Thursday, 28 January 2016

1970s

1970:

Viswanatha Satyanarayana

Viswanadha Satyanarayana
Kavisamrat Viswanadha Satyanarayana.jpg
Born10 September 1895
Nandamuru,unguturu mandal,Krishna District,
Madras state British India
Now Andhra pradesh India
Died18 October 1976
Guntur
OccupationPoet
NationalityIndian
Period1895–1976
Notable awardsKavisamraat
Kalaprapurna
Padmabhushan
Jnanpith Awardee
Doctorate
SpouseVaralakshmi
ChildrenSons
  • Viswanadha A Devarayalu
  • Viswanadha Pavani Sastry
Grand sons
  • Viswanadha Satyanarayana
  • Viswanadha Shaktidhar Sri Pavaki
  • Viswanadha Manohara Sri Panini
RelativesParents
Father-Sobhanadri
Mother-Parvathi
Viswanatha Satyanarayana (10 September 1895 – 18 October 1976) was born to Sobhanadri and Parvathi in the year 1895 at Nandamuru,(pin 521311) Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh. He was a Telugu writer of the 20th century. His works included poetry, novels, drama, short stories and speeches, covering a wide range of subjects such as analysis of history, philosophy, religion, sociology, political science, linguistics, psychology and consciousness studies, epistemology, aesthetics and spiritualism.
He was a student of Chellapilla Venkata Sastry. Chellapilla was familiar to be known as Tirupati Venkata Kavulu duo, Diwakarla Tirupathi Sastry and Chellapilla Venkata Sastry. Viswanatha's style of poetry was classical in nature and his popular works includeRamayana Kalpa Vrukshamu (Ramayana the wish-granting divine tree), Kinnersani patalu (Mermaid songs) and Veyipadagalu (The Thousand Hoods).
He was awarded the Jnanpith Award[1] and Padma Bhushan in 1971.[2]
The parallel "free-verse" movement in easy prose of Telugu literature criticised him as a bigot who hung onto the strict rules of poetry such as Yati, Prasa (rhyme) and Chandas (meter). However this only covers a part of the wide variety of literature he created. At the same time, there was no contemporary in Telugu literature who could match his depth of the subjects he covered and his mastery of literature. A book with his memories compiled has been released.[3][4]

School of Thought[edit]

Viswanatha was a traditionally trained scholar in several subjects. He was a strong adherent of advaita,[5] though his learning and mastery extends to several other schools.

History[edit]

Viswanatha was of the view that history is not the story of kings but the narrative that gives one an understanding of the sociological, political, economic, cultural, scientific, spiritual and aesthetic lives of man in a given time, and their evolution.[6] Based on Kota Venkatachalam's chronology Vishwanatha wrote three series of novels depicting all these aspects of ancient and medieval society, along with stories woven around the famous characters of three royal lineages:
1. Purana Vaira granthamala is a series of 12 novels about the Magadha Royal dynasties after Mahabharata war. In this series, there are two tendencies – Krishna representing Dharma, and Jayadratha representing the darker side of human psyche, the unrighteous side. The primary characters in each of the 12 novels behave under the influence of these two tendencies, each having its temporal victories.
2. Nepala Rajavamsa caritra is a series of 6 novels about the Nepali Royal dynasties. This series expounds Carvaka school of thought, its intricacies and sub-schools, social life and values influenced by carvakas.
3. Kashmira Rajavamsa caritra is a series of 6 novels woven around the Royal dynasties that ruled Kashmir.

Literary career[edit]

poem of viswanatha satyanarayana about himself
Viswanatha's literary works includes 30 poems, 20 plays, 60 novels, 10 critical estimates, 200 Khand kavyas, 35 short stories, three playlets, 70 essays, 50 radio plays, 10 essays in English, 10 works is Sanskrit, three translations, 100 introductions and forewords as well as radio talks. Some of his poems and novels have been translated into English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Urdu and Sanskrit.
Veyipadagalu was later translated into Hindi by former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao as Sahasraphan.

Novels[edit]

Most of Viswanatha's novels depict evolving social conditions, and involve an in-depth analysis of culture as well as human nature and consciousness.
  • Veyipadagalu (The Thousand Hoods)
  • Swarganiki Nicchenalu (Ladders to Heaven)
  • Terachi Raju (Checkmate)
  • Cheliyali Katta (The Seawall)
  • Maa Babu (Our babu(babu is a word that suits for son, dad and owner))
  • Jebu Dongalu (Pickpockets)
  • Veera Valladu (Valla the valorous)
  • Vallabha Mantri (The Minister Vallabha), after Sardar Vallabhai Patel
  • Vishnu Sharma English Chaduvu (Vishnu Sharma Learning English), in which Tikkana and Vishnu Sarma two great literary figures of India attempt to learn English from the author. This parody is a critique of English and its grammar.The Novel is being dramatised and Staged in Ravindra Bharati, Hyderabad.in 2006 and made as a tele film by Doordarsanin 2008 and won the Golden Nandi Award.Dr. G.B. Ramakrishna Sastry acted as Viswanadha Satyanarayana and secured the Nandi Award for Best Acting.
  • Pulula Satyagraham (Tigers Satyagraha)
  • Devatala Yuddhamu (The Battle of Gods)
  • Punarjanma (Rebirth)
  • Pariksha (Exam)
  • Nandigrama Rajyam (Kingdom of Nandigam)
  • Banavati
  • Antaratma (The Conscient Self)
  • Ganguly Prema Katha (Ganguly's Love Story)
  • Aaru Nadulu (Six Rivers)
  • Chandavolu Rani (The Queen of Chandavolu)
  • Pralaya Naidu
  • Ha Ha Hu Hu, the name of a horse-faced demigod who does a mythical landing in London
  • Mroyu Tummeda (The Humming Bee), an in-depth analysis of Traditional Indian Music, sound and consciousness
  • Samudrapu Dibba (Ocean Dune)
  • Damayanti Swayamvaram (Swayamvara of Princess Damayanti)
  • Neela Pelli (Neela's Wedding)
  • Sarvari Nundi Sarvari Daka (From Night to Night)
  • Kunaluni Sapamu (The curse of Kunala)
  • Ekaveera (The sacred Love of two warriors)
  • Dharma Chakramu (The Wheel of Righteous Order)
  • Kadimi Chettu (A Tree)
  • Veera Puja
  • Sneha Phalamu (Fruit of Friendship)
  • Baddana Senani (The General Baddana)
(The twelve below form Purana Vaira Granthamala Series)
  • Bhagavantuni meeda paga (vengeance against god)
  • Nastika Dhumamu (the smoke of disbelief)
  • Dhumarekha (the line of smoke)
  • Nando raja bhavishyati (Nanda will be the king)
  • Chandraguptuni Swapnamu (Chandragupta's dream)
  • Ashwamedhamu
  • Nagasenudu
  • Helena
  • Puli Muggu (the tiger-rangoli)
  • Amrutavalli
  • Nivedita
(The Six below form Nepala Rajavamsa series)
  • Dindu Kindi Poka Chekka (The Betel Nut Under the Pillow)
  • Chitli Chitlani Gajulu (The half broken bangles)
  • Saudamini
  • Lalita Pattanapu Rani (Queen of the town named after Lalita)
  • Dantapu Duvvena (Ivory Comb)
  • Duta Meghamu (Cloud-messenger)
(The Six below form Kashmira Rajavamsa series)
  • Kavalalu (Twins)
  • Yasovati
  • Patipettina Nanemulu (The Buried Coins)
  • Sanjeevakarani (The Medicinal Herb)
  • Mihirakula
  • Bhramara Vasini (Goddess of the Humming Bee)

Poetry[edit]

  • Srimad Ramayana Kaplavrikshamu ('Ramayana the divine wish-granting tree', the work for which he was awarded Jnanapith)
  • Andhra Pourushamu (The Andhra valor)
  • Andhra Prashasti (Fame of Andhras)
  • Ritu samharamu (ending of the season cycle)
  • Sri Kumarabhyudayamu (emergence of Kumara)
  • Girikumaruni prema geetaalu (love songs of Giri Kumara)
  • Gopalodaharanamu (about Gopala)
  • Gopika geetalu (the gopika's songs)
  • Jhansi Rani
  • Pradyumnodayamu (rise of Pradyumna)
  • Bhramara geetalu (songs of the humming bee)
  • Maa swamy (Our Lord)
  • Ruru charitramu (Story of Ruru)
  • Varalakshmi trishati (300 to Varalakshmi)
  • Devi trishati (in Sanskrit, 300 verses in devotion to the mother goddess)
  • Vishwanatha Panchashati (500 verses to devatas)
  • Vishwanatha madhyaakkaralu (series of poems written in the meter 'madhyaakkara')
  • Veni bhangamu (violating the stream/plat)
  • Sashi duutamu (moon-messenger)
  • Sringara veedhi (the streets of romance)
  • Sri Krishna Sangeetamu (Krishna music)
  • Naa Ramudu (My Rama, an introductory to his concept of Rama expounded in the Kaplavrikshamu)
  • Sivarpanamu (ode to Siva)
  • Dharmapatni (consort)
  • Bhrashta yogi (fallen yogi)
  • Kedara gowla
  • Goloka vasi (the lord of Goloka)

Drama/Plays[edit]

  • Gupta Pasupatam (the secret Pasupata, in Sanskrit and rewritten in Telugu)
  • Amrita Sarmistham (in Sanskrit)
  • Anta Natakame (all is drama)
  • Anarkali
  • Kavyaveda Harischandra
  • Talli leni pilla (motherless girl)
  • Trishulamu (the trident)
  • Nartanashala (the dance theater)
  • Pravahamu (the flow)
  • Lopala-bayata (in & out)
  • Venaraju
  • Ashokavanamu
  • Shivaji - roshanara
  • Dhanya kailasamu
  • A collection of 16 short plays

Analysis[edit]

  • Kavya Parimalamu (the scent of poetry, on aesthetics)
  • Kavyanandamu (analysis of aesthetics)
  • Shakuntalamu yokka abhijnanata (apprisal of Kalidasa's Abhijnana Shakuntalam)
  • Allasani vari allika jigibigi (an apprisal of Peddana's poetry)
  • Okadu nachana somanna (an apprisal of Nachana Somanna's poetry)
  • Nannayyagari prasanna katha kalitartha yukti (an apprisal of Nannayya's poetry)
  • Sitaayaascharitam mahat (great is the story of Sita)
  • Kalpavriksha rahasyamulu (secrets of the Kalpavrikshamu)
  • Vishwanatha sahityopanyasamulu (a collection of speeches on literature)
  • Niti Gita (moral stories)
  • Sahitya Surabhi (a primer on poetry and literature)

Other Writings[edit]

  • Kinnerasani Patalu
  • Yati geetamu
  • Kokilamma Pelli
  • Paamu paata
  • Chinna kathalu
  • What is Ramayana to me
  • Atma katha

Awards[edit]

As a Poet of classic vision and virility, as a novelist and play wright of deep insight and impact, as an essayist and literary critic of force and felicity, and as a stylist of rare "range" Mr. Satyanarayana has carved for himself a place of eminence amongst the immortals of Telugu Literature. His ceaseless creativity and versatility have kept him in the forefront of contemporary Telugu Literary Scene.

1971:

Bishnu Dey

Bishnu Dey
Born18 July 1909
Calcutta, Bengal Presidency,British India
Died3 December 1982 (aged 73)
Calcutta, West Bengal, India
OccupationPoet, Academician
Bishnu Dey (Bengali: বিষ্ণু দে) was a prominent Bengali poet, prose writer, translator, academic and art critic in the era ofmodernism, post-modernism.[1][2][3] Starting off as a symbologist, he won recognition for the musical quality of his poems, and forms the post-Tagore generation of Bengali poets, like Buddhadeb Basu and Samar Sen, which marked the advent of "New Poetry" inBengali literature, deeply influence by Marxist ideology. He even published a poetry magazine for while wherein he encouraged socially conscious writing. His own work reveals a poet's solitary struggle, quest for human dignity, amidst a crisis of uprooted identity.[4][5] Through his literary career, he taught English literature at various Calcutta colleges, Ripon College, Presidency College (1944–1947), Maulana Azad College (1947–1969) and Krishnanagar College. In the 1920s & 30s, he was also remained a member of a young group of poets, centered on the Kallol (Commotion) magazine.
His most important work, poetry collection, Smriti Satta Bhabishyat (Memory, being, the Future) (1955–61), set a new precedent in Bengali poetry.[5] It later won him the 1965Sahitya Akademi Award in Bengali as well as the highest literary award of India, Jnanpith Award, in 1971.[6]

Education[edit]

Bishnu Dey studied at Mitra Institution, Calcutta and Sanskrit Collegiate School, Calcutta. After matriculating in 1927, he went on to do his IA from Bangabashi College, Calcutta. He completed his BA (Hons.) in English from St. Paul’s Cathedral Mission College, Calcutta and MA in English from the University of Calcutta.

Career[edit]

In 1935, he joined Ripon College, Calcutta. He subsequently taught at Presidency College, Kolkata (1944–1947), Maulana Azad College, Calcutta (1947–1969).

Writings[edit]

  • Urvashi O Artemis (1932)
  • Chora Bali (1938)
  • Purba Lekh (1940)
  • Sandiper Char (1947)
  • Annishta (1950)
  • Naam Rekhechi Komal Gandhar (1950)
  • The Paintings of Rabindranath Tagore (1958)
  • India and Modern Art (1959)
  • Art of Jamini Roy (1988)
Chhadano Ei Jiban (This Scattered Life)
Some regard his poems as intricate and incomprehensible to a great extent, most likely due to wide use of references and imageries from literary works and cultural instances of foreign origin.[7]

Ideology[edit]

He was inspired by Marxist philosophy and by the ideas and style of T. S. Eliot. Post-partition along with other Calcutta-based writers and poets like Subhash Mukhopadhyay he formed the "Anti-Fascist Writers' and Artists' Association" in 1947.[8]
He was also associated with the Calcutta Group Centre, Soviet Friendship Association, Pragati Lekhak Shilpi Sangha, Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA), etc. He was a close friend of the artist Jamini Roy, an association which led him to writing works in art criticism such as Art of Jamini Roy (1988), The Paintings of Rabindranath Tagore (1958), and India and Modern Art (1959).

Accolades[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • Jamini Roy, by Bishnu Dey, John Irwin. Indian Society of Oriental Art, 1944
  • Selected poems, ed. Samir Dasgupta. Writers Workshop, 1972
  • In the sun and the rain: essays on aesthetics, by Bishnu Dey. People's Pub. House, 1972
  • History's tragic exultation: a few poems in translation, by Bishnu Dey. People's Pub. House, 1973
  • Water my roots: essays by & on Bishnu Dey, by Samir Dasgupta, Bishnu Dey. Writers Workshop, 1973
  • Bishnu Dey (Makers of Indian literature), by Aruna Sen. Sahitya Akademi, 1993

1972:

Ramdhari Singh Dinkar

Ramdhari Singh Dinkar
Rashtrakavi Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar'
Rashtrakavi Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar'
BornBhumihar Kesari
23 September 1908
Simaria, Munger(Now Begusarai) district, British India(present-day Bihar, India)
Died24 April 1974 (aged 65)
OccupationPoet, Freedom Fighter, Member of Parliament, Essayist, Literary critic, Journalist, Satirist,
Notable awards1959:Sahitya Akademi Award
1959: Padma Bhushan
1972: Bharatiya Jnanpith
ChildrenKedarnath Singh,Ramsevak Singh
Signature
Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' (23 September 1908 – 24 April 1974) was an Indian Hindi poet, essayist, patriot and academic,[1][2] who is considered as one of the most important modern Hindi poets. He remerged as a poet of rebellion as a consequence of his nationalist poetry written in the days before Indian independence. His poetry exuded veer rasa, and he has been hailed as a Rashtrakavi("National poet") on account of his inspiring patriotic compositions.[3] He was a regular poet of Hindi Kavi sammelan on those days and is hailed to be as popular and connected to poetry lovers for Hindi speakers as Pushkin for Russians.[4]
The present Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi wrote a message appreciating the translation of Rashmirathi into English by theMauritian cultural activist Leela Gujadhur Sarup.[5] As a mark of respect for him, his portrait was unveiled in the Central Hall ofParliament of India by the then Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh on his centenary year, 2008.[6][7] On 23 November 2012, the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee gave away Rashtrakavi Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' Sahitya Ratna Samman to 21 prominent writers and social workers at a function organised in Rashtrapati Bhavan.[8] On the occasion, the President recalled the contribution of Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' in the freedom struggle and his service to Hindi literature.[8] Poet and former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee spoke of Dinkarji in high esteem.[9] Others who have praised his literary genius include Shivraj Patil, Lal Krishna Advani, Somnath Chatterjee, Gulab Khandelwal, Bhawani Prasad Mishra, and Seth Govind Das.[10]
Dinkar initially supported the revolutionary movement during the Indian independence struggle, but later became a Gandhian. However, he used to call himself a 'Bad Gandhian' because he supported the feelings of indignation and revenge among the youth.[11] In Kurukshetra, he accepted that war is destructive but argued that it is necessary for the protection of freedom. He was close to prominent nationalists of the time such as Rajendra Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Sri Krishna Sinha, Rambriksh Benipuriand Braj Kishore Prasad.
Dinkar was elected three times to the Rajya Sabha, and he was the member of this house from 3 April 1952 CE to 26 January 1964 CE,[11] and was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1959.[11] He was also the Vice-Chancellor of Bhagalpur University (Bhagalpur, Bihar) in the early 1960s.
During The Emergency, Jayaprakash Narayan had attracted a gathering of one lakh people at the Ramlila grounds and recited Dinkar's famous poem: Singhasan Khaali Karo Ke Janata Aaati Hai (Devanagari: सिंहासन खाली करो कि जनता आती है; "Vacate the throne, for the people are coming").[12]

Biography[edit]

He was born on 23 September 1908, in Simaria village of Munger district (now in Begusarai District) in Bihar.[13] His father was Babu Ravi Singh and mother was Manroop Devi. As a student, his favourite subjects were history, politics and philosophy. He studied Hindi, Sanskrit, Maithili, Bengali, Urdu and English literature. Dinkar was greatly influenced byIqbal, Rabindranath Tagore, Keats and Milton. He translated works of Rabindranath Tagore from Bengali to Hindi.[14] The poetic persona of the poet Dinkar was shaped by the pressures and counter-pressures of life during the freedom movement.[11][13] Five feet eleven, shining white complexion, long high nose, large ears, broad forehead – his appearance answered to some such description.[11][13]
When he was a student of Mokama High School, it was not possible for him to stay on till school closed at four p.m.[13] He had to leave the class after lunch break so that he could catch the steamer back home.[13] He could not afford to be in the hostel which would have enabled him to attend all periods.[13] How could a student who had no shoes on his feet manage the hostel fees? His poetry shows the impact of poverty.[13] This was the environment in which Dinkar grew up and became a nationalist poet of radical views.[13] In 1920, Dinkar saw Mahatma Gandhi for the first time.[13] About this time, in the third decade of 20th century, he founded Manoranjan Library at Simariya.[13] He also edited a handwritten Pamphlet.[13]

Creative Struggle[edit]

When Dinkar stepped into his adolescence, the freedom movement had begun under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.[13] In 1929, when after matriculation, he entered intoPatna College in the intermediate class; this movement had started becoming aggressive.[13] In 1928, Simon Commission, against which nationwide demonstrations were being held, arrived.[13] Demonstrations were held in Patna also. Dinkarji also signed the oath-paper.[13] Thousands came to the rally at Gandhi Maidan in which Dinkarji also participated.[13] During the protest against Simon Commission, the police of the British Government mercilessly lathi charged the Lion of Punjab, Lala Lajpat Rai, who succumbed to the injuries.[13] The whole country was in turmoil.[13] The youthful mind of Dinkar became increasingly radical due to these agitations. His emotional nature was charged with poetic energy.[13]
When a paper called Chhatra Sahodar (Brother of Students) came out again under the editorship of Narsingh Das, Dinkar's first poem was published in 1924 or 1925.[13] In 1928, the peasant's satyagraha under the leadership of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel proved successful in Bardoli of Gujarat.[13] He wrote ten poems based on this Satyagraha which was published in a book form under the title Vijay-Sandesh (Message of Victory).[13] This composition is now available.[13] Right in front of Patna College, the office of "Yuvak" functioned.[13] To escape the wrath of the government, Dinkar got his poems published under the pseudonym "Amitabh".[13] On 14 September 1928, a poem of his, on the martyrdom of Jatin Das, was published.[13] Around this time he wrote two small works of poetry called Birbala and Meghnad-Vadh, but neither of them is traceable now.[13] In 1930, he composed a poem called Pran-Bhang (The Breach of Vow), which was mentioned by Ramchandra Shukla in his history.[13] So the journey of his poetic career should be deemed to have begun with Vijay-Sandesh.[13] Before this his poems had become a frequent feature of the magazine Desh, published from Patna and of Pratibha, which was published from Kannauj.[13]
Dinkar's first collection of poems, Renuka, was published in November 1935.[13] Banarsi Das Chaturvedi, the editor of Vishal Bharat wrote that the Hindi speaking people should celebrate the publication of Renuka.[13] Around this time, Chaturvediji went to Sevagram.[13] He took with him a copy of Renuka.[13] The copy was given to Mahatma Gandhi.[13]
The famous Historian Dr. Kashi Prasad Jaiswal loved him like a son and during the early days of his poetic career, helped him in every way.[13] He died on 4 August 1937, which was a great blow to the young poet.[13] Much later, he wrote in Kalpna, a magazine published from Hyderabad, "It was a good thing that Jaiswalji was my first admirer. Now when I have savoured the love and encouragement of the Sun, Moon, Varun, Kuber, Indra, Brihaspati, Shachi and Brahmani, it is clear that none of them was like Jaiswalji. As I heard the news of his death, the world became a dark place for me. I did not know what to do."[13] Actually Jaiswalji was the first person to appreciate the historical sense in the poetry of Dinkar.[13]

Work[edit]

His works are mostly of 'Veer Rasa', or the 'brave mode', although Urvashi is an exception to this. Some of his greatest works are Rashmirathi and Parashuram ki Prateeksha. He is hailed as the greatest Hindi poet of 'Veer Rasa' since Bhushan.[11]
Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi wrote that he was very popular among people whose mother-tongue was not Hindi and he was a symbol of love for one's own mother-tongue.[15]Harivansh Rai Bachchan wrote that for his proper respect he should get four Bharatiya Jnanpith Awards – for poetry, prose, languages and for his service to Hindi.[15] Rambriksh Benipuri wrote that Dinkar is giving voice to the revolutionary movement in the country.[15] Namvar Singh wrote that he was really the sun of his age.[15] In his youth, Rajnath Singh, Home Minister of India was inspired by the genius of Dinkarji.[16]
Hindi writer Rajendra Yadav, whose novel 'Sara Akash' also carried a few lines of Dinkar's poetry, has said of him He was always very inspiring to read. His poetry was about reawakening. He often delved into Hindu mythology and referred to heroes of epics such as Karna.[17] He was a poet of anti-imperialism and nationalism, says well-known Hindiwriter Kashinath Singh.[17]
He also wrote social and political satires[18] aimed at socio-economic inequalities and exploitation of the underprivileged.[18]
A progressive and humanist poet, he chose to approach history and reality directly and his verse combined oratorical vigour with a declamatory diction The theme of Urvashirevolves round love, passion, and relationship of man and woman on a spiritual plane, distinct from their earthly relationship.
His Kurukshetra is a narrative poem based on the Santi Parva of the Mahabharata.[19] It was written at a time when the memories of the Second World War were fresh in the mind of the poet.[19]
Krishna Ki Chaetavani is another poem composed on events that led to the Kurukshetra war in the Mahabharata. His Samdheni is a collection of poems reflecting the poet's social concern transcending the boundaries of the nation.[19]

Sanskriti ke Char Adhyaya[edit]

In his Sanskiti ke Chaar Adhyay, he said that despite various cultures, languages and topography, India stands united, because "however different we may be, our thoughts are one and the same".[20] 'Dinkar' made the understanding of historical perspectives much more direct by looking at the history of India's culture in terms of four major encounters: between the autochthons and the Aryans; between Vedic beliefs and the philosophy propounded by the Buddha, as well as by Mahavira; between Hinduism and Islam; and finally between the European civilisation and the Indian way of life and learning.[21] These encounters at different periods of history have imparted strength to India's culture.[21] The most striking feature of India's civilizational history has been its marked tolerance and human approach with its potential to impart a message to the world.[21]
History is not merely a compilation of facts.[13] History is written from an ideological perspective.[13] The poet Dinkar wrote Sanskriti ke char adhyaya in the context of values emerging from the freedom movement.[13] The nationalist view of history, which was propounded by historians in the field of history, is propounded by Dinkar in the field of culture.[13] The values which developed in the context of freedom movement determine the perspective of this book.[13] Those values are anti-colonialism, secularism and the idea of integrated culture.[13] This book has been written around these very values. Dinkar is the nationalist historian of Indian Culture.[13]
Divided into four vast chapters, in the first chapter, the form and development of the culture of India from pre-Vedic times to around the middle of the 20th century has been discussed.[13] In the second chapter the Buddhist and Jain religions which grew as a revolt against ancient Hinduism have been analysed.[13] In the third chapter, the influence ofIslam on Hindu culture after its advent along with the influence of Islam on Hindu-Muslim relations, like – nature, language, art and culture has been studied.[13] In this chapter a very authentic investigation into the mutual relation between the Bhakti movement and Islam has been presented.[13] In this context, it has also been considered how the culture of India acquires an integrated form.[13] In the 4th chapter, a comprehensive account of the colonialisation of education and the clash of Christianity with Hinduism, etc., since the advent of the Europeans in India has also been given.[13] In this chapter, along with an inquiry into the Renaissance of the 19th century, the contributions of the leading leaders ofRenaissance have been comprehensively discussed.[13] A leading characteristic of this chapter is also that a copious account of the Hindu Renaissance and with it of the Muslim Renaissance and its limitations have been presented.[13][21]
Dinkar :
Examples of inter-mixture and cultural harmony among peoples belonging to different races, languages and faiths are available in some other countries too (such asMexico and Ancient Greece), but not to the same extent as in India. In the world there are but four colours of people – white, wheatish, black and yellow – and all four are profusely inter-mixed in the Indian populace Even linguistically, the offspring of all the major language families live together in this country. And as for religion, India as a whole has always been, from the beginning, a land common to all the major religions of the world. The Indians of Tiruvankur had become Christian long before the people of England, and Islam had perhaps already arrived among the Moplas while Prophet Mohammad was still alive. Similarly, the followers of Zoroaster have been inhabiting India since the tenth century. When the Arab Muslims occupied Iran and began to propagate their own religion there, theParsis fled Iran and came to settle in India. When the Jewish temples began to crumble under the Roman tyranny, a number of Jews fled to India in order to save their faith, and ever since they have been living happily in South India. Therefore, Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Parsi religions have as much a claim over India asHinduism or Buddhism has.
India's antecedent composite cultural catalytic formation is suggestively sketched out by Dinkar as a product of four cultural revolutions and acculturative tendencies: (a) Aryan-Dravidian (Mongoloid) racial aggregations and admixures and Indo-European/Dravidian/(Tibeto-Burman) linguistic agglomerations and transitions; (b) Vedic or Brahmanicalfoundational worldview and Jain, Buddhist, Bhakti, Sikh, Sufi, and a variety of neo-Hindu reform movements; (c) Hindu-Muslim encounter, coexistence, and osmosis; and (d) Indo-European contact and British colonial conquest of India.[22] The vast panoramic overview of Dinkar's historiography of India's composite culture verges on a kind of Darwinistevolutionism.[22] The idea of India of Dinkar's imagination is reminiscent of the American 'melting pot' model of assimilative nationalism.[22]

Kurukshetra[edit]

For his epic-poetry and highly celebrated work Kurukshetra,
Such fierce competition between the flow of language and the depth of thoughts, as revealed in Kurukshetra, is rarely found. Kurukshetra is the pride of our language.
Dinkar's Kurukshetra is the Bhagavad Gita of the modern age.
Kurukshetra, undoubtedly, will add lustre to the honour of Hindi literature. That thoughts can be so breathtakingly poetic is proven beyond doubt in Kurukshetra.
Kurukshetra fascinated me so much that I listened to a reading of the whole of it even before I could recover from illness. This blood besmirched question of Mahabharata has been posed to every eon for an answer. Dinkar has replied to the question befitting the spirit of our age.
This poetry shall serve as pollen to rejuvenate India's ancient civilization.
The analysis with which the poetry of Kurukshetra is imbued is a grand amalgam of Indian culture and social philosophy.
The poetry in Kurukshetra revolves around the story of Mahabharata but in its expression the soul of today's India seems to reverberate. The philosophy propounded in Kurukshetra is revolutionary, factual and logical. It's compatible with life and talks more of the philosophy of the material than the ethereal.
Kurukshetra is a prized gift to the permanent corpus of Hindi literature.

Awards and honours[edit]

He received awards from Kashi Nagri Pracharini Sabha, Uttar Pradesh Government and also an award by the Government of India for his epic-poem Kurukshetra.[11] He got theSahitya Akademi Award in 1959 for his work Sanskriti ke Char Adhyay.[24] He was also a recipient of Padma Bhushan in 1959 by the Government of India. He was awarded the LLD degree by Bhagalpur University. He was felicitated as Vidyavachaspati by Gurukul Mahavidyalaya.[11] He was felicitated as Sahitya-Chudamaniby Rajasthan Vidyapeeth, Udaipur on 8 November 1968.[11] Dinkar was awarded the Jnanpith Award in 1972 for Urvashi.[25] He also became a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, in 1952.[2] Dinkar's fans widely believe that he truly deserved the honour of "RashtraKavi" (poet of the nation).

Posthumous Recognitions[edit]

The present Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi wrote a message appreciating the translation of Rashmirathi into English by the Mauritian cultural activist Leela Gujadhur Sarup by writing, "The story of 'a man blessed by the Gods but rejected by Destiny', Rashmirathi is the magnum opus of the Poet laureate of India, Ramdhari Singh, known to all as Dinkar. Reproducing its original in moving English poetry has been a labour of love for Mrs. Leela Sarup, taking her years to do it justice. This will enable a wider range of non-Hindi readers to savour the heart wrenching lyrical poetry of Dinkar."[5]
On 30 September 1987, to mark his 79th birth anniversary tributes were paid to him by the then President of India, Shankar Dayal Sharma.[26]
In 1999, Dinkar was one of the Hindi writers featured on a set of commemorative postal stamps released by Government of India to celebrate the "Linguistic Harmony of India." marking the 50th anniversary since the Indian Union adopted Hindi as its official language.[27]
The government released a book on Dinkar's birth centenary authored by Khagendra Thakur.[28]
At the same time a statue of him was unveiled in Patna at the Dinkar Chowk,[29] and a two-day national seminar was organised in Calicut University.[30]
The Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, laid the foundation stone of an engineering college in the district of Begusarai named after the legendary Hindi poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar.[31]
On May 22, 2015 Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated golden jubilee celebrations of Dinkar's notable works Sanskriti ke Chaar Adhyaye and Parshuram ki Pratiksha atVigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.[32]

Major poetic works[edit]

Dinkar's first published poetical work was Vijay Sandesh (1928). His other works are:
  • Pranbhang (1929)
  • Renuka (1935)
  • Hunkar (epic poem) (1938)
  • Rasavanti (1939)
  • Dvandvageet (1940)
  • Kurukshetra (1946)
  • Dhoop Chhah (1946)
  • Saamdheni (1947)
  • Baapu (1947)
  • Itihas ke Aansoo (1951)
  • Dhup aur Dhuan (1951)
  • Mirch ka Mazaa (1951)
  • Rashmirathi (1952)
  • Dilli (1954)
  • Neem ke Patte (1954)
  • Suraj ka Byaah ('1955')
  • Neel Kusum (1954)
  • Chakravaal (1956)
  • Kavishri (1957)
  • Seepee aur Shankh (1957)
  • Naye Subhaashit (1957)
  • Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar'
  • Urvashi (1961)
  • Parashuram ki Pratiksha (1963)
  • Koylaa aur Kavitva (1964)
  • Mritti Tilak (1964)
  • Atmaa ki Ankhe (1964)
  • Haare ko Harinaam (1970)
  • Bhagvaan Ke Daakiye(1970)

Anthologies[edit]

  • Lokpriya Kavi Dinkar (1960)
  • Dinkar ki Suktiyan (1964)
  • Dinkar ke Geet (1973)
  • Sanchayita (1973)
  • Rashmilok (1974)
  • Urvashi tatha anya shringarik kavitayen (1974)
  • Amrit Manthan, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
  • Bhagn Vina, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
  • Sapnon ka Dhuan, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
  • Samanantar, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
  • Rashmimala, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.

Major prose works[edit]

Dinkar's major analytical and other prose works are:
  • Mitti ki Or (1946)
  • Chittaur ka Saakaa (1948)
  • Ardhanaarishwar (1952)
  • Reti ki Phool (1954)
  • Hamaari Saanskritik Ekta (1954)
  • Bhaarat ki Saanskritik Kahaani (1955)
  • Raashtrabhaasha aur Raashtriya Ekta (1955)
  • Ujli Aag (1956)
  • Sanskriti ke Chaar Adhyaay (1956)
  • Kaavya ki Bhumikaa (1958)
  • Pant, Prasad aur Maithilisharan (1958)
  • Venu Van (1958)
  • Dharma, Naitikataa aur Vigyan (1959)
  • Vat-Peepal (1961)
  • Lokdev Nehru (1965)
  • Shuddh Kavitaa ki Khoj (1966)
  • Saahityamukhi (1968)
  • He Ram! (1968)
  • Samsmaran aur Shraddhaanjaliyan (1970)
  • Meri Yatrayen (1971)
  • Bhaaratiya Ekta (1971)
  • Dinkar ki Daayri (1973)
  • Chetana ki Shilaa (1973)
  • Vivah ki Musibaten (1973) and
  • Aadhunik Bodh (1973).

Literary criticism[edit]

  • Sahitya aur Samaj, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
  • Chintan ke Aayam, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
  • Kavi aur Kavita, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
  • Sanskriti Bhasha aur Rashtra, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
  • Kavita aur Shuddh Kavita, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.

Biographies[edit]

  • Sri Aurobindo: Meri Drishti Mein, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
  • Pandit Nehru aur anya mahapurush, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.
  • Smarnanjali, Lokbharti Prakashan, New Delhi, 2008.

Translations[edit]

Translations into Hindi and other languages[edit]

  • Dinkar's Urvashi: a saga of human love and Vedanta. Trans. by Krishna Kumar Vidyarthi. (New Delhi: Siddharth Publications, 1994. 165 p.)
  • Reflections on men and things (essays). (Ajmer: Krishna Brothers, 1968. 80 p.)
  • Kurukshetra. Trans. by R.K. Kapur. London: n.p., 1967.
  • [Rasmirathi] Sun charioteer. Trans. by R.D. Dunda, D. Nelson and P. Staneslow. (Minnesota: Nagari Press, 1981.)
  • Voices of the Himalaya: poems. Trans. by the author,Kamala Ratnam, V.K. Gokak and others. (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1966. vi, 70 p.)
  • Himalayas Xotros Poems (Spanish), Collection of thirty poems, Publisher – University of Conceyeion, Chile.
  • Sining Potos [Blue Lotus] (Russian), Collection of sixty poems, Progress Publishers, Moscow, Russia.
  • Kurukshetra: an aftermath of war, a new search for peace from the classical thought : light radiates through dialogue; translated by Winand M. Callewaert, P. Adeswara Rao; Heritage Publication Division, 1995.
  • Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Reflections on men and things, Krishna Bros., 1968.

Biographies and works on Dinkar[edit]

  • Divakar, Dinkarnama in 6 volumes.
  • Manmath Nath Gupta, Apane samaya ka surya Dinkar, Alekha Prakasana (1981).
  • Nandkishore Naval, Dinkar Ardhnarishwar Kavi,Rajkamal Prakashan, 2013.
  • Khagendra Thakur, Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkarr': Vyaktitva aur Krititva, Publications Division, 2008Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,Government of India.
  • Vijendra Narayan Singh, Bharatiya Sahitya ke Nirmata: Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar', Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, 2005, ISBN 81-260-2142-X.
  • Devayat M. Solanki, Dinkar Ke Kavya Mein Rashtriya Evam Sanskritik Chetna Kanirupan, 2013.
  • Prem Prakash Rastogi, Dinkar : Srajan Aur Parivesh, 2012.
  • Gita Samore, Dinkar Evam Pidhihar Ke Kavya Ka Tulnatmak Adhyayan, 2012.
  • Archna Kiran, Dinkar Kavya Ka Sanskritik Adhyayan, 2012.
  • Shobha Suryavanshi, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar Ke Sahitya Mein Jivan Mulya, 2012.
  • Yatindra Tiwari, Rashtrakavi Dinkar, 2012.
  • Girish Chandra Pal, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar Ka Kavya Ek Anushilan, 2010.
  • Sudhir Pratap Singh, Dinkar: Path Punarpath, 2011.
  • Kumar Vimal, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar Rachna – Sanchayan, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, 2008, ISBN 978-81-260-2627-2.
  • Shivsagar Mishra, Dinkar: ek sahaj Purush.
  • Dr. Shambhu Nath, Dhupchhanhi Dinkar, Bharatiya Jnanpith.
  • Dr. Shambhu Nath, Dinkar ka rachna sansar.
  • Acharya Shiv Balak Rai, Dinkar, Universal Press, Shiv Charan Lal Road, Allahabad.
  • Shivchandra Sharma, Dinkar aur unki kavya kritiyan, Janwasi Press, Kolkata.
  • Murlidhar Srivastava, Dinkar ki Kavyasadhana, Ajanta Press, Patna.
  • Kameshwar Sharma, Digbhramit Rashtrakavi, Rashtriya Prakashan Mandal, Patna.
  • S.Kapil, Dinkar Aur Unki Kavya Kritiyan, Ibha Prakashan, Munger.
  • Kantimohan Sharma, Kurukshetra – Mimansa, Sahitya Prakashan Mandal, Karol Bagh, New Delhi.
  • Nemichandra Jain Bhavuk, Dinkar ki Kavyasadhana, Antah Prantiya Kumar Parishad, Jodhpur.
  • Dr. Satyakam Verma, Jankavi Dinkar, Bharatiya Prakashan, Model Town, Delhi.
  • Dr. Savitri Sinha, Yugcharan Dinkar, National Publishing House, Delhi.
  • Vijendra Narayan Singh, Dinkar: Ek Punarmulyankan, Parimal Prakashan, Allapur, Allahabad.
  • Vijendra Narayan Singh, Urvashi: Uplabdhi Aur Sima, Parimal Prakashan, Allapur, Allahabad.
  • Gopalkrishna Kaul and Har prasad Shastri, Dinkar: Srishti aur Drishti, Vatayan Prakashan, Gaziabad.
  • Dr. Savitri Sinha, Kavi Dinkar, Radhakrishna Prakashan, Delhi.
  • Murlidhar Srivastava, Yugkavi Dinkar, Bihar Granth Kutir, Patna.
  • Ramashankar Tiwari, Dinkar ki Urvashi, Chaukhambha Vidya Bhavan, Varanasi.
  • Vachandev Kumar, Urvashi: Vichar Aur Vishleshan, Bihar Granth Kutir, Patna.
  • Jai Singh 'Nirad', Adhunikta ke hashiye me Urvashi.
  • Jai Singh 'Nirad', Dinkar ke kavya main parampara aur adhunikta.
  • Jagdish Chaturvedi, Dinkar: vyaktitva aur krititva.
  • Dr. Rama Rani Singh, Dinkar Sahitya main vyaktitva ki abhivyakti.
  • Gopal Rai, Rashtrakavi Dinkar.
  • Gopal Rai, Dinkar Vyaktitva Aur Rachna Ke Ayam, Suhani Book, 2011.
  • Devjani Sen, Dinkar Ke Kavya Mein Pragatishil Chetna, Sarth Publication, 2011.
  • Devvrat Joshi, Gadyashilpi Dinkar Dinkar Ka Gadya Sahitya, Anamika Publishers & Distributors, 2012.

1973:

D. R. Bendre

Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre
DRBendre.jpg
Kannada
Born31 January 1896
Dharwad, Bombay Presidency, British India
Died26 October 1981 (aged 85)
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Pen nameAmbikatanayadatta
OccupationTeacher, poet
NationalityIndian
GenreFiction
Literary movementNavodaya
Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre (31 January 1896 – 26 October 1981), popularly known as Da. Ra. Bendre, was one of the most notable Kannada poets of the Navodaya Period. He was given the honorific Varakavi ('gifted poet'). Bendre was awarded theJnanpith Award[1] for Kannada, the highest literary honor conferred in India.[2] He wrote under the pen-name of Ambikatanayadatta(lit, "Datta, Child of Ambika"). He also held the title Karnataka Kula Thilaka ("The ornament of the Kannataka Family") conferred byUdupi Adamaru Math. The Padma Shri was conferred on him by Government of India.

Biography[edit]

Early life and education[edit]

Bendre was born into a Chitpavan Brahmin family in Dharwad,Full name Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre (Kannada:ದತ್ತಾತ್ರೇಯ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ ಬೇಂದ್ರೆ ; Marathi: दत्तात्रेय रामचंद्र बेंद्रे) Karnataka.[3] His grandfather was a Dashagranthi ("Master of ten volumes of sacred lore") and scholar in Sanskrit classical literature. Bendre's father, a Sanskrit scholar himself, died when Bendre was only 12 years old. Bendre later adopted the pen-name of Ambikatanayadatta. Bendre completed his primary and high school education in Dharwad with his uncle's help and completed his matriculation in 1913. He joined the Fergusson College, Pune, for his higher education. After obtaining his degree Bendre returned to Dharwad and started teaching at Victoria high school. He married Laxmibai fromRanebennur in 1919. He earned his Master of Arts degree in 1935.[4]

Career[edit]

Starting his career as a teacher at Victoria high school(Renamed as Vidyaranya High school after independence) in Dharwad, he worked as a professor of Kannada in D.A.V. College Solapur between 1944 and 1956. In 1956 he was appointed an advisor for All India Radio's Dharwad station.

Later life[edit]

Bendre formed the Geleyara Gumpu ("Group of Friends") in 1922, a peer group inclined toward the study of culture and literature. This friends circle drew poets, writers and intellectuals from different parts of Karnataka including Ananda Kanda, Shamba Joshi, Siddavanahalli Krishna Sharma, Enke, G.B.Joshi, Krishnakumar Kallur, V. K. Gokak, R. S. Mugali and Pandhareenathachar Galagali.[5][6] In 1926, Bendre started the cultural movement "Nada-habba'", a celebration of the land and its culture which is still prevalent in Karnataka. This festival is celebrated during the time of the Hindu festival Navaratri.
In 1932 Bendre was sentenced to home imprisonment in Mugad village for writing Nara Bali ("Human Sacrifice"), which was branded seditious by the British government.[7]Bendre's two sons Panduranga and Vamana and daughter Mangala were the only surviving children among nine who were born to him.[8] In 1943, he presided over the 27thKannada Sahitya Sammelana held at Shimoga. He went on to become a fellow of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat. In 1972 the Government of Karnataka produced a documentary on his life.[8]

Works and message[edit]

Bendre started with simple and earthly romantic poetry, often using the "spoken" form of the language. His later works dug deeper into social and philosophical matters. According to G. S. Amur, a leading critic in Kannada, "Bendre believed in the value of an integrated personality but loved to project himself as a threefold being: Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre - the biological self, the thinking self and the creative self. According to Amur, the three 'selves' were conceived as mutually supporting 'selves', as the imagery Bendre used to concrete this idea clearly suggests. He spoke of Ambikatanayadatta and Professor Bendre as two entities that were closely related just as the river and its bank or the belly and the back. One could not exist without the other.[9]
Bendre is usually considered the father figure of modern Kannada poetry. His poems are linked to the Kannada poetic tradition through their use of folklore, the vachanas and theKirtans. Apart from native prosodic forms, Bendre also employed native imagery, folk beliefs, references to Indian mythology and the language spoken by the common people.Nada Lila ("The Play of Sounds") is perhaps the most remarkable among his collection of poems. All the features of Navodaya poetry like patriotism, the reformatory zeal, critical attitude, Indian culture, consolidation of traditional strength, mystical faith and assertion of a poet's individuality can be found in this collection of poems.
Bendre used diverse techniques for spiritual lyrics, classical style for sonnets, and traditional as well as colloquial idioms for pastoral and folk lyrics. Symbolism is characteristic of his poetry. His poem Patargitti (Butterfly) which is sung as a nursery rhyme is about the colors of temptation. Mudalmaneya ("Dawn") is symbolic of all pervading peace or, the poet's yearning for it. In the Kuniyonu bara ('Let us Dance") all diverse currents of thought meet in on great confluence. Apparently, all of Bendre's poems could be set to music and abound in alliteration; but there was always a hidden layer of meaning which only a trained poetic mind could decipher.
Towards the end of his life Bendre was deeply absorbed in numbers. This was not just a new interest but one that became a central concern.[9] When Dom Moraes visited him during his exploration of Karnataka in 1976, he found Bendre immersed in numbers. In his books Vishvadharanasutra and A Theory of Immortality Bendre made ambitious attempts to intuit all knowledge into numbers.[9]

In popular culture[edit]

In 1972, film director and playwright Girish Karnad made a Kannada documentary film, D. R. Bendre on his life and work.[10][11]

Awards and honours[edit]

And many more.

Bibliography[edit]

Poetry collections
  • Krishnakumari (1922)
  • Gari (1932)
  • Moorthi mattu Kamakastoori (1934)
  • Sakheegeeta (1937)
  • Uyyale (1938)
  • Nadaleele (1940)
  • Meghadoota (1943))
  • Haadu Paadu (1946)
  • Gangavatarana (1951)
  • Krishnakumari mattu Haadu Paadu (1956)
  • Sooryapana (1956)
  • Hridayasamudra (1956)
  • Muktakantha (1956)
  • Chaityalaya (1957)
  • Jeevalahari (1957)
  • Aralu Maralu (1957)
  • Namana (1958)
  • Sanchaya (1959)
  • Uttarayana (1960)
  • Mugilamallige (1961)
  • Yaksha Yakshi (1962)
  • Naku Tanti (1964)
  • Maryade (1966)
  • Shrimata (1968)
  • Baa Hattara (1969)
  • Idu Nabhovani (1970)
  • Vinaya (1972)
  • Matte Shravana Bantu (1973)
  • Olave Namma Badaku (1977)
  • Chaturokti (1978)
  • Paraki (1982)
  • Kavyavaikhari (1982)
  • Balabodhe (1983)
  • Ta Lekkaniki Ta Dauti (1983)
  • Chaitanyada Puje (1983)
  • Pratibimbagalu (1987)
  • Shravana Pratibhe (1987)
  • Kuniyonu Baa (1990)
  • Buddha
Plays
  • Tirukara Pidugu (1930)
  • Uddhara (1930)
  • Nageya Hoge (1931)
  • Hucchatagalu (1935)
  • Hosa Samsara mattu Itara Ekankagalu (1950)
  • Ambikatanayadatta Nataka Samputa (1982)
Story collections
  • Nirabharanasundari (1940)
Criticism
  • Sahitya mattu Vimarshe (1937)
  • Sahityasamshodhana (1940)
  • Vicharamanjari (1945)
  • Kavi Lakshmishana Jaimini Bharatakke Munnudi (1954)
  • Maharashtra Sahitya (1959)
  • Kannada Sahityadalli Nalku Nayakaratnagalu (1968)
  • Matella Jyotu (1972)
  • Sahityada Viratsvaroopa (1974)
  • Kumaravyasa (1979)
  • Matadharma mattu Adhunika Manava (1979)
Edited works
  • Nannadu Ee Kannada Nadu (1928)
  • Hakki Haruthide (1930)
  • Chandrahasa (1948)
  • Hosagannada Kavyashree (1957)
  • Kanakadasa Chaturshatamanotsava Samsmarana – Samputa (1965)
Translations
  • Vittala Sampradaya (1984)
  • Hosagannada Kavyashree (1957)
  • Shantala (1972)
  • Upanishadrahasya, by R.D. Ranade (1923)
  • Bharatiya Navajanma (1936, "The Indian Renaissance" by Sri Aurobindo)
  • Sri Aravindara Yoga Ashrama mattu Tatvopadesha (1947)
  • Kabira Vachanavali (1968)
  • Bhagnamoorthi (1972)
  • Guru Govindasingh
  • Noorondu Kavanagalu (from Tagore's poems ed. by Humayun Kabir)
Works in other languages
  • A Theory of Immortality (1977)

Further reading[edit]

Gopinath Mohanty

Gopinath Mohanty
Gopinath Mohanty 01.jpg
Gopinath Mohanty at Home in Bhubaneswar in 80s
Born20 April 1914
Nagabali, Cuttack
Died20 August 1991 (aged 77)
NationalityIndian
EducationM.A.
Alma materRavenshaw College
Patna University
OccupationAdministrator, professor
AwardsJnanpith Award
Padma Bhushan

Early life and education[edit]

Gopinath Mohanty with wife Adaramani in 1960s
He and his older brother, Kahnu Charan Mohanty, along with his nephew Guru Prasad Mohanty exercised tremendous influence onOdia literature for about three decades. Born at Nagabali (a small village on the bank of River Mahanadi which can boast of producing some of the trendsetters in Odia literature be it Gopinath himself, Kahnu Charan and Guru Prasad) in Cuttack district on 20 April 1914, Mohanty received higher education at Ravenshaw College. He got his M.A. degree from Patna University in 1936.

Career[edit]

He joined the Odisha Administrative Service in 1938. Most of his service career was spent among the poor tribals of the undividedKoraput district. He retired from government service in 1969. He was UGC Distinguished Visiting Professor and Writer-in-Residence for two years, at the English Department, Utkal University in the late 1970s, invited by Professor Prabhat Nalini Das, Founder-Professor and Head of the English Department, Utkal University. In 1986, he joined San Jose State University in the USA as an Adjunct Professor of Social Sciences. He died at San Jose, California on 20 August 1991.

Awards[edit]

He received the Visuva Milan citation in 1950. He won the central Sahitya Akademi Award in 1955 for his novel, Amrutara Santan.The Jnanapith Award was conferred on him in 1973 for his epic-prose "Mati Matala" (The Fertile Soil). He was awarded the Soviet Land Nehru Award in 1970 for his Odia Translation of Gorky's work, the D. Litt. Degree by Sambalpur University in 1976 and a Fellowship for Creative Writing in Odia by the U.G.C. in 1979. In 1981, the government of India conferred on him Padma Bhushan in recognition of his distinguished contribution to literature. He was an Emeritus Fellow of Government of India for creative writing.

Novels[edit]

Gopinath appeared on the literary scene at Post Independent Age .The vibrant life of people of Odisha, rural as well as tribal, found expression in the works of these writers. In his fiction Gopinath Mohanty explores all aspects of Odishan life: life, both in the plains and in the hills. He evolves a unique prose style, lyrical in style, choosing worlds and phrases from the day-to-day speech of ordinary men and women.
Gopinath’s first novel, Mana Gahirara Chasa, was published in 1940, which was followed by Dadi Budha (1944), Paraja (1945) and Amrutara Santana (1947). He published 24 novels, 10 collections of short stories in addition to three plays, two biographies, two volumes of critical essays, and five books on the languages of Kandh, Gadaba and Saora tribes. Moreover, he translated Tolstoy’s War and Peace (Yuddh O Shanti in three volumes, 1985–86) and Tagore’s Jogajog (trans. 1965) into Odia.
Although Gopinath has tried his hand at various literary forms, it is for his novels that he will be best remembered. “Fiction, I realized, would best suit my purpose," he once said in an interview to Indian Literary Review. He uses the novel to portray and interpret several dimensions of human existence. He draws the material for his writing from his rich experience and transforms it imaginatively into a powerful image of life.
Among his novels, Dadi Budha, Paraja, Amrutara Santana and Aphanca are remarkable for their portrayal of tribal life in the densely wooded hills and forests of the Eastern Ghats. The Kandhas and the Parajas are two colourful and proud tribal communities living in tiny clusters of helmets in the southern parts of Odisha. People of these primitive communities have been exploited by moneylenders and petty government officials of many years. They have felt in their body and bone that exploitation is as old as the hills and forest surrounding them. yet they celebrate the joys of life; they drink and dance and sing; they find joy in nature, in buds and flowers, in green leaves, in the chirping of birds, in the swift- flowing streams and in the mist covered hills. They find life constantly renewing itself in the quick- fading and sloe- blooming buds of the forest.
Dadi Budha (1944) is one of the shorter novels of Gopinath Mohanty. It has the distinction of being his first novel based on tribal life. The novels tells the moving story of the disintegration of a tribal community under the impact of modern civilisation. Dadi Budha is an ancient datepalm tree representing the eternal ancestor; it stands for the cultural heritage of the tribal people manifest in their rituals and costumes. The tree stands as a silent witness to the joys and sorrows of the tribal folk; it dominated the drama of their existence. Close to Dadi Budha stands a termite mound called Hunka Budha, yet another symbol of the primitive and innocent faith of tribal people.
Thenga Jani, the son of Ram Chandra Muduli, the headmen of Lulla village, is beteothed to a beautiful girl, Saria Daan, the only daughter of the same village. But he comes under the spell of Sanotsh Kumari, a Christian Domb girl. Thenga and Santosh deeply in love and reject the discipline of the tribal society. They decide to run away to Assam to work on a tea estate; they planned to build their dream home in a town where the rule of the tribal society does not prevail. Gopinath visualises life tribal community against a cosmic background. The despair of Ram Muduli, the plight of Thenga mother after her only son leaves the village with the Domb girl, the declaration of the dishari that Thenga and Santosh were evil dumas, the terror caused by the tiger and the rise of a village at another site all these signify the unbroken continuity of life.
Paraja (1945) tells us a different based on the life of the same community. It is the tale of one’s attachment to land, the soil of one’s ancestors. Sitakant Mahapatra describes the novel as " the story of shattered dreams".[1] In Dadi Budha , the old order changes the yielding place to the new; in Paraja the intrusion of brutality in the guise of civilised law generates resentment and violence. Amrutara Santana (1947), the first Indian novel to receive the Sahitya Akademi Award(1955), is centred round the life of Kandhas, another tribe in the southern parts of Odisha. The novel depicts the grandeur of living and the intensity of suffering or the tribal people. Gopinath Mohanty has himself said that his most important work was Amrutara Santana .
Gopinath's fictional world is not confined to the tribal people. He has also written about the people living in the coastal plains. Even when he shifts his focus from the hills to the plains, he retains his deep concern for the oppressed and underprivileged. His novel, Harijan (1948), deals with untouchables living in slums and their brutal exploitation by the rich. Danapani (1955) presents the grey world of a colourless middle class, petty and mean, and full of gossip and rumours. Laya Bilaya (1961) explores the psychological complexity of three members of a family from Calcutta on a short tripp to Puri. Matimatala (1964), a novel of epic dimension based on life in rural Odisha, celebrates the eternity of love. In this novel, he successfully brings about a fusion of two worlds: the private world of lovers and the public world of social workers.
Gopinath’s language is remarkable for its subtlety and its poetic quality. Characters and landscapes come vividly to life in his novels through nuance and evocative descriptions. His language has a unique lyrical grace.

Short stories[edit]

In the Post-Independence Era Odia fiction assumed a new direction. The trend which Fakir Mohan Senapati has started actually developed more after 50s of last century. Gopinath Mohanty, Surendra Mohanty and Manoj Das are considered as three jewels of this time. They are the pioneer of a new trend, that of developing or projecting the "individual as protagonist" in Odia fiction. Eminent Feminist writer and critics Sarojini Sahoo believes that it was not Gopinath, but Surendra Mohanty whose "Ruti O Chandra" has to be considered as first story of individualistic approach rather than the story "Dan" by Gopinth, which was formerly known as the first story of "individualistic attitude".[2] He published 10 collections of short stories in addition to 24 novels, three plays, two biographies, two volumes of critical essays, and five books on the languages of Kandh, Gadaba and Saora tribes. Moreover, he translated Tolstoy's War and Peace (Yuddh O Shanti) in three volumes, (tr. 1985–86) and Togore's Jogajog (tr. 1965) into Odia. In his short stories Gopinath Mohanty explores all aspects of Odishan life: life, both in the plains and in the hills. He evolves a unique prose style, lyrical in style, choosing worlds and phrases from the day-to-day speech of ordinary men and women.

Gopinath’s novels in English[edit]

Four of Gopinath’s novels,Paraja, Danapani, Laya Bilaya and Dadi Budha, have appeared in English translation. The first three have been translated by Bikram K. Das, and the last mentioned one of Arun Kumar Mohanty. The English version of Paraja was published by Faber and Faber (UK) and Oxford University Press (India) in 1987.The Survivor, the English translation of Danapani, was published by Macmillan India Limited in 1995. The translation of Laya Bilaya which bears the title, High Tide, Ebb Tide, has been published by Lark Books. . The Ancestor, the translation of Gopinath’s Dadi Budha, has been brought out by the Sahitya Akademi. Besides, a number of short stories of Gopinath have also been translated. It is extremely difficult to render in English the nuances of Gopinath Mohanty’s language. However, translators have attempted to convey the richness and complexity of the original texts to readers unfamiliar with Odia.

Tribal life in Gopinath’s novels[edit]

In his portrayal of tribal life, Gopinath Mohanty invites comparison with the Nigerian novelist, Chinua Achebe. At one level, their visions are almost identical: they visualise the disintegration of a primitive community under the impact of a new faith or an alien value-system. But to see the disintegration of Lulla village (In the novel, Dadi Budha) and the tribal community in Umuofia (In Things Fall Apart) as parts of the same process of change is to play down the role of colonialism as an agent of disruption. Achebe’s allusion to W.B. Yeats is not a gesture of submission; it interrogates its cosmic, universalist vision of change. Although Gopinath does not directly refer to Yeats, he also focuses the traumatic expression of colonialism in his work.

Awards[edit]

He was conferred with:

 1974:

Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar

Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar
Born11 January 1898
Died2 September 1976
OccupationWriter
Notable worksYayati, Kraunchwadh, Ulka
Notable awardsJnanpeeth Award (Yayati)
Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar (Devanagari: विष्णु सखाराम खांडेकर) (11 January 1898 – 2 September 1976) (V. S. Sakharam Khandekar) was an eminem Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India. He was the first Marathi litterateur to win prestigious Jnanpith Award.[1][2][3]

Early life[edit]

Khandekar was born in Sangli, Maharashtra. His father was a munsif in Sangli principality. In his early life, he was interested in acting in movies and staged various dramas in his school days.

Professional and literary life[edit]

In 1920, Khandekar started working as a school teacher in a small town, Shirode, in the present-day Sindhudurg district of the Konkan region in Maharashtra. He worked in that school until 1938. While working as a teacher, Khandekar produced in his spare time abundant Marathi literature in various forms. In his lifetime, he wrote sixteen novels, six plays, around 250 short stories, 50 allegorical stories, 100 essays, and over 200 critiques.[4] He worked and founded Khandekari alankar in Marathi grammar.[citation needed]

Honors and awards[edit]

In 1941, Khandekar was elected as the president of the annual Marathi Sahitya Sammelan (Marathi Literary Conference) in Solapur. In 1968, the Government of India honoured him with a Padma Bhushan award in recognition of his literary accomplishments.[5] Two years later, he was also honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship of the IndianSahitya Akademi. in 1974, he was awarded Jnanpith Award, country's highest literary recognition, for his novel Yayati.[2][3] Shivaji University at Kolhapur, Maharashtra conferred on him an honorary degree of D.Litt. In 1998, the Government of India issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honour.

Major works[edit]

Khandekar's novel Yayāti (ययाति) received three prestigious awards: A Maharashtra State Award (1960), a Sahitya Akademi Award (1960), and a Jnanpith Award (1974).[2][4]
Khandekar's other novels are as follows:
  • Hrudayāchi Hāk (हृदयाची हाक) (1930)
  • Kānchan Mruga (कांचनमृग) (1931)
  • Ulkā (उल्का) (1934)
  • Don Mane (दोन मने) (1938)
  • Hirwā Chāphā (हिरवा चाफ़ा) (1938)
  • Don Dhruwa (दोन धृव) (1934)
  • Rikāmā Dewhārā (रिकामा देव्हारा) (1939)
  • Pahile Prem (पहिले प्रेम) (1940)
  • Kraunchawadh (क्रौंचवध) (1942)
  • Jalalelā Mohar (जळलेला मोहर) (1947)
  • Pāndhare Dhag (पांढरे ढग) (1949)
  • Amrutawel (अमृतवेल)
  • Sukhāchā Shodh (सुखाचा शोध)
  • Ashru (अश्रू))
  • Soneri Swapne Bhangaleli (सोनेरी स्वप्ने भंगलेली)
  • Yayati (ययाति)
  • Eka Panachi Kahani (एका पानाची कहाणी) (Autobioghraphy)

Other works[edit]

The following is a partial list of Khandekar's other works:
  • अभिषेक(Abhishek)
  • अविनाश (Avinash)
  • गोकर्णीची फुले (Gokarnahi Fule)
  • ढगाआडचे चांदणे (Dhagaadache Chandne)
  • दवबिंदू (Davbindu)
  • नवी स्त्री (Navi Stri)
  • प्रसाद (Prasad)
  • मुखवटे (Mukhawate)
  • रानफुले (Ranfule)
  • विकसन (Vikasan)
  • क्षितिजस्पर्श (Shitijsparsh)

Movies and television serials[edit]

Several movies and television serials have been made based on the works of Khandekar. The movies include:
  • Chhāyā...........[Marathi] (1936)
  • Jwālā..............[Marathi and Hindi] (1938)
  • Devatā............[Marathi] (1939)
  • Amrut..............[Marathi and Hindi] (1941)
  • Dharma Patni...[Telugu and Tamil] (1941)[1]
  • Pardeshi.........[Marathi]) (1953)
Khandekar wrote the dialogue and screenplay for the Marathi movie Lagna Pahāwe Karoon (1940).[6]

Other works[edit]

  • Khandekar, Vishnu Sakharam; A. K. Bhagwat; Acyuta Kesava Bhagavata (1977). Maharashtra, a Profile. V. S. Khandekar Amrit Mahotsava Satkar Samiti.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Yayati (Marathi). 1959.

1975:

Akilan

P.V. Akilan
Born27 June 1922
Perungalore, Pudukkottai state,British India
Died1988
Pen nameAkilan
OccupationAuthor, social activist, media person
NationalityIndian
Notable worksChithirapavai, Vengayinmaindan, Pavaivilaku
Akilan (Tamil: அகிலன்) was a Tamil author noted for his realistic and creative writing style. Akilan was a freedom fighter, novelist, short-story writer, journalist, satirist, travel writer, playwright, script-writer, orator and critic.He is also a children's novelist.

Early life[edit]

Akilan was the pen name of Akilandam, who was born on 27 June at Perungalore, Pudukkottai District . He spent his childhood in a small hamlet called Perungalore nearPudukottai. His father Vaithiya Lingam Pillai was an accounts officer and adored his only son Akilan very much. Unfortunately, the boy lost his loving father at an early age. But his mother Amirthammal was a loving person, and being a creative person herself, she moulded her son into a writer.
The author was attracted by Gandhian philosophy during his school days and he discontinued his college education at Pudukotai to join the freedom struggle. Later, after Indian independence, he joined the Railway Mail Service, after which he joined the AIR (All India Radio) and became a full-fledged writer. His stories began to appear mostly in small magazines.

Awards won[edit]

In 1975 the novel Chitra pavai (சித்திர பாவை) won the prestigious Jnanpith Award.[1] This work of his has been translated in all Indian languages.In 1963 his historical novelVengayin Mainthan (வேங்கையின் மைந்தன்) was awarded by Sahithya academy of Govt of India. Engepogirome a peculiar socio-political novel of his, won the Raja sir annamalai award in 1975. His children's book Kanana kannan won the special prize given by Tamil Nadu educational department. The author has written about 45 titles, most of which have been translated in all Indian state languages. Apart from this his works has been translated in other foreign languages such as English, German, Czech, Russian, Polish, Chinese, and Malay.

Works[edit]

Historical novels[edit]

  • Vengayin maindan This is one of the famous works of Akilan, read by thousands and thousands of Tamilian's all over the globe. This historical fiction captures the history of chola dynasty. This book was dramatised by Late.Mr.Shivaji Ganesan on stage and was a huge hit.
In this novel, Akilan gives insight about the life and achievement of the great Rajendra Chola who was a Vengaiyin Maindhan to the rest of the world.[1] RajendraCholan is the son of Rajaraja Cholan and his period can be referred as the height of Tamil empire in art, literature and administration. He captured many countries including Indonesia (Kadaaram), Sri Lanka, Malaysia, southern and eastern coastal parts of India. He lived around 1010 AD and his dynasty had many business relationships with foreign countries. This novel depicts his victory over Kadaaram and the building of new city Gangaikonda Cholapuram upon his victory over northern part of India. The newly built temple and the city internally had so many architectural designs for war-time and peace activities. Along conquering the nations, Ilango Vel conquered the hearts of beautiful girls Arulmozhi and Rohini. Their love and affection was depicted in simple yet powerful words by Akilan. Vandhiya Thevan appears in this novel as an elderly counselor, who guides Rajendra Cholan in war and administration. This novel can also be considered as a sequel to kalki's Ponniyin Selvan. Because of the narration and depiction of historic facts during Chola period using proper language there is no wonder this novel received the Sakithya Academy Award from Government of India. (Sakithya Academy award winning novel) Chola's historical novel
  • Kayalvizhi. Tamil Nadu government award – Pandiya's historical novel-Akilan's Kayalvizhi is a gripping saga set in the Pandiya kingdom background.-Filmed by M.G.R as Madurai meeta sundarapandian.
  • Vetrithirunagar- ( historical novel based on Vijayanagara Empire

Social novels[edit]

  • Chitrai Pavai. A contemporary social novel written by Akilan, who vividly brings Annamalai's character to our eyes. The hero Annamalai's calm and dreamy nature surely takes our mind. The ending of this novel was highly appreciated on those days and its simply the best.- Mr. Prabhuh's Review ( Jnanpith Award winning Tamil novel)
  • Nenchin Alaigal. (Award from Tamil language development)
  • Enge Pokirom?. எங்கே போகிறோம்?
  • Pen ெபண்
  • Pavai Vilaku. Filmed in Tamil by Shivaji Ganesan.
  • Palmara Katinile
  • Thunaivi
  • Pudu Vellam
  • Valvu Enge?- Filmed in Tamil as Kulamagal Radhai
  • Pon Malar
  • Snehithi
  • Vanama Boomiya
  • Inbaninaivu
  • Avaluku

Short stories[edit]

  • Akilan sirukathaigal. 2 volumes
  • Kombuthen kolai karan. Short story collection.

Essays[edit]

  • Nadu nam thalaivargal. ollection of powerful essays and speeches of Akilan

Self-improvement[edit]

  • Vetriyin Ragasiyangal.

Art and literature[edit]

  • Kathai Kalai.
  • Pudiya Vilipu.

Autobiography[edit]

  • Eluthum Valkayum.

Translation[edit]

  • Dhagam Oscar Wilde.
  • Eluthathakadai.

Children books[edit]

  • Thanga Nagaram.
  • Kanana Kannan.
  • Nalla Payan.

Travelogue[edit]

  • Malaysia singaporil akilan.

Short story collections[edit]

  • Sathya Avesam. சத்திய ஆவேசம்
  • Oorvalam.
  • Erimalai.
  • Pasiyum Rusiyum.
  • Velyum Payirum.
  • Kulanthaisirithathu.
  • Sakthivel.
  • Nilavinile.
  • Annpenn.
  • Minuvathelam.
  • Valipiranthathu.
  • Sagotharar Andro.
  • Oruvelaisoru.
  • Viduthalai.
  • Neloorarisi.
  • Sengarumbu.
  • Yaar Thiyagi.

1976:

Ashapoorna Devi


Born8 January 1909
Potoldanga, Calcutta, India
Died13 July 1995 (aged 86)
OccupationNovelist, poet
LanguageBengali
NationalityIndian
EthnicityBengali
Period1939–2001
GenreFiction
Notable worksPrathom Protishruti
Subarnolata
Bakul Katha
Notable awardsJnanpith Award
Padma Shri
Sahitya Akademi Fellowship
Ashapoorna Devi (Bengali: আশাপূর্ণা দেবী), also Ashapurna Debi or Asha Purna Devi, was a prominent Bengali novelist and poet. She was born on 8 January 1909. She has been widely honoured with a number of prizes and awards. She was awarded 1976Jnanpith Award and the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1976; D.Litt by the Universities of Jabalpur, Rabindra Bharati,Burdwan and Jadavpur. Vishwa Bharati University honoured her with Deshikottama in 1989. For her contribution as a novelist and short story writer, the Sahitya Akademi conferred its highest honour, the Fellowship, in 1994. She died in 1995.[1]

Biography[edit]

Ashapoorna Devi was born on 8 January 1909, at her maternal uncle’s place at Potoldanga in North Calcutta. Her real name was Asha Purna Devi (Gupta). Her early childhood finds her in a traditional and extremely conservative family at Vrindaban Basu Lane amongst a large number of relatives. Due to the domination of her grandmother who was a staunch supporter of old customs and conservative ideals, the female children of the house were not allowed to go to school. Private tutors were employed only for the boys. It is said that baby Ashapurna used to listen to the readings of her brothers sitting opposite to them and that was how she learnt the alphabets.
Ashapurna's father Harendra Nath Gupta was a famous artist of the time who used to work for the C. Lazarus & Co. fine furniture makers as a designer, Sarola Sundari, Ashapurna's mother came from a very enlightened family who was a great book lover. It was her "intensive thirst" for reading classics and story books which was transmitted to Ashapurna and her sisters in their early age.
Due to shortage of space Harendra Nath shifted his own family to a new house at 157/1A, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road (beside Khanna Cinema Hall), which provided freedom to Sarola Sundari and her daughters to read more and more according to their heart's desire. To satisfy Sarola Sundari's tremendous urge of reading there had been a continuous flow of various books and magazines from the different libraries of the time. As there was no dearth of leisure for the daughters and no bar to reading adult books from a very early age. Ashapurna and her sisters had built up a love-relationship with books. Though Ashapurna had no formal education as such, she was no less self-educated.
The period in which Ashapurna was growing up was socially and politically a restless one. It was a time of nationalist agitation and awakening. Though the children of Harendra Nath did not have direct contact with the outside world, they were quite sensitive to the restlessness going on throughout the country led by Mahatma Gandhi; and other political leaders who were ready to sacrifice their lives to bring independence. Thus different factors were responsible for nourishing specific culture which guided Ashapurna from her early childhood to youth, and carried her to a definite platform through various experiences and ideals of life.
According to Ashapurna –she and her sisters used to compete with each other by composing and reciting poems. This gave rise to an unusual tenacity which inspired Ashapurna to send a poem to Sishu Sathi secretly to the then editor Rajkumar Chakravorty for publishing. The year was 1922, Ashapurna was thirteen and the name of the poem was "Bairer Dak"(The Call from the Outside). The poem was not only published, there was request from the editor to send more poems and stories. That was the beginning which developed into a never-ending flourish for Ashapurna culminating into a permanent place for her into the realm of literature.
Ashapurna got married in 1924 when she was just fifteen. She had to go to Krishnanagar to her in-law's place leaving behind Calcutta of which she was so fond. She was married to Kalidas Gupta. Since this period we find them changing places quite frequently. Three years later in 1927 the whole family settled in Calcutta for good at first in Ramesh Mitra Rload, Bhowanipur and later in a bigger house at 77 Beltola Road, where they lived till 1960. They had however, to shift with their own family to a separate flat near Golpark together with their only son Sushanta, daughter-in-law Nupur and a granddaughter Shatarupa. Later in 1967 another grand daughter Shatadeepa was added to the family. Finally in 1970 Kalidas Gupta and Ashapurna built their own house in Garia at 17 Kanungo Park. Ashapurna lived there till she died on 13 July 1995.
Along with the normal chores of domestic life Ashapurna was making a room of her own through sheer power of will which realised her a significant place in the world of creative literature.
As mentioned earlier that publication of the poem 'Bairer Dak' marked the beginning of the odyssey of one of the most prolific creative geniuses of Bengali literature to whose credit go 242 novels and novelettes, 37 collection of short stories, 62 books for children. The number of her short stories runs into over 3000.
In the beginning of her writing career Ashapurna wrote only for the children – Chhoto Thakurdar Kashi Yatra was the first printed edition published in 1983, followed by others, one after another throughout her literary career.
In 1936 she first wrote a story for adults – "Patni O Preyoshi" published in the Puja issue of Ananda Bazar Patrika. "Prem O Prayojan" was her first novel for adults published in 1944.
Since this period her writing continued as a never-ending process. Most of her writings marked a spirited protest both for men and women, against the inequality and injustice stemming from the gender-based discrimination and narrowness of outlook for both ingrained in traditional Hindu society, Ashapurna Devi's stories lay threadbare the oppression women have to face and made a fervent appeal for a new social order though not subscribing to the modern theoretical feminism of western mode. Her magnum opus – the trilogy – Pratham Pratishruti (1964), Subarnolata (1967) and Bakul Katha (1974) symbolises an endless struggle for women to achieve equal rights.
Upon her death she was at the peak of fame leaving behind an inexhaustible fund of unique literary creations which gained her respect and appreciation from all her readers. Ashapurna Devi had been widely honoured with a number of prizes and awards, the list of which follows this script.[2]

Accolades[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

Aar Ek Ashapurna (Mitra O Ghosh)Novels[edit]

  1. Agniparikha (Mitra O Ghosh)
  2. Asha Purna Devir Rachanaboli [in 10 volumes] (Mitra O Ghosh)
  3. Asha Purna Bithika (Nirmal Sahityam)
  4. Anamaniyaa (Karuna Prakashani)
  5. Bakul Katha (Mitra O Ghosh)
  6. Biswas Abiswas (Deb Sahitya Kutir)
  7. Chabibandha Sinduk (Mitra O Ghosh)
  8. Chitrakalpa (Mitra O Ghosh)
  9. Chosma Palte Jai (Deb Sahitya Kutir)
  10. Dibyahasini'r Dinolipi (Mitra O Ghosh)
  11. Drishya Theke Drishyantore (Mitra O Ghosh)
  12. Dwitiyo Adwitiyo (Nirmal Sahityam)
  13. Ei To Sedin (Ananda Publishers)
  14. Kalyani (Nirmal Sahityam)
  15. Ka(n)ta Pukur Lane'r Komola (Deb Sahitya Kutir)
  16. Laghu Tripodi (Puspo)
  17. Lila Chirontan (Mitra O Ghosh)
  18. Nakhyatrer Akash (Nirmal Sahityam)
  19. Noksha Kata Ghor (Karuna Prakashoni)
  20. Pancha Nodir Teere (Pal Publishers)
  21. Prem O Proyojon (Punascha, Nirmal Sahityam)
  22. Priyo Galpo (Nirmal Sahityam)
  23. Prothom Pratisruti (Mitra O Ghosh)
  24. Sashi Babu'r Sangsar (Punascha)
  25. Siri Bhanga Anka (Mitra O Ghosh)
  26. Shrimti Sat(m)a Jibon (Karuna Prakashoni)
  27. Sthan Kaal Patra (Karuna Prakashoni)
  28. Subarnalata (Mitra O Ghosh)
  29. Tin Prohor (Baluchori, Sunglass, Srinkholita) (Nirmal Sahityam)
  30. Trimatrik (Nirmal Sahityam)
  31. V.I.P Bari'r Lok (Karuna Prakashoni)

Rochonaboli[edit]

Her collected works is published from Mitra O Ghosh in 10 volumes.

Rochonaboli #1[edit]

  1. Boloygras
  2. Jogbiyog
  3. Nirjon Prithibi
  4. Charpotra
  5. Prothom Lagna
  6. Samudra Neel Akash Neel
  7. Uttorlipi
  8. Teenchanda
  9. Mukhor Ratri

Rochonaboli #2[edit]

  1. Agni Parikha
  2. Alor Sakhor
  3. Jibon Swad
  4. Aaar Ek Jhor
  5. Nodi Deek Hara
  6. Ekti Sondhya Ekti Sokal
  7. Uttoron
  8. Johuri
  9. Mayajaal
  10. Unpublished Short Stories
  11. Unpublished Non Fictions

Rochonaboli #3[edit]

  1. Premo O Proyojon
  2. Nabajonma
  3. Sashi Babur Sangsar
  4. Unmochon
  5. Bahironga
  6. Begboti
  7. Abohosangeet
  8. Unpublished Short Stories
  9. Unpublished Poetries

Rochonaboli #4[edit]

  1. Nepothyo Nayika
  2. Jonom Jonom ke Sathi
  3. Laghu Tripodi
  4. Du ye Mile Ek (Srinkholita and Sunglass)
  5. Suktisagar
  6. Sukherchabi
  7. Suyoranir Sadh
  8. Surobhi Sopno
  9. Unpublished Short Stories
  10. Unpublished Non Fictions

Rochonaboli #5[edit]

  1. Mayadarpan
  2. Brittopoth
  3. Mittirbari
  4. Atikranto
  5. Sonar Horin
  6. Uro Pakhi
  7. Jugal Bondi
  8. Sesh Raai

Rochonaboli #6[edit]

  1. Kokhono Deen Kokhono Raat
  2. Baluchori
  3. Anobogunthita
  4. Unpublished Short stories

Rochonaboli #7[edit]

  1. Bijoyi Basanta
  2. Ditio Adhyay
  3. Neel Porda
  4. Durer Janla
  5. Juganter Jobonika Pare
  6. Dui Meru
  7. Unpublished Short stories

Rochonaboli #8[edit]

  1. Prothom Pratisruti (First Part)
  2. Polatok Sainik
  3. Pratikhar Bagan
  4. Jhinuk e Sei Tara
  5. Unpublished Short stories

Rochonaboli #9[edit]

  1. Prothom Pratishruti (Last Part)
  2. Subarnalata

Rochonaboli #10[edit]

  1. Bakul Katha
  2. Balir Niche Dhew
  3. Unpublished Short stories

Works for younger readers[edit]

  1. Aloy Adityer IcchaPatra Rahosyo (Ananda Publishers, 1995)
  2. Amorabatir Antorale (1994)
  3. Byaparta Ki Holo (1993)
  4. Bhaggi Juddho Bedhechilo (1986)
  5. Bhagyolakhi Lotarry (1990)
  6. Bhitore Ki Chilo (1985)
  7. Bhuture Kukur (1982)
  8. Bolber Moto Noi (1987)
  9. Cha(j)jone Mile (1979)
  10. Chutite Chotachuti (1982)
  11. Chotoder Srestho Golpo (1955)
  12. Chotoder Shresto Golpo (1981)
  13. Chotto Thakurdar Kashijatra (1938)
  14. Chotoder Bhalo Bhalo Golpo (1962)
  15. Dakaat r Kobole Ami (1972)
  16. Dibbosundarer Dibbogayan luv (1988)
  17. Doshti Kishore Uponyas (Ananda Publishers)
  18. Durer Basi (1978)
  19. Ek Kuri Golpo (1988)
  20. Ek Samudra onek Dheu (1963)
  21. Eker Modhe Teen (1991)
  22. Gaja Ukil Er Hatya Rahasya (Ananda Publishers,1979)
  23. Golpo Bhalo Aber Bolo (1958)
  24. Golpo Holo Suru (1955)
  25. Golper Moto Golpo (1961)
  26. Half- Holiday (1941)
  27. Hasir Golpo (1967)
  28. Jibon Kalir Pakka Hiseb (1985)
  29. Jugalratno Tiktiki Office (1992)
  30. Kanakdeep (1962)
  31. Karapaker Pakchakra (Karuna Prakashani, 1997)
  32. Kato Kando Railgarite (1985)
  33. Kishore Amonibaas (1986)
  34. Kishore Bachai Golpo (1999)
  35. Kisor Sahityo Samagro (1983)
  36. Kishore Sahitya Samagro (1–3) (Mitra O Ghosh)
  37. Kisor Sahityo Samvar (1980)
  38. Kopal Khule Gelo Naki (1992)
  39. Kumkum (Deb Sahitya Kutir,1970)
  40. Majarumama (1992)
  41. Manikchand O Aro Choddo (1992)
  42. Manuser Mato Manus (1986)
  43. Mon Thaklei Mon Kamon (1996)
  44. Nije Bujhe Nin (1987)
  45. Nikharchai Amod (1982)
  46. Onara Thakbeni (1982)
  47. Pa(n)ch Bhuter Goppo (Punascha, 1990)
  48. Panchasti Kishore Galpo (Nirmal Sahityam)
  49. Pakhi Theke Hati (1983)
  50. Planchet(Karuna Prakashani,1999)
  51. Poyela Doshra (1992)
  52. Rajkumarer Poshake (Ananda Publishers, 1975)
  53. Rahasyer Sandhaane (Nirmal Sahityam, 1981)
  54. Raja Noi Rani Noi (1959)
  55. Rajai Golpo (1976)
  56. Rani Mayabatir Antardhyan Rahosyo (1993)
  57. Ro(n)gin Molat (1941)
  58. Sakaler Sapno (1994)
  59. Sarojanter Nayak (1992)
  60. Satyi Amod (1992)
  61. Sei Sob Golpo (1967)
  62. Sera Baro (1988)
  63. Sera Rahasyo Samvar (1984)
  64. Shanirbachito Chotoder Shesto Golpo (1996)
  65. Shono Shono Golpo Shono (Deb Sahitya Kutir, 1956)

Stories published in children's magazines[edit]

  • Anko Sir o Mozart [Sarodiya Anondomela, 1995]
  • Bhagye Thakle Kina Hoi [Uponyas]
  • Bishe Bishkhay
  • Bhut Namaibar Sahoj Podhdhoti [Sarodiya Anondomela, 1986]
  • Chutite Chotachuti [Uponyas,Sarodiya Anondomela, 1981]
  • Ghya(N)ch Kore
  • Kagaj To Paro Na [Sarodiya Anondomela, 1985]
  • Kichhu Korena Kichhu Korbe Na [Agomoni, Deb Sahitya Kutir]
  • Matra Ekkhana Than Eet
  • Muskil Asan er Kolkathi [Sarodiya Anondomela, 1989]
  • Parar chhele [Sarodiya Anondomela, 1987]
  • Swapner Railgari [Boro Golpo, Sarodiya Anondomela, 1983]
  • Tibboti Lamar Coffin [Sarodiya Anondomela, 1993]

Pakhik Anondomela Golpo Sankalan[edit]

  • Tiktiki, Ateendriyo Shakti o Bedanto Bardhan [11 January 1989,illustration – Krishnendu Chaki]
  • Kopaal'er Naam Gopaal [9 June 1993,illustration – Debashish Deb]
  • Mojaru-Mama [17 October 1984, illustration – Anup Roy]
  • Ninkhonj Niruddesh Hote Gele [7 January 1987, illustration – Krishnendu Chaki]

PujaBarshiki Anondomela Golpo Sankalan[edit]

  • Bahadur [Sarodiya Anondomela, 1971]
  • Hoito Eirokomi [Sarodiya Anondomela, 1992]
  • Char Buror Adda [Sarodiya Anondomela, 1996]

Kishore Uponyas (preteen novels)[edit]

  • Raajkumar Er Poshake [Anandomela]
  • Gaja Ukil Er Hotya Rohosya [Anandomela]
  • Bhuture Kukur [Anandomela]
  • Lonka Morich O Ek Mohamanab [Pakhyik Anandamela, March 1983]
  • Manusher Moto Manush [Sharodiya Kishormon]
  • Chara Pute Gelen Nantu Pise [Pakhyik Anandamela, 1987]
  • Bomar Cheye Bisham[Sharodiya Kishor Bharati]
  • Somuddur Dekha [Sharodiya Kishor Bharati, 1988]
  • Aloy Adityer Iccha Potro Rohosyo [Anandomela]
  • Harano Theke Prapti [Anandamela]

Television adaption[edit]

Her novel "Baluchori" was adapted as a TV serial in Deepto TV named Aparajita

1977:

K. Shivaram Karanth

K. Shivarama Karantha (ಶಿವರಾಮ ಕಾರಂತ)
Shivaram Karanth.jpg
Kamat's Potpourri
Born10 October 1902
Kota, Udupi, Kingdom of Mysore, British India
Died9 December 1997 (aged 95)
Manipal, Udupi district, Karnataka
OccupationNovelist, playwright, poet, naturalist, environmentalist, film director, journalist, Yakshaganaresearcher and artist, educationist[1]
NationalityIndian
Period1902–1997
GenreFiction, popular science, literature for children, dance-drama
Literary movementNavodaya
Kota Shivaram Karanth (ಶಿವರಾಮ ಕಾರಂತ)(10 October 1902 – 9 December 1997) was a Kannada writer, social activist, environmentalist, Yakshagana artist, film maker and thinker. He was described as the "Rabindranath Tagore of Modern India, who has been one of the finest novelists-activists since independence"[2] by critic Ramachandra Guha. He was the third writer[3] to be decorated with the Jnanpith Award for Kannada, the highest literary honor conferred in India.[4]

Early life[edit]

Shivaram Karanth was born on 10 October 1902,[5] in Kota near Udupi in the Udupi district of Karnataka to a Kannada speaking family. The fifth child of his parents Shesha Karantha and Lakshmamma, he completed his primary education in Kundapura andMangalore. Shivaram Karanth was influenced by Gandhi's principles and took part in Indian Independence movement when he was in college. He did not complete his education and went to participate in the Non-co-operation movement and canvassed for khadiand swadeshi for five years up to 1927.[5] By that time Karanth had already started writing fiction novels and plays.[5]

Career[edit]

Karanth was an intellectual and environmentalist who made notable contribution to the art and culture of Karnataka.[5] He is considered one of most influential novelists in the Kannada language. His novels Marali Mannige, Bettada Jeeva, Alida Mele, Mookajjiya Kanasugalu, Mai Managala Suliyalli, Ade OOru Ade Mara, Shaneeshwarana Neralinalli,Kudiyara Koosu, Svapnada Hole, Sarsammana Samadhi, and Chomana Dudi are widely read and have received critical acclaim.[5] He wrote two books on Karnataka's ancient stage dance-drama Yakshagana (1957 and 1975).
He was involved in experiments in the technique of printing for some years in the 1930s and 1940s and printed his own novels, but incurred financial losses. He was also a painter and was deeply concerned with the issue of nuclear energy and its impact on the environment.[6] At the age of 95, he wrote a book on birds (published during 2002 by Manohara Grantha Mala, Dharwad)
He wrote, apart from his forty seven novels, thirty one plays, four short story collections, six books of essays and sketches, thirteen books on art, two volumes of poems, nine encyclopedias, and over one hundred articles on various issues.[6]

Literary and National honors[edit]

Film awards[edit]

Writings[edit]

Novel
  • Mookajjiya Kanasugalu ("Dreams of a Silent Granny") (Jnanpith award winning novel)
  • Marali Mannige ("Back to the Soil")
  • Chomana Dudi ("Drum of Choma")
  • Mai Managala Suliyalli ("In the Whirlpool of Body and Soul")
  • Bettada Jeeva ("Life in the Hills")
  • Sarasammana Samadhi ("Grave of Sarasamma")
  • Dharmayana Samsara ("Family of Dharmayana")
  • Alida Mele ("After Death")
  • Kudiyara Kusu ("Infant of Kudiya")
  • Mailikallinodane matukate ("Conversation with the Milestone")
  • Chiguridha Kanasu"
  • Mugida Yudda" ("Completed War")
  • Moojanma
  • Dharmarayana samsara
  • Kevala Manushyaru
  • Illeyamba
  • Iddaru chinthe
  • Navu kattida swarga
  • Nashta diggajagalu
  • Kanniddu kanaru
  • Gedda doddasthike
  • Kannadiyalli kandatha
  • Antida aparanji
  • Halliya hattu samastharu
  • Sameekshe
  • Moga Padeda Mana
  • Shaneeshwarana Neralinalli
  • Nambidavara Naka Naraka
  • Oudaryada Urulalli
  • Onti Dani
  • Odahuttidavaru
  • Swapnada Hole
  • Jaruva Dariyalli
  • Ukkida Nore
  • Balveye Belaku
  • Ala Nirala
  • Gondaranya
  • Ade Uru Ade Mara
  • Innonde Dari
  • Jagadoddara Na
Short story
  • Nature, Science and Environment
  • Vijnana prapancha ("The World of Science")
  • Adbhuta jagattu ("Wonderful World")
  • Prani Prapancha'
  • Prani Prapanchada Vismayagalu
  • Pakshigala Adbhuta Loka
Plays
  • Yaksagana - English translation, Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts (1997)
  • Yakshagana Bayalata
Children's books
  • Dum Dum Dolu
  • Oduva Ata
  • Vishala Sagaragalu
  • Balaprapancha - Makkalavishwakosha - Vol 1,2,3
  • Mailikallinodane Matukathegalu
  • Mariyappana Sahasagalu
  • Nachiketa - Ack
  • Ibbara Gaja Panditaru
  • Oduva Ata - Sirigannada Pathamale
  • Mathina Sethuve
  • Jatayu Hanumanta
  • Huliraya
Autobiography
  • Hucchu Manasina Hatthu Mukhagalu (English translation: "Ten Faces of a Crazy Mind", by H Y Sharada Prasad)
  • Smriti Pataladinda (Vol 1-3)
Travelogue
  • Abuvinda Baramakke
  • Arasikaralla
  • Apoorva Paschima ("Incomparable West")
  • Paataalakke Payana ("Travel to the nether world")
Biography
  • Panje Mangesharayaru : Kannada Nadu Mattu Kannadigara Parampare
  • Sri Ramakrishnara Jeevana Charithre
Art, Architecture and Other
  • Kaladarshana
  • Bharatheya chitrakale
  • Jnana ("Knowledge")
  • Sirigannada Artha Kosha
  • Kala Prapancha
  • Yaksharangakkagi Pravasa
  • Arivina Ananda
  • Life The Only Light - A Guide To Saner Living
  • Chalukya Shilpakale

Kannada cinema[edit]

Karantha Balavana, Puttur[edit]

One of the places of interest in Puttur, the Balavana, was founded by Jnanpith awardee K. Shivarama Karantha. It contains an art gallery, library, museum, dance hall (natyashala), stage for plays (rangamandira), playground and a swmming pool. His works, created in a span of forty years of observation, hard work and devotion earned him the titles "Nadedaaduva Vishwakosha (Walking Encyclopaedia), "Kadalateerada Bhargava". He had a keen ear and eye for the beauty, majesty and mystery of nature which are reflected in his works. Puttur became a pristine arena where he understood the complexities and the struggles of life, rendering him with the imaginative power to look at life from different dimensions. After his death, Balavana is being rejuvenated, thanks to the efforts of the citizens of Puttur, with the support of the governmental authorities.


1978:

Sachchidananda Vatsyayan

Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan 'Ajneya'
सच्‍चिदानन्‍द हीरानन्‍द वात्‍स्‍यायन 'अज्ञेय'
Born7 March 1911
Kushinagar Village, Deoria District, Uttar Pradesh, British India
Died4 April 1987 (aged 76)
New Delhi, India
OccupationRevolutionary, writer, novelist, journalist
NationalityIndian
Notable awards1964: Sahitya Akademi Award
1978: Jnanpith Award
1983: Golden Wreath Award
Bharatbharati Award
SpouseKapila Vatsyayan
Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan 'Agyeya' (सच्‍चिदानन्‍द हीरानन्‍द वात्‍स्‍यायन 'अज्ञेय') (7 March 1911 – 4 April 1987), popularly known by his pen-name Ajneya ("Beyond comprehension"), was a pioneer of modern trends not only in the realm of Hindi poetry, but also fiction, criticism and journalism. He was one of the most prominent exponents of the Nayi Kavita (New Poetry) and Prayog(Experiments) in Modern Hindi literature,[1][2] edited the 'Saptaks', a literary series, and started Hindi newsweekly, Dinaman.[3]
Agyeya also translated some of his own works, as well as works of some other Indian authors to English. He also translated some books of world literature into Hindi.

Early life and education[edit]

Sachchidananda Vatsyayan was born on 7 March 1911 in a tent at Kushinagar, Kushinagar district of Uttar Pradesh.[4] His father Hirananda was an archaeologist, who was also a scholar of Sanskrit. His childhood was spent in many different places, including Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Nalanda, Udupi, Madras, Jalandhar, Jammu and Srinagar.
He did Intermediate from Madras Christian College in 1927, thereafter studied at Forman Christian College, Lahore, where he did his BSc in Industrial Science 1929. After graduation he was included in Punjab University's "Cosmic Ray Expedition" to Kashmir under Prof. James Martin Baned. He joined M.A. English, but couldn't complete his studies as soon he joined the Indian independence movement's underground activities with Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Sukhdev and Yashpal. In November 1930 he was arrested under the fictitious identity of Mulla Mohammed Bux in Amritsar. He was kept in Lahore for one month, then spent three and a half years (1930–33) in jails of Delhi and Punjab in the infamous Delhi Conspiracy Case. Later he remained under house arrest for two months in the Fort and for two years at home. His classic novel-trilogyShekhar: Ek Jivani was a product of those prison days. The third part of the novel was never published. In the beginning he was associated with the PWA (Progressive Writers Association) and was a member of the Anti-Fascist Front. During World War II in the wake of the fascist Japanese attack's threat he joined Indian ( that time Allied) Force for three years (1943–1946) as a Captain by mobilising people's resistance against the enemy. He left the army when the war was over.

Career[edit]

Agyeya edited "Sainik" from Agra (1936), "Vishal Bharat" from Calcutta (now Kolkata) (1936) and "Prateek" (1947) and "Naya Prateek" (1973) respectively from Allahabad and New Delhi. In English he edited "Vak" (1951) also.
He travelled extensively, both in India and abroad. Between 1961 and 1964, he held a visiting faculty position at the University of California, Berkeley.
In 1965, he returned to India and became Founder Editor of the newsweekly Dinaman of the Times of India Group. When the members of the Hungry generation or Bhookhi Peerhi movement were arrested and prosecuted for their anti-establishment writings, 'Ajneya' through Dinmaan relentlessly supported the young literary group of Kolkata till they were exonerated. His dispatches on Bihar's famous famine are considered milestones in pro-people reporting.
He remained in India till 1968, before embarking on a trip to Europe. In 1969 he returned to Berkeley as Regents Professor, and continued there till June 1970. In 1976, he had an 8-month stint at Heidelberg University, as a Visiting Professor. Later he joined University of Jodhpur, Rajasthan as Professor and Head of the Deptt. of Comparative Literature.
He served as Editor of Jayprakash Narayan's Everyman's Weekly (1973–74) and Editor-in-Chief of Hindi daily Navbharat Times (1977–80) of the Times of India Group.
He died on 4 April 1987 in New Delhi.

Literary works[edit]

Poetry anthologies:
  • Bhagndoot (1933)
  • Chinta (1942)
  • Ityalam (1946)
  • Hari ghaas par kshan-bhar (1949)
  • Baawra aheri (1954)
  • Indradhanu raunde hue ye (1957)
  • Ari o karuna prabhamaya (1959)
  • Aangan ke paar dvaar (1961)
  • Poorva (1965)
  • Sunahale Shaivaal (1965)
  • Kitni naavon mein kitni baar (1967)
  • Kyonki main usei jaanta hoon (1969)
  • Saagar-mudra (1970)
  • Pahle main sannata bunta hoon (1973)
  • Mahavriksha ke neeche (1977)
  • Nadi ki baank par chhaya (1982)
  • Sadanira-1 (1986)
  • Sadanira-2 (1986)
  • Aisa koi ghar aapne dekha hai (1986)
  • Maruthal (1995)
  • Sarjana ke kshan (Selection)
  • Thaur thikaane (Handwritten, circulated zeroxed)
  • Karaawas ke din (Trans. from English by Uday Shankar Shrivastava)
  • Kavishri ( Ed. Shiyaram Sharan Gupt)
  • Aaj ke lokpriy kavi (Ed. Vidya Niwas Mishra)
  • Kaavya-stabak ( Ed by Vidya Niwas Mishra & Ramesh Chandra Shah)
  • Sannate ka chhand (Ed by Ashok Vajpeyi)
  • Ajneya: Sanklit kavitayen (Ed by Namvar Singh)
Novels:
  • Shekhar: Ek Jeevani I (1941)
  • Shekhar: Ek Jeevani II (1944)
  • Shekhar: Ek Jeevni III (Unpublished)
  • Nadi ke dweep (1952)
  • Apne-apne ajnabi (1961)
  • Barahkhambha (co-writer, 1987)
  • Chhaya mekhal (Incomplete, 2000)
  • Beenu bhagat (Incomplete, 2000)
Stories anthologies:
  • Vipathga (1937)
  • Parmpara (1944)
  • Kothri ki baat (1945)
  • Sharnaarthi (1948)
  • Jaydol (1951)
  • Amarvallari tatha anya kahaniyan(1954)
  • Kadiayan tatha anya kahaniyan (1957)
  • Acchute phool tatha anya kahaniyan (1960)
  • Ye tere pratiroop (1961)
  • Jigyasa tatha anya kahaniyan (1965)
  • Meri priy kahaniyan (Selection,2004)
  • Chhorra hua rasta (Sampoorn kahanitan-1, 1975)
  • Lautti pagdandiyan (Sampoorn kahaniyan-2, 1975)
  • Sampoorn Kahaniyan (2005)
  • Adam Ki diary (Ed by Nand Kishore Acharya, 2002)
Play:
  • Uttar Priyadarshi
Travelogue:
  • Are Yayavar Rahega Yaad (1953)
  • Kirnon ki khoj mein (Selection,1955)
  • Ek Boond Sahsa Uchhli (1960)
Criticism:
  • Trishanku
  • Hindi sahitya: Ek adhunik paridrishya
  • Atmanepad
  • Aatmparak
  • Aalwaal
  • Likhi kagad kore
  • Jog likhi
  • Adyatan
  • Samvatsar
  • Smriti ke paridrishya
  • Srot aur setu
  • Vyakti aur vyavastha
  • Yug-sandhiyon par
  • Dhaar aur kinaare
  • Bhartiya kala drishti
  • Smritichhanda
  • Kendra aur paridhi
  • Srijan: kyon air kaise
  • Kavi-Nikash
  • Kavi-drishti (Prefaces)
  • Tadbhav (Selection by Ashok Vajpeyi)
  • Lekhak ka Dayittva (Ed by Nand Kishore Acharya)
  • Khule Mein Khada Ped (Ed by Nand Kishore Acharya)
Light Essyas:
  • Sab rang
  • Sab rang aur kuchh raag
  • Kahan hai dwaraka
  • Chhaya ka jangal
Diary:
  • Bhavanti
  • Antara
  • Shaswati
  • Shesha
  • Kaviman (Ed by Ila Dalmia Koirala)
Memoirs:
  • Smriti-lekha
  • Smriti ke galiyaron se
Edited:
  • Taar Saptak
  • Doosra Saptak
  • Teesra Saptak
  • Chautha Saptak
  • Pushkarini
  • Naye ekanki
  • Nehru abhinandan granth (co-editor)
  • Roopambara (Sumitrnandan Pant abhinandan granth)
  • Homvati smarak granth
  • Sarjan aur sampreshan
  • Sahitya ka parivesh
  • Sahity aur samaj parivartan
  • Samajik yatharth aur katha-bhasha
  • Samkaleen kavita mein chhand
  • Bhavishya aur sahitya
  • Indian Poetic Tradition (With Vidya Niwas Mishra and Leonard Nathan)
Introducing:
  • Naye Sahitya Srishta-1 Raghuveer Sahay: Seedihiyon par dhoop mein
  • Naye Sahitya Srishta-2 Sarveshawar Dayal Saxena: Kaath ki ghantiyan
  • Naye Sahitya Srishta-3 Ajit Kumar: Ankit hone do
  • Naye Sahitya Srishta-4 Shanti Mehrotra
Conversations:
  • Aparoksh, Ramesh Chandra Shah & others
  • Rachna: Kyon aur kinke beech, Sharad Kumar, Geeti Sen & Others
  • Agyeya Apne bare mein (AIR Archives), Raghuveer Sahay & Gopal Das
  • Kavi Nayak Ajneya, Ila Dalmia & Neelima Mathur
In English:
  • Prison days and other poems (Poetry)
  • A sense of time (Essays)
Selection (general): Sanchayita (Ed Nand Kishore Acharya)
Translations:
  • Shrikant (Sharat Chandra, from Bengali, 1944)
  • Gora (Rabindranath Thakur, from Bengali)
  • Raja (Rabindranath Thakur, from Bengali)
  • Vivekanand (With Raghuvir Sahay, from Bengali)
  • The resignation (Jainendra Kumar, into English)
  • The seventh horse of the sun (Dharmveer Bharti, into English)
  • The Silent waters (Poems of Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena, in 'Thought'0
  • Vazir ka Feela (Ivo Andric, from English)
  • Mahayatra (Pär Lagerkvist's trilogy, from English)
Self-translated works:
  • Islands in the stream (Nadi ke dweep, into English)
  • To each his stranger (Apne apne ajnabi, into English)
  • The unmastered lute and other poems (Asadhya Veena and other poems into English, Ed by Pritish Nandy)
  • The revolving rock and other poems (Chakrant Shila and other poems into English, Ed Pritish Nandy)
  • First Person, Second Person (Poems, into English with Leonard Nathan)
  • Signs and silences (Poems, into English with Leonard Nathan)
  • Nilambari (Poems, into English)
  • Truculent clay (Bhavanti, into English with Manas Mukul Das)
  • Preparing the ground (Antara, into English with Manas Mukul Das)
Translations in other languages: (Indian languages list too long)
  • German: Sekh Ktoratien (By Lothar Lutze)
  •  : Stand-orte (By Lothar Lutze)
  • Swedish  : Den arket (By orten Al Bud)
  • Servo-Croatian: Catoetien
  •  : prvo liche drugo liche
  •  :Vsak ima svoyega tuicha (By Tregoslav Andrich)
Films on Ajneya:
  • Sarswat Van Ka Bavra Aheri, Producer Durgavati Singh, Doordarshan, New Delhi
  • Sannate ka Chhand, Dir. Pramod & Neelima Mathur, Vatsal Nidhi, New Delhi
  • Deep Akela, Dir. Pramod Mathur, MGAHVV, Wardha
  • Kavi Bharti, Bharat Bhawan, Bhopal

Awards and honours[edit]

Dramatic productions[edit]

His verse play Uttar Priyadarshi, about the redemption of King Ashoka was first staged in 1966 at Triveni open-air theatre in Delhi in presence of the writer. Later it was adapted to Manipuri, by theatre director, Ratan Thiyam in 1996, and since been performed by his group, in various parts of the world.[7][8]

Further reading[edit]

  • Sannate ka Chhand, Anand Kumar Singh, KA Prakashan, New Delhi
  • Ajneya: Kathakaar Aur Vicharak, by Vijay Mohan Singh, Parijat Prakashan, Patna
  • Ajneya aur Adhunik Racna ki Samasya, by Ramswarup Chaturvedi, Lokbharti, Allahabad
  • Ajneya aur Unka Sahitya, by Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari. National Publishing House, New Delhi
  • Ajneya: Ek Adhyayan, by Bholabhai Patel, Vani Prakashan, New Delhi
  • Ajneya: Van ka Chhand, by Vidya Niwas Mishra, Vani Prakashan, New Delhi
  • Ajneya ki Kavya Titirsha, by Nand Kishore Acharya, Vagdevi Prakashan, Bikaner
  • Adhunik Hindi Kavya mein Vyaktittva, Ajneya ke Vishesh Sandarbha mein, by Ramkamal Rai, Lokbharti, Allahabad
  • Shikhar Se Sagar Tak(Biography), by Ram Kamal Rai, National Publishing House, New Delhi
  • Ajneya Aur Unka Katha Sahitya, by Gopal Rai, Vani Prakashan, New Delhi
  • Ajneya Ki Kavita, by Chandrakant Bandivadekar, Vinod Pustak Mandir, Agra
  • Ajnyeya: Vichar ka Swaraj, by Krishna Dutt Paliwal, Pratibha Pratishthan, New Delhi
  • Ajneya: Kavi-karm ka Sankat, by Krishna Dutt Paliwal, Vani Prakashan, New Delhi
  • Ajneya ka Katha-sahitya, A. Arvindakshan, Kochin
  • Ajneya ka Antahprakriya Sahitya, by Mathuresh Nandan Kulshreshtha, Chitralekha Prakashan, Allahabad
  • Ajneya aur Poorvottar Bharat, Ed Rita Rani Paliwal, Vani Prakashan, New Delhi
  • Vagarth ka Vaibhav, by Ramesh Chandra Shah, Vani Prakashan, New Delhi
  • The Quest of Ajneya, by Roger Hardham Hooker. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, New Delhi
  • Alochak Ajneya ki Upasthiti, Krishna Dutt Paliwal, Vani Prakashan, New Delhi
  • Kavi Ajneya ki Saundarya Chetna, by Chandraprabha Baluja, Sahitya Prakashan, Meerut
  • Ajneya: Kavya Rachana ki Visheshtayein, by Krishna Sinha. Bihar Hindi Granth Akademi, Patna
  • Ajneya (Monograph), by Ramesh Chandra Shah, Sahitya Akedemi, New Delhi
  • Ajneya by Prabhakar Machve, Rajpal & Sons, Delhi
  • Ajneya ki Itihas-drishti, by Shankar Sharan, Yash Prakashan, New Delhi
  • Ajneya ka Sansar, Ed by Ashok Vajpeyi, Pooroday Prakashan, New Delhi
  • Chhayavad ke Pariprekshya mein Ajneya ka Kavya, by Kamal Kumar, New Delhi
  • Ajneya ki Kavita: Parampara aur Prayog, by Ramesh Rishikalp, Vani Prakashan, New Delhi
  • Ajneya: Kuchh Rang Kuchh Raag, by Srilal Shukl, Prabhat Prakashan, New Delhi
  • Ajneya Vol.1 to Vol.5, Anthologies Ed by Harish Trivedi/ KD Paliwal, Roopa & Co., New Delhi
  • Apne Apne Ajneya, Vol.I & Vol.II, Ed by Om Thanvi, Vani Prakashan, New Delhi


1979:

Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya

Dr. Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya
ড°বীৰেন্দ্ৰ কুমাৰ ভট্টাচাৰ্য
Born14 October 1924
Safrai T.E. Assam
Died6 August 1997
OccupationWriter, Educator, Journalist
LanguageAssamese
NationalityIndian
CitizenshipIndia
Notable worksMrityunjay, Iyaruingam
Notable awardsSahitya Akademi Award(1960)
Jnanpith Award (1979)
Dr. Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya (1924 – 6 August 1997) was a famous Indian writer and one of the pioneers of modernAssamese Literature. He was first ever recipient of the Jnanpith Award given to an Assamese writer, in the year 1979 for his novelMrityunjay (Immortal),[1] followed by Indira Goswami in 2001.[2] He was also a recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award in Assamese in 1961 for his Assamese novel Iyaruingom(Iyaruingam), which is considered a masterpiece of Indian literature.[3] In 2005, a translation of the work published by Katha Books with the title Love in the Time of Insurgency was released.[4] Another famous novel written by Dr. Bhattacharya is Aai(Mother).
He was the President of Asam Sahitya Sabha (Assam Literary Society) during 1983-1985.[5]

Editor of 'Ramdhenu'[edit]

Dr Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya earned the respect of the entire Assamese modern literary sphere for playing a very crucial torch-bearer's role in discovering, nurturing and promoting young literary talents in Assam from 1960s as the Editor of the historic Assamese literary journal Ramdhenu. His role as the Editor of this milestone Assamese literary journal was so prominent and effective that the entire period of its publication in the mid-20th century in Assam is still referred as revered as Ramdhenu Era of Assamese literature. This Ramdhenu Era is deemed to be the golden era of in the long journey of the modern Assamese literature.
All the major discoveries of Dr Bhattacharya during the famous Ramdhenu Era are deemed to be the top Assamese and Indian litterateurs of the second half of the 20th century, and their reign writ large over the social conscience of the Assamese nationhood in the early decades of the 21st century. His most prominent literary discoveries of during theRamdhenu Era who left undeniable mark in different domains of Assamese literature during the next half century and more till the dawn of 21st century are Lakshmi Nandan Bora, Bhabendra Nath Saikia, Saurav Kumar Chaliha, Navakanta Barua, Bhabananda Deka, Nirmal Prava Bordoloi, Padma Barkataki, Homen Borgohain, Hiren Bhattacharya,Chandraprasad Saikia, Nilamoni Phukan, Hiren Gohain, Mamoni Raisom Goswami and several others. Even after Ramdhenu stopped publication, Dr Bhattacharya remained active as the leading Indian literary critic, and continued his mission of discovering extraordinary literary talents in Assam. He used to write literary criticism and reviews of much younger authors till the mid-1980s, if he found unparalleled literary works having bright promise to emerge as influential writers in the next few decades. His penultimate literary discovery was a school student named Arnab Jan Deka, about whose first published book Ephanki Rhode('A Stanza of Sunlight'), published during his school-student days as 10th standard matriculate in 1983, Dr Bhattacharya wrote his swan-song critical literary article, which was published in a literary journal Gandhaar in 1987.[6] Through such magnanimity and impartial literary credentials, Dr Bhattacharya became part of legend and folklore in the domain of Indian literature during his lifetime. His gift of discovering extraordinary literary talents and further acts of selfless promotion of such genuine such writers made his a part of legend and folklore during his lifetime.

Works[edit]

Novels[edit]

other works[edit]

  • Kolong aajiu boi(1962) - collection of short stories
  • Satsori(1963) - collection of short stories
  • published some poems in magazine Jayanthi.
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