Rajendra Yadav (28 August 1929 – 28 October 2013) 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 ...

fiction writer, and a pioneer of the 'Nayi Kahani' movement of Hindi literature. He edited the literary magazine ''HANS'', which was founded by

Munshi Premchand Dhanpat Rai Srivastava (31 July 1880 – 8 October 1936), better known as Munshi Premchand based on his pen name Premchand (), was an Indian writer famous for his modern Hindustani literature. Premchand was a pioneer of Hindi and Urdu s ...

in 1930 but ceased publication in 1953 – Yadav relaunched it on 31 July 1986, (Premchand's Birthday). His wife

Manu Bhandari Mannu Bhandari (3 April 1931 – 15 November 2021) was an Indian author, screenplay writer, teacher, and playwright. Primarily known for her two Hindi novels, ''Aap Ka Bunty'' (''Your Bunty'') and ''Mahabhoj'' (''Feast''), Bhandari also wrote ...

was a notable Hindi writer and novelist.

Biography

Rajendra Yadav was born in

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

, Uttar Pradesh on 28 August 1929. He received his early education at Agra, and later also studied at Mawana,

Meerut Meerut (, ISO 15919, ISO: ''Mēraṭh'') is a city in the western region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Meerut district, it is northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and is ...

. He graduated in 1949, and later completed his MA in Hindi at

Agra University Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, formerly Agra University, is an Autonomous University located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. The university, formerly named as Agra University, was later named after Bhimrao Ambedkar. Affiliated colleges The U ...

in 1951. His first novel was ''Pret Bolte Hain'' (''Ghosts Speak''), published in 1951 and later retitled as ''

Sara Akash (English: The Whole Sky) is a 1969 Hindi film directed by Basu Chatterjee, based on first part of novel (The whole Cosmos, 1951) by Rajendra Yadav. This was Yadav's debut novel, originally published as ''Pret Bolte Hain'' (Ghosts Speak), rename ...

'' (''The Infinite Cosmos'') in the 1960s. It was the first Hindi novel to try to shock orthodox Indian cultural traditions. It was adapted into a movie of the same title, ''

'', by

Basu Chatterjee Basu Chatterjee (10 January 1927 – 4 June 2020) was an Indian film director and screenwriter in Hindi Cinema. Through the 1970s and 1980s, he became associated with what came to be known as middle cinema or middle-of-the-road cinema filmmaker ...

in 1969 and which along with

Mrinal Sen Mrinal Sen ( ; 14 May 1923 – 30 December 2018) was a Bengali film director and screenwriter known for his work primarily in Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali, and a few Hindi cinema, Hindi and Telugu cinema, Telugu language films. Regarded as on ...

's ''

Bhuvan Shome ''Bhuvan Shome'' is a 1969 Indian Hindi-language Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Mrinal Sen based on a Bengali story by Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay. The cast includes Utpal Dutt (Bhuvan Shome) and Suhasini Mulay (Gauri, a villa ...

'', launched

Parallel Cinema Parallel cinema, or New Indian Cinema, is a film movement in Cinema of India, Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema. Inspired by Italian Neorealism, ...

in Hindi. The films were shot at the Yadav's ancestral home in

Raja Ki Mandi Raja ki Mandi (Hindi: राजा की मंडी) is named after a ruler of the place Raja Ram Vyas, it is an area in Agra with shops selling all sorts of clothes lining the streets. There is also a railway station at Raja ki Mandi by the ...

, Agra. ''Ukhre Huey Log'', ('The Rootless People) his next novel, depicts the trauma of a couple arising out of socio-economic condition which forced them to desert the conventional path – and, still they failed to acclimatise themselves to a corrupt and devilish world. This novel envisages "living in" concept for the first time. He wrote two more novels, ''Kulta'' (The Wayward Wife), and ''Shaah aur Maat'' (Check and Mate). He also wrote several stories and translated into Hindi many works of

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

writers like

Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

, and

Lermontov Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov ( , ; rus, Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, , mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjʉrʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲerməntəf, links=yes; – ) was a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of ...

(A Hero of Our Times), as also

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the s ...

(The Outsider). ''Ek Inch Muskaan'' (A Little Smile), which Rajendra Yadav and wife

Mannu Bhandari Mannu Bhandari (3 April 1931 – 15 November 2021) was an Indian author, screenplay writer, teacher, and playwright. Primarily known for her two Hindi novels, ''Aap Ka Bunty'' (''Your Bunty'') and ''Mahabhoj'' (''Feast''), Bhandari also wrote ...

wrote together, is a love tragedy of

schizophrenic Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

individuals. Besides being a writer, Rajendra Yadav was also a nominated board member of Prasar Bharti in 1999–2001. He was awarded

Yash Bharati Award Yash Bharati Award is the highest civilian award of the Government of Uttar Pradesh. Instituted in 1994, it is awarded to those personalities whose contribution is remarkable in the field of literature, social work, medicine, film, science, jour ...

of year 2013 by Government of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. Yadav died in New Delhi on 28 October 2013. He was 84 years old when he died. Before his death, he had been admitted to hospital as he was ailing .

Career

Writing

Yadav, along with fellow Hindi writers Kamleshwar and

Mohan Rakesh Mohan Rakesh (8 January 19253 December 1972) was one of the pioneers of the ''Nai Kahani'' ("New Story") literary movement of the Hindi literature in India in the 1950s. He wrote the first modern Hindi play, '' Ashadh Ka Ek Din'' (One Day in Aa ...

was one of the early pioneers of the ''Nayi Kahani'' (New Story) movement in

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 ...

. His early fiction focused on the lives of the middle class, and often touched upon political issues.

Editing

As editor of '' Hans'', a monthly literary magazine in Hindi, Yadav encouraged writing on themes surrounding questions of inequality and poverty. In his editorials for ''Hans'', he often wrote about issues concerning feminism and

Dalit Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold var ...

empowerment, and encouraged contributions to the magazine from Dalit and women writers. His frank style occasionally courted controversy and he was once the subject of litigation after statements made by him were alleged to offend religious sentiments. He was a strong advocate of freedom of expression and expressed the opinion that the refusal of Hindi writer-editors to publish good, but controversial, literature, had directly led to the flourishing of little magazines that would publish such works.

Selected bibliography

* ''Sara Akash'', 2006 * ''Randua'', 2015 * ''Ukhre Huey Log'', (The Rootless People) * ''Kulta'' (The Wayward Wife) * ''Shaah aur Maat'' (Check and Mate). * Strangers on the Roof, tr. by Ruth Vanita. 1994, Penguin, . * ''Ek Inch Muskaan'' (A Little Smile), with Manu Bhandari.

References

External links

About Rajendra Yadav, at Hans magazine website

Rajendra Yadav, at E-Magazine Shabdankan
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yadav, Rajendra Hindi-language writers Indian magazine editors Indian male essayists 1929 births 2013 deaths Writers from Agra Novelists from Uttar Pradesh People from Noida Translators from Russian Translators from English Translators to Hindi Indian male novelists 20th-century Indian novelists Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University alumni 20th-century Indian translators 20th-century Indian essayists 20th-century Indian male writers