Manohar Shyam Joshi (9 August 1933 – 30 March 2006) was a Hindi writer, journalist and scriptwriter, most well known as the writer of Indian television's first soap opera, '' Hum Log'' (1984) and his early hits '' Buniyaad'' (1987), ''

Kakaji Kahin ''Kakaji Kahin'' is an Indian political satire that aired on Doordarshan in 1988. It was one of Basu Chatterjee's acclaimed works for Indian television, based on a book called ''Netaji Kahin'' by well-known author Manohar Shyam Joshi. Actor Om ...

'', a political satire and many experimental novels including ''Kasap'' and ''Kyap'', which won him the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

Biography

Manohar Shyam Joshi was born on 9 August 1933 at

Ajmer Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at the centre of Rajasthan. It is also known as heart of Rajasthan. The city was established as "''Aj ...

in Rajasthan,WRITERS AND THEIR WORKS
Foundation of SAARC Writers. the son of a noted educationist and musicologist belonging to a Kumaoni

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...

family from Almora,

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

now in the state of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in the North India, northern part of India. It is often referred to as t ...

. He is the father of leading cyber security expert Professor Anupam Joshi. He died on 30 March 2006, at the age of 73, in New Delhi, India. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Bhagwati Joshi, and sons, Anupam Joshi, Anurag Joshi and Ashish Joshi. Upon his death, Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indi ...

called him "one of the most influential writers and commentators in Hindi in recent times".PM condoles Manohar Shyam Joshi's death
indianews, 31 March 2006. According to

Khushwant Singh Khushwant Singh (born Khushal Singh, 2 February 1915 – 20 March 2014) was an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and politician. His experience in the 1947 Partition of India inspired him to write ''Train to Pakistan'' in 1956 (made ...

, the eminent author, editor and critic,"By the time he died in 2006, he was recognised as the first and the most innovative writer of Hindi."

Career

Television

He is often called "the Father of Indian Soap Operas" being the writer of India's first television soap opera, '' Hum Log''. Made in 1982, when television was still a luxury item for the majority of Indians, the serial dealt with the everyday struggles of the middle-class India, making it an instant hit, especially because every Indian could identify with it. Another popular creation was '' Buniyaad'' (1987–1988), directed by Ramesh Sippy, a serial based around the life a family displaced by the Partition of India in 1947; both went on to deeply influence an entire generation of Indians as well as the Indian television industry. In the following years he wrote many more long running serials like '' Mungeri Lal Ke Hasin Sapney'', ''

'', '' Humrahi'', ''Zameen Aasman'' and ''Gatha''.

Novels

Manohar Shyam Joshi is also known for his novels which have dealt with topics ranging from love, in ''Kasap'', described as one of the greatest love stories in Hindi, to devastating political satire like ''Netaji Kahin''. He was a prominent post-modernist authors in modern Hindi literature, as amiably demonstrated by his cult novel ''Kuru kuru Swaahaa'' and his novella ''Hariya Hercules ki Hairaani''. He was awarded the prestigious

in 2005 for Hindi, for his novel ''Kyap'', an allegory of modern India, known for its sensitive portrayal of the Kumaoni traditions of his home state of

Films

He had a penchant for romance, subtle comedy and satire alike. This allowed him to write for cinema on a variety of subjects, like ''Hey Ram'', ''Appu Raja'', ''Papa Kahte Hain'' and ''Brashtachar''. He was a dubbing expert of much ability and dubbed for films like ''Appu Raja'' and ''

Hey Ram ''Hey Ram'' is a 2000 Indian period crime drama film written, directed and produced by Kamal Haasan, who also stars. It was simultaneously made in Tamil and Hindi languages. Shah Rukh Khan plays a supporting role, making his debut in Tamil ...

''.

Journalism

He had a long stint as a journalist in broadcast and the print media. He worked first with

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

, New Delhi, in the Hindi news section and then with the

Films Division of India The Films Division of India (FDI), commonly referred as Films Division, was established in 1948 following the independence of India. It was the first state film production and distribution unit, under the Ministry of Information and Broadcastin ...

in Mumbai, where he wrote the scripts for many documentaries. This is when he started writing his famous landmark interviews with ordinary folks, which were serialised in the ''Sarika'' magazine. It was not long before he was handpicked by Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan Agyeya for a new Hindi news magazine '' Dinaman'', being brought out by the ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' group. Agyeya was to be the editor and Joshi the assistant editor. Later, he edited the leading Hindi magazine ''Saptahik

Hindustan ''Hindūstān'' ( , from '' Hindū'' and ''-stān''), also sometimes spelt as Hindōstān ( ''Indo-land''), along with its shortened form ''Hind'' (), is the Persian-language name for the Indian subcontinent that later became commonly used by ...

'', concurrently with the English ''Weekend Review'' and, in late 70s, the ''Morning Echo'' weekly all brought out by the ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...

''.Noted litterateur Manohar Shyam Joshi..
oneindia, 30 March 2006. His journalistic writings have covered a wide range of topics from popular science and scintillating travelogues to astute political analyses. Until his death, he wrote an opinion column for '' Outlook Saptahik'',

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

magazine from ''

Outlook India ''Outlook'' is a weekly general interest English and Hindi news magazine published in India. History and profile ''Outlook'' was first issued in October 1995 with Vinod Mehta as the editor in chief. It is owned by the Rajan Raheja Group. The ...

''.

Literary works

* Kasap * Netaji Kahin (political satire made into a memorable TV series ''Kakkaji Kahin'', by Basu Chatterji) * Kuru Kuru Swaahaa * Hariya Hercules Ki Hairani (Rajkamal & Sons, 1999.

English translation o
''The Perplexity of Haria Hercules''
by Robert Hueckstedt) * Prabhu Tum Kaise Kissago (short stories) * Mandir Ghaat ki Pauriyaan (short stories) * Uss Desh Ka Yaron Kya Kahna * Baton Baton Mein (interviews) * Kaise Kissago * Ek Durlabh Vyaktitva (short stories) * Lucknow Mera Lucknow (memoirs of student days) * Gatha Kurukshetra Ki (play

* Seemaant Diary – Kashmir Se Kachh Tak (travelogue

* 21st Century (essays and opinions) * T'ta Professor, also an award-winning English translation by Ira Pand

* Kyaap, winner of Sahitya Academy Award 2005 * Hamzad, Rajkamal & Sons, 1999.

* Main Kaun Hoon? an exploration on identity loosely based on the real life Bhawal Sanyasi case, of the prince who came back from the dead to reclaim his life, love and kingdom. * Vadhasthal (National Book Trust, India, 2009): A novel set in the killing fields of Cambodia * Kapeeshji (NBT, India, 2009): Novel about the evolution of an unselfmade godman.

Television serials

* Hum Log (1982) * Buniyaad (1987) *

* Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne * Hamrahi * Zameen Aasman (1995) * Gatha (1997)

Filmography

* Bhrashtachar (1989) – Screenplay *

Papa Kehte Hai ''Papa Kahte Hain'' is a 1996 Indian Hindi romance film directed by Mahesh Bhatt. The film starred Jugal Hansraj and Mayuri Kango, with Tiku Talsania, Anupam Kher and Alok Nath in supporting roles. Plot Sweety lives with her mother, maternal ...

Appu Raja ''Apoorva Sagodharargal'' () is a 1989 Indian Tamil-language masala film directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao. The film features an ensemble cast including Kamal Haasan, Gautami, Rupini, Srividya, Manorama, Nagesh, Delhi Ganesh, Nassar, Jaishank ...

(2000) – Dialogue

Works in Translation

* '' T'Ta Professor'' (2008), translated by

Ira Pande Ira or IRA may refer to: * Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name * Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status o ...

, winner of

Vodafone Crossword Book Award The Crossword Book Award (formerly known as the Crossword Book Award (1998–2003), the Hutch Crossword Book Award (2004–07), the Vodafone Crossword Book Award (2008–10), the Economist Crossword Book Award (2011–13), Raymond & Crossword Bo ...

for best translated work. * Hariya Hercules ki Hairani, translated by Robert Hueckstedt

Awards

* MP Sahitya Parishad Samman * Sharad Joshi Samman * Shikhar Samman * Delhi Hindi Academy Award * Onida and Uptron Award for TV writing * 2005 Sahitya AcademyAward

References

External links

*
Obituary at Outlook India

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joshi, Manohar Shyam Hindi-language writers Journalists from Uttarakhand Indian columnists Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Hindi 1933 births 2006 deaths Literature of Kumaon People from Ajmer Screenwriters from Rajasthan Indian television writers Novelists from Rajasthan Hindi screenwriters 20th-century Indian essayists 20th-century Indian journalists Journalists from Rajasthan 20th-century Indian screenwriters