Dear Reader,
I have written this book “Jamna and other stories” in Gujarati in memory of my dear wife Ranjana. Both of us always believed that ensuring primary education to all, particularly to the underprivileged children is the key to the well-being of our society. All my creative efforts in music and literature are geared towards this goal espoused by Pratham. You can read more about Pratham and their work on this website: www.pratham.org
I have not fixed any price for the book and hope you enjoy it. As a token of your appreciation, please do consider donating whatever amount a sensitive soul like you can to Pratham by clicking the donate button. Shall you not wish to donate online, you may send a cheque in favour of "Pratham Education Foundation" to B-4/58, 2nd floor, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi - 29.
Regards,
Rajendra Naik
Being a Chemical Engineer by qualification and experience, my abiding interest in music and literature may appear to be dichotomous. My musical journey began right from my school days but the dormant desire to write surfaced after the untimely demise of my beloved wife in 2016. The seven stories in this collection are culled from a host of stories I have posted on my blog page at www.rajendranaik.com. Many of these stories revolve around South Gujarat that has a unique agrarian culture. I have chosen to use colloquial dialect spoken in this region for some of the dialogues that I believe give a local flavor to the events described.
મારા પહેલા નવલિકા સંગ્રહ વિષે:
શિક્ષણે અને વ્યવસાયે કેમિકલ એન્જીનીઅર હોવા ઉપરાંત મને સાહિત્ય અને સંગીત પ્રત્યે શૈશવ કાળથી રુચિ. સંગીત યાત્રા નાનપણ થી નિરંતર ચાલુ છે પરંતુ લખવાનું ૨૦૧૬ માં મારી પત્ની રંજનાના અકાળે થયેલ અવસાન પશ્ચાત શરુ કર્યું. આ સમયગાળા દરમ્યાન લખેલી નવલિકાઓમાંથી સાત કૃતિઓને મારા બ્લોગના વાચકોના આગ્રહે આ સંગ્રહમાં રજુ કરી છે. કથા વસ્તુ પ્રાયઃ દક્ષિણ ગુજરાત પ્રદેશની આસપાસ ગૂંથાયેલી છે અને તેથી ગામડામાં બોલાતી તળપદી ભાષાનો ઉપયોગ મેં સભાનતાથી કરવાનું સાહસ કર્યું છે. રોજિંદા વપરાશમાં આવતી ભાષાને લીધે પ્રદેશની હલક જળવાઈ રહે એ પણ
હેતુ છે
મિત્રો,
While more and more children are going to school across the country, many move through the system without acquiring even basic reading skills. The ASER survey shows that more than 50% of children in Grade 5 are unable to read simple text in the local language. This is tragic for their learning and future development and is hence an issue that remains at the core of Pratham's mission of Every Child in School and Learning Well.
Through its innovative teaching learning approach and programs spread across the country, Pratham aims to build children's foundational skills in primary grades, ensuring further learning and growth for all children. Through the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) approach, children learn to read in a period of less than 50 days, after having struggled to acquire the skill in their several years of primary schooling. By working with communities and governments across the country, Pratham aims to transform lives for millions of children across the country through the gift of reading!