Home Profile Vasdev Mohi – One of the pioneers of modern Sindhi poetry

Vasdev Mohi – One of the pioneers of modern Sindhi poetry

0
Vasdev Mohi – One of the pioneers of modern Sindhi poetry

Mohi has more than 40 books to his credit which include his original work, translated as well as edited books.

Vasdev Mohi, born on 2nd March 1944 in Mirpur Khas, Sindh, was one of the pioneers of Modern Sindhi Poetry, who made Sindhi Ghazal popular among the masses.

Vasdev Mohi has credit of presenting Sindhi Ghazal in new effective way of Haiku Ghazal, a Ghazal style inspired or more correctly combination of Traditional Sindhi Haiku and Japanese Haiku style.

He had been known as the writer of clarity of expressions, true depth of thoughts and strong hold over the Prosody. In November 1962 his poetry was published in Anthology of Ghazals but his first book titled Tazaad” published in 1976, was poetry collection and was appreciated alike by the critics and common readers. His yet another book “Subah Kithe Ahe” made him favorite of readers.

in-Asha-Chands-House-1Vasdev Mohi was also an eminent translator, critic and short story writer. Mohi had been successful at short story writing. His collections of his short stories ‘Chequebook’ and ‘Dedh Gandh’ (1.5 Knot) were well received by literary fraternity. Both “Chequebook” and “Dedh Gandh” had also been translated into English by Dr. Vinod Asudani. “Chequebook” is also translated into Hindi by Bhagwan Atlani, with a title ‘Dawat’.

Mohi has creatively written poems on a rustic character named ‘Mankoo’. Mankoo’s characterization depicts the agony and anguish of rustic rural class of the society. This class, though physically has gone to urban cities, is still emotionally and mentally living through sufferance of alienation, caused by uprooting from their soil. ‘Mankoo’ has been translated into Gujarati by Jayant Relwani as well as into Hindi by acknowledged artist Bhanwar Singh Panwar and has been acclaimed in both the languages. All the stories of “Chequebook” have been published in leading Hindi literary magazines and also many have been published in English, Gujarati, Kannad, Marathi, Punjabi, Telugu and Urdu etc.Two stories also have found place in prestigious collections of stories in Marathi (Navrang) and Punjabi collection of 15 short stories (Lifeline).

Vasdev-Mohi-Main-Profile-PhotoIn short stories Mohi mostly depicted the under-privileged with close eye on human emotions and values. He also wrote critical essays and papers for many national and international literary seminars. In criticism, his ‘Post Independence Handbook of Sindhi Ghazal’ is lavishly appreciated in India and across the border in Sindh. Mohi has more than 40 books to his credit which include his original work, translated as well as edited books. Vasdev Mohi edited two prestigious Hindi books including Western Region Languages- Gujarati, Konkani, Marathi and Sindhi-

Mohi was honored with Sahitya Akademi Award for collection of ghazals ‘Barf jo Thahyal’ (1999), which is also translated into English by Ram Daryani and Dr. Vinod Asudani and is published by Central Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. Besides a variety of other literary Awards, he also was accorded Lifetime Achievement Awards from National Council for Promotion of Sindhi language (NCPSL) and Sindhi Academy, Delhi.

Writer and poet Veena Shringi with Vasdev Mohi- Sindh Courier
Writer and poet Veena Shringi with Vasdev Mohi- Sindh Courier

Mohi was a member of Executive Board of Sahitya Akademi and Convener of Sindhi Advisory Board from 2008 to 2012. During his tenure he did exemplary work and gave impetus to a variety of literary activities, including convening Indo-Pak Sindhi writers’ Seminar in New Delhi. He also was a member of Council for Promotion of Indian Languages (CPIL) under HRD Ministry, New Delhi, representing Sindhi. In 2009 he led a delegation of Indian writers to China and had discourses with Chinese writers on literature of both countries.

He participated actively in National and International Seminars and presented papers on various literary topics including International Seminar at Karachi in December 2004. Topic was Aesthetics of renowned poet Narayan Shyam; International Seminar organized by Sahitya Akademi at New Delhi in March 2008—Topic was Latest Trends in Sindhi Ghazal. He presided over many seminars organized by Sahitya Akademi and other literary organizations/state academies.

His books ‘Gaalh Shairee-a-Jee’ (Talk of Poetry) and ‘Virhange Khanpoi Sindhi Ghazal Jo Handbook’ (Post Independence Handbook of Sindhi Ghazal) are based on extensive research work and are widely acclaimed by critics.

Koonj, the literary digest, brought out a special issue on life and works of Mohi. Sindhi Sangat, Mumbai in collaboration with NCPSL, New Delhi produced a documentary on life and works of Mohi. Two audio CDs ‘Mahak jee Dhun’ and ‘Ain Poi..’ of Mohi’s ghazals composed and sung respectively by renowned singers Pavan Kumar and Ghansham Vaswani were also released.

Three Books have been published on Vasdev Mohi; two written by Dr Jagdish Lachhani on his person and work (Vasdev Mohi-2017, Shaairi Vasdev Mohi ji-2019), and one edited by Dr Prem Prakash (Baaqi Vasdev Mohi-2007)

Bimonthly Literary Digest “Koonj” brought out special issue on Life and work of Vasdev Mohi-October 2006. Also Vasdev Mohi has appeared on Cover pages of other literary journals viz Sipoon, Mumbai-May-June, 2010; Rachna, Adipur-Oct-Dec, 1999

Vasdev Mohi has honour of his poems, stories, books being included in academic curriculum right from High/Higher Secondary to University level. “Chequebook” is being taught in TYBA (Sindhi) of Mumbai University

Vasdev Mohi had honour of being invited for delivering lectures in Universities also on different literary topics.

Watch the Documentary: Vasdev Mohi 

His family migrated to Jodhpur in 1947 but in 1950 shifted to Ahmedabad. In June 1965 he was employed as a teacher in Adarsh High School, Ahmedabad. In September 1966 he joined LIC of India. In June 1973 he did Post Graduated from Gujarat University, Ahmedabad. In March 1986 he resigned from LIC of India and in October 1987 joined Indian High School, Dubai (UAE). He breathed his last at Ahmedabad on Friday August 27, 2021. He had been suffering from age-related ailments.

_________________

Source: Vasdev Mohi’s personal website