A peep through the evil of past

Rajeshwar Singh ‘Raju’
Name of Book: DOHRI (A novel)
Name of Author: Inderjeet Kesar
Language: Dogri
Year of Publication: 2024
Pages:147
Cost: Rs 400
Publisher: Highbrow Publications,
78/11,Near Pahalwan Food Mall,
Bari Brahmana Jammu

“Life is God’s novel”, this famous quote is self-explanatory about the importance of novels in different genres of literature. Although it’s always a blessing to write in any form but for penning down a novel one needs to devote more time as it has many dimensions, twists and tracks that make it amusing to readers. In modern era when we come across people complaining of stress driven busy life, extracting time for self is a challenge. In that case devoting time for novel reading demands even more patience. But when one starts reading it, and if it has the appealing contents and characters portrayed in an interesting way then the reader is bound to travel along the story and at that point of time, time is not an excuse. Ironically, if we say that number of readers is decreasing drastically, then it will be appropriate to add here that even the writers are not enthusiastic to write novels which demands more application of mind and long sittings to convert thoughts into words. However, we Dogras are lucky to have Inderjeet Kesar, who is passionate for writing novels these days and has enriched Dogri literature with his 9th novel DOHRI published last year.
About Author:
Inderjeet Kesar is an author who believes in contributing to Dogri literature with at least one publication every year. This process started with his first collection of poetry entitled “PHULL KHIDE REH” published in 1998 and thereafter he has been at forefront with colossal contributions in mother tongue. He is a versatile writer having proved his worth as a poet, short story writer, travelogue writer, essayist and novelist. His much acclaimed novel ‘BHAGIRATH’ got prestigious Sahitya Academy award in 2018and he was also awarded with State Award for literature in 2024. He has more than 28 books to his credit that include 13 collections of poetry, 2 collections of short stories, one each on Travelogues, Children Poetry, Essays and Bhajans. With DOHRI, he has nine novels to his credit, which are maximum written by any Dogri litterateur. He has also translated Guru Rabindernath Tagore’s children literature in two volumes. As a devotee of mother tongue Dogri, he is an inspiration to many.
About Book:
A novel is defined as a lengthy fictional narrative, typically written in prose that explores characters, plots and themes, often capturing a specific element of the human experience. Now DOHRI is woven around a very old social evil that was prevailing in many parts of Duggar Pradesh with more impact in remote areas. Although it had been almost abolished during 2nd decade of 21st century but is certainly a blot on the society because of torture and harassment that women folks had to undergo owing to such an evil in mankind.
In the name of traditional custom, a boy could marry to a girl only if he had a sister or a girl from a close relative to get married to his would be wife’s brother or close relative as per an agreement arrived at. It was just a give and take tactics and the poor masses were most sufferers. This practice was called ‘DOHRI’ as both girl and boy got married in the same family. The custom had many angles including poverty, debts, avoiding double expenditure on separate marriages of girl and boy. A grave concern was to get mentally unfit or physically challenged boy or girl married in the veil of the custom that was in fact forced upon the other party for various reasons. It’s a bitter truth that it was hard for those boys to get married who had no sister to offer as DOHRI. At the same time it was a daunting task to get a substitute from close relatives on certain conditions resulting in exploitations. The fact remains that girls had to suffer a lot as they were merely traded in the cover of tradition.If a daughter-in-law suffered in her in-law’s home, the reciprocal reaction was certain in other family, her parental home where her sister- in- law had to suffer for none of her faults. At the same time in some families it was a matter of pride to follow such customs with the thoughts that it binds two families firmly. Yes, every custom has pros and cons but this custom had certainly more cons than pros.
The novel DOHRI is a fine example of the atrocities that the women of that period had to undergo. Different characters that become an integral part of the story have their concerns and sufferings because of prevalent social evils designed and executed by influential forces in the society for their selfish petty gains resulting in psychological tortures to generations. It’s a good sign that society has got rid of such a blot but generation needs to know about the disadvantages of such evils that were once an integral part of our society and this novel has surely served the purpose.
The language used is quite simple that helps the readers to connect with the story line quite easily and they are not required to have dictionary by their side. It is the success of literature when the connection with the readers becomes so easy. The title page is plain but could have some relevant illustrations to make it catchy one. The novelist has dedicated this novel also to his father late Amarnath Ji Kesar and is also indebted to his wife Savitri Kesar for her unconditional support as a guiding force and first reader of his literary works.

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