Great Sindhi Poet Narain Shyam remembered in Bhopal on his 103rd Birthday

Sindhu, a cultural organization, holds literary and musical event at Hirdaram Nagar to pay rich tribute to poet Narain Shyam    

Hirdaram Nagar (Bairagarh), Bhopal, India

Sindhu, an organization striving for promoting Sindhi culture, literature and art for about three decades, organized a literary and musical evening to commemorate 103rd birth anniversary of great Sindhi poet Narain Shyam on July 22, at Hirdaram Nagar (Bairagarh), Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh state of India. The event was held at Sanskar School, Nirmal Nursery.

Mr. Ashok Jamnani from Hoshangabad presided over while Sanjay Verma from Indore was the chief guest of the event. At the poetry recitation session, Bhagwan Babani ‘Bando’, Kanayo Motwani ‘ Maando ‘, Kanayo Shewani and Dev Arjwani presented their poetry. Besides, Ashok Jamnani and Sanjay Verma, anothe guest Mahesh Mulchandani from Hoshangabad, also participated in poetry recital. Two poetess – Shobha Paryani, Droupadi Chandnani couldn’t attend due to heavy rain.

In musical session, Nari Lachhwani, Dilip Lalwani, Madhu Mohnani, Suman Harchandani, Disha Chandwani, Jaya Choudhary, Parso Nathani and Tanmay Vaswani sung the songs of great poet Narain Shyam. Kavita Chandwani and Janhvi Bhavnani (Both Radio Announcers) conducted the program.

Speakers paid rich tributes to the great poet Narain Shyam highlighting different aspects of his poetry.

‘Sindhu’ is actively working for promoting Sindhi culture, language and music through various programs since its inception in February 1989.

“Narain Shyam passed away on January 10, 1989 and we founded the Sindhu organization on 1st February, less than a month after passing away of great poet. We decided to celebrate his birth anniversary on July 22. Since then, we organize the cultural program every year on this day to pay tribute to our great poet,” Mr. Nari Lachhwani, one of the founding members of the cultural organization, told Sindh Courier.

Nari Lachhwani, himself an eminent poet and singer, said that three cultural programs are a regular feature of their organization – the birth anniversaries of legendary Sindhi singer Bhagwanti Navani on February 1, Narayan Shyam’s on July 22 and of another legendary singer Master Chander on December 15 every year exactly on same dates and time.

Life Sketch of Narain Shyam

Narain (Also spelt as Narayan) Gokaldas Nagwani aka Narain Shyam (22 July 1922 – 10 January 1989) was a renowned Sindhi language poet. He was one of the foremost poets associated with the progressive movement. He was awarded the Sahtia Academy Award in 1970 for Sindhi Literature by Sahtia Academy, India for his poetry collection.

Narain Shyam was born on 22 July 1922 at Goth (Village) Khahi Qasim, Tehsil Bhiria District Naushehro Feroze (Formerly part of Nawabshah District) of Sindh. He received his early education in Nawabshah. He obtained his BA (Hons) degree from Bombay University in 1943. His optional subject in BA (Hons.) was Persian. He became a teacher of Persian in Madrasa School Naushehro Feroze, where he taught until October 1947. After the partition of Indian subcontinent in January 1948 he moved to Bombay, India. He also stayed in Ajmer and was employed in the Post and Telegraph Department of India.

He was a very important and representative poet of the progressive school of Sindhi poetry. Narain Shyam played an important role in consolidating progressive ideas, concepts and trends in Sindhi poetry. The maturity of social and political consciousness is evident in his poetry. Narayan had been associated with freedom and public welfare movements, so his speeches clearly reflect modern objectivity.

Narain Shyam’s study was extensive, and he had a keen eye on world literature. He was fully aware of the wide-ranging changes taking place in world literature and was also aware of the changing role of literature, which is why his poetry plays a very serious social role instead of a hobby.

Narain is one of the foremost Sindhi poets who had successfully experimented with the ancient genres of Sindhi literature i.e. Wai (Vaee), Kafi and Bait etc. He also worked on certain genres of Western poetry such as Blank Verses, Free Verses and Sonnet. He has given more energy and color to the Sindhi poetry.

Narain also successfully experimented with three short stanzas in Sindhi poetry in the style of Japanese genre of haiku, which is an addition to Sindhi poetry. In recognition of his literary services, the Narain Shyam Award, a literary award in his name, has been launched in India, which is given to poetry collections published in Sindhi language.

He married from the Raisinghanis, a famous Sahiti family in the year 1940. He had four sons and four daughters.

Literary work

He created free verses, blank verses and sonnet. He had number of literary work publication to his credit. Following are some of the most significant literary works:

Maak Bhina Rabel (Sindhi: ماڪَ ڀِنا رابيل) (Rabel flower wet with dew), Poetry, 1964.

Wari-a-Bhariyo Paland (Sindhi: واريءَ ڀريو پَلاندُ) (Sand in lap), Poetry, 1968.

Aachhinde Laj Maran (Sindhi: آڇيندي لَڄَ مَران) (Feel embarrassed whilst offering), Poetry, 1972.

Mahiki Vel Subah ji (Sindhi: مَهڪي ويلَ صُبح جي) (Lovely morning), Poetry, 1983.

Daat Ain Hayat (Sindhi: ڏات ۽ حيات) (Divine gift & life), Poetry, 1988.

Narayan Shyam passed away on 10 January 1989 in Bombay, India.

Read: Sindhi through Treacherous Path to the Constitution

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