'Sairandhri' by Vinod Joshi

-: Sunday Reading Activity :-

“Technology can become ‘wings’ that will allow the educational world

to fly further and faster than ever before; if we will allow it.”

-Jenny Arledge

In the phase of the 21^st century where technology is playing a major part over every niche and corner, the traditional simple education system has also been modified with integral digitization at various platforms and one of these platforms to learn, write and share information is through blogging. Blogging makes very convenient for students to share assignments and articles with a fresh content at various platforms. These skills are enhanced at Department of English, M. K. Bhavnagar University where Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad Sir inspires his students to join Google Classroom and encourages us to share ideas and thoughts in assignments through blogging.

This blog is a part of my Sunday Reading Activity assigned by Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad Sir to ponder upon and analyze Vinod Joshi’s talk to SBS Gujarati about ‘Sairandhri’.

‘Sairandhri’

#Vinod Joshi

“A versatile personality of Gujarati literature who is

elegantly rich in portraying female sensibility,

artistically affluent in adding musicality to poetry

and splendidly carrying out exquisite solitude of ‘non-conveyed individuality’

as well as the descriptions harmoniously infused with pastoral depictions

is Vinod Joshi who carries a distinct perspective about the lives of renowned characters of Mahabharata through his works.”

-Kavisha Alagiya

Poet Vinod Joshi

Vinod Joshi is a versatile Gujarati poet of the postmodern era, a popular critic and a well-acclaimed writer.

"કવિ વિનોદ જોશી એટલે લોકબોલી અને શિષ્ટ ભાષા ના સુયોગ એમને ગણ્યે ગણાય નહીં અને વિણ્યા વિણાય નહીં એટલા તો સન્માન અને પારિતોષિક મળ્યા છે.”-

- Jelam Hardik

Poet Vinod Joshi's contribution is the field of Gujarati Literature conferred him many awards like-

Jayant Pathak Puraskar (1985)

Critic's award (1986)

Kavishwar Dalpatram Award (2013)

Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar (2015)

Narsinh Mehta Award (2018)

Kalapi Award (2018)

Manilal H. Patel quotes,

“લયની બાબતમાં વિનોદ એકાદ માત્રાની પણ ભાગ્યે જ છૂટ કરે છે. કાવ્ય કરતી વેળાએ સહજ રીતે જ શબ્દના નાદ્ધ્વનિને ભાવસંવેદનના સંદર્ભે ચકાસી લેતા લાગે છે. રાગીયતા અને લય, વર્ણ યોજના અને પ્રાસાનુપ્રાસ તરફ પણ કવિ પૂરા સભાન રહે છે.”

# Sairandhri

Sairandhri is a metrical poem composed in prabandha form with seven cantos, 49 chapters, and 1800 lines, written by Vinod Joshi in Melbourne, Australia and published in 2018. The poem is based on Virat Parva of Mahabharata. This is a composition of a woman who has not only lost her original identity but also likes to dwell in her fostered identity.

Pandavas and Draupadi during Agyatvas

‘The Book of Virat’ is the book of the Mahabharata that describes the Pandavas’ 13th year of exile. The conditions were assigned as per the second dice game to which this year was to be spent incognito (अज्ञातवास).
Yudhishthir became Kanka (कंक)- a learned Brahmin or purohit of the palace.
Bheem became Ballav (बल्लव या बल्लवाचार्य)- head of cook.
Nakul became Granthik (ग्रंथिक)- horse trainer.
Sahadev became Tantipal (तन्तिपाल), the cowherd.
Arjun became Brihannala (ब्रिहन्नला)- music and dance teacher of princess Uttara.
Draupadi became a Sairandhri (royal dasi सैरन्ध्री) of Queen Sudeshna.
During this exiled year, Keechak (कीचक), the brother of Queen Sudeshna and commander-in-chief of King Virat’s army gets attracted by Sairandhri’s beauty and desires her. She warns Keechak that she is married and if he would not listen to her advice then he will have to face his downfall. As a result, Draupadi convinces Bheem to kill Keechak. And along with him, all his 105 brothers were also assassinated. This original story is depicted in a very different way in the composition of ‘Sairandhri’.

Painting of Keechak and Sairandhri by Raja Ravi Verma

It can notably be observed the thoughts of Jelam Hardik on Vinod Joshi and his profound work ‘Sairandhri’

“આપણી લાગણીઓનો આખ્ખો મલક જેમના ગીતોમાં રમણે ચડે છે એવા ગુજરાતી ભાષા-સાહિત્યનાં નોખા કવિ એ વિનોદ જોશી અને એમનું અનોખું સર્જન એટલે સૈરંધ્રી.”

“Sairandhri” is a great attempt of poet Vinod Joshi to bridge the gap between medieval and modern literature. This is a tale that retells a myth with a totally new and distinct perspective. As the author himself conveys the readers:

'મારી સૈરન્ધ્રી મહાભારતકારથી જુદી છે'

Hence, the text presents the modern view of a lady with a strong sense towards self and sensibility of female is depicted with a desirable dimension. The text begins with the invocation of Saraswati and is dedicated to a woman’s sentiments and emotions. It begins with the following lines describing Sairandhri.

વિવશ સાંજ, નભ નિરાલંબ,
નિસ્પંદ સમીર નિગૂઢ,
એક યૌવના નતમુખ ઊભી,
વ્યગ્રચિત્ત સંમૂઢ. (૦૧-૦૧:૦૧)

-Vinod Joshi

Poet’s Sairandhri is not Draupadi of the epic “Mahabharat” but a woman who conceals herself and lives with a hidden identity. Through this, the poet reveals the common nature of human beings that each of us lives life by hiding our natural identity. It is a matter of deep observation in the text that Sairandhri though being addressed by various names – Draupadi (Princess of King Drupad), Krushanaa (friend of Krishna), Mahabharti (great wife of the five descendants of Bharat) in Vyasa’s ‘Mahabharat’, this text is far away from these actual identities. She is addressed by either of the names like Panchali, Yagnaseni, Drupadkanya and many more.

Further, Vinod Joshi says in his talk for an introduction to his latest poem Sairandhri-

“આપણે પ્રગટ છીએ એ કોણ છે અને આપણી અંદર છે એ કોણ છે આ બહુ મોટો કોયડો છે!”

The female protagonist is addressed as Sairandhri or Panchali and not as the wife of five Pandavas. Through such existence of hiding and living an incognito life, a hidden identity is born. The character is portrayed as living without a ‘mask of a wife of five Pandavas’, a woman whose public face is that of an ideal wife and a maid to Queen but is secretly a lover of Karna.

Through this portrayal of Sairandhri, the poet seems to reveal the secret lives of just about everyone in general. This is the story of every common woman representing general and natural emotions behind the actual personality. The text is like a mask of grey ink covered on a beautiful prism, a prism that reflects a variety of colored shades.

કીચક માર્યો એક, પણ કીચક હજી અનેક,
ઇચ્છે નહિ નારી, છતાં વિવશ કરે જે છેક. (૦૬-૦૧:દોહો)

Unlike Vyasa’s “Mahabharata”, the most noticeable change is when Sairandhri herself defeats Keechak without asking the help of any of husbands. Indeed Vinod Joshi’s Sairandhri is born in Australia and is a modern lady who raises voice against violence and injustice. She is not portrayed as a typical woman with streotype mentality. This initiative to stand on one’s own and to be capable to handle any situation that a man can, shows the independent status of a woman in society.

The above mentioned words says that 'there are several Keechak (villains) in society, thought a woman does not wish to harm any but are forced to take serious actions towards such nuisance either legally or illegally'.

Vinod Joshi is considered as 'Kalidas' of Gujarati Literature. The way Great Sanskrit poet Kalidas used to write in 'Sambhog sringar', in the same manner this work 'Sairandhri' is composed in a very aesthetic form. The days of togetherness are described in artistic detail.

ચુંબિત મર્દિત સુરભિત કાયા

શ્વસન ઉષ્ણ, મસૃણની માયા;

મન્મથ ફુલ્લપ્રફુલ્લ વિલાસી,

હું પણ સહજ સંગ અભિલાષી. (૦૧-૦૩:૦૬)

The atmosphere described in the text is as beautiful and joyous as her inner conscience. This kind of erotic description is a very rare to be found in Gujarati Literature. Vinod Joshi seems to give voice to the nib of pen to describe the unparalleled beauty of Sairandhri.

In a nutshell, it can be said that Vinod Joshi had not only created ‘Sairandhri’ a work of art from epic-history “Mahabharata” but also artistically convinced the readers with a novel perspective by generalizing far and wide ‘female sensibilities’.

Reference from Internet sources-

Facebook post of JelamHardik

Wikipedia page of VinodJoshi

Virat Parva Wikipedia page

Global Kavita ‘Sairindhri’Tahuko.com

The Mahabharat World