Garhwali, Kumaoni, Himalayan Literature

Ram Prasad Gairola ‘ Vinayee’ : The Poet of Women’ s Sorrows
Bhishma Kukreti

The poems of Ram Prasad Gairola mostly are about the sufferings , sorrows , physical ,psychological and social struggles of Garhwali -Kumaoni women. Ram Prasad Gairola belongs to the area which is in the border of Chamoli and Pithoragarh districts of Uttrakhand . Hence, the dialects of both the district are commonly found in his poems .
Ram Prasad Gairola ’Vinayee’ was born in 1932 in a Himalayan village Kandara of Chamoli Garhwal Uttarakhand.
The critics, highly, praise the poems of ‘Saddyal’ (1967’s publication) of Ram Prasad Gairola ‘Vinayee’ , which is about the life of a widow of a soldier who lost his life in a battle. The poem is a true example of pathos rapture and at the same time, the poet shows other realities of rural Garhwal before seventies. When the husband is alive and is serving in army , the wife passes through many pain of separations. Ram Prasad Pandey is successful in depicting the anxiety, the physical need of meeting mate, the waiting of the letter from husband and the struggle to find out a person who can write to her husband on her behalf without telling others. The struggle of a women is not limited to the pain of separation of a widow woman from her husband due to his sudden death but she has to experience other social burdens imposed on the women and not to men. The widow has to pass many awkwardness after loosing her husband .
Ram Prasad uses the regional dialects of border area of Chamoli and Pithoragarh in his poems . This specialty of Ram Prasad Pandey separates him from other average Garhwali poets.

Chitthi banchi sab sajan bhaut yon sochdi
Sari peeda hridaya taul ki kanth mu rokdi chai
Veeratma ki kushal grihani yeaning sunita
Pyari shyama Karun dil ki swachh mugdha sunita

Copyright @ Bhishma Kukreti, Mumbai, India, 2009