Gokula Nand Kimothi : the bridge between older and newer Garhwali poetries

Critical and Chronological History of Modern Garhwali (Asian) Poetry –-50

                    Literature Historian:  Bhishma Kukreti

           After independence, there have been two types of Garhwali poets. The first type of poets did not leave the legacy of old precedent established by poets around 1850 AD. Late Aditya Ram Doodhphudi was one such poet who even in nineties followed the set pattern of Garhwali poetry in terms of physical format, style, conversation path with readers or audience, subject, writing verses more for moral teaching or we may say that the versifiers of this class were purely idealistic in form and subjects in Garhwali literature. Another class of Garhwali poets emerged after independent, which initiated to doing experiments in many dimension and direction of poetries . These experiment lovers broke all the borders of past pattern of Garhwali poems in terms of form, style, structure, composing scale , symbol, attitude, experiencing symbols of a common man, direct communication representation with the audience, and subject. The know critic of Garhwali poetry Bhagwati Prasad Nautiyal intimates that Abodh Bandhu Augean , Sarvesh Juyal, Kanhaya Lal Dandariyal, Jaya Nand Khuksal ‘BauLya‘, LalamJi’ Giridhari Lal Thapaliyal ‘kankal’, Sher Singh ‘Garhdeshi’ and Jagdish Bahuguna ‘kiran’ will be remembered in Garhwali poetry world for initiating new terms, new formats, variation in subject and characterization, subject of realism and new communication conduit of poetry. Most of the poets of eighties , nineties and this millennium have not only followed the path, which Nautiyal described above but newer generation of poets are more aggressive and do more experiments in all terms of poetry.

Born in 1920 in Kimotha, Pokhari, Chamoli Garhwal, Gokala Nand Kimotha is the bridge between the two classes of Garhwali poets. Gokula Nand Kimotha meets both the ends. Being in army for twenty eight years, Gokula Nand Kimotha ‘s poetries are full of patriotism, idealistic in nature and are with moral building messages, which our poets of pre-independence stressed upon. However, at the same time Kimothi used new symbols, newer subjects emerged because of post-independence in Garhwal. From form , style and aim of teaching point of views, verses of Kimothi seems to be old Garhwali poems of pre-independence but subject, symbols, using fresh emblematic words for direct conversation or communicating with readers attach him to the new generation of Garhwali poets.

Gokula Nnand Kimothi published two books on collection of his Garhwali poetries ‘Garhwali -Gatha’ and Pitaroon Raibar’

As name suggests, Garhwali Gatha has poems of praise worthy characters of Garhwal and Garhwalis . The rhymes of Garhwali Gatha are in the form of folk Garhwali songs and subject.

There are seventeen poems in Pitarun ko Raibar and most of the verses are aimed towards idealistic way of life .

In Binti poem, Kimothi prays to Laxmi the goddess of wealth for enhancing the prosperity and modern facilities in Garhwal that no Garhwali inhabitant requires migration and faces the pain of insult before others :

PaNi, motor bijali di de
Panchun ki di de raj.
Bhair ni jan poD jo ham sani
dekhaN bada bada saab

Fazal poem describes the scene of morning happenings in a Garhwali village and while reading the poem, the reader experiences as if it is the time of morning in his/her village
If Boya ki Jikudi describes the sacrifice of a mother of Garhwali village, Sajj poem takes us showing the reality of breaking relationship , intolerance, fissures in the old customs, Garhwali leaving their own language due to migration from Garhwal and the struggles in the migrated land.

Though, Gokula Nand Kimothi spent twenty seven years in army out of Garhwal he could not adjust himself in so called foreign land (pradesh) and there he remembers Garhwal and Garhwal. The poems Pyaro Garhwal and Teri Yad Man tell us how a migrated Garhwali feels frustrated in migrated land and how he remembers his motherland on and on. pyaro garhwal is also the extension of Garhwali folk song myaro gadhwaL kano bhagyan, kyaLa kulain ka chhan jakh bagwan and teri yad man poetry is annexing poetry tu wheli beera ghasiyaryun ka bhesh man created by Jeet Singh Negi

BaskyaL is the narration of rainy season in Garhwal and the beauty of Garhwal in rainy season. Same way, myaro gaun, byakhun dain poems are also the description of geographical beauty of Garhwal.

The ni hondu naunoo, pitrun raibar, palisi dida, swaanai-khan and uthau bhula haLsingo poems come under idealistic poems and teaches the importance of morals and morality. These poems pay attention on values, humanity, Garhwalism, village-ism and disciplined life.
The poem San 62 ki pukar of Kimothi is a call for all Garhwalis to serve the country and the description of tension generated around Neeti-Mana the Indo-China border villages of India.

Though, Kimothi wrote or published more poems in Hindi than Garhwali poems but Gokula Nand Kimothi got recognition in literary field because of Garhwali verses. Gokula Nand Kimothi will be remembered in Garhwali poetry field for his immense love for beauty of Garhwal, expression of pain of migration, destruction of Garhwali customs due to migration, extending the subject of folk songs and poetic subject of Jeet Singh Negi, creating patriotic poems as of Ram Dhari Singh Dinkar the famous Hindi poet and pathos rapture in remembering Garhwal through his Garhwali poems.

Copyright @ Bhishma Kukreti Mumbai; 2016

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