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On a quiet Monday evening in London UK, December 11, 2023, while the city went about its regular business, a significant event occurred at the prestigious venue of The Nehru Centre, The High Commission of India—the launch of an enchanting book titled Tulasī’s Shrī-Rāma-Charita-Mānasa. The Spiritual Lake of Rāma Pastimes. An English Rendering: Annotated Word-for-Word Translation (2023).
The Shrī-Rāma-Charita-Mānasa written by the great saint-poet Gosvāmī Tulasī Dāsa in the 16th century, is thegreatest literary masterpiece and the invaluable legacy of the land of Bhārat, that has shaped its culture, values, and traditions. This English translation, done by Shri Chandan Lal Dhody (1909-2001) was originally published in 1987. For this exceptional work, he was awarded the Anuvad Shri by Bhartiya Anuvad Parishad in 1995. The same book is now republished in this beautiful form, to appeal to modern-day readers.
This book launch event was graced by The Mayor of the London Borough of Harrow, Cllr Ramji Chauhan who opened the ribbon and unwrapped the cover to unveil the captivating Book. He was accompanied by Cllr Sunil Chopra, the former Mayor of Southwark, and the Deputy Director of the Nehru Centre, Mr. Sandeep Sharma.
Mrs. Shailja Thapar-Sondhi and Mr. Anup Sondhi from the DDD Charitable Trust India and the DDD Community Interest Company UK, the organizations that have brought about this publication, felicitated the guests of honour with shawls and bouquets.
The evening glided by so quickly with the enthralling presentation by Dr. Mrs. Neela Thapar Moorjani, the editor of this book, and the translator’s granddaughter, who has worked extensively on this project for the last 10 years. She gave the audience a feel and flavour of this work through her talk on the scripture and its relevance today. She kept the audience mesmerized through her melodious and soulful chanting on the beat of the dholak, while reading out some translated passages from the work. Through an engrossing video presentation, she presented the journey of the making of this monumental work. Siddiie Kapshikarr, accompanied her on the harmonium.
The Mayor, Cllr Ramji Chauhan, accompanied by the Mayoress Mrs. Meena Chauhan, and Ms. Sonoo Malkani, deeply appreciated the efforts to bring about this republication, in this alluring form and the significance of this work to the larger community. Deeply impressed with the work, he continued to linger and mingle with the crowd until The Nehru Centre closed its doors for the evening. Here one cannot miss the coincidence that the mayor is named after Lord Rama himself. The Ramayana Mangalam Parivar Member team, led by Mr. Raj Tiwari, and many audience members highly commended the team for this great endeavour.
This enchanting book, the showstopper of the event, is undoubtedly a collector’s edition! In a three-volume all-colour set, enriched with graphics and Gita Press of Gorakhpur’s artwork, used with their special permission, the book is a visual delight to behold. This Book has been published by White Falcon Publishing, Chandigarh, India, and DDD Charitable Trust, India & DDD Community Interest Group, UK.
The entire DDD team—Editor, Dr. Neela Thapar Moorjani; the Executive Director, Mrs. Shailja Thapar-Sondhi; Marketing & PR Director, Mrs. Neelam Chawla; and Mr. Anup Sondhi, Director of Logistics & Supply Chain, supported by an enthusiastic young volunteer team led by Mr. Samraj Moorjani, along with excellent support from The Nehru Centre team and staff, ensured that the event flowed seamlessly, with the presentation, the book showing and the signing. The event was also streamed privately to a global audience by the organizers.
In the words of one of the attendees: “This was a very impressive effort to enlighten Tulsidasji’s work by CL Dhody ji to be brought to the current generation.” Another commented “The presenter is a fabulous singer! It really was quite enchanting. A well-organised and inspiring event with very kind hospitality. Really well done! Thank you”
Mrs. Indira Batra (MBE), made a profound statement by saying that a scripture such as the Shrī-Rāma-Charita-Mānasa, connects us to our glorious Sanskriti and should be read by all, particularly the young generation so that we are all splattered by drops of the Charita of Shri Rama, or are inspired by the great personality and character of Maryadapurshottam Lord Shri Rama.