Sarvesh Asthana (born 10 September 1965) is an Indian poet, writer and satirist, who writes and performs in the

Hindi language Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of the Government of India, alongside English, and is the ''li ...

. He has authored around 12 books. Asthana has contributed to various genres 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 ...

, including Hasya Kavita (humorous comic poetry), Vyangya (satire) and Bal kavita (children's rhymes). He was honored with the

Yash Bharati 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 ...

, the highest civilian award of the

Government of Uttar Pradesh The Government of Uttar Pradesh (International Organization for Standardization, ISO: ''Uttara Pradēśa Sarakāra''; often abbreviated as GoUP) is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the governor as its appoin ...

for his contribution in the field of literature in 2016. He is also the recipient of the Sohan Lal Dwivedi Award by the

Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan also known as UP Hindi Sansthan is an autonomous organisation in Uttar Pradesh, working for the promotion of Hindi language. It is run under the Department of Languages, Government of Uttar Pradesh. Apart from organiz ...

. Asthana was appointed the Advisor to the

Indian Council for Cultural Relations The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India's global cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their people. It was founded on 9 April ...

(ICCR) in 2019.

Early life

Sarvesh Asthana was born on 10 September 1965, in

Hardoi Hardoi is a city and municipal board in Hardoi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Hardoi district. It is also known as Prahalad Nagari. Hardoi is about 110 km from the state capital Lucknow ...

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 ...

. He is the son of

Awadhi language Awadhi, also known as Audhi, is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. It is spoken in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh in northern India and in Terai region of western Nepal. The n ...

poet and freedom fighter Banke Lal Asthana. He is a law graduate and journalist by profession.

Career

Some of his published notable books include ''Vo Balcony Wale'' (memoir collection), ''Bhor Vibhor'' (poetry collection), ''Inko Jaano Inhe Manaao'' (children's poetry collection), ''Khaulta Makarand'' (song collection), ''Tanhaaiya Aabad Hain'' (

Ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

collection), ''Wazir Baadshah'' (prose satire poetry), ''Shamshan Ghat'' (satire) and ''Isko Sheesh Nawao'' (children's poetry collection). Sarvesh Asthana is active in the Hindi poetry circuit and

Kavi Sammelan A ''Kavi Sammelan'' (Devanagari:कवि सम्मेलन, Nastaliq: کوی سمملان, ''Kavī Sammelan'') is a traditional gathering of poets in the Hindi Belt region of northern India, where poets recite their poetry before each other a ...

for more than 35 years. He has written thousands of prose satire besides the poetry, Ghazal and children's literature. He is the founder and principal editor of the literary magazine, 'Sahityagandha'. He has performed poetry across India and overseas countries like the UK, the

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

. He is a regular on the radio and in two TV comedy serials, ''Hero Koun'' (Who's the Hero?) and M''iss Ramkalie'', aired on

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

. In his personal life, he is working for destitute and needy children for the last twenty years, as reported in September 2018 by

Dainik Jagran ''Dainik Jagran'' () is an Indian Hindi-language daily newspaper. In terms of circulation, it was ranked 5th in the world in 2016 and 1st in India in 2022. In 2019 Quarter 4, according to Indian Readership Survey, Dainik Jagran reported a to ...

. Asthana has also founded the ' Khilona Bank' (toy bank), which organizes the annual 'Bal Utsav', a ten-day children's festival since 2001. He is also a member of the Juvenile Justice Selection Committee. He is the founder of Search Foundation, an organization to help needy children. He also organizes Lantrani, an annual Humorous programme on

April Fool's Day April Fools' Day or April Fool's Day (rarely called All Fools' Day) is an annual custom on the 1st of April consisting of practical jokes, hoaxes, and pranks. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fool " at the recipient. Mas ...

since 2016 and Youth Festival, a part from Lucknow Mohotsav, which was co-founded by Asthana and Mukul Mohan in 1995. In March 2019, Sarvesh Asthana was named the Advisor to the

(ICCR).

Books

* ''Vo Balcony Wale'' (memoir collection) * ''Bhor Vibhor'' (poetry collection) * ''Inko Jaano Inhe Manaao'' (children's poetry collection) * ''Khaulta Makarand'' (song collection) * ''Tanhaaiya Aabad Hain'' (Ghazal collection) * ''Wazir Baadshah'' (prose satire poetry) * ''Shamshan Ghat'' (satire collection) * ''Inko Shish Nawaz'' (children's poetry collection) * ''Inhe Dekh Kar Khush ho Jao'' (children's book) * ''Inko khao Swasthya Banao'' (children's book) * ''Ao Paryawaran Bachayen'' (children's book) * '' Internet Ka Nasha Aur Apke Bachche'' (children's book)

Awards and recognition

* In 2016, Sarvesh Asthana was facilitated with

, the highest civilian award of the

. * He was awarded the Awadh Jyoti Samman by Awadh Bharati Sansthan in 2020. * He was honored with Sohan Lal Dwivedi Award by the

. * In 2014, Asthana received the Kaka Hathrasi Award by Kaka Hathrasi Puraskar Trust. * In 2017, he received the Hindi Sahitya Seva Samman by the Hindi Vikas Parishad. * Asthana awarded the Antarrashtriya Vyangya Samman (International Satire Award) by the International Hindi Association in 2014. * He was honored with Kaka Devesh Vyangya Shiromani Award in September 2019 and the award was bestowed by

Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Rambhadracharya (born Giridhar Mishra on 14 January 1950) is an Indian Hindu spiritual leader, educator, Sanskrit scholar, polyglot, poet, author, textual commentator, philosopher, composer, singer, playwrigh ...

of Pushkar Dham.

References

External links

Official website

Sarvesh Asthana's Poetry
on ''Kavita Kosh'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Asthana, Sarvesh 1965 births Living people Hindi-language writers from India Hindi-language poets People from Hardoi district Writers from Lucknow Indian humorists 20th-century Indian poets Poets from Uttar Pradesh Indian male poets 20th-century Indian male writers