राग दरबारी Rag Darbari (Hindi)

Summary:

राग दरबारी एक एसा उपन्यास है जो गाँव की कथा के माध्यम से आधुनिक भारतीय जीवन की मूल्यहीनता को सहजता और निर्ममता से अनावृत करता है l शुरु से आखीर तक इतने निस्संग और सोददेश्य व्यंग्य के साथ लिखा गया हिंदी का शायद यह पहला वृहत उपन्यास है l

फिर भी राग दरबारी व्यंग्य-कथा नहीं है l इसका संबंध एक बड़े नगर से कुछ दूर बसे हुए गाँव की जिंदगी से है, जो इतने वर्षों की प्रगति और विकास के नारों के बावजूद निहित स्वार्थों और अनेक अवांछनीय तत्वों के सामने घिसट रही है l यह उसी जिंदगी का दस्तावेज है l

1968 में राग दरबारी का प्रकाशन एक महत्वपूर्ण साहित्यिक घटना थी l 1970 में इसे साहित्य अकादमी पुरस्कार से सम्मानित किया गया और 1986 में एक दूरदर्शन-धारावाहिक के रूप में इसे लाखों दर्शकों की सराहना प्राप्त हुई l

वस्तुतः राग दरबारी हिंदी के कुछ कालजयी उपन्यासों में एक है 1

Raag Darbari turned out to be an absolute fantastic read. The relevance of the book stays the same no matter when you are reading it. Published in 1968, there is a reason why people still rate it as one of the best reads of their literary career. Shri Lal Shukla ji was awarded the Sahitya Academy Award, the highest Indian literary award, in 1970 for this novel.

Raag Darbari starts with a very elaborate description of a village – Shivpalganj and its residents. People of Shivpalganj are what you meet in everyday life- good nature, true to their clan and all of them carrying a shade of grey; and the games they play against each other are what you yourself had been a part of at times. That is the beauty of the book- it gives you enough to connect to it. Humor is subtle and offers a nice blend of sarcasm and cynicism. The flow of the book is smooth and mostly through conversations that makes it easy to read and remember… and chuckle.

Ranganath, a research student from with urban upbringing comes to this village to gain health and study for his research and starts to see Shivpalganj as a place where nothing happens without a long term motive. He likes the place and the people, but disliked the way they played each other, but before he could figure it out, he himself became a part of the system which was almost impossible to clean.

Story moves on and for readers, the idea that nothing has changed since Independence starts to sink in. Though a small village of Shivpalganj is used to narrate the story, in the words of Shri Lal Shukla ji himself.