Gajendra Thakur

Early life

Gajendra Thakur (born 30 March 1971, Bhagalpur, Bihar, India) is basically from Mehath village {of Jhanjharpur block, Madhubani district, Bihar (India)}. His father, late Kripanand Thakur, was a Civil Engineer and mother, Lakshmi Thakur, a housewife. Gajendra Thakur got his primary education from his village school. Later he moved from town to town as his father was in a transferable job. He suffered a major accident in 2000 and remained on crutches for almost one and a half years. This time period he used in the pursuit of his interest in ancient scripts inscribed on palm leaves. He toured far and wide; and read and deciphered scripts inscribed on temples/ dilapidated buildings throughout the length and breadth of Mithila. His stories and poems deal with the problems of native and migrant Maithils of Mithila.

Literary activity

He wrote KuruKshetram Antarmanak - a work in Maithili Language -in seven volumes (Vol.I- Literary Criticism, Vol. II- a Novel- Sahasrabadhani- translated into English by the name The Comet, Vol.III Poetry collection- Sahasrabdik Chaupar Par, Vol.IV- Short Story Collection- Galp Guchh, Vol.V- Play- Sankarshan, Vol.VI- two long epic-verses (geet prabandh) Tvanchahanch and Asanjati Man, Vol-VII- Children's literature- grown-ups literature- Balmandali-Kishor Jagat). "Author Profile". Muse India. Nov–Dec 2008. ISSN 0975-1815.  Thereafter his transcribed 11000 palm-leaf inscriptions were published in a single volume with an explanatory introduction as “Genome Mapping −450 AD to 2009 AD- Mithilak Panji Prabandh”.; later its sequel "Geneological Mapping-450 AD to 2009 AD- Mithilak Panji Prabandh vol.II" was released. He also compiled "Maithili-English Dictionary" and "English Maithili Dictionary". The English-Maithili Dictionary was particularly notable as it included computer terminology, so far unavailable in any other dictionary.

He is editor of Videha- First Maithili Fortnightly e journal ISSN 2229-547X (which has e-published 127 issues till date and these are also available in print in 10 volumes). Videha is being considered doing a pioneer service in disseminating Maithili Language consciousness among the masses. Till recently, before the arrival of Videha, Maithili was considered only as a legacy of two castes of Mithila viz. Maithil Brahmins and that of Karna Kayasthas. Videha started Maithili Language Movement, which is going far and deep inside the ethos of the masses of Mithila.

Traditional Mithilakshar, i.e., Tirhuta Script of Maithili language: He was pioneer in standardisation of Mithilakshar script. The Unicode encoding applicant (now the ISO has approved encoding of Tirhuta as Unicode) has acknowledged his contribution. and has included in the references as well.

He has also translated from Maithili into English. He has translated poems and stories into Maithili from Kannada (Of Ashok Hegde), Telugu (of N.Aruna,Sheikh Muhammad Sharif, Annavaran Devender), Oriya (of Basudev Sunani, Bharat Majhi) and Gujarati (of Babu Suthar, Ajay Sarvaiyya, Rajendra Patel, Hemang Ashwin Kumar Desai) through English.

He is member of Maithili Lekhak Sangh (the organisation of authors of Maithili). This organisation is making strides towards villages and district headquarters and has shown its presence on web.

Major works

Edited Works

English-Maithili Dictionary

Maithili-English Dictionary

Genome Mapping- 450 AD to 2009 AD- Mithilak Panjis Prabandh: (11000 palm leaf manuscripts containing genealogical records)

Videha:sadeha:1 Devanagari

Videha:Sadeha:1: Tirhuta

Videha:Sadeha:2: Videha Prabandh-Nibandh-Samalochna

Videha:Sadeha:3: Videha Katha

Videha:Sadeha:4: Videha Padya

Videha:Sadeha:5: Videha Maithili Vihani katha (Videha Maithili Seed Stories)

Videha:Sadeha:6: Videha Maithili Laghu katha (Videha Maithili Short Stories)

Videha:Sadeha:7: Videha Maithili Padya (Videha Maithili Verse)

Videha:Sadeha:8: Videha Maithili Natya Utsav (Videha Maithili Stage and Drama)

Videha:Sadeha:9: Videha Maithili Shishu Utsav (Videha Maithili Children Literature)

Videha:Sadeha:10: Videha Maithili Prabandha-Nibandha-Samalochna(Videha Maithili Research Papers/ Essays/ Criticism)

Braille Maithili: (his novel Sahasrabadhani- Ist Maithili book in Braille).

222 issues of Videha Ist Maithili Fortnightly e Magazine- ISSN 2229-547X

Authored

KurukShetram Antarmanak- a seven volume work in Maithili Language:-

Vol. I- Literary Criticism

The book deals with issues diverse such as the manuscript decipherment (in respect of poet Late Ramji Chaudhary); critical appreciation of books written by Kedarnath Chaudhary, Nachiketa, Mayanand Mishra and Subhash Chandra Yadav; essays on computing, Maithili Haiku; Criticism on historical novels, plays, short-stories; research paper on maithili terminology in the area of agriculture and fishing; essays on flood related problems of Mithila; seeing Vidyapati beyond a ornamental poet; essays on computing and script with special reference to Maithili; a folk story based on field work delineating different versions of the story,essays on creative writing etc. His style of criticism is distinct as it remains based on logic and scientific principles.

Vol. II- a novel- Sahasrabadhani

(translated into English by the name "The Comet",The readers of English translations of Maithili Novel "sahasrabadhani" and verse collection "sahasrabdik chaupar par" has intimated that the English translation has not been able to grasp the nuances of original Maithili. Therefore the Author has started translating his Maithili works in English himself. After these translations are complete these would be the official translations authorised by the Author of original work. )- This novel is story of three generations. Jhingur, Nand and Aruni are the heroes of the corresponding generations. The novel has autobiographical connotations (Shiva Kumar Jha, 2010 On KuruKshetram Antarmanak). A braille version of this book is also available, it was the first Braille book in Maithili. The novel is of a new kind. The beginning of the novel is in descriptive style. The dialogues are short and precise, it is in consonance of life and characters.

Vol. III- Verse collection- Sahasrabdik Chaupar Par

(translated into English by the name "On the dice-board of the millennium"The readers of English translations of Maithili Novel "sahasrabadhani" and verse collection "sahasrabdik chaupar par" has intimated that the English translation has not been able to grasp the nuances of original Maithili. Therefore the Author has started translating his Maithili works in English himself. After these translations are complete these would be the official translations authorised by the Author of original work.). The Trumpet Player Of A Musical Band’s Accompaniments, The Invisible Fence Of The Colours Of My Heart, Mandakini Living In The Heaven Came To The Earth Now, The Concrete Pillar Of The Pond, A Trial To Follow The Movements Of The Fishing Rod, The Fire Age Of Emigration To City, Abhinav Bhatkhande, The Sculptor, In the depth of my heart, The Sun And The Moon Witness, Shelter In The Rainy Days, Leaning towards the truth with own knowledge, The story is outdated, Dear Satanand Purhit (priest), The Knowledge Born In Kusumpur, A Dozen Of Haikus, The Directors, The Death Of Own Choice, From Bed No. 32 Ward No. 29, Delhi is far away, In the form of Surya Namaskaar, Recalling The Flood Of 1987 and Estranged Sleep are some of the important poems of this collection.

Vol. IV- Short-Story Collection- Galp Guchh

collection of twenty three short-stories. The notable short stories among these is one that deal with the agony of a village dwarf who was sold to the circus people (Banavira). Other notable short stories include one dealing with a musicians struggle (Raga Vaidehi Bhairavi), another that deal with problems of migration (Pravas)and scientific fiction (Kala-Asthan Visthapan). The story "nav samant" depicts the mentality of lordship even after the end of Zamindari system. The "Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan" delineates the practical difficulty involved in the government's program of providing universal education among the downtrodden strata of society. The "thethar manukh" deals with the morality of men viz-a-viz the birds. The short-story "vanvir" goes deep into the psychology of a dwarf who was sent to a circus.

Vol.V- Play- Sankarshan

a five-act play.The play depicts a rustic clever village character Sankarshan, who comes to a city and find himself to be a naive person. In his village Sankarshan seems to believe that to deceive others is a kind of intelligence. But when he was deceived by those "more intelligent" people of Delhi, he comes to his senses. A folk tale from Haryana state of India is embedded in this play adding extra humour and sense to the theme. The Play has got immense appeal among the masses, as Gajendra Thakur has experience in direction and acting in Sanskrit Vithi (street) plays, it has resulted in one to one communication of the characters of the play with the viewing masses. Shri Premshankar Singh has mentioned this play as one of the best amongst the modern Maithili dramas.

Vol. VI- two long epic-verses (geet prabandh)

Tvanchahanch and Asanjati Man. Tvanchahanch oversees the great epic Mahabharata of Vyasa from a modern point of view; the Asanjati Man oversees Asvaghosha's Buddhacarita in a new light.

Vol. VII- Children, grown-ups literature

Balmandali-Kishor Jagat: (containing two plays, some stories and poems). The two plays for children included in this book are Apala Atreyi and "Danavir Dadhichi"; there are different versions of these stories in Vedas, Upanishads and Puranas. The author has done extensive research, so that the original scientific story is played for the children. In short-story section for the children the author has chosen folk stories of Mithila and some legendary characters from different castes of Mithila, some of which became Dalits later on. These stories have got a new lease of life. It includes one alphabet teaching lesson also. The poem section for children contains almost 100 lyrical songs. He has written this part not with his hand but through his heart(On KurukShetram Antarmanak, 2010 Shiv Kumar Jha).

Prof. Premshankar Singh, Devendra Jha, Yoganand Jha, Keshkar Thakur, and Subhash Chandra Yadava has praised his poems, stories and plays written for children.

Panjis Prabandh – His "Genome Mapping – 450AD to 2009 AD" – He did a wonder in transcribing 11000 palm leaf inscriptions, These manuscripts are very old (the oldest say more than 500 years old), are written on palm leaves, and were in a dilapidated condition. These were digitised and were transliterated from MithilakShar to Devanagari script. The information that this transliteration provides contains details of genealogy of Maithil Brahmins; and besides has a great source of written historical information on the history of kings, writers, poets of Mithila hitherto considered as mythical. Moreover it provides a 100 tables of evidences of marriage between Brahmins and other caste-religion people, it has 100-page categorised introduction to those 900-page transliteration(Genome Mapping 450 AD sa 2009 AD, Mithilak Panji Prabandh, Shruti Publication, Delhi 2009).

Videha English Maithili Dictionary: This book has been pioneer in localisation of Maithili so far as terminology localisation in respect of computer sciences, social sciences and natural sciences are concerned, the use of Tirhuta script and International Phonetic Alphabet- IPA along with Roman and Devnagari scripts adds additional advantages for the users ISBN 97893-80538-23-5. Earlier an English-Maithili Dictionary Vol.I (Computer Dictionary) was brought out by Gajendra Thakur, Nagendra Kumar Jha and Panjikar Vidyanand Jha ISBN 978-81-907729-3-8

Learn_International_Phonetic_Alphabet_through_Mithilakshar: The book deals with IPA with reference to Mithilakshar script ISBN 978-93-80538-57-0. Learn_MithilakShar: The book deals with niceties of Mithilakshar script ISBN 978-93-80538-55-6. Learn Braille_through_Mithilakshar: The book deals with Braille with reference to Mithilakshar script ISBN 978-93-80538-56-3. Braille and Maithili: He is pioneer so far introduction of Braille in Maithili is concerned, so far only his book has introduced braille in Maithili, his Novel "Sahasrabadhani" is available in Braille version.

His second novel "Sahasrashirsha" catches the imagination of thousands of readers, it is story of migration and it is story of survival for those who have not migrated; and inside the story embedded is mix of folklores, songs and cultures of almost all the caste of Mithila, hitherto dealt only superficially in the written literature, in an elegant prose.[Now the original in Maithili as well as its English translation, side by side, is available in series at Videha ejournal.

Some of his memorable short stories are Shabdashastram, Sidha Mahavir, Taskar, Vanavira etc.

Work in Translation

His works are available in translation.

His works have been translated into English ( 1.Maithili Novel Sahasrabadhani as "The comet" and 2.Maithili collection of poems Sahasrabdik Chaupar Par as "On the Dice-board of the Millennium". The readers of English translations of Maithili Novel "sahasrabadhani" and verse collection "sahasrabdik chaupar par" has intimated that the English translation has not been able to grasp the nuances of original Maithili. Therefore the Author has started translating his Maithili works in English himself. After these translations are complete these would be the official translations authorised by the Author of original work) and others (Some Maithili short-stories as "The Science of Words" by the author himself). His novel Sahasrabadhani has been translated into Konkani Language (by Seby Fernandes), Tulu language, Kannada (Pramila B.J. Alva), Sanskrit and Marathi Language. His short-story collection "Galp Guchchh" has been translated into Sanskrit. Some of his stories have been translated into Hindi by Subhash Chandra Yadav and Vinit Utpal.

Some of his recent works

Ulkamukh: (a tremendous play hitting hard on hereditary caste system, the stage direction is as per Bharata Natyashastra ISBN 97893-80538-50-1; Prabandh-Nibandh-Samalochna vol.II: (a collection of research papers/ essays/ criticism ISBN 97893-80538-54-9); Dhangi Baat Banebaak Daam Agoobaar Pene Chan: (a collection of Maithili Ghazal/ Rubai/ Kata ISBN 97893-80538-51-8); Shabdshastram: (a collection of Maithili short-stories ISBN 97893-80538-52-5); Jalodip: (three Maithili Children Plays ISBN 97893-80538-50-1); Naarashanshi: (thought in verse ISBN 978-93-80538-58-7); Sahasrajit: (anthology of poems ISBN 978-93-80538-59-4); Aksharmushtika: (Children short stories ISBN 978-93-80538-60-0); Bangak Bangaura: (Children songs ISBN 978-93-80538-61-7); Genealogical Mapping:vol.II (transliteration/ decipherment of ancient age-old manuscripts ISBN 978-93-80538-62-4); Jagdish Prasad Mandal: Ekta Biography (Biography of Sh. Jagdish Prasad Mandal ISBN 978-93-80538-68-6).

Awards

"Mithila Vibhuti Samman (Gem of Mithila award)" by Akhil Bhartiya Mithila Sangh for his palaeographic work, for deciphering ancient and medieval Tirhuta palm leaf inscriptions, written in many styles and different hand-writings over the ages; but he did not oblige the organizers.