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Jaipur: Author of folk
tales Vijaydan Detha, also called Rajasthan's Shakespeare, is
elated that his name is doing the rounds for the Nobel prize for
literature this year.
"Even a stone will get joyful over such good news... I am a human
being so you can imagine how happy I am," Detha, who has authored
over 800 books, told IANS.
"I have given my entire life to Rajasthan's folk tales. It is
great to know that it's being recognised on an international
level," Detha, 85, said.
Born in Jodhpur's Borunda village, Vijaydan Detha is credited with
giving a new dimension to Rajasthani folk literature. He has been
awarded top literary honours in India, including Padma Shri,
Sahitya Akademi Award and Sahitya Chudamani.
One of Detha's books, "Duvidha", has been adapted into a Bollywood
film "Paheli" while many of his books have been translated into
other languages like English, French and German.
His father, Sabaldan Detha, and grandfather, Jugtidan Detha, were
also well-known poets of Rajasthan.
Detha considers the works of Bengali novelist Sarat Chandra
Chattopadhyay as his first inspiration. He is also a fan of
Russian writer Anton Chekhov and Nobel laureate Rabindranath
Tagore.
He says he was born with writing skills as he comes from the
community of Charans, who professionally sang praises of their
feudal lords.
People in Rajasthan were Wednesday thronging temples to pray for
the 85-year-old.
"I and about 50 of my friends went to a temple in Jodhpur to offer
prayers for the writer. He has devoted his entire life to the
service of Rajasthani language," said Rohit Charan, an ardent fan
who claims to have read most of the books written by Detha.
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