Asha Koshal
Name of the book- Vishawsthali My Pride.
Author:- Shiv Kumar Padha
The book Vishawsthali My pride was sometime back released by LG Manoj Sinha in presence of Pankaj Mithal, Hon’ble Chief Justice of J&K High Court.
The book intends to :
* Apprise and familiarize the present youth with the history, culture, and legacy of tangible and intangible heritage of the town, city or state they live in. (Part 1 from page No. 1-86 Vishwsthali a land of Sanatana, Sanskrit, Sanskar and Sanskriti)
* Educate the youth about their ancestors, so that they show their belongingness towards them and feel proud about their wisdom, vision, capabilities and their contributions in uplifting as well as reforming their contemporary societies. (Part 2 from page No. 89-159 Sons and Daughters of Vishwsthali)
* Motivate the youth to explore their immediate surroundings, unveil the world of tourism and devise approaches to utilize the treasure of natural wealth, both visible and hidden under the cover of earth. (Part 3 from Page No.162-192 Vishwsthali; a tourist hub)
According to the author, we are living in the age of competition where every youngster behaves like a careerist and his parents overambitious. In the pursuit of achieving their goals, neither the youngsters feel nor do their parents ever emphasize upon them the need for acquiring information about their glorious past as their ancestors had been the epitomes of inspiration and motivation by dint of their capabilities, contributions and life time achievements.
The author of the book Vishawsthali My Pride, believes that the impact of the rulers or Monarchs of a state is reflected in the life style of their future generations even after centuries. Through the medium of this book, the author intends to establish the fact that what we are today is the mirror image of our past. No race, community or civilization can ever survive longer, if it is completely cut off from its past. The book deals with the Dogra youth sans Dogriyat because the majority among them are found having no or very little knowledge about their glorious past, traditions and values nor do they ever feel concerned with the potentiality, capability, intellect and achievements of their ancestors. Many a time, we come across such an educated Dogra youth who can, no doubt, count the names of the celebrities and their relatives easily but fail to tell the names of the persons of their own family. A considerable number of the Dogra youth do not know even about their Dogra rulers prior to H.H. Maharaja Hari Singh. He compares such an educated illiterate youth with the aliens in their own land.
It is worth mentioning that the author of this book, is neither an historian nor has ever studied history during his academic career. In the context of this book, he is of the opinion that the impact of the values, inherited from the Pal Rajas of Basohli, in the field of art and literature, Ayurveda, chitrakala, astronomy, Sanskrit language, religion, charity, can be experienced in the behavior of the natives even after centuries. The truth about the facts given in the first chapter of the book has been endorsed from the important historical events having taken place during regimes of different Rajas of Pal Dynasty who ruled over Basohli. The main source of information used in the book has been taken from the, historical events, incidents from the excerpts taken from the few pages of Twareekh Rajputan by Th. Kahan Singh Billaweria, Twareekh Jadeed Dogra Des, from the Publications of`Mulk Raj Anand, MS Randhawa and from the conclusion of the interaction with the senior surviving citizens of the society.
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