Our Favourite Indian Stories (3 page)

A popular Gujarati writer, Kundanika Kapadia was born in Saurashtra, worked as a free lance writer, edited magazines and, quitting Mumbai (where she lived most of her life) in 1987 has now shifted to a small village in South Gujarat where she and her husband poet Makarand Dave have established a Centre named Nandigram Trust, dedicated to spiritual development and service to Adivasi people living around the Centre. Ms Kapadia has written three novels, short story collections and books, including translations from English and Bengali. One of her novels,
Saat Paglaan Aakashma
won five awards, including one from
Sahitya Akademi,
Delhi. This novel, translated into many Indian languages, has the English title
Seven Steps in the Sky.
She has also won other awards from literary bodies.

Vijai Dan Dethaa was born in 1926. He is popularly known among his readers as 'Vijji'. He is a well known Rajasthani writer and recipient of the
Sahitya Akademi Award
. He has also published several works in Hindi. He is currently associated with the Rupayan Sansthan, Borunda.

Panjabi was a leading Sindhi writer. He belonged to the Progressive school of writers. His writings depict the painful experience of being uprooted from one's homeland and related problems. Along with his contemporaries, Panjabi took up the cause of Sindhi language and literature. He wrote feelingly about the life of the common man and gave expression to his sorrows. Writing prolifically after the Partition, Gobind Panjabi was one of the pioneer publishers of a literary magazine of the early forties —
Nai Duniya.

A prominent Sindhi writer, Dr Bharati wrote in the post-independence years between 1947 and 1948. His collection of short stories is titled
Zindagi-a-jo-Babu
(A Chapter of Life). He has done pioneering work in the area of preserving Sindhi folk literature. He has painstakingly recorded customs, traditions, myths, legends, lullabies, wedding songs etc. of an ancient and rich culture which has a vast variety of folk literature. He has done so in a series of eight volumes which include
Sindhi Lok Kala
(Sindhi Folk Art);
Sindhi Lok Kahaniyan
(Sindhi Folk Stories) and
Sindhuri thi Gave
(Sind is Singing).

Born in 1923, this Marathi short story writer, novelist, playwright and critic has more than fifty literary works to his credit. Gangadhar Gadgil has been thrice awarded State Awards for his books
Talavatale Chandane, Ore Unha,
and
Sat Samundra Palikade.

Born in 1942, Gauri Deshpande has emerged as a popular writer in Marathi. She has written 16 novels, several collections of short stories and essays in Marathi. She has also published collections of her poems and short stories in English, besides six volumes of translations from Marathi into English. Sixteen State Prizes in various categories have been bestowed on her. Her translation of sixteen volumes of Sir Richard Burton's
Arabian Nights
is considered a landmark event in Marathi publishing history. Her work has been translated into all major languages, including German and Norwegian.

Born in 1962 at Nagaon, Assam, Manoj Kumar Goswami has published seven collections of short stories, one novel and a travelogue. He has worked in two dailies,
Natun Dainik
and
Ajir Batori
and is currently the Executive Editor of
Arnar Asorn
. In 1994, he was awarded the
Katha prize
for his short story
Samiran Barua Ahi Ache
and the
Sanskriti Award
in 1996. He is also active in the electronic media.

Akhtar Mohi-ud-din (1928—2001) was a distinguished Kashmiri author. He made a significant contribution to the enrichment of modern Kashmiri literature. His volume of short stories,
Sat Sangar
received the
Sahitya Akademi Award
in 1958. He is the author of
Dod Dag
which is considered the first novel written and published in Kashmiri.

Abdul Gani Athar (1943-....) is a teacher in the Jammu and Kashmir Education Department. He has written poems, short stories and plays in Kashmiri. A collection of his short stories in Kashmiri was published some time back. His work has also appeared in
Sheeraza
(Jamniu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages).

Born in Malabar in 1934, Madhavi Kutti assumed her pen name Kamala Das which brought her fame. Her English poems and Malayalam stories became famous the world over. Kamala Das has been honoured with prestigious awards. Her mother is an acknowledged poet. While non-Malayalis know her as a writer of fiction, she is better known in Kerala as a poet.

 

Thakazhi Sivasankaran Pillai is the doyen of Malayalam writers. He has received a dozen literary awards and honorary doctorates. Some of these are:
Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award; Central Sahitya Akademi Award; Vayalar Award; Soviet Land Award; Jnanpith Award; Padma Bhushan
and an honorary doctorate conferred upon him by Kerala University. His stories are more the work of an artist rather than a medium for conveying messages.

Chaduranga, a scion of the royal family has authored such outstanding novels as
Vaisaka, Sarvamangala
and
Uyyala
.
Savatha Mana
is among his prominent short stories. His novel
Vaisaka
won him the
Sahitya Akademi Award
. He is regarded as one of the forerunners of the
Pragatishila
movement, considered the embodiment of progressive thinking in the Fifties.

Devanoor Mahadeva is a prominent writer of Kannada. His real name is Subramanya Raja Urs. His writing career began in the
Navya
phase. He has been described as a modern, universal writer. Despite his progressive thinking, he differs from the writers of the
Pragatishila
phase as he does not raise loud slogans. His collection of short stories titled
Dayavanooru
is considered a milestone in Kannada literature. His novellete
Kusumabale
won him the
Sahitya Akademi Award.

P. Padmaraju (1915-1983) was a distinguished short story writer and dramatist in Telugu. His short story
The Cyclone
was awarded second prize in the World Competition conducted by the
New York Herald Tribune
in 1952. Two of his important works are
Padmaraju Kathalu
and
Kooli Janam.

Malati Chendur has over forty-five years of writing experience behind her. She is one of the leading names in progressive Telugu writing. Her dimunitive frame houses a forceful personality. She uses this to the maximum effect to speak up against the current degradation in society. Among the many honours she has won are
Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad Award and Central Sahitya Akademi Award.

Born in 1930 in the town of Kumbakonam, Ranganathan nee Indira Parthasarathy obtained his M. A. degree from Annamalai University and Ph. D from Delhi University.

Dr Parthasarathy has worked as a teacher and researcher in Delhi, Poland and Canada. He has been commended by Warsaw University for his contribution to the field of Dravidian research.

Indira Parthasarthy has won laurels in various forms of literature such as the novel, short story and drama. Prominent among the awards he has won are
Central Sahitya Akademi Award; Tamil Nadu Government Award
; and
Kasturi Srinivasan Award.

Prapanchan was born and brought up in Pondicherry. Vaidyalingam, as he was earlier called, went to Karandai College where he won the title 'Pulavar' or Pandit. He spent his early years in a French Colony. Yet, rather than being deeply affected by French literature, he was affected by 'Surya Mariyathai Iyakkam', the Self Respect Movement against Brahmin domination.

He has worked as a teacher of Tamil, journalist and sub-editor. His writings have been appreciated for their richness and quality and have been translated into English, French, Swedish and German, besides into various Indian languages. He has won several coveted awards which include C
entral Sahitya Akademi Award; Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad Award; Kasturi Rangammal Award
and the prestigious
lllakkiya Chinthanai Award.

Born in 1945, Chaman Arora is one of the most promising Dogri short story writers today. He has published two collections of short stories
Lohe Diyan Phingran and Kandhan Te Qile
and has contributed to an anthology of short stories by upcoming short story writers titled
Sach Te Sach.
He has also co-authored a play with Lalit Mangotra titled
Jeene Di Qaid.

Born in 1948, Om Goswami is one of the most distinguished and popular Dogri short story writers. He also writes in Hindi. He has to his credit four collections of short stories in Dogri and three in Hindi. Arora has been awarded by the Sahitya Akademi for his Dogri collection
Sunne Di Chidi.
Until recently, he was the editor of Dogri publications of J & K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages. He has also contributed to children's literature, published a collection of plays and is currently editor of a quarterly children's magazine and chief editor of the Dogri Dictionary Project.

Editor of the Marathi Daily
Rashtramat
since its inception in 1963, Chandrakant Keni (born in 1934) writes short stories in Konkani, Marathi and Hindi. The first editor of
Sunaparant
, the first ever Konkani daily and Chairman of the Goa Editors' Guild, Keni has also been the recipient of the
National Award for Journalism
(1995). Notable among the honours received by him have been the
Sahitya Akademi Award
(1989);
Dr. TMA Pai Foundation Literary Award
(1990);
Goa State Literary Awards
on three occasions and the
Goa State Cultural Award
(1997). A champion of the Konkani language, Chandrakant Keni has been closely associated with the freedom struggle of the territory from Portuguese colonialism.

Edwin D'Souza has written 27 novels and more than one hundred short stories to date. He has conducted several Konkani literary camps, seminars and panel discussions. He has also presented several papers on Konkani literature at prestigious forums. Some of his noteworthy literary awards have been from:
Konkani Bhasha Mandal
(1973, 1993);
Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Akademi
(1995-1997; 1997-1998);
Dr. TMA Pai Foundation, Manipal
(1992) and
Konkani Literature Award
(1998). He has been President of the 11th All India Konkani Sahitya Sammelan and Konkani Writers' Forum, Karnataka. Editor of
Amar Konkani,
D'Souza is currently faculty at the Institute of Konkani, St Aloysius College, Mangalore.

Khushwant Singh was born in Hadali, Punjab. He was educated at Government College, Lahore and at King's College and the Inner Temple in London. He practised at the Lahore High Court for several years before joining the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in 1947. He began a distinguished career as a journalist with All India Radio in 1951. Since then he has been founder editor of Yojna (1951-1953), editor of the
Illustrated Weekly of India
(1979-1980), chief editor of
New Delhi
(1979-1980), and editor of the
Hindustan Times
(1980-1983). Today he is India's best-known columnist and journalist.

Khushwant Singh has had an extremely successful career as a writer. Among his works are the award winning
Train to Pakistan, Delhi, Religion of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh - the Saviour, My Bleeding Punjab, Punjab's Tragic Story, Need for a New Religion in India and other essays, Indira Gandhi Returns, and A History of the Sikhs, vol. I and vol. II.
Khushwant Singh has written more than 72 books till date. His latest novel,
The Company of Women
was published in 1999, and his autobiography,
Truth, Love and a Little Malice
is now in the news.

Khushwant Singh was Member of Parliament from 1980 to 1986. Among other honours he was awarded the
Padma Bhushan
in 1974 by the President of India (he returned the decoration in 1984 in protest against the Union Government's siege of the Golden Temple, Amritsar).

Mulk Raj Anand (1905—) is one of the most distinguished and front-ranking Indo-Anglican writers. Educated at Punjab and London Universities, he held the Tagore Chair in the Department of Comparitive Literature at the Punjab University, Chandigarh. He was Chairman of the Lalit Kala Academy and edited
Marg
, a reputed arts quarterly for quite some time.
Untouchable, Coolie
(both novels),
Death of a Hero
(novel),
Private Life of an Indian Prince, Seven Summers
(novel),
Lament on the Death of Master of Arts, Persian Painting
(essays) and
The Story of India
are some of his famous works.

A journalist by profession, Atul Chandra (1953——) started his career in 1976. A promising short story writer, Chandra holds a Masters degree in Economics. He has worked with
National Herald, The Pioneer
and
Hindustan Times.
Currently he is Deputy Resident Editor of
The Times of India
, Lucknow.