Literature resonated in Jhajha village: Bhalku's legacy was paid homage, B R Mehta was honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award
Ferozepur/Shimla, April 15, 2025: On the second day of Bhalku Smriti Yatra, 31 writers started the journey by bus from Shimla at 8.30 am. The first stop was Lalit Kufri of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, where the writers recited their compositions. The second stop was the Heritage Hotel Palace Chail of the Tourism Corporation. The writers visited the palace complex and also held a literary seminar. After that, the writers went to Baba Bhalku's ancestral village, Jhajha and saw his ancient house there and met his family members. The highlight of the seminar was the felicitation ceremony, in which, in a grand event, a famous announcer of Akashvani and theatre artist BR Mehta ji was honoured with the "Lifetime Achievement Award". Durga Dutt, Ram Swaroop, Kanti Swaroop, and young Sushil Kumar, senior members of Bhalku's sixth generation, were given the ‘Smriti Samman'. Jagdish Bali beautifully conducted this session.
This information was given to the media by S R Harnot, President of Himalaya Sahitya Sanskriti Evam Paryavaran Manch.
After being honoured, B R Mehta thanked Himalaya Manch for keeping the memories of Bhalku alive and said that Bhalku was a great personality. Mehta has done a lot of research on him, and it was due to the efforts of his committee that the Bhalku memorial and his statue were established in Chail. Mehta expressed grief that the BJP and Congress governments did not pay any attention towards the renovation of Bhalku Park, and the park is lying neglected today.
A member of the Himalaya Manch and former Additional Director of State Audit raised the issue of extending the Kalka Shimla railway line to Jhajha. Himalaya Manch has given proposals to the Central Government and State Government several times for the extension of the railway line, construction of the Bhalku memorial in Jhajha, and to keep Bhalku's ancestral house safe. It also demanded that the government and railways extend the Kalka Shimla trains to the Bhalku Museum along with the Shimla Old Bus Stand.
In Jhajja, writers also organized a poetry symposium in the memory of Bhalku in which Raman Mishra, Neelam Kulshreshtha, Jagdish Kashyap and S R Harnot recited poems. In Jhajja, the Bhalku family welcomed all the writers by presenting them with flowers and garlands.
Earlier, from 10 am to 11.30 am, writers organized literary, musical and satirical symposiums in Kufri Lalit Cafe and in the moving bus which were conducted by Deepti Saraswat, Pratima and Shanti Swaroop Sharma.
Among the writers who participated in the literary symposiums during the Jhajja trip were Prof. Hribnath Pandey, Raman Mishra, Dr. Arjun Gharat, Dr. Pramod Yadav, Dr. Shashi Srivastava, Madhur
Kulshrestha and Neelam Kulshrestha, Rajesh Arora, Harish Monga, Sunaini Sharma, Seema Gautam, Priyamvada Sharma, Anil Sharma Neel, Anju Anand, Jagdish Bali, Hitendra Sharma, Dr. Vijay Laxmi Negi, Salil Shamsheri, Sneh Negi, Jagdish Kashyap, Lekhraj Chauhan, Deepti Saraswat Pratima, Vandana Rana, Hemlata Sharma, Shanti Swaroop Sharma, Jagdish Harnaut and Yadav Chand.