Vidyanand Sarek

Vidyanand Saraik is a poet and folk artist from Sirmaur who has given his life to the folk literature, traditions and music of Himachal Pradesh. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2022 in the field of literature and education, from Himachal Pradesh ^[1].

Learning from his mother

Saraik was born on 26 June 1941 in a backward area of Sirmaur district and lost his father as a child ^[2]. At four he learned Kariyala, the folk theatre of the region, and Sirmauri song and dance from his mother ^[2]. He struggled to get through school and college, became a teacher, and received the state education department’s best teacher award in 1971, but family circumstances forced him to give up teaching in 1976 ^[2].

A thousand songs

His first books of Pahari poetry, Hare Jubte and Chiti Chadar, were published with help from the state academy in 1973–74 ^[2]. He has written about 1,000 Pahari songs in the traditional style, many of them sung by other singers, and staged Kariyala versions of works by Tagore and of the life of Vivekananda ^[2]. He has translated the Gita and Tagore’s Gitanjali into Pahari and collected old folk forms such as harul, saka and pwara ^[2].

He has long been a member of the state academy of language, art and culture ^[2]. He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for folk music in 2018 ^[2].