Lucknow :
Dr Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University became the second university in the country to start a centre for Bhojpuri studies. The centre, to be operational from this academic session, will promote Bhojpuri literature and language, besides showcasing the lively elements of Bhojpuri culture and civilization across areas of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
Banaras Hindu University is the only other institution to offer the course.
The centre will have undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral courses.
“Bhojpuri is significant to a large population and has considerable international presence. This linguistic region has been the life line of north India. The study of regional Bhojpuri life, including agriculture, lifestyle, indigenous knowledge and cultural profiles is of immense significance both from epistemological and practical angles,” said university vice-chancellor Nishith Rai, the ex-officio chairman of the centre.
Apart from academic activities, the Centre for Bhojpuri Studies will house a cultural museum to preserve rare manuscripts, art forms. The centre will als provide training for print, electronic media and film production, organise national and international conferences and publish books and journals. The university VC, said officials will soon constitute a committee of experts to work out the modalities for making the Centre functional
Bhojpuri diaspora merits special significance. According to academic advisor to V-C, AP Tiwari, Bhojpuri has worldwide linkages. It is spread not only in metros like Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi but also in erstwhile colonial Islands like Mauritius, Surinam, Trinidad and Fiji, besides USA and UK. “People with Bhojpuri clout are rich businessmen, successful bureaucrats, poor laborers or small shopkeepers but their languages are the same. Despite heterogeneous economic status of Bhojpuri people, it has built in tendency of integration. Hence, the Centre will explore Bhojpuri connections across the world,” said Tiwari.
The Centre, said Tiwari will also endeavour to bring out the philosophical world-view of the Bhojpuri community, its traditional eco-friendly practices and life style, its creative and aesthetic richness and fineness and most significantly its innovative genius. “Let the Bhojpuri (speaking ) people take pride in their language instead of being apologetic about it. It is a great tragedy that very little is known of a language which is the language of the heart for millions of people,” Rai said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / by Isha Jain, TNN / April 01st, 2016