Mohan Chopra (10 September 1921 – 11 December 1969) was an

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 ...

n intellectual and author.

Life

Mohan Chopra was born at

Gurdaspur Gurdaspur is a city in the Majha region of the Indian state of Punjab, between the rivers Beas and Ravi. It houses the administrative headquarters of Gurdaspur District and is in the geographical centre of the district, which shares a bord ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. He received his education at Dalhousie, Gurdaspur, and

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. He earned an M.A. in English and taught in colleges at Lahore,

Ludhiana Ludhiana () is the most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab.164.100.161.224 http://164.100.161.224 › filesPDF Ludhiana State: Punjab Business & Industrial Centre, Tier 2 1 ... The city has an estima ...

Ferozepur Firozpur, (pronunciation: ɪroːzpʊr also known as Ferozepur, is a city on the banks of the Sutlej River in the Firozpur District of Punjab, India. After the Partition of India in 1947, it became a border town on the India–Pakistan bor ...

, and Hissar.

Works

Short stories

Chopra's first short story was published in 1953 in a Calcuttan magazine called ''Ranee''. He wrote about a hundred short stories in his life. Most of them were published in a magazine from

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

called ''Kahani''. These stories are included in several collections of short stories titled ''Aadha Kata Hua Surya'', ''Peele Patte'', ''Sham Aur Akela Aadmi'', ''Band Darwaza'', ''Intezaar Aur Terah Anya Kahaniyan'' and ''Mohan Chopra ki Shresth Kahaniyan''. A number of these short stories have been translated in other Indian languages.

Novels

Mohan Chopra's novel, ''Bahein'', was published in 1956. Thereafter, five other novels were published: ''Needh Se Aage'', ''Ek Chhaya Aur Main'', ''Subah Se Pahle'', ''Ye Naye Log'', and ''Tuta Hua Aadmi''. ''Ek Chhaya Aur Main'' was translated into the

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

language and published under the name ''Bhranti Samar''.

Drama

In the field of drama, three of Mohan Chopra's works were published: ''Samay Ke Swar'', a collection of one-act plays; ''Chattan Ka Phool'', a collection of radio plays; and ''Aandhi Aur Ghar'', a full-length play. ''Aandhi Aur Ghar'' was written along the lines of a Greek drama, keeping in view the unity of time, place, and action.

Travelogue

''Vaadiyon Ke Raaste'', a travelogue, was published in 1968.

Poetry

Chopra published two books of poetry: ''Nai Subah Ke Charan'' in 1968 and ''Coffee House Mein Mynah'' in 2000.

Subject of Ph.D research

His works were the subject of extensive research by

Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (KUK) is a university established on 11January 1956 in Kurukshetra, in the Indian state of Haryana, from the capital, Delhi. It is a member of Association of Commonwealth Universities. History The univers ...

. In 2000, a Ph.D degree was awarded to Promila Anand for research work entitled ''Mohan Chopra Ka Vyaktitava Aur Krititava''. In 2009, another Ph.D degree was awarded to Seema Devi for her research work entitled ''Mohan Chopra Ke Sahitya Mein Vyakt Jeewan Darshan''. His works were also the subject of many M. Phil degrees awarded by

Kurukshetra Kurukshetra () is a city and administrative headquarters of Kurukshetra district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is also known as Dharmakshetra ("Realm of duty") and as the "Land of the Bhagavad Gita". Legends According to the Puranas ...

and

Guru Nanak Dev Guru ( ; IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential figure to the disciple (or '' s ...

Universities.

Awards

His novels ''Tuta Hua Aadmi'' and ''Ye Naye Log'', the full-length play ''Aandhi Aur Ghar'', and collection of short stories ''Aadha Kata Hua Surya'' were declared the best works of the year for 1971, 1972, and 1973 respectively by the Haryana Government.Department of Languages, Haryana State Government, India His novel ''Ye Naye Log'' was declared the best work for the year 1972 by the Punjab Government.Department of Languages, Punjab State Government, India

Mohan Chopra's works in chronological order

*''Samay Ke Swar'', a collection of one-act plays, 1955Published by "Nava Sahitya Prakashan", Multani Dhanda, New Delhi-1 *''Baahein'', a novel, 1956 *''Needh Se Aage'', a novel, 1961Published by "Aatma Ram & Sons", Delhi-6 *''Chattan Ka Phool'', a collection of radio plays, 1963 *''Ek Chhaya Aur Main'', a novel, 1965Published by "Hind Pocket Books", Delhi-6 *''Nai Subah Ke Charan'', a collection of poems, 1967Published by "Modern Publications", Ambala Cantt *''Vaadiyon Ke Raaste'', a travelogue, 1968Published by "Aalok Prakashan", Kurukshetra *''Subah Se Pahle'', a novel, 1969Published by "Rajpal and Sons", Delhi-6 *''Ye Naye Log'', a novel, 1970 *''Tuta Hua Aadmi'', a novel, 1971Published by "Vishvodaya Prakashan", Delhi-9 *''Aandhi Aur Ghar'', a full-length play, 1972 *''Aadha Kata Hua Surya'', a collection of short stories, 1973 *''Peele Patte, Sham Aur Akela Aadmi'', a collection of short stories,1987Published by "Aasha Prakashan Greh", New Delhi-5 *''Band Darwaja'', a collection of short stories, 1990 *''Coffee House Main Mynah'', a collection of poems, 2000Published by "Arya Book Depot", New Delhi-5 *''Intezaar Aur Terah Anya Kahaaniyan'', a collection of short stories, 2002

References

External links

Books by Mohan Chopra
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chopra, Mohan Hindi-language writers 1921 births 1969 deaths Indian writers