June 15, 2018

Usha Priyamvada

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    • Pachpan Khambhe Laal Deewaarein

    The main protagonist of the novel, Sushma, is the eldest daughter of a middle-class family. With her talent and education she supports her family only to find that her sacrifices are taken for granted by her family members. Sushma longs for a house of her own, someone to call her own. A boy, younger to her in age, Neel, enters her life and she falls in love with him but her own family stands in the path of her getting the love of her life, fearing the loss of the only earning member in the family. Finally she bows before their emotional blackmail, only to sacrifice her own joy for the sake of others and believes that she is destined to live with all her loneliness throughout her life.

    The novel is a treat for the lovers of Hindi literature with its beautiful language, dialogues, freely flowing narrative and realistic portrayal of suppressed feelings, endurance and pain of separation.

    Usha Priyamvada (born 24 December 1930) is a Hindi literary writer. Born in Kanpur, she completed her MA and Phd in English literature from Allahabad University and Delhi’s Lady Shri Ram College. Around the the same time she got Fulbright Scholarship and went to the United States. After completing her post-doctoral studies for two years in Bloomington, Indiana, USA, she started teaching at University of Wisconsin, Madison at the post of Assistant Professor in the South Asian Department. Her writing depicts the life of urban families in the sixth and seventh decade. She beautifully captures the growing sadness, loneliness and restlessness of urban life in her work with a very deep sense of realism.

    Nagarjun

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    • Ratinath Ki Chachi

    Nagarjun is the leader in the people-oriented tradition of storytelling which was started by Premchand.

    Ratinath Ki Chachi is his first Hindi novel and was first published in 1948. Ratinath’s aunt is a widow who has fallen in love with her younger brother-in-law. A stir rises in the backward feudal society of Mithila once it’s discovered she’s pregnant. The story is about her suffering and eventual death due to a miscarriage. The novel gains importance for its real telling of the situation of women in the rural areas in the days past and maybe even now.

    Vaidyanath Mishra born in the village of Satlakha, Bihar was better known by his pen name Nagarjun. He was a Hindi and Maithili poet who also penned a number of novels, short stories, literary biographies and travelogues; and was known as Janakavi – the People’s Poet.  He started his literary career with Maithili poems by the pen name of Yatri in the early 1930’s. By the mid-1930’s, he started writing poetry in Hindi.

    He also participated in many mass-awakening movements before and after independence. Between 1939 and 1942, he was jailed by the British Courts for leading a farmer’s agitation in Bihar. Effects of both his wandering tendencies and activism, is evident in his middle and later works. Nagarjun was given the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1969 for his historic book Patarheen Nagna Gachh, and the Bharat Bharati Award by the Uttar Pradesh Government for his literary contributions in 1983. He was also honoured by the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, India’s highest literary award for lifetime achievement, in 1994.

    Jainendra

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    • Tyagpatra

    One of the giants of Hindi literature, Jainendra introduced the psychological in Hindi fiction. Questions of love, marriage and relationships occupy much of Jainendra’s works, taking them into the realm of the internal and the intimate. In Tyagpatra or ‘The Resignation’, Jainendra tells the story of Mrinal, a young woman whose uncompromising idealism results in her family and society rejecting her completely. Almost seventy-five years after it was written, the story of Mrinal’s struggle against restrictive social norms and her fierce individualism remain startlingly relevant.

    The book though written at a time when every person was searching for an independent voice and way of life. Hailed as a novel of psychological sensibility, Tyagpatra is an insight into life in those times and for a woman who is trying to live life on her own terms.

    Jainendra Kumar was a Hindi writer in the 20th century. He wrote novels including Sunita and Tyagapatra. He was one of the first to join the Independence Movement in 1921. He was closely involved in the Indian Freedom Struggle. Along with Munshi Premchand, he established the Hindustani Sabhaa in Lahore where Dr Zakir Hussain and Josh Malihabadi were some of the noted members. After the death of Premchand, he became the editor of Hans. He was closely associated with the luminaries of Indian Freedom Struggle like Mahatma Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave, Rabindranath Tagore and others. The interesting thing to note is that most of his stories and novels are centred on the idea of freedom and the right to speech. He was awarded one of India’s highest civil honour, Padma Bhushan, in 1971. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1966, for his work Muktibodh (Novella), and its highest award, the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 1979.

    Dharamvir Bharati

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    • Gunahon Ka Devta

    The novel tells the passionate love story of Chander and Sudha. The plot is simple and devoid of any distracting thrilling moments. Instead it is driven by the interaction of the central characters that is in many ways innocent as well as naive. What makes this novel so unusual, and one of the biggest bestsellers of its time, is the author’s ability to present his characters with conflicting choices that have fatal consequences. The story is set in Allahabad just after Partition; a young research student, Chandrakumar Kapoor, an orphan, who is mentored by Dr Shukla, a widower, becomes very close to his daughter, Sudha. The two share a relationship that is deep and strong, and their attraction for each other increases with the passage of time. That Sudha is in love with Chander soon becomes apparent to the reader and other characters such as Sudha’s best friend, Gesu, and Sudha’s cousin Binti. Chander is from a lower caste than Sudha and that is why he doesn’t dare ask for Sudha’s hand in marriage from her father. While Sudha seems to be ‘modern’, she cannot stand up to the social pressure to get married to the man of her father’s choice; Chander also forces her to abide by the wishes of her father. This, then, is the turning point in the novel but it is also through this tragedy that Bharati has made the story appealing to readers.

    The writer uses this love story to hold a mirror against society’s socio-economic divide that tears people apart emotionally. He also suggests that in such a restrictive society, young adults are bound to develop romantic feelings for anyone from the opposite sex whom they get a chance to interact with on a regular basis because they have limited options. While they have been exposed to the modern concept of a loving relationship between two adults, society still considers marriage a sort of compromise rather than a fulfilling relationship.

    Dharamvir Bharati (25 December 1926–4 September 1997), born in a Kayastha family of Allahabad, was a renowned Hindi poet, author, playwright and social thinker. He was the chief editor of the popular Hindi weekly magazine Dharmayug from 1960 till his death in 1997. He did his MA in Hindi from Allahabad University in 1946 and won the ‘Chintamani Ghosh Award’ for securing highest marks in Hindi.

    The 1950’s were the most creative period in Bharati’s life. He wrote many novels, dramas, poems, essays, and critical works during this phase and was awarded the Padmashree for literature in 1972 by the Government of India. His novel Gunaho Ka Devta is all-time classic. He was also awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Playwriting (Hindi) in 1988.

    Munshi Premchand

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    • Godaan

    Godaan is a Hindi novel by Munshi Premchand, translated into English as The Gift of a Cow.

    It was first published in 1936 and is considered one of the greatest Hindi novels of modern Indian literature. Themed around the socio-economic deprivation as well as the exploitation of the village poor, the novel was the last complete novel of Premchand. It was translated into English in 1957 by Jai Ratan and P. Lal and in 1968 by Gordon C. Roadarmel which is now considered ‘a classic in itself’. Godaan was made into a Hindi film too in 1963.

    The story reflects the typical Indian community and the various problems of caste segregation. It tells us the story of a poor peasant, Hori Mahato, who dreams of possessing a cow. Hori, though poor, is a dutiful and honest character. His sense of duty towards his family members keeps his dream unfulfilled. Hori happens to buy a cow on a debt of Rs 80. There occurs a fight between Hori’s wife and the wife of his younger brother and his brother’s wife ultimately poisons the cow. In order to clear his brother’s name, Hori bribes the police from making further investigation. Again Hori has to pay a penalty to the village Panchayat for his son eloping with a widow. Money continually slips out of Hori’s hands and so does his dream.

    This story reflects the subtle way in which the lower castes are exploited by the higher castes. Women also have to face hardships and the incidents occurring with Hori’s daughter-in-law and daughter show us the status of women. Despite all the depressing incidents happening around him, will Hori be able to fulfil his dream of having a cow and how far does he go to make his dream a reality is all that keeps readers guessing.

    Munshi Premchand (31 July 1880 – 8 October 1936) was born as Dhanpat Rai in a large Kayastha family near Banaras and was famous for his modern Hindi-Urdu literature. He is one of the most celebrated writers of the Indian subcontinent and is regarded as one of the foremost Hindustani writers of the early twentieth century. He began writing under the pen name ‘NawabRai’, but subsequently switched to ‘Premchand’, Munshi being an honorary prefix. A novel writer, story writer and dramatist, he has been referred to as the ‘UpanyasSamrat’ (Emperor among Novelists) by writers. His works include more than a dozen novels, around 250 short stories, several essays and translations of a number of foreign literary works into Hindi. Premchand is considered the first Hindi author whose writings prominently featured realism. His novels describe the problems of the poor and the urban middle-class. His works depict a rationalistic outlook, which views religious values as something that allows the powerful hypocrites to exploit the weak. He used literature to arouse public awareness about national and social issues and often wrote about topics related to corruption, child widowhood, prostitution, the feudal system, poverty, colonialism and on India’s Freedom Movement.

    Mohan Rakesh

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    • Andhere Band Kamre

    Distressing but startlingly evocative Andhere Band Kamre, chronicles Harban’s andNeelima’s painful marriage against the backdrop of Delhi in the early fifties.

    A master in portraying pain as a result of a dysfunctional personal relationship, Mohan Rakesh beautifully projects the duality in this novel. The elite civil mind of the present Indian society is divided into two parts: one is steeped in western modernism while the second clings to a hereditary ritualism. This duality creates a gap between society and class, and a barrier between dark and light, a barrier for progressive thinking in a regressive environment. As a result, the central character is torn between the two thought processes leading to anger, envy, suspicion and eventually becomes a stranger to himself. Here’s an impressive depiction of an empty spouse life with mutual honesty, emotional attachment and mental perception through Harban and Neelima – the central characters. This novel, which opens the dark rooms of the physical, intellectual and cultural ambitions of the Indian elite is one of the most famous Hindi stories.

    Mohan Rakesh (8 January 1925 – 3 December 1972) was born as Madan Mohan Guglaniin Amritsar, Punjab. He did his M.A. in English and Hindi from Punjab University, Lahore. He was one of the pioneers of the Nai Kahani literary movement of the Hindi literature in the 1950’s. He wrote the first modern Hindi play, Ashadh Ka Ek Din (1958), which won a competition organised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi. He made significant contributions to the novel, the short story, travelogue, criticism, memoir and drama.

    He started his career as a teacher at Elphinstone College, Bombay from 1947 to 1949, after that he shifted to Delhi. Eventually, he resigned from his job to write full-time. He also briefly edited Hindi literary journal Sarika, from 1962-63.

    His noted novels are Andhere Band Kamare and Na Aane Wala Kal. His plays Ashadh Ka Ek Din (1958), which played a major role in reviving Hindi theatre in the 1960’s and Adhe Adhure (1969). He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1968.

    Bhisham Sahni

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    • Tamas
    Tamas is the ‘reflective response’ to the partition of India and Pakistan – one of the most tragic events in the history of the Indian subcontinent. Partially based on true events that Sahni witnessed himself in the communal riots during India’s Partition in 1947, the novel follows the life of people from both communities – Hindu and Muslim, and from various classes and backgrounds, as tensions in cities build up.

    The novel opens with a man from a low caste, a tanner named Nathu, slaughtering a pig. He has been offered five rupees by an influential Muslim man named Murad Ali to kill the pig, having been told that it is for veterinary purposes. Murad instructs him to dump the carcass in a pushcart, and Nathu considers his work done. The next morning, the pig’s body is found on the steps of the local mosque by the Congress committee, comprised of members of all three major religions. This act is seen as a provocation, assumed to be done by the Hindu community. In retaliation, a cow is slaughtered and the city, already full of tension surrounding the forthcoming Partition legislation, erupts into rioting and murder.

    Tamas presents a snapshot of a violent and fractured period in Indian history and through fictionalization allows the reader to inhabit the minds of those who perpetrated and suffered through its worst crimes.

    Bhisham Sahni was one of the most prolific writers of Hindi literature. He was a writer, playwright, and actor, most famous for his novel and television screenplay Tamas (Darkness, Ignorance), a powerful and passionate account of the Partition of India. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan for literature in 1998, and Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 2002.

    He joined the struggle for Indian independence. At the time of Partition, he was an active member of the Indian National Congress, and organised relief work for the refugees when riots broke out in Rawalpindi in March, 1947. In 1948, Sahni started working with the Indian People’s Theatre Association.

    Tamas is one of those rare Hindi novels that has been translated not once, but twice. The first translation, by the indefatigable translator of Hindi and Urdu, Jai Ratan, was published in 1981. The second was undertaken by Sahni himself, who came to realise there were serious problems with the Ratan’s translation, and published in 2001.

    Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan 'Agyeya'

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    • Shekhar Ek Jeevani

    Shekhar: Ek Jeevani is an important, thoughtful and a creative work relating to philosophy of life. Ego, fear and sex – Shekhar’s life and personality moves around these instincts and he tries to find the essence of his life as if wanting to sacrifice it. With such a dedication, many an achievement appear to have filled the composition in the form of a novel. It is an incomplete life-history of a revolutionary. This tale, despite its incompleteness, is full of humanity’s accumulated experiences.

    Shekhar is one such character in Hindi literature who is very lonely. He is rebellious, existent and curious. His life is a continual search for meaningfulness. In this search, approaching death does not disappoint him, but fills him with a new awareness and he tries to gain life once again. But, Shekhar is not a determinist. Agyeya has called Shekhar’s philosophy as the philosophy pertaining to search for freedom.

    Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan popularly known by his pen-name Agyeya, meaning beyond comprehension. He 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 New Poetry and  Experiments in Modern literature. He edited the Saptaks, a literary series, and started Hindi newsweekly, Dinaman.
    He did his BSc in Industrial Science 1929. After graduation he was included in Punjab University’s Cosmic Ray Expedition to Kashmir. He then joined M.A. English, but couldn’t complete his studies as he joined the Indian Independence Movement’s underground activities. In the infamous Delhi Conspiracy Case he was kept in Lahore for one month, then spent three and a half years in jails of Delhi and Punjab. Later he remained under house arrest for almost two years at home. His classic novel-trilogy Shekhar: Ek Jivani was a product of those prison days. The third part of the novel was never published because the manuscript was seized by the jailor and never returned.

    Shrilal Shukla

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    • Raag Darbari

    The story does not have a fixed plot – it is merely a series of anecdotes. The novel is narrated from the point of view of Ranganath, a research student in history, who comes to live with his uncle, Vaidyaji, in a village named Shivpalganj in Uttar Pradesh for a few months. He learns how his uncle uses all the village institutions—the village school, the village panchayat, the local government offices for his political purpose. The conduct of his uncle and the petty village politicians is in stark contrast to the ideals that Ranganath has learnt to aspire to during his university education There are several such incidents, one after the other, that shatter Ranganath’s lofty ideals and faith in justice. He is a mere spectator of the system – unable to make a mark or stand up for himself.

    Shrilal Shukla was notable for his satire. He worked as a Provincial Civil Services (PCS) officer for the state government of Uttar Pradesh. He has written over 25 books including Raag-Darbari, Makaan, Sooni Ghaati Ka Sooraj, Pehla Padaav and Bisrampur Ka Sant.

    Shukla has highlighted the falling moral values in the Indian society in the post-independence era through his novels. His writings expose the negative aspects of life in rural and urban India in a satirical manner. Shukla received the Jnanpith Award, the highest Indian literary award, in 2011. His first major award was the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Raag Darbari in 1969. He received the Vyas Samman award in 1999 for the novel Bisrampur ka Sant. In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the President of India for his contribution to Indian literature and culture.

    Surendra Verma

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    • Mujhe Chand Chahiye

    The title of the book suggests it is a story of an attempt to gain something impossible.

    The novel is captivating narrative of how a small-town girl, who is introvert and shy, grows up ambitiously yet humbly, to become a successful, much sought-after, superstar in Indian film industry. The narrative flows in such a way that every character his or her background introduced briefly. The same goes with the situations too; if the events leading to the current situations are not explained in the flow of the story, then the author takes you slightly back in time to let you know the sequence. There are too many characters and their presence is justified by the life story of Yashoda Sharma/Silbil/Varsha Vashisht. The novel was adapted as very popular televised serial.

    Surendra Verma is a leading Hindi litterateur and playwright. He has had a long association with the National School of Drama and has published about fifteen titles of short stories, satires, novels and plays. The author was awarded Sahitya Academy Award for this novel portraying strong feminist approach.