Rajasthan's Vijaydan Detha in race for Nobel Prize

Vijaydan Detha, celebrated author of Rajasthani folk tales, is among the favourites for this year's Nobel Literature prize, according to a foreign agency report. Kenya's Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Somalia's Nuruddin Farah, Hungary's Peter Nadas, Korean poet Ko Un, Japan's Haruki Murakami and Australia's Les Murray also feature in the race for the coveted award which will most probably be announced on October 6, the report added.
Detha, popularly known as Bijji, lives at Borunda village in Jodhpur. He is a recipient of several awards such as Padmashri, Sahitya Akademi Award and Sahitya Chudamani. Detha shot into limelight with his story Duvidha on which Amol Palekar made a film P a h e l i starring Shah Rukh Khan. IN RACE FOR NOBEL Detha has written over 800 books. Attributing his writing habit and creativity to his genes, he said, “We come from the community of charans, who professionally sang songs in honour of our feudal lords. My father, Sabaldan Detha, was also a poet. When he and his brothers died, the creativity entered me,” he asserted. In his writing, Detha had always made a mockery of ‘socalled bravery of Rajputs’. When asked about this, he laughed and said, “If they were brave enough, they should have murdered me,”