Chandrarekha Dhadwal (born 15 April 1951, also known as Rekha Dhadwal) is a writer from

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

, India. She is noted for her short stories, poems, novels, and

ghazals ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and Pahari.

Personal life

Dhadwal was born in

Dharamshala Dharamshala (, ; also spelled Dharamsala) is a town in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It serves as the winter capital of the state and the administrative headquarters of the Kangra district since 1855. The town also hosts the Tibeta ...

. She taught Hindi for 34 years, and retired as senior lecturer and the head of Hindi department at the Government College in Dharamshala.

Works

Dhadwal's ouvre is highly regarded for its nuanced portrayal of the struggles and difficulties faced by women in hill societies, as well as their innate power. Her work is noted for its pithy and witty sentences, as embodied in the following two-liner by her: "On a heated pan/by sprinkling water/the woman cooking

roti Roti is a round flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly consumed in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, East African, and Southeast African countries. It is made from stoneground whole-wheat flour, kno ...

/learns the art of living". Shriniwas Joshi notices a "stream of feminist activism" in ''Zaroorat Bhar Suvidha'' (2016), Dhadwal's first anthology of poems in Hindi. He writes that in these poems, Dhadwal revolts against patriarchal privileges and biases of men, and the lack of alternatives in social roles for women, other than being housewives.

''Samay Mere Anuroop Hua'' and ''Seevanein Udhadti Hui''

Dhadwal's novel ''Samay Mere Anuroop Hua'' and her anthology of short stories ''Seevanein Udhadti Hui'' both came out in 2019, and often received critical appreciation together. Shriniwas Joshi considers both works as

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

in nature. He characterizes her position in these two works as being that a woman should not follow the rut of tradition, but must educate herself, be robust, and individual. He compares Dhadwal's writing to Mary Ellmann's ''Thinking About Women'' and

Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and feminist, regarded as one of the major voices of the second-wave feminism movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literature, she ...

's ''

The Female Eunuch ''The Female Eunuch'' is a 1970 book by Germaine Greer that became an international bestseller and an important text in the feminist movement. Greer's thesis is that the "traditional" suburban, consumerist, nuclear family represses women sexual ...

''. Kamlananda Jha of the

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Research university, research university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Kh ...

positively appraises ''Samay'' ''Mere Anuroop Hua'' for its complex, multi-layered, and uplifting portrayal of female psychology. Of the short story collection, Jha says that Dhadwal develops a compelling narrative style, where her prose frequently becomes poetry, blurring the boundaries between the two genres. A lot gets conveyed through bare, unfinished sentences. But this style never becomes overwhelmingly dramatic, and allows Dhadwal to have a dialogue with the reader through her story. Suraj Paliwal observes a rare sensitivity in ''Samay Mere Anuroop Hua'' portrayal of the alienation and lack of consideration faced by women growing up in Indian families, as well as a distinct personal voice in Dhadwal's short story collection. Abdul Bismillah deems the novel to be the modern version of

Premchand Dhanpat Rai Srivastava (31 July 1880 – 8 October 1936), better known as Munshi Premchand based on his pen name Premchand (), was an Indian writer famous for his modern Hindustani language, Hindustani literature. Premchand was a pioneer ...

's celebrated novel Nirmala. The novelist Gyan Ranjan considers the novel to be a realistic depiction of contemporary middle-class Indian households. The poet Namita Singh remarks that in ''Seevanein Udhardti Hui'', Dhadwal locates human values squarely between deep sensitivity and inner contradictions. Others Dhadwal has also collected and analysed endangered Kangri folk songs in three published volumes, in collaboration with the musicologist Janmejai Singh Guleria.

Recognition

* Regarded as a well-known author and poet in Himachal Pradesh, Dhadwal has regularly spoken at literary festivals and book festivals in Dharamshala and

Shimla Shimla, also known as Simla ( the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of British India. After independence, the city ...

. * In 2009, Dhadwal's poems were featured among others in an anthology of representative poetry from Himachal Pradesh, by the

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of the Indian government. Its off ...

, India's national academy of letters. * In 2016, Dhadwal was awarded the Pahadi Sahitya Puraskar by the

Government of Himachal Pradesh The Government of Himachal Pradesh also known as the State Government of Himachal Pradesh, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It consists of an executive branch, led by th ...

Select bibliography

* Dhadwal, Chandrarekha. 2015. ''Akkhar-Akkhar Jugnu'' (in Pahadi). Des Sangeet Prakashan, Dharamshala. * Dhadwal, Chandrarekha and Janmejai Singh Guleria. 2015. ''Lokbhav Svaranjali.'' Des Sangeet Prakashan, Dharamshala. * Dhadwal, Chandrarekha. 2016. ''Zaroorat Bhar Suvidha'' (in Hindi). Antika Prakashan, Ghaziabad. * Dhadwal, Chandrarekha and Janmejai Singh Guleria. 2017. ''Lokbhav Svaranjali - II.'' Des Sangeet Prakashan, Dharamshala. * Dhadwal, Chandrarekha. 2019. ''Samay Mere Anuroop Hua'' (in Hindi). Antika Prakashan, Ghaziabad. * Dhadwal, Chandrarekha. 2019. ''Seevanein Udhati Huin'' (in Hindi). Antika Prakashan, Ghaziabad. * Dhadwal, Chandrarekha. 2022. ''Aag'' (in Hindi). Antika Prakashan, Ghaziabad. * Dhadwal, Chandrarekh and Janmejai Singh Guleria. 2023. ''Lokbhav Svaranjali - III.'' Des Sangeet Prakashan, Dharamshala.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhadwal, Chandrarekha 21st-century Indian women writers Scholars from Himachal Pradesh Poets from Himachal Pradesh Novelists from Himachal Pradesh 1951 births Living people People from Dharamshala People from Kangra district Hindi-language poets Hindi-language novelists Indian feminist writers Women writers from Himachal Pradesh 21st-century Indian musicologists