Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 20: Raksha Sharma, the better half and life companion of the poet for 60 years, threw light on intimate details of life and works of Yash Sharma, the prince of Dogri songs, during a live program organized by Doordarshan Kendra, Jammu at its studios, here today.
Held as part of the series of programs that highlight different aspects and life and works of eminent Dogri writers and poets, today’s live program titled ‘Adbi Safar’, in front of invited audience, and later to be telecast to wider audience was conducted by Prof Lalit Magotra, well known Dogri writer.
Introducing Yash Sharma to the audience, Prof Magotra said that the poet, a multifaceted personality was broadcaster, actor, playwright and a ‘geetkaar’ of excellence who was also called ‘albela’ for his élan and matchless style of recitation.
Raksha Sharma, wife of the poet, an intimate observer of his creative process and personality, said that it was during a meeting in 1950’s at Dharamshala, in Himachal Pradesh that the well known Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan suggested Yash Sharma to write in his write in mother tongue.
Since then Yash Sharma, for whom poetry was inseparable part of his stream of consciousness, wrote poetry in Dogri. One who spent early childhood in Basohli, Yash Sharma was life long keen listener of Dogri folk songs and always admired and took inspiration from the depth of expression embedded in simple lyrics of the unknown poets, she said.
Once the process of transference of his poetic thought to the piece of paper was over, he often forgot about it and it was left to me to collect those pieces and bits of paper from myriad sources to compile anthology of his works including the 1992 Sahitya Akademi Award winning book “Jo Tere Man-Chitta Laggi Ja. His other poetic anthologies include ‘Boond Trailu Di’ (Drop of Dew), ‘Hun Main Utthein Nahin Rohanda’ (Now I no longer live there) and others, said Raksha Sharma.
She also recounted how Basohli paintings bought by the poet from pocket money as a student , became the nucleus of Dogri movement during the Farmer’s Conference held at Tikri in 1940’s in which Ram Nath Shashtri, D C Prashant, Sansar Chand Baru and others activists apart from staging Dogri play Sarpanch also held an exhibition of those paintings as part of symbol of Dogra heritage.
Well known Dogri writers and poets present in the audience included Prof Satya Pal Shrivatsya, Aruna Sharma, Darshan Darshi, Gyaneshwar, Kewal Krishan Shakir, Krishna Prem, Prof Veena Gupta and others.
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