Shrilal Shukla (31 December 1925 – 28 October 2011) 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, notable for his satire. He worked as a PCS officer for the state government of Uttar Pradesh, later inducted into the IAS. He has written over 25 books, including Raag Darbari, ''Makaan'', ''Sooni Ghaati Ka Sooraj'', ''Pehla Padaav'' and ''Bisrampur Ka Sant''. Shukla has highlighted the falling moral values in the Indian society in the post

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

era through his novels. His writings expose the negative aspects of life in rural and urban India in a satirical manner. His best known work '' Raag Darbari'' has been translated into English and 15 Indian languages. A television serial based on this continued for several months on the national network in the 1980s. It is a little-known fact that he also wrote a detective novel entitled ''Aadmi Ka Zahar'' which was serialised in the weekly magazine 'Hindustan'.

Awards

Shukla received the

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 ...

, the highest Indian literary award, in 2011. His first major award was 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 ...

for his novel Raag Darbari in 1969. He received the Vyas Samman award in 1999 for the novel ''Bisrampur ka Sant''.Vyas Samman 1999
In 2008, he was awarded the

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 ...

Padma Bhushan Official listings
Govt. of India website. by the

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

for his contribution to Indian literature and culture. On his 80th birthday in December 2005, his friends, peers, family and fans organised a literary and cultural event in New Delhi. To mark the occasion, a volume titled ''Shrilal Shukla – Jeevan Hi Jeevan'' was issued about him. This contains the writings of eminent literary personalities such as Dr. Naamvar Singh, Rajendra Yadav, Ashok Bajpai, Doodhnath Singh, Nirmala Jain, Leeladhar Jagudi, Gillian Wright, Kunwar Narayan and Raghuvir Sahay among others. His friends, family and fans also contributed to the book.

Personal account

*1925 – Born in village Atrauli in Mohanlalganj , Lucknow district of Uttar Pradesh *1947 – Graduated from

Allahabad University The University of Allahabad is a Central University located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 23 September 1887 by an act of Parliament and is recognised as an Institute of National Importance (INI). It is the 4th oldest mode ...

*1949 – Entry into the Civil Service *1957 – First novel ''Sooni Ghaati Ka Sooraj'' published *1958 – First collection of satire ''Angad Ka Paanv'' published *1970 – Awarded the

for ''Raag Darbari'' (for 1969) *1978 – Awarded the Madhya Pradesh Hindi Sahitya Parishad Award for ''Makaan'' *1979–80 – Served as Director of the Bhartendu Natya Academy, Uttar Pradesh *1981 – Represented India at the International Writers' Meet in Belgrade *1982–86 – Member of the Advisory Board of the Sahitya Akademi *1983 – Retirement from the Indian Administrative Service *1987–90 – Awarded the Emeritus Fellowship by the ICCR, Government of India *1988 – Given the Sahitya Bhushan Award by Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthaan *1991 – Awarded the Goyal Sahitya Puraskaar 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 ...

*1994 – Awarded the Lohia Sammaan by Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthaan *1996 – Awarded the Sharad Joshi Sammaan by the Madhya Pradesh Government *1997 – Awarded the Maithili Sharan Gupta Sammaan by the Madhya Pradesh Government *1999 – Awarded the Vyas Sammaan by the Birla Foundation *2005 – Awarded the Yash Bharati Samman by the Uttar Pradesh Government *2008 – Awarded the

by the President of India *2011 – Awarded the

for year 2009.

Literary works

Novels *''Sooni Ghaati Ka Sooraj'' – 1957 *''Agyaatvaas'' – 1962 * Raag Darbari (novel) – 1968 – original is in Hindi; an English translation was published under the same title in 1993 by

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

; also translated and published by National Book Trust, India in 15 Indian languages. *''Aadmi Ka Zahar'' – 1972 *''Seemayein Tootati Hain'' – 1973 *''Makaan'' – 1976 – original is in Hindi; a Bengali translation was published in the late 1970s. *''Pehla Padaav'' – 1987 – original is in Hindi; an English translation was published as ''Opening Moves'' by Penguin International in 1993. *''Bisrampur Ka Sant'' – 1998 *''Babbar Singh Aur Uske Saathi'' – 1999 – original is in Hindi; an English translation was published as ''Babbar Singh And his Friends'' in 2000 by Scholastic Inc. New York. *''Raag Viraag'' – 2001 Satires *''Angad Ka Paanv'' – 1958 *''Yahaan Se Vahaan'' – 1970 *''Meri Shreshtha Vyangya Rachnayein'' – 1979 *''Umraaonagar Mein Kuchh Din'' – 1986 *''Kuchh Zameen Mein Kuchh Hava Mein'' – 1990 *''Aao Baith Lein Kuchh Der'' – 1995 *''Agli Shataabdi Ka Sheher'' – 1996 *''Jahaalat Ke Pachaas Saal'' – 2003 *''Khabron Ki Jugaali'' – 2005 Short Story Collections *''Yeh Ghar Mera Nahin'' – 1979 *''Suraksha Tatha Anya Kahaaniyan'' – 1991 *''Iss Umra Mein'' – 2003 *''Dus Pratinidhi Kahaaniyan'' – 2003 Memoirs *''Mere Saakshaatkaar'' – 2002 *''Kuchh Saahitya Charcha Bhi'' – 2008 Literary Critique *''Bhagwati Charan Varma'' – 1989 *''Amritlal Naagar'' – 1994 *''Agyeya: Kuchh Rang Kuchh Raag'' – 1999 Edited Works *''Hindi Haasya Vyangya Sankalan'' – 2000

Literary travels

He has visited Yugoslavia, Germany, UK, Poland, Surinam for various literary seminars, conferences and to receive awards. He has also headed a delegation of writers sent by the Government of India to China.

Family

Shukla died in Lucknow on 28 October 2011 at around 11.45 am after a prolonged illness, fourteen years after the death of his wife Girija, who had been his true companion who passionately shared his love of classical music and literature. Shri Lal Shukla has four children – daughters Rekha Awasthi and Madhulika Mehta who are musically talented homemakers;son Ashutosh Shukla who works in a corporate cooperative concern and lastly youngest daughter Dr. Vinita Mathur who is a professor in Geography in the University of Delhi. He has eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

References