Jagat Singh Bisht: Brief Story

I am sharing my story in brief and shall be happy if you share yours too!

I went to St. Gabriel’s School, Ranjhi, Jabalpur and did my master’s in chemistry from the University of Jabalpur. 

Joined the state bank of india as a probationary officer and retired as an assistant general manager. 

Settled down in Indore. 

I, along with my wife, practice and teach happiness drawing upon yoga, meditation, laughter yoga, spirituality, and positive psychology – the science of happiness. 

Our son and daughter in law are based in Auckland.

#JagatSinghBisht #yoga #laughteryoga #meditation #spirituality #positivepsychology

Laughter Yoga is a Divine Life Skill

The compliment that I cherish most came from Anurag, my 24-year old son. He loves adventure sports and takes care of fire and safety hazards at Nestle. I was visiting Gurgaon, the town where he works, and was suddenly asked to do a presentation on Laughter Yoga. When I told him about it, he remarked, “Papa, this is a unique life skill you have acquired. You can do it anytime, anywhere, for anyone. Now, you have the heavenly gift of giving joy to other beings. That is really wonderful.”

This insight coming from a youngster is amazing. I had gone to attend a workshop on leadership skills at the State Bank Academy. It was an awfully cold morning – the earlier day was the coldest in the last 46 years. There were 44 participants, all senior officials of the Bank, in the workshop. When the Principal of the Academy came to address the participants, he observed, “The energy level appears to be low. I have never witnessed something like this at the beginning of any programme. What’s the reason?”

One of us responded,” It is terribly cold and foggy, sir. We are not used to such a climate. Our flights landed very late in the night. It was chilling cold and windy. We have not had enough sleep. Moreover, we carry a lot of stress in our roles as such.”

As the class didn’t appear to take-off convincingly, I requested for a 5-minute slot and assured that the class would cheer up in a while. The Principal was magnanimous enough. I asked everyone to clap and chant ‘hoho-hahaha’ and ‘very good very good yay’ and followed it up with a few laughter exercises. The atmosphere brightened instantly and there was warmth all around.

Thereafter, we did some laughter exercises every morning before the start of sessions and everyone relished it. I also did a presentation on Laughter Yoga in the auditorium where several officers of the Bank, senior and junior, from all over India were present. The presentation was well received. After a few months, I went there again with my wife, Radhika, to give one more presentation before a much bigger audience.

We have done sessions for school children, housewives and elders. Everyone loves it. We are regularly invited to a reputed yoga and naturopathy centre in our town for laughter therapy. The feedback from patients is very positive.

One of the members of our laughter club told us that her parents stayed at a remote place far away and felt lonely. She learned the steps of laughter yoga from us and jotted down some exercises which would be more suitable for them. Now, she has gone to them and would be spreading some good cheer in the neighbourhood.

Laughter Yoga can be done for those in the orphanages, hospitals and prisons. The educational institutions are very conducive to Laughter Yoga. It takes stress out of workplaces and makes life vibrant for those who feel lonely.

We were curiously watching sunrise with many tourists in a hill station recently. As the sun came up, everyone was thrilled and clicked their cameras vigorously. Then, after introducing ourselves as Laughter Yoga trainers to the crowd, we requested them to join us for a brief session of laughter exercises before moving back. All agreed readily. A short but sweet session followed and the joy of watching the sun rise was enhanced manifold.

Laughter Yoga is truly an invaluable life skill which we can use to bring joy to all around us anytime, anywhere. It is Divine!

coolbisht@hotmail.com

Citizenship as a way of life

I have found my Guru

A Life Transforming Encounter With Citizenship


I feel quite fulfilled in my journey of life. I have reaped sufficient outer fruits, plenty of inner fruits and countless joys of contribution. The only fruit that eluded me is promotion. Of late, I have also started hoodwinking it as a return gesture! I have a well located house, a decent lifestyle, cheerful health (touch wood!), a loving family, good friends of both sexes (much to the envy of some of my dear friends!), some publications to my credit, a steady growth, an understanding of human behaviour, taste for arts and culture, satisfaction of contributing significantly to my extended family and an ever growing pool of well wishers.

Though I always felt at peace with myself, I had no one to look up to in intriguing times. My friends went to temples and prayed, some of them pursued yoga and meditation and others had their own ways of finding solace. I do not believe in any rituals though I don’t mind going to temples etc. During times of crisis, I felt a sense of void. May be it was because I had a predominantly scientific view of life.

I have been a sincere student of human psychology and a behavioural science trainer (minus the eccentricities, of course). I delved in to positive psychology and was for a while thinking of designing a programme on authentic happiness (based on the work of Martin Seligman and others on the subject) as my mission in life is to make people happy. The school of thought I was following laid down various components of happiness beautifully and, in the end, stipulated that all these would bring happiness but you should also do something worthwhile and meaningful in your life. Making a positive contribution was just one of the building blocks of authentic happiness among so many others.


Beginning of my citizenship journey

It was sometime in June 2009 when all the Circle Development Officers and Intervention Leaders gathered for the first workshop on Project Citizen-SBI at the Corporate Centre, Mumbai. This was the first time we saw and heard Mr V Srinivas – half-sleeved white shirt, curly hair and the glow of conviction. He propounded the concept well but most of the audience at that time felt that it was too abstract. I remember interacting with him during the lunch break to share with him my experience with Parivartan and the need for Hindi and vernacular versions of the programme. I extended an invitation to conduct pilots in Bhopal Circle and also complimented him for his outstanding oratory skills, knowing little then about his deep conviction and intense engagement with the subject.

Then we had a longish workshop and pilots at Taj Banjara, Hyderabad during August where I found time to go through the foundation notes on various dimensions of citizenship. This was followed by pilots at State Bank Academy, Gurgaon where we had a solid apprenticeship in all nuances of Citizenship and also the art of facilitation. Here, I would like to add that this programme has given us a rich pool of well equipped facilitators and prompted our Training System to take a giant paradigm leap forward. Later on, the facilitator gym back home was a unique experience. We shuttled many a times to the multi purpose hall at the Bandra-Kurla complex to fine tune the programme versions and our own understanding of citizenship.

A new way of life

As the citizenship orientation programmes progressed, I found myself deeply immersed in citizenship – classes, travel, talking with participants over phone, contributing for the Google groups of Intervention Leaders and Facilitators, setting up and propagating the CitizenSBI blog, answering all the queries from across the country (as if I was an expert in citizenship!) and developing a real as well as a virtual citizen community. I found that I was working and thinking citizenship 24x7 and felt charged up all through with no traces of fatigue. Some friends started saying that I have internalized citizenship and was becoming more and more citizenized with each passing day. All put together, we looked at 101 dimensions of citizenship from 1001 different angles. Don’t believe? Just go through the groups and the blog!

It then dawned upon me that I have discovered a new way of life. I had started contributing positively on a regular and continuous basis in so many spheres and was in a state of flow. In my college days I had adopted cricket as a view of life. Cricket helps you to develop sportsman spirit, accept defeat as well as victory and is a gentleman’s game. The citizenship philosophy gives a lot of fulfilment as we continuously get opportunities to touch lives of others. It is not just something swantah sukhai, it caters to the welfare of others.

Some faces of my success

The facilitators and participants have reposed so much trust on me that I have developed confidence to find a pathway to any problem under the sun and overcome the challenges. This strength is derived from the faith that others have on me.

One of the citizens who had suffered an unforgettable hurt and found life meaningless, has found solace in contributing to the cause of citizenship daily. May I reproduce the exact words – aaj phir jeeney kee tamanna hai…What more impact can a programme have on an individual’s life?

One of the master facilitators told me that whenever we need anything in citizenship, we know that you are always there.

I have already shared the story of the citizen union leader who contributes regularly for my learning centre and is a regular visitor. He finds something amiss if he doesn’t have a cup of tea with me on any day. I know I can depend upon him. He is my Man Friday.

One of the intervention leaders says that he has developed the writing habit because of my continuous follow up with him to contribute for the blog. We converse almost daily and he reveres me like his elder brother.


I know that I can touch lives. For that I realise that I should be pure in my heart. Not that I was lecherous in my deeds but I have curbed my baser instincts even in thought and feelings.


Tasting some success out of CitizenSBI blog, I created some other blogs too. One of them was for my son who is a biker and loves to perform stunts. When his friends praised the blog, he had this to say to his friends on Facebook – No yaar, I have not done it. It’s my dad. He is an expert blogger now.

Aur merey paas Maa bhee hai! I understand that my mother told folks in our native place the other day – Bhagwan sabko merey Jagat jaisa beta deh! What more can I aspire for after this?

Eklavya finds Guru Drona

During my entire journey of citizenship, I have been watching one man with a lot of respect. I have read all his writings like we read scriptures (and here I don’t mean “without applying my mind”!). His dedication and devotion to the cause of citizenship is simply amazing. I have never witnessed such conviction earlier in my life. In my heart of hearts, I have accepted him as my Guru. I am his follower in words and deeds.



Just like Eklavya found a guru in Dronacharya, I have found my guru in Mr V Srinivas, CEO and Lead Researcher, Illumine Knowledge Resources, Mumbai. The similarity hopefully ends here. I presume he won’t ask me to present my thumb to him in guru-dakshina.




Many of the readers would already know about him but for those who don’t and feel curious, I provide below a link to know more about him:

http://www.illumine.info/srinivas.htm

I invite you to be my guru-bhai or behen and join my community.

P.S. – I also love and adore his entire team – Biren, Joyeeta, Rebecca, Mahima, Parul …

JAGAT SINGH BISHT
State Bank Learning Centre, Indore

coolbisht@hotmail.com

The Early Years

My name is Vijay Nair. Please excuse my American spelling. I have studied in SGHS from 8th to 11th finishing in 1971. Jagat and I were classmates during those years.

Many of you might be wondering why I chose the title ‘The early Years’. It is because those were the most impressionable years of my childhood. You know, as teenagers we were naturally curious and landed in a lot of trouble! By the way, the photo showing Soumen, Jagat and Casmir was taken in November 2004 when we had a reunion of the class of ’71. Let me talk about the reunion first. How it all started with me was a desire to connect to my ‘old’ friends and to know how they were doing. In summer ’04 I think I first located Barkat Singh in Ranjhi who then led me on to others like, Jagat, Subir, etc. Imagine! Talking to someone after 33 years! I was very surprised I could connect with so many of them. There were others also that I connected like the Ferns family, Elsie’s (she is a teacher at the school now) family, college-mates and others. On Nov 12, ’04 I landed in Indore station and looking out of my window I recognized Jagat right away. We were just kids when we knew each other and now I would be a guest at his house!

Vijay with Jagat's family at their home

His situation was such that he was working in Jabalpur but his family was living in Indore. However, I received a warm welcome at his home. Being Diwali I was expecting some festivities with a visit to a nearby temple, but it was a great surprise to see the unending fireworks that lit up the sky late into the night! It was my first visit to the city and like a proper host, Jagat showed me the sights around town. Two places stand out. One is a palace with French and English influences and the other is ‘Chowki Dhani’. His hospitality was great. It was the first time in over 20 years I had celebrated Diwali like this. Usually here we used to visit a family from Allahabad/Indore, do the Shree Ram ‘aarti’ and have dinner. Here it is illegal to burst firecrackers. Oftentimes, being of a commercial inclination, they set up a huge ‘mela’ which is mostly sales/exhibition. But one can still buy a good painting, clothes jewelry and, of course, have Indian snacks.

Jagat and Vijay inside Indore-Bilaspur Express

On Nov 15 ’04 Jagat and I took a train from Indore and landed in Madan Mahal station the next day. We were met by Babulal, alias Prabhir Mitra, for whom I was carrying what I call expensive plyers! It was early morning. Little by little I met them all. First of all I was struck by the change in some of them. I remembered their faces from a long time ago. It is a trick the mind plays. They too would be wondering at my change, right? I met all kinds of people – my old classmates from school and college, others who were ex-college, and school and college teachers. I will stop the reunion stuff here and move to the years at school.

Vijay was the most sought after class mate during re-union

Class of 1971 re-union at the Kanha National Park

My dad was in the Ordnance factories service and in ’67 he got transferred to Khamaria, near Jabalpur. This is his second posting in the area, the first being GCF where he was till ’62. So after moving we had to find a school for me. I remember when I went to SGHS how they tested me. They gave a set of questions to answer and I remember ‘Godavari’ was the answer to one of them. There was also an ‘interview’. I was anxious how my test had gone, but I was admitted. In those days there were very few houses near the school. One could look out and see open land outside. Ditto for the area behind the school. Here is a list of teachers who taught me that I remember. Br. Joseph, Br. Bosco, Br. Gilbert, Br. Frederick, Br. Justin, Br. David, Mr Shrivastava, Br. Paul, Mr Sharma, Mr Dinkar, Mr Choudhary, Mr. Khare, Pandit sir, Mr Mehra, Ms Khera, Ms Usha, Ms D’Souza, Ms Pathak, and many more. There was a young Englishman visiting, was it ’68? I don’t remember. Later, I wondered what prompted him to come to SGHS.
Br. Joseph was our 8th grade class teacher. With him we went to the yearly picnic to Khatau(?) with a truck lent by Barkat’s dad. We had great fun with all rolling around! Gooseberries (amla) along the river bank were a hit. The next year it was Bargi Tank and then Burno Tank? I do remember seeing the movie ‘Aradhna’ starring Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna in ’70 after the picnic.

Ms Khera, who joined SGHS in ’69, always used to be dropped off at school by her husband, riding pillion on his scooter. It used to be a Vespa. Barkat used to come to my place to play badminton. I remember one prank played by him. One day in Ms Khera’s class he brought a rose. I am sure he was playing with it innocently when all of a sudden Ms Khera caught him! She gave him a good scolding. What was he doing? Only he knows! She was very strict. I was scared of her, for you know, she would require her home-work on her desk as she walked in. If not, get out! I remember another drama associated with her. Once she stood us all in a line and asked us a question. As to what I don’t remember. She told us to speak the truth. An act of hypnotism followed. We thought we were invincible and she was not able to find out. Here is another prank. In ‘71 her whole class bunked to watch the newly released movie ‘Purab aur Paschim’ starring Manoj Kumar and Saira Banu! But she is what made us all we are today. Hats off to her! The last I spoke to her was in ’05 when she was in Pune.

Simultaneous equations used to scare me in the 8th. So would titration because I thought the end point could vary. Hope they have some sort of ion sensor now-a-days to determine that. But Br. Frederick who taught us Chemistry was very kind. He even helped me do a science project involving photography which is when I was able to coax my dad to get me a camera. It was an Agfa Click III. He taught me the basics of photo development.

I did the NCC program at school. It was the naval corps, so were dressed in white for the evening exercises. Even though tough I remember eagerly waiting for the snack at the end of every session! There was a wiry instructor barking at us to straighten up. The camp at Gwallior stands out in my memory. It was a 10 day event ending just before Diwali in ’69. The camp site in Gwallior was beautiful with a lake nearby where we practiced rowing and took other routine classes. I remember weighing myself at the station before and after the camp and discovering I lost 5 kg in the camp!

Mr Shrivastava was our Hindi teacher. Why we called him by the nick name ‘chussad’ I can’t recall. He used to have dreamy liquid eyes. Mr Sharma also taught HIndi. I remember he made a joke with the song ‘Aaj maine ladki pasand kar li …’ He was tall and had sharp features. It is a pity that with such teachers I find I have not studied the language enough. I am OK with any conversation but it is the reading that I think I missed. Other than one Gulshan Nanda novel, I don’t remember reading any Hindi books. But more than this, I did much injustice to Sanskrit and Pandit-sir who taught us the language from 8th to 10th. I always had the question in my mind what is the need for ‘avam’ in ‘aham, avam, vayam’, that is, the use of a separate word representing two of anything. It is not so in English. Today I wish I had learned Sanskrit more diligently for so many of our ancient texts are in it. The ‘Manorajyam’ story stands out clearly over the years.

Mr Khare had been our Math and Physics teacher. He was strict. One day as a punishment he made us all go out to the ground, kneel on our knees and crawl! That was very hard! I must have been overweight. I saw some sprinting across.How many of you remember the movie we all went out together after 11th? If you said ‘Kati Patang’ you are right! That pretty much ended my association for the time being with SGHS when I went to do Engineering in the nearby Govt. College. But I remember my days with SGHS and the subsequent reunion fondly. I will always hold those memories dearly in my heart.

एक व्यंग्यकार की आत्मकथा

यह एक व्यंग्यकार की आत्मकथा है. इसमें आपको ’एक गधे की आत्मकथा’ से ज़्यादा आनन्द आएगा. गधा ज़माने का बोझ ढोता है, व्यंग्यकार समाज की विडम्बनाओं को पूरी शिददत से मह्सूस करता है. इसके बाद भी दोनों बेचारे इतने भले होते हैं कि वक्त-बेवक्त ढेंचू-ढेंचू करके आप सबका मनोरंजन करते हैं. यदि आप हमारी पीड़ा को ना समझकर केवल मुस्कुराते हैं तो आप से बढ़कर गधा कोई नहीं. क्षमा करें, हमारी भाषा ही कुछ ऐसी होती है.



इस आत्मकथा में जितने प्रयोग सत्य के साथ किये गये हैं, उससे कहीं अधिक असत्य के साथ. यह निर्णय आपको करना होगा कि क्या सत्य है और क्या असत्य. मोटे तौर पर, उपलब्धियों के ब्यौरे को झूठा मानें और चारित्रिक कमज़ोरियों के चित्रण को सच्चा जानें. आत्मकथा का जो अंश अच्छा लगे, उसे चुराया हुआ समझें और जो घटिया लगे, उसे मौलिक मान लें. जहां कोई बात समझ में न आये तो उसका ठीक विपरीत अर्थ लगायें क्योंकि व्यंग्यकार शीर्षासन के शौकीन माने जाते हैं.



व्यंग्यकार ज़माने के साथ चलता है और उनको पहचानता है जो गिरगिट की तरह रंग बदलते हैं. आपकी रुचि और रुझान की भी उसे पहचान है. इसलिये उसकी आत्मकथा में आपको भरपूर मसाला मिलेगा. इस व्यंग्यकार की हार्दिक और शारीरिक ख्वाहिश है कि वह भी कमला दास और खुशवंत सिंह की तरह चर्चित हो. इसलिये वह आवश्यक हथकंडे अपनाने को भी तैयार है.



अब आत्मकथा आरंभ होती है.....



संयोग से मेरा कलयुगी अवतार संस्कारधानी जबलपुर में हुआ जहां से ओशो रजनीश, महर्षी महेश योगी और हरिशंकर परसाई ताल्लुक रखते हैं. आज तक मैं यह नहीं समझ पाया कि लुच्चों-लफ़ंगों के लिये मशहूर इस शहर को संस्कारधानी क्यों कहा जाता है. भगवान रजनीश की प्रवचन-पुस्तक ’संभोग से समाधि की ओर’ का गहन अध्ययन मैंने जवानी के दिनों में गैर धार्मिक कारणों से किया था. महर्षि महेश योगी के प्रति मेरी गहरी श्रद्धा तब से है जब उन्होंने भावातीत ध्यान के माध्यम से विश्व शांति का अनुष्टान किया था और अमरीका ने इराक पर ’कारपेट" बमबारी कर दी थी. हरिशंकर परसाई का प्रभाव अलबत्ता मेरी सोच पर पर्याप्त रूप से पड़ा है. शायद वे ही इस व्यंग्यकार के प्रेरणा पुरुष हैं. उनकी तरह लिखना-पढ़ना चाहता हूं लेकिन टांगें तुड़वाने में मुझे डर लगता है. मैं प्रतिबद्धता का जोखिम मौका देखकर उठाता हूं.



हरिशंकर परसाई के सान्निध्य में कुछ बातें सीखीं. व्यंग्यकार कोई विदूषक या मसखरा नहीं होता. वह पूरी गंभीरता और सूक्ष्मता के साथ घटनाओं को देखता है और विसंगतियों पर निर्ममता से प्रहार करता है. एक बात में अवश्य वे मुझे ’मिसगाइड’ कर गये - उन्होंने मुझे ध्यानपूर्वक रवीन्द्रनाथ त्यागी की रचनाएं पढ़ने की सलाह दी. मैंने उनकी आग्या का पालन किया. प्रारंभ में तो बहुत आनन्द आया लेकिन जब प्रत्येक व्यंग्य में महिलाओं का नख-शिख वर्णन आने लगा तो मैं दिग्भ्रमित-सा हो गया. लिखते-पढ़ते वक्त मुझे जगह-जगह गद्य में उरोज और नितंब छिपे दिखाई देने लगे और मेरी बुद्धि और गद्य भ्रष्ट होते गये. मुझे लगता है कि सम्मानित व्यंग्यकार की खोपड़ी में कोई रीतिकालीन पुर्जा आज भी फ़िट है. मेरे लेखन में जहां कहीं घटियापन नज़र आये तो उसके लिये आदरणीय रवीन्द्रनाथ त्यागी को ज़िम्मेदार माना जाये.



शरद जोशी के व्यंग्य मैं मंत्रमुग्ध हो कर पढ़ता और सुनता था. उनकी शब्द छटा अलौकिक होती थी और मैं मुक्त मन और कंठ से उसकी प्रशंसा करता था लेकिन उनके चेलों में एक अजब-सी संकीर्णता व विचारहीनता दृष्टिगोचर होती है. वे हरिशंकर परसाई और उनके स्कूल के सभी व्यंग्यकारों को खारिज करते हैं जबकि उनके स्वयं के लेखन में दृष्टिशून्यता है. मैंने व्यंग्य लेखन की शुरुआत भोपाल में की थी लेकिन ऐसे व्यंग्यकारों से दूर ही दूर रहा. छ्त्तीसगढ़ अंचल के कुछ नामी व्यंग्यकारों के प्रति मेरी श्रद्धा, काफ़ी कोशिशों के बाद भी, उमड़ नहीं पाती.



आज तक मैं यह नहीं समझ सका कि इतने बड़े सरकारी अधिकारी होते हुए भी श्रीलाल शुक्ल और रवीन्द्रनाथ त्यागी इतने अच्छे व्यंग्य कैसे लिखते रहे. मैं एक अदना-सा बैंक अधिकारी हूं लेकिन लाख चाहते हुए भी लिखने-पढ़्ने के लिये उतना समय नहीं दे पाता जितना उच्चकोटि के लेखन के लिये आवश्यक है. नतीज़ा यह है कि मेरी गिनती न तो अच्छे अधिकारियों में होती है और न ही अच्छे व्यंग्यकारों में. मैं विग्यान का विद्यार्थी था. यह मेरी ताकत भी है और कमज़ोरी भी. जीवन और लेखन के प्रति वैग्यानिक दृष्टि मेरा ’असेट’ है और साहित्य का घोर अग्यान मेरी कमी.



व्यंग्य की दुनिया में महिला व्यंग्य लेखिकाओं और प्रशंसिकाओं की कमी बेहद खलती है. शायद ’व्यंग्य’ शब्द में ही विकर्षण प्रतिध्वनित होता है. फ़िर भी, भविष्य के प्रति यह व्यंग्यकार आशावान है और इंतज़ार के मीठे फ़लों के लिये पलक पाँवड़े बिछाये बैठा है. एक गृहस्थ व्यंग्यकार इससे अधिक खुले आमंत्रण का खतरा मोल नहीं ले सकता. मेरी इकलौती बीवी और मेरा इकलौता बेटा सब कुछ जानते समझते हुए भी मुस्कुराकर सब कुछ झेलते रहते हैं. उन पर दो अलग अलग व्यंग्य महाकाव्य बुढ़ापे में रचूंगा. अभी ’रिस्क’ लेना ठीक नहीं. अपने प्रेम-प्रसंगों पर भि फ़ुरसत में कभी लिखूंगा. इनमेम धर्म, संप्रदाय और प्रदेशों की संकीर्ण मानसिकता से ऊपर उठकर अनेकता में एकता की राष्ट्रीय भावना आपको दिखाई देगी. प्रारंभिक प्रेम कथाएं ’प्लेटोनिक’ हैं और बाद वाली ’फ़्रॉयडियन’ - यानि मैं निरंतर विकास क्रम में आगे बढ़ता रहता हूं.



लेखन और प्रकाशन के क्षेत्र में मैं बहुत ’लकी’ रहा. थोड़ा लिखकर खूब छ्पा और प्रसिद्धी पाई. कुछ साहित्य-संपादक मेरे खास मित्र हैं और कुछ पंकज बिष्ट के धोखे में मुझे बेधड़क छाप देते हैं. कई बार आकाशवाणी और दूरदर्शन पर भी मैं पंकज बिष्ट के नाम से वार्ताएं प्रसारित कर चुका हूं. स्थानान्तरण के बाद जब किसी नये नगर में पहुंचता हूं तो शायद इसीलिये मेरा परिचय ’सुविख्यात’ लेखक के रूप में कराया जाता है. मैं खामोश रहता हूं. मेरा पहला व्यंग्य-संग्रह ’तिरछी नज़र’ भी उसी धोखे में छ्प गया. प्रकाशक बेचारा आज तक पछता रहा है. पुस्तक का शीर्षक देखकर गलतफ़हमी में नौजवान और बूढ़े सभी इसे रस लेकर एकांत में पढ़ते हैं. बच्चे उसको पढ़कर बाल-साहित्य का आनंद पाते हैं. कुछ विद्वान आलोचकों ने इस भ्रम में पहले संकलन की तारीफ़ कर दी कि शायद आगे चलकर मैं बेहतर लिखने लगूं. पाठकों को मैं, खुशवंत सिंह की तरह, मसाले का प्रलोभन देता रहता हूं और वो मेरी रचनाएं किसी झूठी उम्मीद में पढ़ते चले जाते हैं. साहित्यिक मित्रों को बेवकूफ़ बनाना ज़्यादा मुश्किल नहीं होता. उन्होंने लिखना-पढ़ना, सोचना- समझना, काफ़ी समय पहले से बंद किया होता है. उनसे मिलते ही मैं उनकी कीर्ति की चर्चा करने लगता हूं और वे जाते ही मेरी प्रतिष्ठा बढ़ाने में लग जाते हैं. साहित्य का संसार अंदर और बाहर बड़ा मज़ेदार है.



समाज में व्यंग्यकार कोई सम्माननीय जीव नहीं माना जाता. इस जंतु को थोड़ी-बहुत स्वीकृति ’भय बिनु होय न प्रीति’ के सूत्र के अंतर्गत ही मिलती है. नासमझ लोग उससे उसी तरह खौफ़ खाते हैं जैसे क्रिकेट में बल्लेबाज तूफ़ानी गेंदबाजों से आतंकित होते हैं. मुझे तो ’लेग स्पिन’ गेंदबाजी में ज़्यादा आनंद आता है. लाइन, लैंग्थ और फ़्लाइट में परिवर्तन करते हुए, लैग स्पिन के बीच अचानक गुगली या फ़्लिपर फ़ैंकने का जो आनंद है, वो बाऊन्सर पत्टकने में कहां ! सार्थक और मारक व्यंग्य वही है जिसमें खिलाड़ी क्लीन-बोल्ड भी हो जाए और अपनी मूर्खता पर तिलमिलाने भी लगे. व्यंग्य में लक्ष्य-भेदन की कुशलता के साथ-साथ खेल भावना, क्रीड़ा-कौतुक और खिलंदड़पन भी हो तो आनंद कई गुना बढ़ जाता है. गंभीरता अपनी जगह है और छेड़छाड़ का मज़ा अपनी जगह.



यह आत्मकथा मैंने बड़ी संजीदगी के साथ शुरु की थी लेकिन लंबा लिखने का धैर्य मुझमें नहीं है और जो कुछ भी आड़ा-तिरछा लिखता हूं, उसे छपवाने की मुझे जल्दी रहती है. अतः आत्मकथा न सही, फ़िलहाल आत्मकथा की भूमिका पढ़कर ही कृतार्थ हों. शुभचिंतकों की सलाह पर धीरे-धीरे मैं अपने व्यंगों को ’चुइंगम’ की तरह खींचने का अभ्यास कर रहा हूं. अगर सफ़ल हुआ तो कभी न कभी आत्मकथा अवश्य लिखूंगा........

Class of 1971 Reunion

A photograph of school taken during friendly cricket match and Soumen-Jagat-Samuel at the re-union.

Life and Times

This blog is about the life and times of Jagat Singh Bisht and his friends. Mostly based on facts but fiction cannot be ruled out as memory and judgement may fail at times. I invite anyone who has known me even remotely to contribute and enrich the contents of this blog.