Obituary: Karpoor Chand Kulish, the founder of ‘Rajasthan Patrika’

They were 80 years well spent. During those 80 years of his lifetime, Karpoor Chand Kulish, the founding father of ‘Rajasthan Patrika’, built from scratch a newspaper for the people of Rajasthan. Kulish passed away on the morning of January 17, 2006.

Kulish was regarded as one of the main pillars of modern journalism in India. It is his vision because of which ‘Rajasthan Patrika’ aims to symbolise the spirit of righteous and purposeful journalism. Kulish made various contributions towards the Hindi language, apart from spirituality and creativity.

Karpoor Chand Kulish was born in Soda village, Rajasthan, on March 20, 1926. Kulish was a man of his philosophies, and his creative outbursts in his early life found outlets in poems and articles. Later on, this passion made him an avid writer and his works were published in numerous books and magazines.

Kulish started his career in journalism as an employee in a newspaper. On March 7, 1956, Kulish decided to start his own newspaper. Thus was born ‘Rajasthan Patrika’. The going was rather tough at first, but he stuck to it through situations in which most others would have given up. It was his grit, his determination and a deep belief in his dreams that gave him the courage to carry on.

Despite getting off to a humble start, ‘Rajasthan Patrika’ started making progress through Kulish’s hard work. In fact, he was even invited by the state department of the US government to visit that country. His experiences during his trip were published in a compilation. By 1978, Kulish’s own baby, ‘Rajasthan Patrika’, had garnered a circulation of 80,000.

After having worked for around three decades, Kulish retired as an active contributor from ‘Rajasthan Patrika’ on March 20, 1986.

Kulish later developed an interest in spirituality, which he expressed through his contributions in the field of Vedic sciences, as he put forth the various dimensions of the Vedas for the common man to understand and educate himself. His contributions were talked about beyond India, particularly in the West. He gave many interviews on the subject to BBC, Voice of America and Radio Germany.

Amongst his numerous literary works, ‘America Ek Vihangam Drishti’ and ‘Mein Dekhta Chala Gaya’ gained a lot of recognition. The latter addresses the pathetic condition of the common man during the Emergency in the 1970s. The work, although a kind of criticism in disguise, was appreciated by the government as well.

Kulish was felicitated with several awards for his contribution to journalism. In 1990, he was honoured with the BD Goenka Foundation award for ‘Outstanding Contribution in the Indian Language Newspaper’ category for the year 1987. In 1991, he was felicitated by the then Prime Minister of India, Chandrashekhar, for influencing the national mainstream through his contributions at the golden jubilee of the All India Editors’ Conference.

He also received the Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Award in 2000. The Hindi Sahitya Sammelan gave him the highest honour of Prayag ‘Sahitya Vachaspati’. The Maharishi Sandipani Rashtriya Ved Vidya Pratisthan, Ujjain, also honoured him.

The dream that took birth in a small village of Rajasthan is now a newspaper involved in diverse fields. Former US spokesperson Joseph Verner Reed commented on Kulish’s efforts: “The working of ‘Rajasthan Patrika’ is speedier than that of the White House.”

Kulish’s vision will continue to light the way for Rajasthan long after he has passed on.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!