दुनिया, ना जाने तेरी बसती है कहाँ


all rights reserved @ Kamlesh Chauhan 2009






Written about 6 months ago · Comment ·LikeUnlikeUmesh Bawa Arora, Neeraj हर मौसम आया हर मौसम गया
हम भूले ना आज तक कोई बात
हम भूले ना तेरा पियार
दिल ने माना तुम्हे ही दिलदार
तेरा हमारे रूठने पे यह कहना

भल्ला लगता है तेरा मिजाज़ चुलबला
जब हमारा किसी से बात करना
सुना करते थे तुमसे ही तुम्हारे दिल का डरना
हम पूछते थे कियों करते हो हमारे प्रेम पे शक
जवाब था तुम्हारा भरोसा है मुझ पर
नहीं करता मेरे दिल नादाँ पे कोई शक

लेकिन यु आपका हमारे आजाद पंछी दिल को कैद करना
हमारा दिल समझ न सका आपका इस कदर दीवाना होना
जब आई तुम्हारी बारी पराये लोगों से यु खुल कर बात करना
हम सोचते आप भी सीख जायोंगे प्रेम दोस्ती मे अंतर करना
हम खुश होते तुम सीख रहे हो गैरो से दोस्ती करना
हमारे दिल की कदर करोगे क्या होता है समाजिक होना
यह क्या हुआ यह कै़से रुख बदला तुमने अपना

गैरो की बातो मे हकीकत पाई तुमने हमारी वफ़ा भूल गए
मौसम भी कुछ वक़त लेता है बदलने में
सर्दी गर्मी घडी लेती है रुत बदलने में
यह किस कदर रास्ता हमारा भूल गए

इतनी जल्द कियों रंग बदल गया तुम्हारा
नियत ने बदसूरत किया चेहरा तुम्हारा
हम बैठे रहे दहलीज़ पर तेरी इंतजार मे
बिखरा दिये राहो की बेदादगरी ने
जो फूल बिखारे थे मेरे हाथो ने

जब रूठ कर माँगा हमने अपना हक
बरसा दिये तुमने अंगार भरे लफ्ज़
आंखे रोई पर ना सोयी रात भर
तेरी ख़ुशी पे भटका था मेरा सफ़र

वोह नज़र बरस जाती थी हमारी याद में
अब ज़हर है कैसा तुम्हारी उस नज़र मे
वोह तुम ना थे जो आंसू चुराए तन्हाई के
मालूम ना था बरस गया है धुआ कब से

तेरी बेरुखी से यह अशक निलाम हो गये
मेरे अशकों से तेरी यादो के दिये बुझ गये
तुझे क्या पता औ बेवफा अंग है बर्फ मेरे
ना आयुंगी कभी तेरे दर पे बुलाने तुझे

तेरी राहो से अब काफिले दूर हो गये
कौन करे दुवा तेरे मिलने की
हम रूठना भूल गये
Written by: Kamlesh Chauhan copy right 2005
this composition is in form of story and poetry.Please nothing should be exploited or manipulated. allrights reserved .

Khuda ka Paigam Ensaan Ke Naam

खुदा का पैगाम इन्सान के नामShare
Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 4:43pm | Edit Note | Delete
खुदा का पैगाम इन्सान के नाम

लेखक कमलेश चौहान
कॉपीराइट २००८ @ कमलेश चौहान

चाँद को चादनी का तौफा दिया है है उस खुदा ने
सूरज को बनाया दिन का ताज उस ईश्वर ने

इन्सान के लिये बनायीं थी मालिक ने एक ही ज़मीं
जमीं के लिये गिराई इन्सान ने अपनी ज़मीर

मसीहा भी मेरा नाम, अल्लाह भी रखा मेरा नाम
राम रहीम एक है जान, कबीर करीम का है यह पैगाम

मत काटो सर मासूमो के मेरे कश्मीर मे लाकर मेरा नाम
मेरी ही बख्शी ज़मीं पी, मासूमो का मंगाते हो बलिदान

जिहाद तो बनाया था अपने अंदर के कुफर से लड़ना
शत्रंज़ , शराब और मन की बुराईयों से ज़ंग करना

लेकिन अब मै कया कहूँ , कोई मानता नहीं मेरा इमाम
मेरे ही प्यारो ने कर दिया ,मेरा ही नाम बदनाम


यह
ख्याल मै़ने तब लिखा था जब कश्मीर मे हमारे भारती लोगो के घर उजाड़ दिये थे हमारे पडोसी भाईयो ने. दुनिया खामोश रही लेकिन जो हमारे भारती नारियो , बचो और शंतिप्रियाए आदमियों को अपने ही वतन मै जिहाद और आज़ादी के नाम पर नफरत से कतला आम किये गया , भाईयो से बहने बिशद गयी और दुसरो हिसो मे बैठे भारती चुपचाप देखते रहे. आज भी हमारी भारती सरकार विशव मे यह नहीं साबित कर पाई की हमारा भारत धरम के नाम पर अपने देश के टुकडे नहीं कर सकता. धरम यह नहीं सकता किस्सी से बैर करना.

ज़िन्दगी : लेखक - प्रतिबिम्ब बड्थ्वाल

मस्तिष्क के प्रांगण में

प्रतिद्वन्दता कराती जिन्दगी

उठाती - गिराती ज़िन्दगी

जलाती - बुझाती जिन्दगी

बनाती - बिगाड़ती जिन्दगी

रुठती - मनाती जिन्दगी



रुलाती लेकिन हंसाती जिन्दगी

इठलाती लेकिन खेलती जिन्दगी

चुपचाप लेकिन बोलती जिन्दगी

पूछती लेकिन उतर देती जिन्दगी



इन्कार - इकरार करती जिन्दगी

पास – फेल कराती जिन्दगी

मेल – बिछोह कराती जिन्दगी

प्यार – नफरत सिखाती जिन्दगी



हराती लेकिन सिखलाती जिन्दगी

रुकती लेकिन चलती जाती जिन्दगी

ढूँढती लेकिन महकती जिन्दगी

आंसू लाती लेकिन मुस्कराती जिन्दगी

- प्रतिबिम्ब बड्थ्वाल

VALENTINE WITH A DIFFERENT -MY VALENTINE-MY MOTHER LAND -WRITTEN BY: Praveen Khandelwal

VALENTINE WITH A DIFFERENCE
MY VALENTINE – MY MOTHERLAND…

13th Feburary saw terrorist strucking again with a bomb blast in Pune….and on 14th Feburary, the Valentine Day, the citizens in Delhi came out in huge numbers to say ONE INDIA – STRONG INDIA…the message is loud and clear that we will not bow to terrorism and also the love towards our motherland is supreme than any other love.

At a unique and conceptual Valentine Day event called ` My Valentine-My Motherland’ held at premier commercial market of Karol Bagh in New Delhi today, the cross section of people comprising of Traders and professionals like Doctors, Chartered Accountants, Lawyers, Artists, Media persons, Engineers, IT experts etc. joined hands together and made the Motherland as their Valentine and pledge the safety and integrity of India and also to inject love towards Motherland among people of the Country.

The Valentine event was organized by the group One India-Strong India, a group of friends of social networking site Face book in association with the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), an apex body of the trading community of India. They met on the Face book and joined hands under this group after discussing the issue on their community website and pledged to take on the nationalist agenda amongst the people of the Country.

Amidst the reverberating tunes of patriotic songs sung by country fame singer Pankaj Jeswani, the endurance and extraordinary greatness of our national heroes culminated, rich tributes in the form of tri-colored flags and flowers were paid to a tall picture of Bharat Mata showcased at the venue and also remember the great martyrs. The members of the group were offering Indian Tricolor and a rose flower to each passerby in Karol Bagh market urging them to make the Motherland also as their Valentine and reminded them who so ever may be your Valentine but the Motherland is always a Valentine for each Indian.

The scene at Karol Bagh was awesome and with the streets filled with tricolor and the crowd got aroused with the feeling of patriotism. For hours together, the Indian tricolor was in each and every hand in the crowd and danced on tunes of ` Mera Rang De Basanti Chola’.

One can imagine the feeling of a Blind man who driven by highest sense of patriotism kept holding the Tricolor in his hands and sat on his toes for more than two hours on the road just to listen the patriotic songs. The small kids, females not only from the affluent class but even from the poor section were equally enthusiastic about the level of patriotism. There was absolutely no distinction between `have’s’ and ‘ have nots’. The people riding cycles or travelling in luxury cars were enthusiastic enough to hold the Tricolor in their hands with utmost dignity. That speaks the real patriotism which can be witnessed only when your come on streets. Its a feeling which can not be spelled out in words.

It is true that western Valentine Day has made inroads in India in last few years when particularly the younger generation has adopted it as a prime day for depiction of love. Therefore,n the group has made an attempt to generate a feeling of patriotism in love by observing the day in Indian culture for reminding the countrymen that beside any Valentine, the motherland is the natural valentine of each citizen. We can not forget the contributions made by the great martyrs and they all needs to be remembered”

The friends who were present at the event could well understand what really they got from such an event. Thanks to all friends including those who could not make it due to their own reasons and to those friends as well who are sitting miles and miles away from New Delhi yet their good feelings and commitment to the patriotism made the event a well successful. Of course, this event may be held in a small manner but certainly with a big object which stands successful.

Let us join hands friends for patriotic cause in future as well.......Our tributes to those great martyrs who lost their lives in protecting the Country and certainly great regards to their proud families..We bow our heads with humbleness to express our deep and unflinching gratitude towards them and Salute to each one of Indian Forces.......Jai Hind...

सात समुन्दर पार - लेखक कमलेश चौहान . समीक्षा टिल्लन Richairya के कलम से

भाव, भाषा और संप्रेषण के नज़रिये से कृति का प्रवाह काफी सहज है । कृति के सृजन में कृतिकार का मन्तव्य अपना स्पष्ट संदेश व्यक्त करता है ।जिस परिवेश को उपन्यास का विषय चुना गया है उस पर बडी गहरी पैठ का अहसास होता । कई जगह तो ऐसा लगता कि कोई एक ही है जो विविध किरदारों में बोल रहा है । जैसे कोई एक ही है जो कई किरदार जी रहा है । यह कौन हो सकता है सिवा लेखक के ।

दरअसल हर किरदार अपने सर्जक का ' मानस चरित ' होता है । उसके सद-असद को वही जीता है --उसके प्रसव और विसर्जन को वही जीता है --लेखक ने अपने सारे किरदारों को मानस में बखूबी पाला हैं फिर कागज़ पर अवतरित किया है ।

भारतीय संस्कार और विदेशी परिवेश ---अजब-गजब हालात , तरह-तरह के मोड़ कहीं टूटने विवशता तो कहीं सब स्वीकार लेने के ललक --पर अन्दर के टीस के विविध पड़ावों का भरपूर जायजा लिया गया हैं ' सात समन्दर पार ' में ।

सात समन्दर पार …औरतें हों या लड़कियाँ ---विवशता के दर्द भारी गठरी लिये घूमती हैं --होठों पर मुस्कान भले ही हो पर अंतस में अपमान और बेबशी है ।बाबजूद इन सबके ---ये औरतें खालिस हिन्दुस्तानी हैं ।---तन से बेशक मैली पर मन से गंगा धुली ---इन औरतों को सलाम !--- इन औरतों की आत्मा और अंतरात्मा को कलाम की नोक पर जिन्दा रखने वाले कमलेश की कलाम को सलाम !

भाव, भाषा और संप्रेषण के नज़रिये से कृति का प्रवाह काफी सहज है । कृति के सृजन में कृतिकार का मन्तव्य अपना स्पष्ट संदेश व्यक्त करता है ।जिस परिवेश को उपन्यास का विषय चुना गया है उस पर बडी गहरी पैठ का अहसास होता । कई जगह तो ऐसा लगता कि कोई एक ही है जो विविध किरदारों में बोल रहा है । जैसे कोई एक ही है जो कई किरदार जी रहा है । यह कौन हो सकता है सिवा लेखक के ।

दरअसल हर किरदार अपने सर्जक का ' मानस चरित ' होता है । उसके सद-असद को वही जीता है --उसके प्रसव और विसर्जन को वही जीता है --लेखक ने अपने सारे किरदारों को मानस में बखूबी पाला हैं फिर कागज़ पर अवतरित किया है ।

भारतीय संस्कार और विदेशी परिवेश ---अजब-गजब हालात , तरह-तरह के मोड़ कहीं टूटने विवशता तो कहीं सब स्वीकार लेने के ललक --पर अन्दर के टीस के विविध पड़ावों का भरपूर जायजा लिया गया हैं ' सात समन्दर पार ' में ।

सात समन्दर पार …औरतें हों या लड़कियाँ ---विवशता के दर्द भारी गठरी लिये घूमती हैं --होठों पर मुस्कान भले ही हो पर अंतस में अपमान और बेबशी है ।बाबजूद इन सबके ---ये औरतें खालिस हिन्दुस्तानी हैं ।---तन से बेशक मैली पर मन से गंगा धुली ---इन औरतों को सलाम !--- इन औरतों की आत्मा और अंतरात्मा को कलाम की नोक पर जिन्दा रखने वाले कमलेश की कलाम को सलाम !

_टिल्लन रिछारिया / प्रबन्ध सम्पादक : एनसीआर टुडे

Saat Samundar Paar written by Kamlesh Chauhan Reviewed by Prof M.S. Verma India

Saat Samunder Paar by Kamlesh Chauhan

Sundari is uprooted from her Indian background, loses her lover, is married off to the uncle of her lover, much older than her and has been thrown into a whirlpool of quirks of fate. As such a quest for the lost love and compromises permeate the novel. Whether it is in India, America, England or Canada, the protagonist Sundari keeps frantically looking for true love and while she is doing this she goes through trials and tribulations, mental and physical tortures, frustrations and all numerous harrowing experiences through interaction with circumstances, characters, cultural ethos, wrestling with socially acquired do’s and don’ts. But the love she is looking for is illusive except the short period spent with Aakash. “Pyar ki bhook pyar se hi miti hai, baaton se nahin.” And then in the end of the novel she says to Anup, “Is saat samundar paar ki dharti ki bhul bhulayan mein kabhi khone na dena mere pyar ko.” The reader feels as if she has found her love but the insecurity and uncertainty continue. This love is a mirage and life is a maze of compromises. There is little likelihood of quenching of the thirst for love and peace. This gives the reader a feeling as if the novel were autobiographical as it often happens with most artists.

To describe the predicament of Sundari and most other characters I would like to quote from one of my poems, “The finger can’t reach the itch. Life is such a bloody bitch.” The hunger for love is overbearing, love is unrequited; it is a biological hunger; it haunts as physical vs. emotional dilemma. It is love in all its facets. If at one point a loveless marriage forces a lovelorn woman to seek it outside wedlock, at another point attempt is made to trade physical love for emotional love, the genuine love, which is difficult to define and can only be experienced if one has been so lucky. Sundari’s spirit like Tiresias haunts every woman character, so much so that even male characters are not exempt. The woman kind, irrespective of nationality hunger for this love. Kamlesh is boldly vocal for their cause and has hit the mark. One feels shaken at the predicament of the suffering victims.

Love, in various aspects finds expression. Indian hush hush attitude towards matters of sex and love, the question of faithfulness in the Indian context, man and woman relationship going round and round without a defining point, the question of sex before love in Indian and western context etc. all find expression in the novel. There is candid assertion for the freedom of expression of woman’s sexuality. There is juxtaposition of Indian and western perspectives of love but there is no denouement. Sometimes it appears as if diversions away from the main concern were only obstructing the narrator from continuing with the main concern, i.e. love. In this hide and seek game, all men and women suffer one way or the other.

The love of lucre urges the parents of daughters to marry the girls off to NRIs with the belief that the daughters were sure to find heaven in the west little knowing that in fact they were sending them to hell in most cases. They sacrifice the girls’ happiness, disrupt her studies and pack them off as hurriedly as they can. In India restrictions are put on their studies and work. But the fate of Sundari and her ilk awaits them and life keeps bobbing up and down as a rudderless boat does in the sea. In a few cases parents think that marrying their daughters to NRIs is a matter of status and all along the hapless girls are the victims whether they are uneducated like Sheila or educated like Sundari, Nisha or Chandra. The Author has acutely felt the pain of the helpless victims of the foreign culture and their social tensions forcing them to resort to smoking, drinking and using drugs, almost alien to Indian girls. In interpreting this scenario the reference point is always our Indian culture. Almost all Indians face the problem of inability to assimilate themselves into the western culture.

But Kamlesh Chauhan has pointed to the flaws in our culture too. Indian culture has some chronic ailments such as gossiping, backbiting, interfering into others’ affairs, finding fault in others’ daughters so on and so forth. Credulous women are exploited easily and suffer at the hands of the unscrupulous persons. Blood sucking evil pests like Randhawa too chase the Indian girls and their presence adds to their misery. But the introduction of Randhawa has been successfully used by the author to enhance the dramatic tension in the story. His presence creates suspense in the novel and adds to its readability. Then the sufferings of the westernized Indian Community, especially the women, are also highlighted by the author. Divorced wives, emotionally wrecked orphaned children, uprooted families, experiences with step fathers and mothers, all find expression in the story and leave a lasting impression on the readers. Here money seems to be all important and makes the mare go, though not always so. The consequences of this fragmented world naturally lead to communication gap between parents and their offspring.

I had covered about thirty pages of the novel when I was reminded of Prem Chand’s Karam Bhoomi and Rang Bhoomi. The influence of Prem Chand was very clear but then the language did not suit the narrative and the originality of the author’s style took over. It is certain that with the passage of time the language will further evolve. The novel has been an eye opener for me personally. I had never perceived of the life of the NRIs as it really is and it is frightening. I am sure the novel will make parents of sons and daughters think twice before they decide to send their children with rosy dreams. The hardships that wait in the west should not be lost sight of. Kamlesh has done a commendable job not only as a writer with a purpose but also as a teacher for thousands aspirants who intend to go abroad in the search of a life which is Utopian.


Prof. M. S. Verma
11 January, 10