Korba: Ayodhya is decked-up today ahead of the grand ceremony of Ram Temple's foundation laying by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ganesh Ram Rajput, a self-proclaimed Ram bhakt from Korba district of Chhattisgarh couldn't be any happier.
The man behind 'Chhattisgarhi Lok Ramayan’ has translated Ramcharitmanas into the regional language of which a second edition is on the cards as well.
Posted as a principal in Eklavya Vidyalaya, Rajput, besides translating has also composed it into songs. He has a keen inclination towards literature and is proficient not only in writing but also in singing and playing musical instruments.
Rajput whose two books have been published, so far, has also translated many Dohaas (couplets), Chhand (verses) and chaupayis from Ramcharitmanas into Chhattisgarhi.
26 years of the translation
Rajput's first published book is only a compilation of poems and songs and was published in 2010. After this, his most ambitious work, the ‘Chhattisgarhi Lok Ramayan’, which took him nearly 26 years to complete was published by the Chhattisgarh Rajbhasha Commission in 2016.
Ganesh Ram Rajput in exclusive interview with ETV Bharat Rajput says that he started reading Ramcharitmanas from the tender age of 3-4 years and it was his parents who laid the foundation in his personality. He says, his parents asked him 'either read your course-books or Ramayana.'
Parents taught to read Ramayana
Rajput says his parents not only taught him to read Ramayana but in a way they forced him to read the epic. Besides reading Ramayana, he also used to sing Dohas with the Ram Mandali that became his inspiration to compose the songs in Chhattisgarhi.
Over the years, he prepared rigorously while serving under the state government.
He says, "Whenever I got the time or took a holiday, I used to spend all the whole time pursuing the interest and finally in 2010 the book based on Dohas and chaupis was published. It was following by, the Chhattisgarhi Rajbhasha Aayog published my 'Chhattisgarhi Lok Ramayan' in 2016."
Ganesh Ram Rajput showing his work Compilation of 800 songs
Rajput's first book is a compilation of about 800 songs based on the Ramayana in Chhattisgarhi. Right from the birth of Lord Shri Ram till his coronation as a king, and his life after being a king, Rajput has composed songs on all of it. Not only this, whenever he gets time, even now, he also practices those songs regularly.
The second edition 'Chhattisgarhi Lok Ramayan' soon
The second edition of Rajput's 'Chhattisgarhi Lok Ramayan' is near completion. He plans to send it to the Chhattisgarh Rajbhasha Aayog so that printing gets underway of another set of books.
'Chhattisgarhi Lok Ramayan’ Rajput feels that the Ramcharitmanas is vast enough for a whole book to be written on any of its topic and says, "This book of mine will be different from its first edition. In the first edition verses were composed on a fluent style basis, whereas in the second, a detailed account about Ramayana as a whole is added."
