Shriniwas Joshi (born 11 May 1936) is a columnist, theatre artist, and retired civil servant from

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

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 ...

. As a columnist, Joshi is especially known for his column 'Vignettes' in the Indian English daily

The Tribune ''The Tribune'' or ''Tribune'' is the name of various newspapers: United States Daily California *''Oakland Tribune'' * ''The Tribune'' (San Luis Obispo) * ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' *''San Gabriel Valley Tribune'' Indiana *''Kokomo Tribune' ...

, through which he has documented people, history, places, and idiosyncratic things all across Himachal Pradesh. As a theatre figure, he has been associated for decades with

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 ...

's historic Gaiety Theatre, for which he has written, acted in, and directed a number of plays. As a retired civil servant, Joshi has been active in various civic causes in Shimla, including heritage conservation, environmental protection, and the promotion of arts.

Personal life and career

Joshi was born in 1936 in

Simla Shimla, also known as Simla (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, 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 summe ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. He did an M.A. in political science from the

Panjab University Panjab University (PU) is an Indian collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh. Funded through both State and Union governments, it is considered a state university. It traces its origins to the University of the Punjab in Lahor ...

in Chandigarh, and then an MA in economics from the

Punjabi University Punjabi University is a collegiate state public university located in Patiala, Punjab, India, Punjab, India. It was established on 30 April 1962 and is only the second university in the world to be named after a language, after Hebrew Universit ...

in Patiala. Afterwards, he joined government service as a statistician, and retired as an officer of the

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

in 1994. In his administrative capacity, among other tasks, Joshi served as special secretary to Himachal Pradesh's Chief Minister

Virbhadra Singh Virbhadra Singh (; 23 June 19348 July 2021) was an Indian politician who served 6 terms and 21 years as the 4th Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. A leader of the Indian National Congress party, he was elected 9 times as a Member of Legislati ...

, as Director of Primary Education, and as Director of the Department of Art, Culture, and Language in the

Government of Himachal Pradesh The Government of Himachal Pradesh also known as the State Government of Himachal Pradesh, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It consists of an executive branch, led by th ...

. He served as the

Deputy Commissioner A deputy commissioner is a police, income tax or administrative official in many countries. The rank is commonplace in police forces of Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, usually ranking below the Commissioner. Australia In all Aust ...

Kangra district Kangra district is the most populous district of Himachal Pradesh, India. Dharamshala is the administrative headquarters of the district. History Kangra is known for having one of the oldest serving Royal Dynasty in the world, the Katoch of ...

, Himachal Pradesh, from 29 June 1992 till 4 August 1993. Post-retirement, he served as the administrator of Indus Hospital, Shimla, and as a member of the Board of Management, Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University (Palampur, H.P.). Over 2009-12, Joshi was a member of the Inter Agency Core Group in Shimla, for the Government of India - UNDP Urban Risk Reduction Project. He is a member of the

Himachal Pradesh University Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) is a Public university, public State university (India), state university at Summer Hill, Shimla, Summer Hill, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. It was established on 22 July 1970 by ''The Himachal Pradesh University A ...

Court. He lives at Panchwati house, at village Kanena-Pagog (post office Bharari), near

, with his wife Yamini.

Cultural contributions

Joshi writes in English and

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 ...

. Joshi has written numerous columns and articles for a number of Indian national daily newspapers in English, including

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

, and

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...

. He is particularly known for his column 'Vignettes' in The Tribune. His articles are generally essays about places, events, facets of culture, and contemporary and historical personalities of Himachal Pradesh. Joshi published a compilation of several of his column pieces in English as a book called ''Babudom Bosh + squibs of sweet and sour shots''. He has also written several short stories and plays. Joshi has directed and acted in numerous plays at Shimla's historic Gaiety Theatre. He has had his own theatre group called 'Amateur Evening'. Along with his wife Yamini, he played key roles in Amit Dutta's movie

Nainsukh Nainsukh (; 1710 – 1778) was an Indian painter. He was the younger son of the painter Pandit Seu and, like his older brother Manaku of Guler, was an important practitioner of Pahari painting, and has been called "one of the most origin ...

(2010), an artistic biographical look at the 18th century painter Nainsukh from Kangra. The movie won international critical acclaim. Joshi is a member of the Amateur Dramatics Club, Shimla, the Shimla Amateur Garden and Environment Society (SAGES), and the Himachal Pradesh chapter of

INTACH The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is a non-profit charitable organisation registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. In 2007, the United Nations awarded INTACH a special consultative status with the ...

Recognition

* For 2018-2022, Joshi was nominated and appointed to the General Council of the

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, as an Advisory Member for

. * In 2018, Joshi was one of the two persons appointed to the General Council of the Himachal Pradesh Academy on account of their fame as performing artists, the other being Bharti Kuthiala. * Joshi was among the 20 prominent personalities of Shimla who were invited to contribute to the volume ''The Deputy Commissioner, Shimla: two centuries of an institution (1815-2015),'' which was published in 2015 by the Deputy Commissioner's Office, Shimla''.'' Joshi contributed two essays, one titled 'Hindustani Theatre in Shimla' and the other titled 'Shimla in Folksongs'. * Joshi is a recipient of several awards, including the Shimla Amateur Dramatics Award, the Himachal Shri Award, the Akashvani Award, and the Humanitarianism & Service Award by Indus Medical Foundation, U.S.A. In 2015, Joshi was awarded the ''Lifetime Achievement Honour'' by the Himalaya Sahitya, Sanskriti evam Paryavaran Manch, for his 'contributions to Himalayan art, history, culture, literature, and social participation'.

Select bibliography

* ''Ghughutiya'' (in Hindi). (Delhi: Atmaram and Sons, 1997) * ''Babudom Bosh + squibs of sweet and sour shots.'' (Delhi: Sanbun Publishers, 2004). * ''Sunni bhunku: Himachal Pradesh ke Chamba zile ki prem lok katha'' (in Hindi). (Delhi: National Book Trust, 2005). * ''Hum nahi sudhrenge: Shriniwas Joshi ke laghu natak'' (in Hindi). (Delhi: Atmaram and Sons, 2016). * ''Begmu ki su'' (in Hindi). (Ghaziabad: K.L. Pachauri Prakashan, 2021)

References

{{reflist People from Shimla People from Shimla district Writers from Himachal Pradesh 20th-century Indian writers 21st-century Indian writers Indian Administrative Service officers Indian theatre people Indian dramatists and playwrights Punjabi University alumni Panjab University alumni Himalayan studies People from Punjab Province (British India)