Introducing Ritu Bhanot

Ritu Bhanot is a linguist. A Punjabi by birth, she learnt Hindi and English in school. And then she fell in love with French to which she took  like fish takes to water. Destiny put her in touch with a French young man, named Jaque de Juvigny, who became her soul-mate. She has now been working in France as a certified translator-cum-interpreter, for more than a decade. However, distance has not reduced her love for India and Indian languages. I am told that she also knows Urdu, Bangla and several other Indian languages. Indeed, whenever she speaks to me, it is in chaste Punjabi.

 Ritu has a very sensitive soul, and poetry comes naturally to her. Given below, is a piece which she wrote several years ago.  

प्रेम और संबंधों की सच्चाई

तेरी राह देखते-देखते पथरा सी गयी हूँ मैं,

अपनी धरती से जुड़ आज उठ रही हूँ ऊपर ।

जड़ें बाहर जो दिखतीं हैं वे नहीं,

जड़ें वे हैं जो मेरे अंदर से निकवीं हैं ।

ब्रह्मा की तरह मेरे अंतर के कमल पे तुम

विष्णु बन खिल रहे हो;

महान हो भले तुम

मगर याद रखो

मेरे बिना अस्तित्व नहीं तुम्हारा ।

चलायमान तुम थक जाओगे,

सच खोजते-खोजते ।

मैं एक जगह खड़ी

अपने अंतर में ही सत्य पा जाऊँगी ।

ठहरी हूँ

पर पड़ाव है यह,

नदिया को कौन

रोक पाया है ।

स्त्री निष्क्रिय

पुरुष सक्रिय

मगर खोज क्या रहे हो तुम ?

सत्य वह नहीं जो बाहर है,

सत्य तुम्हारे ही अंतर में है छुपा ।

क्षण भर रुको,

ठहरो

और पा जाओ जो है तुम्हरा ।

cordialement/ Best Regards/ शुभाकांक्षाओं सहित्,

Ritu BHANOT

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The Tailpiece

For those who may not know, I wrote my first few pieces in Punjabi. In fact my first full length novel was written in my mother tongue, in 1961, when I was still in the Academy. Later, after the 1971 war, I was impelled to write another novel, which was also in Punjabi. Ritu Bhanot is threatening to trans-create it in Hindi.