Excelsior Correspondent
Jammu, Feb 6: Standing high on the firmament of modern Dogri prose since half a decade, Chhatrapal, rightly hailed as Dogri’s avant garde writer, bedazzled with his reading of two short stories from his latest collection of short stories at the K L Saigal Hall, here today.
The celebrated author’s book of selected Dogri short stories titled ‘Chetta’, dedicated to the memory of doyen of Dogri literature late Prof Ram Nath Shastri during his centenary year, was released by Dogri Sanstha, in an impressive function which was marked by the presence all leading writers of short story genre in Dogri and other languages, artists and intellectuals.
Earlier, in a departure from the routine practice, Chhatrapal, who is also the president of Dogri Sanstha, invited prominent short story writers of Dogri, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu amongst the audience on the dais to release the book amidst rolling applause by the gathering.
Today’s function was conducted by Dr Nirmal Vinod, an eminent writer and poet, who gave details about literary journey of Chhatrapal, whose real name is Joginder Pal Saraf. Besides being a writer Chhatrapal is a well known media writer who has served for many decades as news reader in Radio Kashmir Jammu, he said.
Convener of Dogri Advisory Board, Sahitya Akademi, Prof. Dr. Lalit Magotra, who presided over the function, praised Chhatrapal’s sensitive portrayal of psychological and the inner world of his characters. He said that he has not only emerged as an excellent story writer in Hindi but a representative of short story genre in modern Dogri literature.
Appreciating the contribution of Chhatrapal to the enrichment of Dogri and Hindi literature, the chief guest Dr. Arvinder Singh Aman, Additional, Secretary, J&K Cultural Academy said that Chhatrapal is one of the most celebrated short story writers of our State who had brought laurels to his mother tongue. Satya Pal Saraf, famed social activist and father of Chhatrapal was participated in the programme as special guest.
Prominent among the audience included V K Sambyal, Station Director, Radio Kashmir Jammu, S.S. P. Shailendar Singh, Hari Chand Jalmeria, short story writers: Dr. Baljit Raina, Nirmal Vikram, Harbhajan Sagar, Ashok Duta, Rattan Bhardwaj, Tara Danpuri, Rattan Doshi, Chaman Panthi and others.
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