kamleshwar litterateur
– Photo: Social Media
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Today is the birth anniversary of Kamaleshwar, who was counted among the powerful writers of the 20th century. Kamleshwar, born on 6 January 1932 in Mainpuri, breathed his last on 27 January 2007 in Faridabad. He has received big awards like Padma Bhushan, Filmfare Award for screenwriting. He had expertise in stories, novels, journalism, column writing and film screenplays. Kamleshwar had a close connection with Aligarh. He came to Aligarh several times in his lifetime. He considered it his second home. On his birth anniversary, the litterateurs who were with him have shared their memories.
Writing is a medium, not my destination: Kamleshwar
When I don’t get satisfaction from writing, I write a diary. Then it is left incomplete. After all, how much does a man write? I get busy in replying to important letters which have been pending for months and have not been answered. I consider it my duty to give a proper and respectful reply to every letter. The printed or typed letter never left me. I put my sticker on the envelope and send the letter. Yes, what should I do, this is my habit. Sometimes I write letters out of anger, but there is a cultural restraint in that too, which literature has given me. As far as readers’ affection is concerned, I am a very accomplished writer. Letters keep coming from such small places, I answer them. I don’t throw away even a single letter. Sometimes reading so many letters also becomes a problem. I get time on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Jupiter, Friday, Saturday are for journalism writing. I got this tradition from my guru Bachchan ji. Yes, my initiation guru was Yashpal ji and my education guru was Bachchan ji. And literary guru? Literary gurus have always been a tradition. Well, there is no need to separate my story writer and novelist. -Premkumar, senior litterateur (excerpts from interview with Kamleshwar)
Kamleshwar was greatly influenced by the literary-social movements of Aligarh and the writers-intellectuals associated with it. He had family relations with us, but he was also a close friend of the famous poet Shahryar, Urdu storyteller Qazi Abdul Sattar and Rahi Masoom Raza. His friendship with Rahi Saheb started from Aligarh itself. When Rahi was writing his famous novel “Aadha Gaon”, he and Kunwarpal ji lived together in Wali Manzil (Shamshad Market). He was writing it in Urdu script and Kunwarpal ji was transliterating it into Hindi. After completion, Kunwarpal ji sent some excerpts of the novel to Kamleshwar. Kamleshwar immediately came to Aligarh to collect the manuscript and said that we will publish it from Akshar Prakashan. The first edition of Aadha Gaon was published from there. This was the beginning of the relations between Kamleshwar and Aligarh. How many times he came to Aligarh, stayed with us, became a part of the programs…this number is countless. He was also very domestic by nature. He was at our son and daughter’s wedding as the guardian and receiving the guests. Once he came to Aligarh, he was the editor of Sarika. They stayed for two days. We had a small house in Marris Road, on the second floor. They slept on cots set up in the open. Said – “Sleeping under the open sky at night…this is not available in Bombay”.-Namita Singh, litterateur