DWARIKA NATH GIGOO ' RAJKAMAL'

                               

  (Painting by Dwarika Nath Gigoo Rajkamal)

      (Painting by Dwarika Nath Gigoo Rajkamal)


DWARIKA NATH GIGOO RAJKAMAL (1926-1978)

Inside Gulmarg sanitorium, they  were unknown to eachother.  And then   one evening, Rahi Masoom Raza(1927-1992) heard him playing on his flute. He played Raag Yaman  . That day Gulmarg sanitorium became a different place altogether.  And two strangers became lifelong friends .The bond got cemented by commonality of interest  in Urdu poetry, music, art , astrology, palmistry and Hindi.

 Both , Rahi Masoom Raza and Dwarika Nath Gigoo Rajkamal were Tuberculosis patients . At that point of time, antibiotics to treat TB patients had not been  discovered . So,  both had been advised to stay for some months in the sanitorium.  Rahi Masoom Raza opted to come to Gulmarg all the way from Ghazipur , U.P.
After Rahi Masoom Raza left the Gulmarg  Sanitorium, he  kept visiting  Kashmir . And everytime  he was in Kashmir, he never missed to pay a visit to Gigoo's house at Khankaah e Sokhta , a  locality in downtown Srinagar city..

Dwarika Nath Gigoo   had  unusual artistic  personality. He was a musician who could play on many musical instruments  including harmonium, banjo and flute. He was a modern  painter who   passed on the skills of this genre of art to   artist like  Nissar Aziz Beg and some more aspiring artists  . He acted in many plays with his friend Bansi Lal Jalali who later joined films and came to be known as Arun Kaul . He wrote short stories and poems  .  Regular visitors to  Dwarika Nath Gigoo included Kishori Kaul, Akhtar Mohi ud Din , Bansi Parimu, Sant ji Sultan and many more. He had close interaction with artist Som Nath Butt, poet  Dina Nath Nadim, Artist Mohan Raina, Master Zinda Kaul, Prem Nath Pardesi and P N Pushp.
Apart from English, Dwarika Nath Gigoo was fluent in  Sanskrit, Urdu and Hindi . He had read many books  in Sanskrit including Vedas . After completing his B.A. from DAV College Srinagar , he   did B.T. followed by  post  graduation in  Hindi.

 He  read western literature and philosophy . He also read  Hindi and Sanskrit literature .

 It is pertinent  to mention that in 1944,  Arya Samajis from Punjab had  opened  D.A.V. College in Srinagar. The college was headed by Dr Sri Ram Sharma  . The teachers at this newly opened college   included Prof. RN Kaul, Prof Balraj Madhok and Dr Subramanyam. The college was housed in the 'khidmat  'newspaper building on the Bund in Amirakadal , Srinagar. The college was closed in 1948.

As a matter of fact Madho Ram Gigoo ,father of Dwarika Nath Gigoo Rajkamal  played key role in opening DAV College in Srinagar.

Dwarika Nath Gigoo Rajkamal   changed many jobs from teaching in Kashmir University to joining Gandhi Memorial College  , Srinagar as lecturer  .For sometime he also taught at Vasanta school , Rupa Devi Sharda Peeth and  Khalsa High  School, Srinagar  . At  Gandhi Memorial  College, he fell in love with his student Savita Mathur and married her  . Savita hailed from Alwar , Rajasthan. They had no children. Savita is an aged woman now and leads a lonely life  . She lives at Bantalab in Jammu.
                               

                         

Dwarika Nath Gigoo Rajkamal gave  two solo exhibitions of his paintings ; one at CMS Tyndale Biscoe School and the other at Nedous hotel in Srinagar.

As hindi poet, Dwarika Nath Gigoo   wrote  many poems using  Rajkamal as his pen name. His poems were published in Martand . Some poems were also published in some hindi magazines of the country. The influence of Nirala and Jaishankar Prasad is visible  in his hindi poetry.  A sample of his hindi poetry is as under:-

(1) Mein maati ka ranga khilona
Kheil kheil me torr na Dena

!2)
 Inn ke Priy  mahiwaal
Aaj Pardes Gaye hain bookh mitaane,
Rickshaw, Tonga,  buggy chalaane,
Aur milon ki barri barri
Nirdayi masheenon ki rapton mein
Giss  piss jaane aur kho jaane .

(3)
Laakh daraaye Aandhi Toofan
Ye Saagar ya  vo manjhdaar
Thhaam le chapoo khol de naiyaa
Himmat kar lag ja uss paar..

(4)
Khoj kar ke haar mein
Kaise nihaaroon jeet
Mook hai veena parri
Me kaun gaaoon geet
Uth lagaakar Aag jag mein
Alakh ka Abhishek kar
Hans Zara tu niyati ki
Vyangmayi  muskaan re kavi
Likh de ur ke gaan re kavi
Likh de ur ke gaan
Khoob sunane de Jagat mein
Mahapralai ki taan re kavi
Likh de ur ke gaan ..

On Gandhi Ji's death ,he wrote,

'Ye kaun chalaa dagmag pag mein,
Koti koti Armaan liye,
Daliton, nangon ,bhikhmangon ki
 Aahon ka shamshaan liye .
......Ye kaun chala'

 Prof Arvind Gigoo tells me:

' Dawarika  Nath Gigoo Rajkamal was my uncle. He called me Nikka and i called him Gaasha. He read a lot ,ate very little , suffered from poor health and Tuberculosis. He was a painter, musician, linguist , writer, poet , palmist ,astrologer, teacher and singer. Except mathematics, he could teach any subject to college level students . Philosophy was his favourite subject. I have his paintings with me. I have many poems in his handwriting. I am working on publishing a book of his hindi   poems. He loved cinema. He introduced me to the world of art and literature. He was known to many established writers of the country .  My uncle was a friend of Dr Rahi Masoom Raza ,who wrote the  script  and dialogues of  BR Chopra's mega TV serial Mahabharata  .  "

So long so much on Dawarika Nath Gigoo Rajkamal and let me conclude this post with a couplet of Dr Rahi Masoom Raza..

Sakht halaat ke tez toofan mein
Gir gaya tha hamaara junoon e vafa,
Hum chiraag e tamanna jalaate rahe
Vo chiraag e tamanna bujhaate rahe..

(Avtar Mota)

PS

MADHO RAM GIGOO

Mado Ram Gigoo, father of Dwarika Nath Gigoo Rajkamal was also a man of  unusual  personality.
At the insistence of  Dr Neve ( a well known missionary doctor in Kashmir ) ,  Madho Ram Gigoo had embraced Christianity .After being baptized, he was given a new name and came to be known as  Michael Bhan. The Christian missionaries sent him to  Europe, Egypt  and Turkey .In Rome ,he published a book that became quite popular. He met pope and while in Turkey , he met Mustafa Kamal Pasha.On his return to India,  Madho Ram met Anne Besant in Mumbai . She  suggested  him to reconsider his decision with regard to  change of  faith. Madho Ram Gigoo felt convinced and returned to Hinduism   but became  a staunch Arya Samaji. He played key role in establishing Arya Samaj in Kashmir valley.

And Madho Ram Gigoo happens to be the grandfather of Prof Arvind Gigoo.


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