The Enduring Vision of Shrilal Shukla: Raag Darbari’s Relevance in Today’s India Sometimes such personalities are born in the world through whom the nation sings its song. Rural India has given voice to its feelings through the great and immortal personality of Shrilal Shukla, said the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, Shri Manoj Sinha while attending the birth centenary of this renowned writer in Lucknow. Shrilal Shukla was the soul of literature. If I talk of novels and satire, then its flames were Shrilal Shukla, LG said. I can see Shri Lal Shukla in the self-respect of India too. You will also see Shrilal Shukla in the masculinity of India. I feel that Shrilal Shukla is there in the light of India and Shri Lal Shukla is there in the direction of India. I believe that nothing happens in life without a reason. There is definitely a purpose in the existence of something or the non-existence. Shrilal Shukla ji started government service in 1949. I think there must be some purpose behind its existence. What was the situation of India in 1949? India had been independent for two years. India was engaged in formulating policies for its construction as an Independent country. And within a few days, in 1950, it was established as a Republic. At the same time, in India, for planned social economic development and to improve and increase the standard of living of the common citizens, the establishment of a Yojana Ayog was also being considered in concrete form.And I would like to say that when India was taking the first step towards development after getting independence, Shrilal Shukla, who was not a writer but a government servant, was taking the ringside view by sitting on the front row seat and was making his contribution by being an important member of India’s construction team. He carried out this responsibility for several decades. And he was not just a witness to the transformation of India but also worked as an agent of change himself. His creation was not limited to literature only, his other creation for the nation and society was continuously going on through civil service. His consciousness had not only the colours of words but also the restraint to carry out his duties. In that period, Shrilal Shukla worked to expose the reasons behind the system through novels, stories and letters. If we try to see and understand his story as a symptom then not only in Uttar Pradesh and not only in India, but in every country of the world, the symptoms of Shivpal Ganj are still present, LG stated. As a writer, Shrilal Shukla fulfilled this responsibility very well. To understand it better, he said that apart from geography, the perspective of economics should also be considered. When Shrilal Shukla started writing Raag Darbari in the last quarter of 1964, the country had a population of 50 crore people. Thousands of years ago when our sages said that the path of truth is very easy. On 17th May 2007 when he started writing the introduction for the new edition of the book Raag Darbari, he said that this novel of 40 years ago is becoming more and more relevant today. These were his words. Whenever we try to find the relevance of a person’s vision or a hidden treasure in an old book in the present, we should also keep in mind that many times the vision contained in dreams should be understood by going beyond the dream. Dreams have their own limits and I believe that language is not only different due to geographical area, culture and dialect but language also depends on how your life journey is and what is the aim of your life journey. When Shrilal Shukla was creating Raag Darbari, India had Rs 100 crore in foreign money, today India’s foreign exchange has reached Rs 45 lakh 90 thousand crore. At that time we were dependent on foreigners for food grains and the country was struggling to provide two meals a day to its population. Today, by producing more than three lakh thousand tons of grain, India is providing grain and food to many countries of the world.Today we have become the fifth largest economy in the world and will achieve the status of a 5 trillion dollar economy in the next two years. Under the leadership of Prime Minister, India will join the developed countries by 2047. Our centuries-old knowledge economy will be revived. Today, when the representatives of developed countries come to India to see our startups, unicorns and the progress of artificial intelligence and automation.Today the world is looking at India as a superpower in the innovation sector. According to various world rankings, our country is going to play the most important role in giving shape to the global economy in the coming days.