अखिल भारतीय कथा समारोह-11-12 अक्टूबर 2008- जोकहरा (आज़मगढ)

आयोजन समिति
विभूति नारायण राय
वीरेन्द्र यादव
अखिलेश
अवधेश मिश्र (संयोजक)
लगभग एक शताब्दी के सफर मे हिन्दी कथा साहित्य कई मंजिलों और पडावों से होकर गुजरा है . स्वाधीनता -पूर्व के वर्षों में जहाँ आजादी की चेतना एवँ सामाजिक विसंगतियों ने इसका स्वरूप निर्मित किया वहाँ स्वातंत्रोत्तर काल में इसने प्रतिबद्ध जीवन दृष्टि और आधुनिकता -बोध की टकराहटों से होकर अपनी राह बनाई . इस समूचे दौर में कथा साहित्य विशेषकर हिन्दी कहानी कई आन्दोलनों से होकर गुजरा है . फतवोँ और नारोँ के शोर से बचते बचाते आज कहानी जिस मुकाम पर है, वह उम्मीदों भरा है . हिन्दी उपन्यास ने भी इस दौर में अपनी हस्तक्षेपकारी उपस्थिति दर्ज करायी है . लेकिन यह भी सच है कि आज भारतीय समाज विकास और विनाश, परिवर्तन और ठहराव, वैश्वीकरण और स्थानिकता की जिस द्वन्द से गुजर रहा है, वह कथा साहित्य के लिये चुनौतियों से भरा है . भारत-विभाजन के बाद अक्टूबर चौरासी , 6 दिसम्बर 1992 एवँ गुजरात 2002 की घट्नाओं से भारतीय समाज आंतरिक विभाजनों से होकर गुजर रहा है . बढती सामाजिक- आर्थिक विषमताओँ एवँ पारंपरिक कुलीनतावाद ने भी विभाजन की इस प्रक्रिया को और भी भेदकारी बनाया है .जहाँ मध्यवर्ग के लिये वैश्वीकरण और मुक्त अर्थ व्यवस्था द्वारा नए अवसरोँ का दावा किया जा रहा है, वही हाशिये का समाज वंचित और निरुपाय होने के लिये अभिशप्त है .विकास के वैकल्पिक माडल एवँ संगठित प्रतिरोध के अभाव मेँ हताशा, विलगाव एवं बेबाकी से उसका दुविधाग्रस्त होना स्वाभाविक ही है .
हमारा कथा साहित्य भारतीय समाज के तेजी से बदलते इस परिदृश्य , सामाजिक संकट एवं दु:स्वप्नों की रचनात्मक अभिव्यक्ति किस तरह कर रहा है ? कहीं हम दूर बैठे का दुख तो नहीं कर रहें जो भारतीय समाज के दु:स्वप्नों , पीडा एवं हताशा को महज उपभोग सामग्री के रूप में इस्तेमाल कर रहा है ? क्या है हमारा रवैय्या उस लेखन के प्रति जो हाशिये के समाज के बीच से हो रहा है ? दलित ,स्त्री और अल्पसंख्यक हमारे सरोकारों में कितना शामिल है ? इन सवालों के बरक्स हिन्दी कथा-आलोचना की क्या भूमिका है ? क्या आलोचना को आस्वादपरकता एवं कुलीनतावाद से मुक्त होने की जरूरत नहीं है ? यदि उपन्यास- कहानी महज साहित्यिक संरचना न होकर सामाजिक सम्र्चना भी है तो क्या आलोचना के नये विकल्प जरूरी नहीं ?
यदि ये प्रश्न आपको कुच विचलित करतें हैं और विचारणीय लगतें हैं तो आइये हम मिल बैठकर इस पर सामूहिक चर्चा करें . हमारी यह चर्चा निम्न तीन शीर्षकों में विभाजित है:
(1) हिन्दी कथा-भूमि और आज का समय
(2) कथा साहित्य और आलोचना का ह्स्तक्षेप
(3) हाशिये के लोग और हिन्दी कथा साहित्य
इस समारोह का आयोजन 11-12 अक्तूबर को श्री रामानन्द सरस्वती पुस्तकालय के तत्वावधान में किया जायेगा. श्री रामानन्द सरस्वती पुस्तकालय की स्थापना, आजमगढ सॆ ग़ॉरखपुर जाने वाले मार्ग पर स्थित ग्राम जोकहरा मेँ सन 1993 मेँ पढने की सँस्कृति विकसित करने के लिए की गयी थी ! पिछले डॅढ दशकोँ मेँ यह संस्था देश के एक मह्त्वपूर्ण साँस्कृतिक केन्द्र के रुप मेँ मान्यता प्राप्त कर चुकी हॆ ! दस ह्जार से अधिक पुस्तकों एवँ डेढ सौ से अधिक लघु पत्रिकाऑ के अँको क़ॆ संग्रह वाला यह पुस्तकालय देश के सबसे पिछडे इलाकों में से एक में स्थित हॆ ! अपनी सक्रिय उपस्थिति से इसने न सिर्फ आसपास के इलाके में सामान्य लोगों में पुस्तक पढने की सँस्कृति विकसित की हॆ बल्कि विशेष रुप से समाज के हाशिये पर उपस्थिति दर्ज कराने वाले तबकों. दलितों ,महिलाओं और भूमिहीन परिवार के बच्चों की पुस्तकों तक पहुँच सम्भव बनाई हॆ!
कथा साहित्य पर केन्द्रित इस अखिल भारतीय आयोजन में सक्रिय भागीदारी के लिये आप सादर आमंत्रित हैं . आयोजन समिति आपके समुचित आतिथ्य एवं मार्ग-व्यय की व्यवस्था करेगी .कृपया आयोजन में भागीदारी की सहमति देकर हमें आश्वस्त करें .

आपके सहयोग का आकांक्षी,


(संयोजक)

कृते संयोजन समिति

लघु पत्रिका केन्द्र- जोकहरा

लघु पत्रिका (लिटिल मैगजीन) आन्दोलन मुख्य रूप से पश्चिम में प्रतिरोध (प्रोटेस्ट) के औजार के रूप में शुरू हुआ था. यह प्रतिरोध राज्य सत्ता, उपनिवेशवाद, साम्राज्यवाद या धार्मिक वर्चस्ववाद– किसी के भी विरुद्ध हो सकता था. लिटिल मैगजीन आन्दोलन की विशेषता उससे जुडे लोगों की प्रतिबद्धता तथा सीमित आर्थिक संसाधनों में तलाशी जा सकती थी. अक्सर बिना किसी बडे औद्योगिक घराने की मदद लिये बिना, किसी व्यक्तिगत अथवा छोटे सामूहिक प्रयासों के परिणाम स्वरूप निकलने वाली ये पत्रिकायें अपने समय के महत्वपूर्ण लेखकों को छापतीं रहीं हैं. भारत में भी सामाजिक चेतना के बढने के साथ-साथ बीसवीं शताब्दी के उत्तरार्ध में लघु पत्रिकायें प्रारम्भ हुयीं. 1950 से लेकर 1980 तक का दौर हिन्दी की लघु पत्रिकाओं के लिये बहुत ही महत्वपूर्ण रहा. यह वह दौर था जब नई- नई मिली आजादी से मोह भंग शुरू हुआ था और बहुत बडी संख्या में लोग विश्वास करने लगे थे कि बेहतर समाज बनाने में साहित्य की निर्णायक भूमिका हो सकती है. बेनेट कोलमैन & कम्पनी तथा हिन्दुस्तान टाइम्स लिमिटेड की पत्रिकाओं-धर्मयुग, साप्ताहिक हिन्दुस्तान, सारिका, कादम्बनी, दिनमान, और माधुरी जैसी बडी पूंजी से निकलने वाली पत्रिकाओं के मुकाबले कल्पना, लहर, वाम, उत्तरार्ध, आलोचना, कृति, क ख ग, माध्यम, आवेश, आवेग, संबोधन, संप्रेषण, आरम्भ, ध्वज भंग , सिर्फ , हाथ, कथा, नई कहानियां, कहानी, वयं, अणिमा जैसी पत्रिकायें निकलीं जो सीमित संसाधनों , व्यक्तिगत प्रयासों या लेखक संगठनों की देन थीं. इन पत्रिकाओं का मुख्य स्वर साम्राज्यवाद विरोध था और ये शोषण, धार्मिक कठमुल्लापन, लैंगिक असमानता, जैसी प्रवृत्तियों के विरुद्ध खडी दिखायीं देतीं थीं. एक समय तो ऐसा भी आया जब मुख्य धारा के बहुत से लेखकों ने पारिश्रमिक का मोह छोडकर बडी पत्रिकाओं के लिये लिखना बन्द कर दिया और वे केवल इन लघु पत्रिकाओं के लिये ही लिखते रहे. एक दौर ऐसा भी आया जब बडे घरानों की पत्रिकाओं में छपना शर्म की बात समझा जाता था और लघु पत्रिकाओं में छपने का मतलब साहित्यिक समाज की स्वीकृति की गारंटी होता था. आज राष्ट्रीय एवं ग्लोबल कारणों से न तो लघु पत्रिकाएं निकालने वालों के मन में पुराना जोश बाकी है और न ही उनमें छपना पहले जैसी विशिष्टता का अहसास कराता है फिर भी लघु पत्रिकाओं में छपी सामग्री का अपना एक ऐतिहासिक महत्व है . हिन्दी साहित्य के बहुत सारे विवाद, आन्दोलन, प्रवृत्तियों को निर्धारित करने वाली सामग्री और महान रचनायें इन लघु पत्रिकाओं के पुराने अंकों में समाई हुयीं हैं. इनमें से बहुत सारी सामग्री कभी पुनर्मुद्रित नहीं हुयीं. साहित्य के गंभीर पाठकों एवं शोधार्थियों के लिये इनका ऐतिहासिक महत्व है.
श्री रामानन्द सरस्वती पुस्तकालय ने इस महत्वपूर्ण खजाने को एक साथ उपलब्ध कराने के लिये अपने प्रांगण में वर्ष 2004-2005 में लघु पत्रिका केन्द्र की स्थापना की है. इस केन्द्र में 250 से अधिक लघु पत्रिकाओं के पूरे अथवा कुछ अंक उपलब्ध हैं. कोई भी शोधार्थी यहाँ पर आकर इस संग्रह की पत्रिकाओं का अध्ययन कर सकता है और आवश्यकता पडने पर फोटोकॉपी ले जा सकता है. पुस्तकालय शोधार्थियों के रुकने की निशुल्क व्यवस्था भी करता है. इस सम्बन्ध में कोई भी सूचना सुधीर शर्मा से टेलीफोन नम्बर- 05466-239615 अथवा 9452332073 से प्राप्त की जा सकती है.

Those who visited Library

Writers -

Trilochan Shastri, Kamleshwar , Namwar Singh, Shreelal Shukla, Vishnu Kant Shastri, Mamta Kalia, Ravindra Kalia, Se Ra. Yatri, Asgar Wazahat, Markandey, Neel Kant, Shekhar Joshi, Doodh Nath Singh, Neelabh, Parmanand Srivastava, Kedar Nath Singh, Kashi Nath Singh, Abid Surti, Namita Singh, Kunwar Pal Singh, Hari Pal Tyagi, Ramesh Upadhya, Avadhesh Pradhan, Madhu Kankaria, Lal Bahadur Verma, Harish Chandra Agrawal, Badri Nath ,Badri Narayan, Ganga Prasad Vimal, Vikas Narain Rai,Shambhoo Nath , Dhananjay, Shambhu Gupta, Arvind Tripathi, Akhilesh, Virendra Yadav, Shivmurti, Tejinder, Bharat Bhardwaj, Suraj Paliwal, Rajendra Rajan, Alpana Mishra,Rati Agnihotri, Sadhana Agrawal, Upendra Kumar, Kamala Prasad, Rajendra Sharma, P.N.Singh, Sri Prakash Shukla, Krishna Mohan, Shalendra Pratap Singh, Ajay Tiwari, Ram Kumar Krishak, Ramanika Gupta, Vachaspati, Kanwal Bharati, Bhagwan Das Morwal, Prem Pal Sharma, Shankar, Abhai, Narmadeshwar, Priya Darshan Malviya, Jai Prakash Dhoomketu Anil Rai, Chauthi Ram Yadav, Nirmala Putul, Mrityunjay, Prahlad Agrawal, Hariom, Yash Malviya, Rohini Agrawal, Vivek Nirala, Kripa Shankar Chaubey, Neelam Shankar Pandey, Rohitshva, Ravi Shankar Pandey, Ram Kamal Rai, Vasant Nirgune, and Prakash Tripathi.

Film/Theatre personalities

Devendra Raj Ankur, Shabana Azmi, Teejan Bai,Sagar Sarhadi, Surya Mohan Kulshreshth, Yugal Kishor, Jitendra Raghuvanshi, Sachin Tiwari, Mridula Bhardwaj, Vidhu Khare, Vijay Kumar, Sanskar Desai, Munni Gandharv, Gobind Yadav, Meeta Mishra, Shamshul Islam, Neelima , Abhishek Pundit, Mamata Pundit,

Social Activists-

Acharya Ram Murti, Teesta Sitalvad, Medha Patkar, Asgar Ali Engineer, Arundhati Dhuru,Roop Rekha Verma, Sandeep Pandey,Prof. Om Prakash Malviya, Prof. Deepak Malik, Nasiruddin, Prof.Ramesh Dikshit,Muniza, Naish, Shakeela, Sarvesh (photographer)

Sri Ramanand Saraswati Pustkalaya

Sri Ramanand Saraswati Pustkalaya is situated at about 30 kilometers from Azamgarh on way to Gorakhpur.Important Bhojpuri speaking towns like Varanasi, Gorakhpur Azamgarh, Balia, Mau and Ghazipur are well within the reach of this library. During last one decade it has become a premier cultural centre of the country. This centre, apart from other activities, is also engaged in various community development projects. It has been involved in restoring the culture of book reading .Its efforts have specially helped the neo-literates.

श्री रामानन्द सरस्वती पुस्तकालय
श्री रामानन्द सरस्वती पुस्तकालय की स्थापना, आजमगढ सॆ ग़ॉरखपुर जाने वाले मार्ग पर स्थित ग्राम जोकहरा मेँ सन 1993 मेँ पढने की सँस्कृति विकसित करने के लिए की गयी थी ! पिछले डॅढ दशकोँ मेँ यह सँस्था देश के एक मह्त्वपूर्ण साँस्कृतिक केन्द्र के रुप मेँ मान्यता प्राप्त कर चुकी हॆ ! दस ह्जार से अधिक पुस्तकोँ एवँ डेढ सौ से अधिक लघु पत्रिकाऑ के अँको क़ॆ संग्रह वाला यह पुस्तकालय देश के सबसे पिछडे इलाकोँ मेँ से एक मेँ स्थित हॆ ! अपनी सक्रिय उपस्थिति से इसने न सिर्फ आसपास के इलाके मेँ सामान्य लोगोँ मेँ पुस्तक पढने की सँस्कृति विकसित की हॆ बल्कि विशेष रुप से समाज के हाशिये पर उपस्थिति दर्ज कराने वाले तबकोँ- दलितोँ ,महिलाओँ और भूमिहीन परिवारोँ के बच्चोँ की पुस्तकोँ तक पहुँच सम्भव बनाई हॆ!

Ex convict in the new role of a librarion:

Sudhir Sharma ,prisoner no.797 ,in a Goa Jail had only one addiction - books. He opted for the job of cleaning the toilets because this was the only way to get time to pursue his interest .Scores of Hindi writers and social activists sent him books. This worked smoothly initially but soon over jealous Jail officials stopped delivering him the packets of books and started returning them. They had very funny excuses for it." You can get any thing in Jail- drugs,liquor,women , if you have money or right connections but not books" Sudhir wrote desperately to an outside friend in a letter which was smuggled out clandestinely. People like Vibhuti Narain Rai, a senior Police Officer and Hindi writer and Sumant Bhattacharya, a journalist took his case to National Human Rights Commission and with the intervention of Commission and Judiciary, Sudhir once again got the books. After serving ten years in the Jail, Sudhir has joined the world of books. He is the librarian of Sri Ramanand Saraswati Pustkalaya.

एक नयी भूमिका मेँ भूतपूर्व कॆदी
हेरोइन रखने के आरोप मेँ गोवा जेल मेँ बन्द कॅदी नम्बर 797, सुधीर शर्मा से जेल जाने के बाद हेरोइन की लत तो छूट गयी किंतु वह एक नये नशे का शिकार हो गया ! यह नशा था किताबोँ और पत्रिकाओँ का ! सँयोग से ज्ञानरंजन और उनकी पत्रिका पहल से हुआ परिचय जीवन मेँ एक निर्णायक मोड साबित हुआ! ! उसने ढूँढ ढूँढ कर लेखको से किताबेँ मँगवानी शुरु कीँ ! देश भर के तमाम लेखकोँ ने उसे किताबें भेजीं ! पढने के लिये अधिक समय मिले इसके लिये सुधीर ने जेल अधिकरियों से अपने लिये टायलेट साफ करने का काम माँग लिया क्योंकि यही एक अकेला काम था जिसमे काफी वक्त बचता था ! कुछ दिनों तक सब कुछ ठीक ठाक चलता रहा पर जल्दी ही जेल अधिकारियोँ ने उसे किताबें देने से मना कर दिया और किताबोँ के पार्सल लौटने लगे ! इस हरकत के लिये जेल अधिकारियोँ के पास बडे मजेदार तर्क थे ! "अगर आपके पास पॆसा या सही पहुँच हॆ तो जेल के अन्दर आपको शराब, गाँजा यहाँ तक कि लडकी भी मिल सकती हॆ किंतु किताबेँ नहीँ मिलेँगी", सुधीर ने छिपा कर भेजे गये अपने एक खत मे लिखा ! सुधीर की लडाई पुलिस अधिकारी एवँ लेखक विभूति नारायण राय तथा पत्रकार सुमंत भट्टाचार्य ने राष्ट्रीय मानवाधिकार आयोग , न्यायपालिका तथा मीडिया के माध्यम से लडी ! अंतत: सुधीर को फिर से किताबेँ मिलने लगीं ! 2003 मे जेल से छूटने के बाद सुधीर सीधे किताबोँ की दुनियाँ में चला गया ! आज वह श्री रामानन्द सरस्वती पुस्तकालय का लाइब्रेरियन हॆ जहाँ खुद किताबें पढने के अलावा वह एक बडे पाठक समुदाय को किताबों से जोडने का काम कर रहा हॆ !

Lee Koo visits Jokehara

Excerpts from the Blog-http//www. katsu-katsu.blogspot.com
From a life of drugs and crime to a life of literacy
Sunday, October 14, 2007
I had a great opportunity to visit Shri Ramanand Saraswati Pustkalaya, a non-governmental organization (NGO) which is located in Jokehara, a remote village in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh (Approximately 3.5 hours from Benares). I met with the two men who have really propelled a vision to empower women and children and to breakdown gender bias and caste bias. It's a pretty amazing place and the story upon which it was founded is even more astounding. It's got a tough cop, a reformed convict, love, loss & betrayal, drugs & mafia warlords and... the silver lining is... empowerment of poor rural women and children through literacy, arts and dedication! Vibhuti Narain Rai, is the head of the organization is a Vice Director General of Police for the state of UP. He's basically the second in command and exudes authority and machismo, but when he smiles, one can see the corners of his eyes wrinkle behind the dark Ray Bans (think Tom Cruise in Top Gun). He is a dedicated man, visiting the village at least twice a month from his post in Lucknow. He introduced us to Sudhir Sharma, the famous librarian who has brought literacy to Jokehara and 10 neighbouring villages. Sudhir is famous b/c of his fight for the right to read books while in a Goa jail. His only request was to read, and as such he developed a relationship with writers, one of whom was Vice Director General Rai. After prison officials returned books to the senders, Sudhir smuggled a letter out to Mr. Rai and thus began the court case which went all the way up to the Goa High Court. In the end Sudhir was not only able to receive books, but he went on to establish a library in the jail. upon release Mr. Rai offered him the opportunity to become the resident librarian for his NGO... and now... the story really takes off. The library was the seed which germinated an entire village to throw off their skeptical concerns that reading was important and a valuable skill set and he inspired them to proffer what little they had to build a community centre. The poorest man of the village gave a parcel of valuable farm land, the stone mason, 2 bags of concrete and so forth... those who had no materials to offer, gave their labour to help build this centre. It is truly inspiring. Now, the community centre hosts a sewing centre to allow women to develop a marketable skill set that will allow them to earn approximately 30-40 rupees a day ($0.80-$1.00) and continue to feed their families. From the sewing centre spawned a computer centre where community members can come to learn basic computer skills and then apply to computer programs in nearby cities to further their skills. The most powerful story though, is the introduction of community theatre. Here the women are rallied to join and write their own play and then perform in it. It's so wonderful because the women learn how to command presence through physical body movement and oratorial skills as they must project their voices. There are of course many obstacles that these young women face when they begin to realize that they are entitled to equal treatment and greater opportunities -- it is a reality that all such organizations face. With knowledge comes power, and with power there is a threat of change to those who currently dominate. Sometimes "real change" may seem futile, but I think the lesson which must be gleaned from this is that one seed can foster great hope and change an entire landscape.

Lee Koo

Theatre Brings Perceptible Changes In The Life Of Women

Social change through cultural interventions and theatrical activities helped a lot in bringing a perceptible change in the situation. The beginning was not a conscious effort. National School of Drama, New Delhi organised its first training cum production workshop in May 2004 at SRSP. Initially everyone was sceptical about the response of women to the workshop but to everybody's surprise large number of girls participated in the camp. For them it was like freedom from mundane, routine chores of a male dominated family life where they had very little elbow space for joy and creativity. It was another departure from the caste guided behavioural pattern. Boys and girls of different castes used to spend the whole day together singing, dancing and rehearsing. Initially there was a mental barrier among them but slowly and unknowingly it disappeared and they started to share their midday meal as well. The first theatre camp changed many things in the life of village Jokehara. Women started visiting library in more numbers. There was a perceptible change in the confidence level and they started participating more freely in the discussions organised by the library. Since then many theatre camps with the support of National School Of Drama, New Delhi, Bhartendu Natya Academy, Lucknow and North Central Zone Cultural Centre, Allahabad have been organised and it has further cemented the process.

1993 से लेकर 2004 तक की यात्रा में जो खास कमी बडी शिद्दत से महसूस की जाती थी, वह थी लड्कियों और महिलाओं की पुस्तकालय की गतिविधियों मे बहुत कम भागीदारी ! 2004 में अचानक एक घटना ने पूरा परिदृश्य बदल दिया ! सब कुछ बिना किसी सोची समझी रणनीति के तहत हुआ ! राष्ट्रीय नाट्य विद्यालय नई दिल्ली ने मई 2004 मेँ पहली बार एक महीने का ट्रेनिंग कम प्रोडक्शन वर्कशाप पुस्तकालय परिसर में आयोजित किया ! "पूर्वी उत्तर प्रदेश के इस पिछडे गाँव में नाटक करने के लिये लड्कियाँ कहाँ से मिलेंगी?" प्रशिक्षिका विधु खरे ने लखनऊ से जोकहरा जाते हुये हैरानी से पूछा ! विधु की हैरानी निराधार भी नहीं थी ! शुरू के तीन दिन एक भी लडकी कार्यशाला मेँ भाग लेने नहीं आयी ! लेकिन विधु के थोडे से प्रयास के बाद जो कुछ हुआ वह अकल्पनीय था ! अलग अलग उम्र जातियों एवँ पारिवारिक पृष्ठभूमि की लडकियों ने जब आना शुरु किया तो ऐसा लगा कि कोई बाँध टूट गया हो ! सचमुच बाँध ही तो टूटा था ! तरह तरह की कुँठाओं और वर्जनाओं की मारी इन लडकियों को एक बार जब अपनी कल्पना के पँख पसारने का मौका मिला तो वे उड चलीं उस सम्मोहक और रंग बिरंगी दुनियाँ की तरफ जिसमे अभी तक उनका प्रवेश वर्जित था ! वर्कशाप मे तीस से अधिक प्रतिभगियों के भाग लेने की गुंजायश नहीँ थी किंतु मना करते करते भी विधु को 47 लडके लडकियों को इसमे दाखिल करना पडा ! नाटक की यह कार्यशाला लडकियो और आसपास के ग्रामीण जीवन के अनुभव संसार में एक भूचाल की तरह थी ! पूर्वी उत्तर प्रदेश देश के अन्य पिछडे ग्रामीण इलाकोँ की तरह लैँगिक और जातीय भेद भाव से ग्रस्त है ! इस वर्कशाप से पहले यह कल्पना करना भी मुश्किल था कि लडके लडकियाँ , खास तौर से दलित और सवर्ण पृष्ठभूमि के , एक साथ हाथ से हाथ मिलाकर नाचेंगे ,गायेंगे और अभिनय करेंगे ! इस वर्कशाप में विधु खरे के निर्देशन में तैयार लक्ष्मी नारायण मिश्र का नाटक सरयू की धार, राष्ट्रीय नाट्य विद्यालय, नई दिल्ली के रंगमंच पर जश्नेबचपन के तहत खेला गया !


जोकहरा से दिल्ली की यात्रा ने भी भाग लेने वाले कलाकारोँ की जिन्दगी को बदला ! कलाकारों में आधे से अधिक की ये पहली रेल यात्रा थी और दो एक को छोडकर बाकी सभी पहली बार दिल्ली जा रहे थे ! विधु खरे ने यात्रा के दौरान अलग अलग जातियों के बच्चों द्वारा लाया गया भोजन एक मे मिला दिया और बाद मे सबने उसे मिल बाँट कर खाया !महानगरों के लिये तो यह एक सामान्य सी स्थिति हो सकती है किंतु गलीज़ वर्ण व्यवस्था के पंक में बजबजाते समाज के लिये यह एक बडी परिवर्तन कारी घटना थी !
थियेटर के इस पहले वर्कशाप ने ही औरतोँ की जिँदगी मेँ निर्णायक हस्तक्षेप प्रारम्भ कर दिया ! वर्कशाप के पहले बहुत कम संख्या मेँ लडकियाँ /महिलाएँ पुस्तकालय मेँ आतीँ थीँ , जो आतीँ भी थी वे सहमी ,सकुचाई और अनामंत्रित सी लगती थीँ ! वर्कशाप समाप्त होने के बाद उनकी संख्या तो बढी ही उनके आत्मविश्वास का स्तर भी बढ गया ! बढा हुआ आत्मविश्वास उनके चलने, बोलने और अधिकार के साथ पुस्तकालय का उपयोग करने मे झलकने लगा !
मई 2004 के इस पहले वर्कशाप के बाद पुस्तकालय ने प्रति वर्ष तीन ट्रेनिंग कम प्रोडक्शन वर्कशाप लगाने का फैसला किया और इस अभियान मे उसे राष्ट्रीय नाट्य विद्यालय नई दिल्ली, उत्तर मध्य सांस्कृतिक केन्द्र इलाहाबाद , भारतेन्दु नाट्य अकादमी लखनऊ तथा इप्टा का सहयोग मिलता रहा है !
यदि आपको देखना हो कि थियेटर कैसे औरतोँ की जिन्दगी मेँ परिवर्तनकारी हस्तक्षेप करता है तो आपको श्री रामानन्द सरस्वती पुस्तकलय के अनुभवोँ का देखना चहिये !

Profile of the Organisation

1. Name of the organisation Sri Ramanand Saraswati Pustkalaya
2. Registration No./Date/Place of Registration- 1019/93-94/4-1-1994
3. Place of Registration- Azamgarh
4.FCRA No./Date of Issue- II/ 21022/73(169)/ 2005 / ,Reg. No.- 136250046 / ,Date-- 09/ 08 / 05
4.Address-- Sri Ramanand Saraswati Pustkalaya, Jokehara, Azamgarh, 276136
5.Phone Number/Fax Number/E-mail-05466-239615,05466-239448 , 9452332073 / srsp1993@yahoo.co.in/ sriramanandsaraswatipustkalaya.blogspot.com

6.Name of Responsible Individual ( Name/Designation/Phone Number / E-mail)Sri Shesh Nath Rai / Secretary / srsp1993@ yahoo.co.in

7.Organizational Structure-

7-1. Year of Establishment- 1993-1994

7-2. Nature of the Organization- Social, cultural and educational

7-3. Number of Branches, Field Offices and their location nil

8.Purpose of Establishment, Vision and/ Mission Statement


Vision:-

SRSP intends to combat two major biases of the Rural India related to cast and gender which may help creation of a just and equitable social order. It is committed to the goal of enabling Rural India to live life of dignity and respect.

Mission:-

SRSP works for the sustainable social and economic empowerment of women and dalits. The focus is on rights based approach through which these marginalized segments of the Rural India are sensitized about the dignity of their human existence. The tools of this endeavor are education, capacity building by skill up gradation, exposure to the laws of the land and international conventions and creative activities like theatre, music, and painting. Efforts are also made to involve these potential groups in such efforts like water conservation, forestry and preservation of oral and written folk traditions which may enrich their life. Special attention is paid to the improvement of their health and hygiene.

9. Main Activities of the Organization-
During more than one decade of its existence SRSP has turned into a prominent cultural centre of the country. Initially started with an aim to promote the culture of book reading, very soon it got involved in many other activities of community development. It took a moderate project of adult literacy with an aim of making every body in the village Jokehara literate and this target was achieved in three years. To sensitise villagers on gender and dalit issues many discourses were organised in which social activists like Teesta Setalwad, Shabana Azmi, Medha Patkar, Asgar Ali Engineer, and Acharya Ram Murti along with the hosting of writers, playwrights, poets, academicians, photographers and film and theatre critics. It was believed that the exposure to such a wide variety of experiences and ideas, the youth of Jokehara and its neighbouring villages would be able to come out of their caste and gender constraints.

Click Here!

Jokehara and the villages around it are like any other village of eastern Uttar Pradesh where caste and gender lines are very pronounced. SRSP, since its inception, has tried to mobilise the marginalised sections, specially women and dalits, against the social odds. It was not at all an easy task.. SRSP, had adopted a strategy to motivate dalits to challenge the system which denied them dignity and equality without provoking and inviting hostilities from the upper castes. SRSP had appointed a chamar, lowest in the caste system, as librarian. Initially this led to very strange situations. For example the librarian would not sit before an upper caste reader or an upper caste reader may find it humiliating to ask the librarian to help him in searching a book. During functions when their were visitors from outside the librarian would feel hesitant in sitting with them at the dining table and even if he sat, there was always a posibility that he would be ridiculed by an upper caste person. Gradually the situation changed and the dalit librarian was accepted as equal.

9. a. Theatre Brings Perceptible Changes In The Life Of Women
Social change through cultural interventions and theatrical activities helped a lot in bringing a perceptible change in the situation. The beginning was not a conscious effort. National School of Drama, New Delhi organised its first training cum production workshop in December 2003 at SRSP. Initially everyone was sceptical about the response of women to the workshop but to everybody's surprise large number of girls participated in the camp. For them it was like freedom from mundane, routine chores of a male dominated family life where they had very little elbow space for joy and creativity. It was another departure from the caste guided behavioural pattern. Boys and girls of different castes used to spend the whole day together singing, dancing and rehearsing. Initially there was a mental barrier among them but slowly and unknowingly it disappeared and they started to share their midday meal as well. The first theatre camp changed many things in the life of village Jokehara. Women started visiting library in more numbers. There was a perceptible change in the confidence level and they started participating more freely in the discussions organised by the library. Since then many theatre camps with the support of National School Of Drama, New Delhi, Bhartendu Natya Academy, Lucknow and North Central Zone Cultural Centre, Allahabad have been organised and it has further cemented the process.

9. b. Empowerment Through Income Generating Programmes

SRSP is actively engaged in economic empowerment of local community and developing their income-generation capacity. It is running two centres under the Community Polytechnic Scheme of government of India. One centre is imparting training in typing and shorthand and the other is engaged in stitching and embroidery. The objective of the programme is to make local young boys and girls learn vocational skills and become self dependent. These vocational courses have helped villagers, especially women and dalits, in developing their confidence. The library is also running a computer training centre. The organisation believes that a good number of these trainees will soon be able to start their own enterprises.

The organisation had successfully run a project of rearing honeybee which was supported by CAPART. Under this programme 50 economically backward farmers have been given honey boxes with other accessories. The organisation has given them training and provides them with regular support. The project is expected to give them a regular and sustainable source of livelihood. With the completion of this project , more beneficiaries are expected to be covered under this programme and the project may be replicated in other areas.
At present SRSP is running a training course for motorcycle and scooter mechanics.30 young boys , mostly from the marginalised sections are enrolled in the programme. Nehru Yuva Kendra, New Delhi is supporting it.
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is supporting SRSP in its endeavour to organise grass root women self help groups. Many such groups have been organised so far which are not only sensitising their members about their rights and dignity as a person but also upgrading their skills through various training inputs so that they can earn a decent livelihood. These self help groups have linkages with banks. Efforts are on to develop some of these into small level entrepreneurs.

9. c. Physical Fitness and Sports Activities-

Physical fitness is the strength of any community. SRSP has started a volleyball nursery where about 80 boys of different age groups are learning the game under the watchful eyes of a trained coach. SRSP has also established a gymnasium which provides the youth of the area an opportunity to exercise and maintain their physical fitness.

9. d. Our Partners-

Over the years SRSP has not only diversified its activities, it has also established fruitful relationships with institution/organisations like National Book Trust, National School of Drama, Sahitya Academy, Ministry of Culture-Government Of India, North Central Zone Cultural Centre, CAPART, Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Trust, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare - Govt of India, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India, Nehru Yuva Kendra, OXFAM and NABARD.

Annual Report of SRSP for the year 2005-2006

The year 2005 proved to be an year of creativity and reiteration of the commitment to the cause of marginalised and under prieveledged sections of the society.The Library organised such activities through out the year which helped it reach vulnerable groups like children,women dalits and backwards.
National School Of Drama, New Delhi organised a month long production cum training theatre workshop for the young girls and boys from 20th May 2004 to 18th June 2004. The participants in this camp were from Azamgarh, Mau ,Ghazipur and Sultanpur districts.Expert trainers from NSD exposed the young participants to a new horizon of creativity.The participants prepared two plays and 7 shows were organised in the library and adjoining villages. North Central Zone Cultural Centre, Allahabad ,organised a theatre training workshop at the library in which again trainees from adjoining districts participated .Ministry Of Culture gave a grant of Rs 50,000/ for the production of the play Andha Yug written by Dharm Veer Bharti.This was rehearsed in the month of June and final production was staged on 9th of July 2005 in the presence of Sri Devendra Raj Ankur Director National School OF Drama, New Delhi and writers like Sri Namwar Singh, Kamla Prasad , Parmanad Srivastava.Theatre had been a continuous activity during the year.

This year the Library achieved another milestone.Ms Shabana Azmi inaugerated a new block on March 2 ,2005.This block which is named after the noted Urdu poet Kaifi Azmi has been built by the funds provided by Ms Shabana Azmi. Sri Kuldip Nayer and Sri Shahid Siddiqi , Members of the Parliament through their MPLAD scheme.On this occasion noted social activist Ms Teesta Setalwad was also present.

CAPART sanctioned a income generation programme of honey-bee keeping 50 marginalised farmers, mostly from dalits and backward communities, were identified and were trained by experts.These benificiaries were given honey-bee boxes with colonies at subsidised rates.The programme was successfully organised and post- completion evaluation found that the beneficiaries could add extra monthly income of Rs 700 to 1000 p.m.
The Library launched a very ambitious project of sensitizing local men and women on gender issues with the financial support of OXFAM ,an international donor agency.A detailed area profile has been prepared for 10 villages which have been identified on the basis of social and economic backwardness .A group of four boys and girls had been exposed to various gender issues by sending them to various symposia, discussions, training interventions and on the ground programmes.This group is performing the role of catalyst and sensitising villagers against gender related violence.Also efforts are on to form minimum three self help groups of women.NABARD has shown keenness to organise training inputs to help capacity building.
In the year 2006¸ 1174 new books were added in the library. With the help of Nehru Yuvak Kendra, Azamgarh a village youth club has been established.More game facilities have been added to the existing one.
This year the library has got the cooperation of two senior level retired Govrnment doctors namel Dr Raja Ram and Dr R.A.Mishra who visit the library every second month in rotation.With their help Library has been able to organise free medical camps every month.
To generate awareness among the villagers programmes of national importance like tree plantation, cleanliness and immunisation were organised throghout the year. The computer centre and sewing training facilities were further strengthened and new machines were added .To highlight the importance of water conservation the Library had undertaken a big project of constructing a huge water reservoir with the help of local Block and more than 50% work was completed this year.


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Annual Report of SRSP for the year- 2006-2007

Cultural Activities :

The year 2006 proved to be very eventful for the organisation specially in the field of theatre,music and promotion of book reading.During the year three training cum production drama camps were organised .The first camp from 2nd to 20th February was conducted by Abhishek Pandit , a local theatre activist and girls and boys from surrounding villages participated in it. The production of the camp Andher Nagari ,written by Bhartendu Harishchandra and adopted by Abhishek Pandit , was staged in 6 villages surrounding the library.One show of this production was also staged in Rai Umanath Bali Auditorium ,Lucknow on 24th of February,2006.It got wide appreciation from the media and spectators.

IPTA(U.P.) organised another theatre camp from 4th June to 30th June ,2006.It was inaugurated by Sri Jitendra Raghuvanshi , national general secretary of IPTA and Sri Yugal Kishor, Faculty member of Bhartendu Natya Academy , Lucknow was the main resourse person.It was a residential camp in which 27 boys and girls of Azamgarh, Mau , Ghazipur , Jaunpur and Sultanpur districts participated.. The play Inspector Matadin Chand Par, adopted from the story of Harishankar Parsai , was prepared in the camp and was staged at the District Headquarter of Azamgarh and in three villages.

During winter vaccations from 25th of December 2006 to 7th of January 2007 , third camp was organised .This time it was decided that the regular participants of previous camps organised by NSD New Delhi, NCZCC Allahabad ,BNA Lucknow and IPTA (U.P.) should be encouraged to conduct the camp themselves and without any external assistance.This experiment was successful and not only the rural participants adapted certain stories but also wrote the dialogues and designed the stage and costumes.Local talent Vindra successfully directed the play.Many shows of the play was organised in the libray and adjoining villages.

Regular classes of music was conducted during the whole year.A local folk dance form Dhobia was given special attention and Parbhu and old and perhaps the last practicing dancer in the surroundind villages was encouraged to pursue his love of the life.The troupe of the library toure many districts of Hariyana in the months of May and June 2006.

About 700 more books were added to the library.New readers specially women joined it.The Little magazine section attracted large number of research scholars from Gorakhpur University, Banaras Hindu University and Allahabad University.

The Film society run by Library , exhibited two good films every week to the villagers.Thirty four new films were added to its collection this year.Children's Film Society of India,Mumbai , organised a two day's workshop cum exhibition of Children's Films.This was a life time experience for the children of rural areas.Sri Sanskar Desai, himself a noted Children's film maker, was the resource person.

Activities Related to Gender Sensitization :
With the help of OXFAM, an international donor agency the library sensitized the men and women of the area on gender issues. On the issue of violence against women a national discourse was organised which was inaugurated by Medha Patekar on the International Women's Day (8th March 2007).
Activities Related to skill up gradation and income enhancement :
Through out the year the organisation ran various programmes of skill up gradation .A well equipped computer center is being run by the organisation in its own premises where more than 80 boys and girls , mostly from the weaker sections of the society are under going various computer education programmes. A typing institute is also being run by the organisation which is imparting typing skills to the rural youth. Another training facility is enabling women of the adjoining villages to learn stitching and tailoring .A training programme supported by Nehru Yuwak Kendra is providing 30 local boys an opportunity to learn the skills of scooter and motorcycle mechanic. These skill up gradation programmes help local youth to start their own income generating ventures.
NABARD is supporting a programme of forming Women SHGs and their linkages to bank.


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Annual Report of SRSP for the year- 2007-2008

The year 2007-08 has been quite spectacular for the organisation as lots of activities ranging from health care , women empowerment, capacity building and income generation to cultural mobilization kept the young and energetic team of the library busy through out the year. Following is the summary of activities-

Activities related to health and cleanliness :
Two retired CMOs of U.P.PMS , Dr. R.A.Mishra and Dr. Raja Ram provided free medical services to the villagers of the adjoining villages. Every month one of them visited the organisation , stayed there for two/three days and checked needy patients. Their visit proved of immense value to the poor people.
The organisation carried on the RCH programme in the Badrao Block of Mau district. More than five thousand families of the block were covered in this programme.Specially the children from 0-6 and young mothers were benifitted.Villages were sensitised on issues like immunization and nutritious food to the pregnant and children.
Regular awareness programmes were organised on AIDS. Volunteers from the organisation went to the near by Dhabas and tried to educate truckers on issues related to AIDS. Poster and painting competitions were organised for the school children.

Activities related to skill up gradation and income generation :
The computer center run by the organisation expanded its activities both in terms of quantity and quality. Four more computers were acquired this year and average strength of the classes remained more than fifty. Similarly the typing training facility attracted large no of boys and girls of adjoining areas. Local women took full advantage of the sewing and tailoring training center where new machines were added this year. An old car was donated by a well wisher this year and with this the organisation started a motor driving school where local boys are learning motor driving at a very nominal fees. Another spectacular achievement was tie up with two prestigious institutions for skill up gradation and income generation. School of Management and Retail Training (SMART) Varanasi entered into a formal agreement with SRSP and have started imparting training in the field of retail trading. It is expected that after completing training these boys and girls will find suitable placements in the fast increasing retail sector. Kala Gao , a well known center of ethnic art and craftsmanship in Lucknow , has trained and given designs to the women attached with our sewing center and has promised to market their produce. Results are awaited.

Cultural activities through out the year:
Whole year witnessed lots of activities in this area. More than seven hundred new books were added this year. With the financial support of Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Trust Kolkata, a new wing for the children was opened. A two days national discourse on life and works of great Hindi poetess Mahadevi Verma was organised with the support of Sahitya Academy New Delhi on 27 and 28th 0f January 2007.A large number of writers and critics participated in it. A painting workshop was organised from18 to 25th of June. More than 30 boys and girls participated in this residential camp and learnt various aspects of painting. Three days workshop of writers for children was organised by National Book Trust, New Delhi from 29 to 31st of July 2, 2008 in which children's writers from all over the country participate , deliberated and interacted with child readers. A second workshop of the year on painting was again organised from 26 to 31st of December 2007 which again attracted large number of young participants and was a huge success.

Theatre, like previous years, was an activity which lasted the whole year. The drama repertory of the Library was invited by Pash Pustkalaya Karnal, Haryana and they performed in various district headquarters of Haryana. Bhartendu Natya Academy , Lucknow organised a theatre workshop from 20th May to 20th June 2007. 37 boys and girls from Azamgarh, Mau, Ghazipur. Jaunpur and Sultan participated in this residential production cum training workshop. The second theatre workshop was organised by National School of Drama, New Delhi, 20th December 2007 to 20th January 2008.Again it was a huge success and 43 participants from adjoining districts participated in it.

Sponsered by Sahitya Academy, New Delhi,a two days' seminar was organised on the occasion of birth centenary of the great Hindi writer Hazari Prasad Dwivedi on 29th and 30th of December. Large number of writers ,teachers and admirers of Hazari Prasad Dwivedi participated in it.

Other activities:
Throughout the year the organisation tried to sensitise the villagers on such issues like environment. water conservation, organic farming ,.Panchayati Raj ,RTI, Domestic Violence Act and NAREGA. Seminars, discussions and poster exhibitions supported by Nukkad Nataks were organised.The physical fitness programmes with the help of Volley Ball nursery run by the organisation continued the whole year.