Ashish Dalal is an author based in Gujarat and he has been writing for various magazines and newspapers in the past. He will be making his debut with his short stories collection (written in Hindi) very soon. His debut book explores the various dimensions of love – love which is not limited to being something between a boy and a girl randomly selected for the purpose of stories. Ashish Dalal is one of the modern authors of this generation writing in Hindi who do not bother taking their narratives to a next level and trying to affect the minds of the readers by insinuating them to think on various perspectives of the things they are writing about.
For Ashsih, stories are not only to serve the purpose of entertainment. In his own words:
“कहानियों के माध्यम से केवल मनोरंजन परोसना ही मेरे लेखन का उद्देश्य नहीं है। शब्दों के माध्यम से समाज में सकारात्मक सोच का फैलाव हो और सम्बन्धों को हम सही मायनों में जी सके, इसी उद्देश्य को लेकर मेरी लेखनी चलती है।”
What Ashish Dalal means here is something which goes beyond the concurrent version of the definition of literature. While most of the authors tend to please the readers or entertain them mostly, Ashish writes with a different purpose. Extending the thoughts written above in Hindi, we can safely say that Ashish means the following:
I don’t think the motive of my stories is limited to offering entertainment to the readers. For me, the words are something which is capable of permeating positive thoughts in the society and also inspire us to live our relationships in the truest sense and I write with this purpose!
His debut book, उसके हिस्से का प्यार (Uske Hisse Ka Pyar), is a collection of short stories in Hindi. There are the thoughts which cannot be translated into other languages other than the native one and this is one of those. His Share of Love cannot meet the depth which the original title reflects and that’s why the author has decided to write his book in Hindi. The choice of language also reflects the growing popularity that Hindi is attaining among the readers as well as the authors.
The major themes in most of the short stories written by Ashish are love and love takes various dimensions in his works. He does not limit the broader concept of love to something merely sensuous or something merely abstract. He openly writes about the private moments as well as the dilemma which confounds a person whether to take the side of his wife or his mother after the marriage (in those household situations which are usual).
Ashish Dalal is an author who believes writing about the common lives of the common people because that is where a person can find something worthy to be read. His language is simple and that’s why he easily communicates with the readers and conveys what he wants. He openly writes about various issues which linger around love – sex, marriage, extramarital affairs, youth etc. He also tries to present his views on the complicated and far more serious issues like love marriage.
Authors like Ashish Dalal are surely the need of the hour because English is still not the household language in a larger part of India and this keeps a greater section of readers away from literature. Translating a book from English into Hindi can be a solution but the originality that these authors writing in Hindi can bring to their book can never be expected from those translated versions.
We will keep the readers updated about the developments which Ashish Dalal and his books make. Keep checking this section in future.