Manoranjan Das (23 July 1923 – 17 February 2013) was an influential

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...

, and pioneer of

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

in Odia Literature. He was known for his experimentalism and deep socio-political awareness, who became most known in the 1960s with his experimental theatre. Sachidanandan, p. 147-148 Amongst his most known work are, ''Kathagodha'' (The Wooden Horse) and ''Aranya Fasal'' (The Wild Harvest), 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 ...

(1971). In a career spanning over four decades, his plays include ''Janmamati'' (Land of Birth) written in 1943 and his latest ''Nandika Kesari'' which appeared in 1985.

Early life and education

Born in 1923 in a village (named "Patana,42-Mouza, Cuttack sadar") near

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...

, he did his schooling in Kujang near Paradip, completing his intermediate in 1942. Thereafter he joined Ravenshaw College in Cuttack.

Career

He joined

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

where he rose to the level of Producer Emeritus. During his literary career, he has written 14 other plays, including ''Aranya Fasal'' (The Wild Harvest), which won him the

given

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 1971, and the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

in 2004.Padma Shri Awardees

website. His other plays are ''Jauban'' (Youth), ''August Na'' (The Ninth August 1947), ''Baxi Jagabandhu'' (The Sacrifice of Jagabandhu), ''Agami'' (The Oncoming), Abarodha (The Seize), ''Kathagodha'' (The Wooden Horse), and ''Sabdalipi'' (The Word-script).

Works

* ''Smriti samlap'' (autobiography). Friends Publishers, 1999; . * ''Ten essays on poet, poetry and psychology''. Future Publications, 2005. * ''Aranya Fasal''. Sahitya Akademi Publications, 2001; .

Works in translation

* ''The Wooden Horse: drama''. Pub. Bookland International (1982) * ''The Wild Harvest''. Translated by Prabhat Nalini Das. Pub.

, 1993; * ''A game of words: a play''. tr. by Bibhu Padhi, Guru Charan Behera. Pub. Prachi Prakashan, 1997; * ''A ray's rope''. Pub. Ila Das, 1997. * * ''Nandika Keshari: (Sarala award winning play)''. tr by Prabhat Nalini Das. Prachi Prakashan (2000); * ''Afternoon flurries''. Pub. Subarnarekha, 2002. * ''A dialogue with memory'' (autobiography). tr. by Aruna Kumar Mohanty & J. K. Nayak. National Book Trust, India, (2002);

Notes

References

* * *
https://timesofindia.indiatimescom/city/bhubaneslplaywright-manoranjan-das-dead/articleshow/1856832
{{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Manoranjan 1923 births 2013 deaths People from Cuttack district Indian male dramatists and playwrights Odia-language writers Odia dramatists and playwrights Dramatists and playwrights from Odisha Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Odia Recipients of the Atibadi Jagannath Das Award Recipients of the Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian male writers