By IANS,
Jaipur: Author of folk tales Vijaydan Detha, also called Rajasthan’s Shakespeare, is elated that his name is doing the rounds for the Nobel prize for literature this year.
“Even a stone will get joyful over such good news… I am a human being so you can imagine how happy I am,” Detha, who has authored over 800 books, told IANS.
“I have given my entire life to Rajasthan’s folk tales. It is great to know that it’s being recognised on an international level,” Detha, 85, said.
Born in Jodhpur’s Borunda village, Vijaydan Detha is credited with giving a new dimension to Rajasthani folk literature. He has been awarded top literary honours in India, including Padma Shri, Sahitya Akademi Award and Sahitya Chudamani.
One of Detha’s books, “Duvidha”, has been adapted into a Bollywood film “Paheli” while many of his books have been translated into other languages like English, French and German.
His father, Sabaldan Detha, and grandfather, Jugtidan Detha, were also well-known poets of Rajasthan.
Detha considers the works of Bengali novelist Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay as his first inspiration. He is also a fan of Russian writer Anton Chekhov and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
He says he was born with writing skills as he comes from the community of Charans, who professionally sang praises of their feudal lords.
People in Rajasthan were Wednesday thronging temples to pray for the 85-year-old.
“I and about 50 of my friends went to a temple in Jodhpur to offer prayers for the writer. He has devoted his entire life to the service of Rajasthani language,” said Rohit Charan, an ardent fan who claims to have read most of the books written by Detha.