Sachendra Garg ‘Rashmi’ grew up listening to the poets in various kavi-sammelans/Mushairas during his formative years in 1950s. Be it the ones organized at Lal-Quila and broadcasted on radio on the occasion of Republic day, or the annual ones at Dayal Singh College Karnal. With this exposure and encouragement from his teachers, he was soon writing poems himself, which were published in many contemporary magazines and anthologies with the pen-name Rashmi. He wrote a lot in the period of 1955-62. A dream of publishing them as a collection was born at that point of time, but other callings of life took precedence and it never materialized.
Some 50 years later, his son Shaleen Garg decided to re-collect the poems he regarded as the “most valuable property the family has” and publish the collection.
The dream is now a reality. The book “Vihaan” (a name that poet had thought of way back in early 1960s) was launched in Yamunanagar, Haryana in presence of more than 150 people. The vimochan of the book was done by Dr. Ramesh Kumar, General Secretary of Mukund group of educational institutions. The four hours programme also rightfully included a kavi sammelan. Some photographs are below. The book is available on Pothi.com.
First let me sat that this dream could not have become reality without relentless support from Abhaya, founder of Pothi.com
Papa had written a lot of excellent poems in his prime. These were regularly published in news papers and magazines of that era. However a collection to preserve, promote and make available to the new generation could not happen.
There are so many poems in this collection which help us relate with the reality of that time ie. the plight of a poor farmer, the condition of a destitute helpless woman, Socialist tendency to uplift the society, Nationalistic sentiments probably from 1962 war etc. In addition the minutest detail with which he explains the nature, love and romance are mind boggling.
I can’t explain my happiness. It is a dream come true for my father. It helped me to recollect the moments of my college time as well when I used to recite my dad’s poems at various occasions. I am really happy papa.
We can’t relate our happiness that we felt on that occasion. We had always heard about our Nanu writing beautiful poems but unfortunately, we could not get access to them. Thanks to mamaji , we are able to admire his art of poetry.