Gadhwali Poet-३ - Jaya Nand Khuksal ‘BauLya’: the initiator of realism in Garhwali poetry

Gadhwali Poet-3
Jaya Nand Khuksal ‘BauLya’: the initiator of realism in Garhwali poetry
Bhishma Kukreti

(Read L as the L of chhalu, syalu, byali etc , D as in kadu, mod, and DH in paudh, gadhu etc.)

There tens of migrated Garhwali poets who crafted beautiful Garhwali verses about Garhwal and the pain, emptiness of Garhwal because of migration but there are only a couple of Garhwali poets who could create poetry showing the pain, hurting, insults, aloofness, paying struggle, worthless struggle, the burden of two places (in migrated place and in village of Garhwal), the new social community formation where his/her pride is pierced before him/her by the situation or displacement of a common Garhwali migrated to metro or cities of India from lovely Garhwal.

The common and helpless migrated Garhwali has to struggle with many dimensional situations just not for his own survival but for the present family in Garhwal and for building a new golden future for his next generation. At one side, the newly migrated Garhwali has to face the situation of fast adaptation for materialistic growth in the city and other side , he has to keep the burden of rural culture alive and be ready psychologically and physically at all the time for balancing both the burdens. Though most of the modern Garhwali poems were created by migrated Garhwali but very few Garhwali creative could pay attention on the burdens of migrated Garhwalis. Kanhaya Lal DandariyaL Lalam Ji and Jaya Nand Khuksal ‘ BauLya’ are remembered in Garhwali poetry field for their poems showing , describing , displaying the sting , the balances and imbalances in accommodating the newer situation occurring every time in migrated land, the soaring agonizing in keeping others happy of migrated Garhwalis . No doubt , Jeet Sing Negi was the first Garhwali verse creator to show the pain of migrated Garhwalis (tu wheli beera uchi nisi danyun man gashiyaryun ka bhesh man, khud man teri run lagun chhaun des pardes man). However, Jeet Singh Negi is more famous for his creating melodious songs (geet) than the modern poems.

Born on 17th October in a farmer family of NooNyun of Aswalsyun, Pauri Garhwal in the year 1925 , Jaya Nand Khuksal served twelve years in the army till 1954. After retiring from army Late Jaya Nand Khuksal shifted to New Delhi he worked Ganesh Flour Mills from 1955 to 1986.

He created around hundred of poems in Garhwali but we could find only twenty one poems in his only book ‘Ilmatu Da’published in the year1988.

Kanhaya Lal Dandariyal wrote about his unpublished poems, “Garhwali writers are unlucky in publishing their created literature and most of the literature of each writer is dumped in the corner of cupboards. Hundreds of poems created by Jaya Nand Khuksal are tied in funchis (bundles.)”

Most of the poems of Jaya Nand Khuksal come under utter realism. Many his unpublished poems were read by him in kavisamellan or before his literary friends like Dandariyal, Vinod Uniyal, Prem lal Bhatt, Netra Singh Aswal . One of his poem lover Shri Nand Uniyal said to me , once, about his poems, ‘His some poems are purely real experiences of a migrated Garhwali who is not well educated and struggling a lot in Delhi.”. Shri Nand Uniyal further explained about those poems, which seems to be the subject of Garhwal are in fact, displays the pain of a migrated Garhwali . Uniyal further said, “The beauty of narration of late ‘BauLya’ is that even the happenings of Garhwal in his poems show, display, reflect the feeling of migrated Garhwali. This is his exclusivity among Garhwali poets.” Chhabis January poem is the best example , which show a real pain of a migrated Garhwali and the real pain of migration.

His formats of Garhwali poetries are unique and became the directional force and inspirational force for newer poets of the language. His style and simplicity in composing the verses made him famous poet of kavisamellan of his time.

His famous poems are :

Ilmatu dada
Ghar basaula
Janm bhoomi
In marilya
Jog maya
GhutDu ki bwai
Chhabis January
Chal bichari Ghara
Chitthi
Control
Sun lya mera praN
Ghughati
Dhandai pukar
Jaya Nand BauLya was always a stern supporter of separate state for Uttrakhand and he criticized the discriminative acts and policies of Uttrapradesh government, administrative officials and red tapism.

The famous Garhwali verse critic Bhagwati Prasad Nautiyal comments on the wordings, composition and format of Jaya Nand’ BauLya’s poems that late Jaya Nand used unique symbols and similitude, which his other contemporary or older poets never used.

It is the tragedy for Garhwali literature that the creative has to arrange himself for publishing the literature and arrange free distribution too. Late Jaya Nand BauLya was not rich man and could publish only one collection of poems.

Jaya Nand BauLya was one of the poets who initiated realism in Garhwali poetry.

Copyright @Bhishma Kukreti, Mumbai ,2009, email---bckukreti@gmail.com