VoW holds discussion in memory of legendary writer Raj Kanwar
By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 16 Dec: Valley of Words Literature & Arts Festival today hosted a discussion in memory of the late Raj Kanwar, a legendary writer and journalist from Dehradun. The discussion was tilted ‘Celebrating Raj Kanwar’s Books and His Life’. The session was chaired by Editor, Garhwal Post, Satish Sharma with journalist and writer Jaskiran, educationist and columnist Kulbhushan Kain and writer Arvindar Singh as fellow panellists. The family of Raj Kanwar, including his wife Amber Kanwar, was also present on the occasion.
Beginning the discussion, Satish Sharma noted that people like Raj Kanwar are a rarity. He said that Kanwar touched the heart of all those who came in contact with him. Jaskiran Chopra said that she had the proud privilege of having been greatly influenced by Raj Kanwar. Though, she had spent a lot of time at Kanwar’s home chatting about not only journalism but also old films, old film songs, poetry and literature, she was in Delhi when Raj Kanwar passed away last year and was not able to pay her tribute to him. This programme hosted by VoW had given her the opportunity to pay tribute to the legendary Raj Kanwar, who preferred that she call him Sir.
Jaskiran further reminded that Raj Kanwar was a very sincere advisor and always had the right advice to offer. He often guided her in dealing with her problems which she used to share with him and his wife Amber. She also noted that her life and work had great influence of Raj Kanwar. She asserted that she had never met another person like Raj Kanwar in her life. Speaking about his writing ability, Jaskiran noted that Raj Kanwar had a great eye for detail in his writing, which made him a brilliant writer. He worked very hard and did not like to sit idle even on Sundays. She also praised his wit and great sense of humour.
In response to a question by Satish Sharma, she noted that she felt great to be featured in the writings and a book authored by Raj Kanwar. Arvinder Singh noted that Raj Kanwar was a great chronicler of Dehradun who featured a lot of local people in his writings whom he came across and those who he felt had contributed something to the city. Singh recalled that he had first met Raj Kanwar when Kanwar was Secretary of Doon Citizens Council and he wanted to invite noted lawyer Nani Palkhiwala to one of the programmes. Singh observed that he (Arvinder Singh) knew Palkhiwala and he was invited. He did come to Dehradun for the programme of Doon Citizens Council. Thereafter Raj Kanwar and Singh remained in touch till the last. Singh also noted that Raj Kanwar had beautifully chronicled Jawaharlal Nehru’s visits to Dehradun and how he used to go on a cycle to the Dehradun Circuit House to meet him. Kanwar had also met Nehru during his last visit to Doon when he was unwell and had to return to Delhi. Singh further stated that Kanwar had written the history of ONGC and had also chronicled great writer Ruskin Bond, besides featuring so many other people of Dehradun including him.
Kulbhushan Kain said that he had returned to Dehradun after a long gap in 2016 and did not know much about Raj Kanwar initially. However, one day, his wife Sangeeta Kain, who is Principal at Welham Boys’ School called him up and asked him to come to the school to meet an interesting person, Raj Kanwar. Kain claimed that he took an instant liking to Raj Kanwar during the first meeting, itself, and developed a strong association with him till the last. Kain added that, once, Kanwar visited him for breakfast and in response to his question, Kanwar informed him that his next book was titled Writer of Obituaries as he had been famous for writing obituaries of leading persons of Dehradun. Then, out of the blue, Kanwar asked if Kain would write his obituary when he died. He was taken aback and responded that he could not imagine that one day Kanwar would not be there. However, a month later, Raj Kanwar passed away and then he did write his obituary in the Garhwal Post.
Satish Sharma informed the audience that around the year 1999 or 2000 he received a call on the landline from Raj Kanwar who wanted to meet him. He was thrilled to receive the call. During the meeting, Kanwar told him that he had been reading his weekly Garhwal Post (Garhwal Post was a weekly publication then) for the past few months and that the paper had quality content and that he would like to write for it. Kanwar then started a regular column called, ‘Frankly Speaking’ in Garhwal Post. However, some differences developed between the two when one of the articles did not get published in Garhwal Post owing to the editorial policy of the paper. However, after a gap of few years, Raj Kanwar and he resolved their differences and then Kanwar again started to contribute regular articles to Garhwal Post which continued till the last and the association also lasted till the end.
Some other guests also shared their memories of Raj Kanwar. His son-in-law Sameer, who lives in the US also shared his memories of his late father- in-law.
