Manoj Das (27 February 1934 – 27 April 2021) was an Indian

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

who wrote in Odia and English. In 2000, Manoj Das was awarded the

Saraswati Samman The Saraswati Samman is an annual award for outstanding prose or poetry literary works in any of the 22 languages of India listed in Schedule VIII of the Constitution of India. It is named after the Hindu goddess of knowledge, Saraswati. The Saras ...

. He was awarded

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is confe ...

in 2001, the fourth-highest

Civilian Award This list of civil awards and decorations is a partial index to articles about notable civil awards and decorations. It excludes Law enforcement awards and honors and ecclesiastical decorations, which are covered by separate lists. See :Civil aw ...

in India, Padma Bhusan in 2020, and the third-highest

in India for his contribution to the field of ''Literature & Education.'' Kendra Sahitya Akademi has bestowed its highest award (also India's highest literary award) i.e

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 ...

Fellowship. In 1971, his research in the archives of London and Edinburgh brought to light some of the little-known facts of India's freedom struggle in the first decade of the twentieth century led by

Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as ''Vande Mataram''. He joined t ...

for which he received the first Sri Aurobindo Puraskar (Kolkata). His deeper quest led him to mysticism and he was an inmate of

Sri Aurobindo Ashram The Sri Aurobindo Ashram is a spiritual community (ashram) located in Pondicherry, in the Indian territory of Puducherry. The ashram grew out of a small community of disciples who had gathered around Sri Aurobindo after he retired from ...

in Puducherry since 1963 where he taught English Literature and the Philosophy of

at the Sri Aurobindo International University.

Early life

Das was born in the small coastal village ,

Balasore Balasore or Baleswara is a city in the state of Odisha, about north of the state capital Bhubaneswar and from Kolkata, in eastern India. It is the largest town of northern Odisha and the administrative headquarters of Balasore district. It ...

odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sc ...

. His father, Madhusudan Das, worked under British Government. He had started writing early. His first work a book of poetry in Odia, ''Satavdira Artanada'' was published in 1949 when he was in high school. He launched a literary magazine, ''Diganta'' in 1950. He graduated high school in 1951. His first collection of short stories ''Samudrara Kshyudha (Hunger of Sea)'' was in that year. He was active in student politics while studying BA in Cuttack College. He was a youth leader with radical views in his college days, and spent a year in jail for his revolutionary activities. In 1959 he was a delegate to the Afro-Asian students' conference at Bandung, Indonesia. He did not complete his degree in Cuttack. He ultimately finished his graduation from Samanta Chandra Shekhar College, Puri in 1955. During his college years, he kept on writing and published a novel ''Jeebanara Swada'', a collection of short stories ''Vishakanyar Kahani'' and a collection of poems ''Padadhawani''. After graduating with a degree in English literature, he got a post-graduate degree in English literature from

Ravenshaw college Ravenshaw University, formerly known as Ravenshaw college, is a co-educational state university situated in Cuttack, Odisha on the eastern coast of India. Founded as Ravenshaw College in 1868, the institution became a university in 2006. The un ...

. After a short stint as a lecturer at Christ College (Cuttack), he joined Sri Aurobindo Ashram at Puducherry. Since 1963, he has been professor of English Literature at Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, Puducherry. He cited

Fakir Mohan Senapati Fakir Mohan Senapati ( Odia: ଫକୀର ମୋହନ ସେନାପତି; 13 January 1843 – 14 June 1918), often referred to as Utkala Byasa Kabi (''Odisha's Vyasa''), was an Indian writer, poet, philosopher and social reformer. He played ...

Vyasa Krishna Dvaipayana ( sa, कृष्णद्वैपायन, Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana), better known as Vyasa (; sa, व्यासः, Vyāsaḥ, compiler) or Vedavyasa (वेदव्यासः, ''Veda-vyāsaḥ'', "the one who cl ...

, and

Valmiki Valmiki (; Sanskrit: वाल्मीकि, ) is celebrated as the harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. The epic ''Ramayana'', dated variously from the 5th century BCE to first century BCE, is attributed to him, based on the attributi ...

as early influences.

As editor and columnist

Das edited a cultural magazine, ''The Heritage'', published from Chennai in 1985-1989. The magazine is no longer in circulation. He wrote columns on quest for finding eternal truth in common lives in India’s national dailies like ''The Times of India, The Hindustan Times, The Hindu'' and ''The Statesman''.

Creative writing and story-telling

Das is perhaps the foremost bilingual Odia writer and a master of dramatic expression both in his English and Odia short stories and novels. Das has been compared to

Vishnu Sharma Sharma (Sanskrit: विष्णुशर्मन् / विष्णुशर्मा) was an Indian scholar and author who wrote the '' Panchatantra'', a collection of fables. Works Panchatantra is one of the most widely translated non-r ...

, in modern Odia literature for his magnificent style and efficient use of words and for the fact that, he is one of the best story-tellers in India in modern times. Over the years many research scholars have done their doctoral thesis on the works of Manoj Das, P. Raja being the first scholar to do so.

National and international positions

Among the other important positions that Das held were, Member, General Council,

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 of ...

, New Delhi 1998–2002, and Author-consultant, Ministry of Education, Government of Singapore, 1983–85. He was the leader of the Indian delegation of writers to China (1999).

Awards

* Odisha Sahitya Academy Award, 1965 and 1987 * Kendra Sahitya Academy Award, 1972 * Sarala Award, 1981 * Vishuba Award, 1986 * Sahitya Bharati Award, 1995 *

, 2000; *

Orissa State Film Award for Best Story The Odisha State Film Awards have been conferred by the Department of Culture of the Government of Odisha, India. The awards were initiated in 1968. The awards are decided by independent juries formed by the Department of Culture. The jury ...

2001 *

, 2001 *

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished servi ...

. 2020 *

Sahitya Akademi Fellowship The Sahitya Akademi Fellowship is a literary honour in India bestowed by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters.Quote: "In his acceptance speech when India's National Academy of Letters (Sahitya Akademi) in 1997 conferred its ...

, 2006 * Atibadi Jagannath Das award, 2007 *NTR Literary Award, 2013 * Amritakeerti Puraskar, 2013 *Veda Vyas Samman *Mystic Kalinga Literary Award (2020)

Selected works

Novels * ''The Escapist'', 2001 * ''Tandralokara Prahari'', 2000 * ''Aakashra Isara'', 1997 * ''Amruta Phala'', 1996 (Saraswati Samman) * ''A Tiger at Twilight'', 1991 * ''Bulldozers and Fables and Fantasies for Adults'', (1990) * ''Cyclones'', 1987 * ''Prabhanjana'' * ''Godhulira Bagha'' * ''Kanaka-Upatyakara Kahani'' * ''Amruta phala'' * ''Sesha tantrikara sandhanare'' Short Story Collections * ''Upakatha Sataka'' * ''Abu Purusha'' * ''Sesa Basantara Chithi'', 1966 * ''Manoj Dasanka Katha O Kahani'', 1971 * ''Dhumabha Diganta O Anyana Kahani'', 1971 * ''The Crocodile's Lady: A Collection of Stories'', 1975 * ''Manoj-pancha-bimsati'', 1977 * ''The Submerged Valley and Other Stories'', 1986 * ''Farewell to a Ghost: Short Stories and a Novelette'', 1994 * ''Legend of the Golden Valley'', 1996 * ''Samudra-kulara Eka Grama (Balya Smruti)'', 1996 * ''Aranyaka''; (adapted to ''

Aranyaka The Aranyakas (; sa, आरण्यक; IAST: ' ) are the part of the ancient Indian Vedas concerned with the meaning of ritual sacrifice. They typically represent the later sections of the Vedas, and are one of many layers of the Vedic texts ...

'', 1994) * ''Bhinna Manisha O Anyana Kahani'' * ''Abupurusha O Anyana Kahani'' * ''Lakshmira Abhisara'' * ''Abolakara Kahani'' * ''Aranya Ullasha'' * ''Selected Fiction'', * ''Chasing the Rainbow : growing up in an Indian village'', 2004 Travelogue * ''Keta Diganta (Part I)'' * ''Keta Diganta (Part -II)'' * ''Antaranga Bharata (Part I)'' (My Little India) * ''Antaranga Bharata (Part II)'' * ''Dura-durantara'' * ''Adura Bidesh – 2004'' Poetry * ''Tuma Gaan O Anyanya Kabita'', 1992 * ''Kabita Utkala'' History & Culture * ''Bharatara Aitihya: Shateka Prashnara Uttara'',1999 * ''Manoj Das Paribesita Upakatha Shataka (Tales Told by Mystics)'', 2002 * ''Mahakalara Prahelika O Anyana Jijnansa'', 2006 * ''Jibana Jijnasa o Smaraika Stabaka'' * ''Prajna Pradeepika''

Commentary

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

once said, ''I have read the stories of Manoj Das with great pleasure. He will certainly take a place on my shelves besides the stories of Narayan. I imagine Odisha is far from Malgudi, but there is the same quality in his stories with perhaps an added mystery.''

Notes

References

"Manoj Das – Oriya Writer: The South Asian Literary Recordings Project" Library of Congress, New Delhi Office
''loc.gov'' * Raja, P. (1993) ''Many worlds of Manoj icDas'' B.R. Pub. Corp, New Delhi, ;

External links

Official Website:worldofmanojdas.in

On the Crest of the Horizon:Manoj Das" a film by Dr Prafulla Mohanty
{{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Manoj Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education 1934 births 2021 deaths Writers from Odisha People from Balasore district Recipients of the Saraswati Samman Award Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Odia Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education Recipients of the Atibadi Jagannath Das Award Odia-language writers Odia short story writers Odia novelists Indian Hindus 20th-century Indian novelists 20th-century Indian short story writers 20th-century Indian poets Indian travel writers Indian historical fiction writers Recipients of the Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award