Nirmal Verma (3 April 192925 October 2005) was a

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 ...

writer, novelist, activist and translator. He is credited as being one of the pioneers of the ''Nai Kahani'' (New Story) literary movement of

Hindi literature Hindi literature () includes literature in the various Central Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Hindi, some of which have different writing systems. Earliest forms of Hindi literature are attested in poetry of Apabhraṃśa such as Awad ...

, wherein his first collection of stories, ''Parinde'' (Birds) is considered its first signature. In his career spanning five decades and various forms of literature, writing story, travelogues and essays, he penned five novels, eight short-story collections and nine books of non-fiction, including essays and travelogues.

Biography

Nirmal Verma was born on 3 April 1929 in

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 ...

, where his father worked as an officer in the Civil and Services Department of the British Indian Government. He was the seventh child among his eight siblings. One of his brothers is one of India's greatest artists Ram Kumar.'He was the modern voice of Indian genius'
Obituary, Rediff.com, 26 October 2005 He is survived by his wife, Gagan Gill who is a writer. He wrote his first story for a students' magazine in the early 1950s. He completed Masters of Arts in History from St. Stephen's College,

Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

. Thereafter he started teaching in Delhi and writing for various literary magazines. His activism streak was visible even during his student days; in 1947–48, he regularly attended Mahatma Gandhiji's morning prayer meetings in Delhi, even though he was a card holding member of

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

, which he resigned in 1956, after Soviet invasion of

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. The very activism was soon to be reflected in his stories, which added a whole new dimension to the Indian literary scene. He stayed in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

for 10 years, where he was invited by Oriental Institute to initiate a program of translation of modern Czech writers like

Karel Čapek Karel Čapek (; 9 January 1890 – 25 December 1938) was a Czech writer, playwright, critic and journalist. He has become best known for his science fiction, including his novel '' War with the Newts'' (1936) and play '' R.U.R.'' (''Rossum' ...

Milan Kundera Milan Kundera ( ; ; 1 April 1929 – 11 July 2023) was a Czech and French novelist. Kundera went into exile in France in 1975, acquiring citizenship in 1981. His Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, but he was granted Czech citizenship ...

Bohumil Hrabal Bohumil Hrabal (; 28 March 1914 – 3 February 1997) was a Czech Republic, Czech writer, often named among the best Czech writers of the 20th century. Early life Hrabal was born in Židenice (suburb of Brno) on 28 March 1914, in what was then ...

to Hindi; he also learnt

Czech language Czech ( ; ), historically known as Bohemian ( ; ), is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. Spoken by over 12 million people including second language speakers, it serves as the official language of the ...

, and translated nine world classics to Hindi, before returning home in 1968, as the result of

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia On 20–21 August 1968, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four fellow Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and the Hungarian People's Republic. The ...

. During his stay in Prague he travelled widely across Europe, and the result was seven travelogues, including Cheeron Par Chandni (1962), Har Barish Mein (1970) and Dhund Se Uthti Dhun and his first novel, based on his student days in Prague, titled, ''Ve Din'' (''Those Days'') (1964). On his return from Prague, he was disillusioned by communism and later became highly vocal against Indian Emergency, and an advocate for the

Tibetan independence movement The Tibetan independence movement ( ''Bod rang btsan''; zh, t=西藏獨立運動, s=西藏独立运动) is the political movement advocating for the reversal of the 1950 annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China, and the separation ...

. His subsequent writing reflected his concerted relooking of Indian traditions, which he found to be innately modern, compared with external modernity reflected in the western viewpoints and cultural milieu, which were being imposed on Indian ethos, all around, so much so that later his views were confused as pro-Hindutva as well. A critical analysis of Verma's work was presented by Ram Prakash Dwivedi From 1980–83, Verma served as chairman of Nirala creative writing chair in Bharat Bhavan,

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

. In 1988–90 he was director of Yashpal Creative Writing Chair in

. A film based on his story, Maya Darpan (1972), directed by

Kumar Shahani Kumar Shahani (7 December 1940 – 24 February 2024) was an Indian film director and screenwriter, best known for his parallel cinema films '' Maya Darpan'' (1972), '' Tarang'' (1984), '' Khayal Gatha'' (1989) and '' Kasba'' (1990). His films w ...

, won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film. In his popular novel ''A Torn Happiness'',

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...

looms large over the heads of many characters. He died on 25 October 2005 in New Delhi.

Awards and milestones

Jnanpith Award The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian ...

in 1999, the highest literary award for Indian writers. * 'Kavve aur Kala Pani', A collection of seven short stories, won 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 ...

in 1985. *

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') 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 Januar ...

in 2002. * Jnanapith Trust's "Murtidevi Award" for his book of essays, Bharat Aur Europe: Pratishruti Ke Kshetra (1991). * Jury member

Lettre Ulysses Award The Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage has been given annually since 2003 for the best texts in the genre of literary reportage, which must have been first published during the previous two years. The award was initiated by Lettre Intern ...

for the art of

Reportage Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

−2003.Nirmal Verma, India
Lettre-ulysses-award.org. Retrieved on 22 May 2016. * He was a fellow with the International Institute for Asian Studies. *

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

catalogues most of the works of Nirmal Verma in its collection. * India's highest literary award, for lifetime achievement, the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 2005.Fellowships

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 ...

Official website. * On the publication of his book, "The World Elsewhere", in 1988, by the Readers International in London, BBC Channel Four telecasted a film on his life and works. * Chevalier de l'ordre des arts et des lettres (France) 2005

''Nai Kahani'' movement

Nirmal Verma, together with Mohan Rakesh, Bhisham Sahni, Kamleshwar, Amarkant, Rajendra Yadav and others, is the founder of the ''Nai Kahani'' (new short story) in

literature. Nirmal Verma is best known for his short stories and his best known story, 'Parinde' (Birds) (1959) is supposed to be the pioneer of the ''Nai Kahani Movement'' in

. Nirmal Verma's other notable stories are ''Andhere Mein'', ''Dedh Inch Upar'', and ''Kavve Aur Kala Pani''. Nirmal Verma's last story was published in "Naya Gyanodaya" August 2005 issue, titled "Ab Kuchh Nahin". Nirmal Verma experimented vividly with theme as well as technique of the Hindi short story in the 60s and 70s. A collection of his letters written to Ramkumar (well known artist and his brother) has been published by Bhartiya Jnanpith, titled "Priya Ram" (Dear Ram). His books have been translated into several European languages such as English, Russian, German, Icelandic, Polish, Italian and French.

Major works

Novels *''Ve Din'' – His first novel, set in Prague, former Czechoslovakia (1964), *''Antima Aranya'' (The Last Wilderness) *''Ek Chithara Sukh'' (1979) *''Lal Teen Ki Chhat'' (Red Tin Roof), (1974) *''Raat ka Reporter '' (1989) Story anthologies * 'Parinde' (Birds) (1959) * Jalti Jhari (1965) * London ki raat *Pichli Garmiyon Mein (1968) * ''Akala tripathi'' * ''Dedh Inch Upar'' * Beech Bahas Mein (1973) * Meri Priya Kahaniyan (1973) * Pratinidhi Kahaniyan (1988) * Kavve aur Kala Pani (1983) * Sookha aur Anya Kahaniyan (1995). * Dhage (2003) Reportage and travelogues * Cheeron Par Chandni (1962) * Har Barish Mein (1989)(In Every Rain) Plays * Teen Ekant (1976) Essays and literary criticism * Shabda aur Smriti (1976) – Literary essay *''Kala Ka Jokhima'' (1981) – investigation of the Indic arts in the 20th century *''Dhundha Se Uthati Dhun'' – written like a diary on issues related to Hindi literature. – Literary criticism * Dhalan se Utarate Huye – Literary criticism * Bharat Aur Europe: Pratishruti Ke Kshetra (1991) – Essay.

References

External links

Nirmal Verma at Abhivyakti

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verma, Nirmal 1929 births 2005 deaths Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Hindi Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship Recipients of the Jnanpith Award Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Indian male novelists Indian literary critics 20th-century Indian translators Hindi-language writers Hindi-language poets People from Shimla St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni Delhi University alumni 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian novelists Indian male poets Indian male essayists International Writing Program alumni 20th-century Indian essayists Novelists from Himachal Pradesh Poets from Himachal Pradesh 20th-century Indian male writers Recipients of the Moortidevi Award People from Punjab Province (British India)