DR.SHANKER RAINA :A TRAINED DOCTOR , A WRITER AND ABOVE ALL A GREAT HUMAN BEING. FROM KASHMIR.

                                                                         

Dr  SHANKER RAINA  ( 1939-1979 )……A TRIBUTE

 

He was a trained  doctor  who also wrote short stories and radio plays . He rose like a shining star on the literary horizon of Kashmir .A star that glittered for some time and then suddenly slipped into the dark ocean of oblivion .Like the French writer Albert Camus  or the noted Urdu poet Parveen Shakir , this man also died young . And incidentally, he also died in a tragic car accident. He created some unforgettable characters and stories for the Kashmiri literature .Alas! we Kashmiris brushed him aside from our memory shelves . Our younger generation hardly knows even his name, I am sure on this issue at least.

 May be due to his profession, he was able to know human pain and suffering  intimately. He also came very close to the hopes and wishes of the individual sufferers. And accordingly, he carried profound consciousness of Death that is apparent in some of his stories .For this reason, some critics are tempted to brand his work as ‘Hospital Stories’ . On the contrary , even when immersed in pain and suffering ,some characters whom he created ,are sharp ,lively and warm individuals in spite of their physical inabilities and helplessness. There is romance , hope and goodwill in most of his stories. These stories present a mirror image of life as it exists .The clash of old and modern values that always existed in any developing society is also evident in some of his short stories. A careful study also reveals streaks of existentialism in his work .One can easily identify the profound loneliness and native anxieties of Raj Nath ( from the story  Lwoktchi Lwoktchi Kathhaa ) with those of Meursault in Camus’s ‘Outsider’.

 He faced criticism also . Some critics said that some of his stories present morbidity. Those amongst us ,who have read Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s novel “Cancer Ward “ must not have escaped the overall morose texture of this great work. I still remember the gloom that the novel gave me with its characters :the cancer patients , attending doctors and  the nurses . Gloom does not lower the status of this great work . Even in gloom we get a clear glimpse of hope in Solzhenitsyn’s novel when Ahmadjan (an Uzbek ) recovers  from the deadly disease.

 Shanker Raina published his short stories in a book titled Zietini Zool ( Fireflies ). Vaen Kahinz Vaaer ( Whose turn is now ) , Haaput ( Bear ), Lwokitchi Lwoktchi Kathha ( Trivial  Issues ) ,Akh Pazul Ta Kenh Insaan ( A riddle and some People ) and Hotchhmetch Yaaer ( Dry Deodar Tree ) are some popular and powerful stories from this collection . Harud ( Autumn ) was a popular play that he scripted for Radio Kashmir, Srinagar . Quite often, his language is flowery ,poetic and emotional .I believe that Dr Shankar Raina would have been a very good poet had he stepped into that form of creative activity.

 

Dr  Abdul Wahid  from SKIMS ,Srinagar informs this :-

 “I have seen Dr Shanker Raina in Ward 3 of SMHS Hospital ,Srinagar.Those days Dr Ali Jan ,Dr  Verma, and other stalwarts like Dr Khuroo were managing the ward. Dr Raina had made his presence felt, and it looked  great. We had just finished our degrees..He was close to all of us..He came like a wind and left like a storm. We were plunged into grief.”

 

Prof B L Kaul informs me this :-

 “ He lived at Kral- khud , Habba Kadal and I remember him having a lean physique and wearing a Bulganin cut (goatee). As doctor, he drove an Ambassador car. I was impressed by his radio drama Harud -a father- in -law who has just retired buys a Saree of  hay colour as a gift for his daughter -in-law. She is not happy with the colour because it indicates autumn- the stage of life through which the old man is passing. How true?”

 

Bansi Raina from Pune informs me this :-  

 “I was also privileged to have known  Dr Shankar Raina .He dreamt every thing big. His house at Rajbagh had huge dimensions. His very signboard at Regal Chowk, Srinagar  was big considering doctors did not usually have such big signboards. He wanted every thing done in  hurry. I also acted in couple of his radio plays. Yes...he would have grown and made a big name in Kashmiri play writing. He was a tall man with a Bulganin beard.”

 

Senior Journalist Mohammad Syeed Malik  informs me this :-

 “Dr Shanker Raina's literary talent was marked by his intimate depiction of characters. He was a popular writer as much as he was recognized for his commitment to the medical profession. I knew him personally for a long time. His tragic death in a car accident in London cut short the story of life marked by struggle and hard work.”

 

In his story Lwokitchi Lwoktchi Kathha (Trivial  Issues ), a reader comes across many issues that appear to be trivial and ordinary . Quite often we overlook them for their relevance and appearance to life. But we are finally led to believe that these very trivial matters form the very fabric of existence .Raj Nath of Kharyaar ,Habba kadal is a wonderful character that he created for this story .The description of a clear day after night long heavy rains followed by evening time reddening of the horizon and thereafter a pleasant cool night gleaming with stars has been described with a poetic fervor in this story. A tired Rajnath wants to have a complete Saturday night’s sleep in this cool and peaceful ambiance but is kept awake by loud noise and singing in his neighbourhood. A Marriage festivity accompanied by singing on Tumbaknaari beats is in full swing over there . Accordingly, he sleeps very late and gets up almost at noon. What to do with himself on a Sunday ? Raj Nath looks out from his window and is happy to notice clouds over the mountains on an otherwise sunny day .He decides to visit Nishat Garden .For Raj Nath ,many trivial issues crop up as he leaves his house to go to Nishat Garden .These trivial issues ,he confronts at the bus stand , inside the bus , in the garden and on his return in the Shikara to the Boulevard Ghat .A reader is engrossed from the very first paragraph of this story. This story in English translation has been included by Neerja Mattoo in her book,” Kath (stories from Kashmir). Whose  Turn is now ?  ( Vaen Kaem sinz Vaer )  is another story of Dr Shanker Raina   that is included in the book ‘ The Greatest Kashmiri Stories Ever Told’ . The book has been edited and compiled by Neerja Mattoo. This story has also been translated into English from Kashmiri  by Neerja  Mattoo. The story is set in a hospital where patients  await recovery --- or death.

                                                                         

                                    
                                                                          

  ( Photograph of Dr Shanker Raina  ..Source ..Shakeel Rehman ,, well known theatre artist from Kashmir )

Dr Shanker Raina belonged a poor family that had little means to  support his college education  . Looking at the brilliance of the young boy, Prof Jay Lal Kaul helped him in his college studies and guided him in his zest for becoming a doctor.  For some time , he lived in Prof Jay Lal Koul' s house. A reliable source also informs me that Dr Shanker Raina had two unsuccessful love affairs; one in Anantnag and the other in Srinagar during his career. Both women were from his profession.His untimely death in a tragic road accident in England,deprived the Kashmiri literature of this new trend and direction .Apart from being a great human being and a compassionate doctor, he was a writer of great promise.

 

“Kaun iss ghar ki dekh-bhaal kare

Roz ikk cheez toot jaati hai

So gaye peid jaag uthi khushbu

Zindagi Khwaab kyon dikhaati hai”……..( Juan Elia )

 

( Who shall look after this house ( world ),

Everyday something breaks away.

The trees slept and lo and behold ,

How  fragrance emerges all over now.

 Why does life put forth dreams to us ?)

 

 

( Avtar Mota )

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