Vasdev Mohi (born Vasdev Vensimal Sidhnani; 2 March 1944 - 27 August 2021) was a Sindhi poet, translator, critic, short story writer and a retired lecturer. He also served as the member of the executive board of

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 ...

and member of Council for Promotion of Indian Languages, collectively from 2008 to 2013. His work include twenty-five books of poetry, uncertain translation and critic works. The recipient of numerous awards, including

Saraswati Samman The Saraswati Samman is an annual award for outstanding prose or poetry literary works in any of the 23 languages of India listed in Schedule VIII of the Constitution of India. It is named after the Hindu goddess of knowledge, Saraswati. The Sar ...

for his short story book titled ''Chequebook'' published in 2012, some of his uncertain critical essays have appeared in

literary festival A literary festival, also known as a book festival or writers' festival, is a regular gathering of writers and readers, typically on an annual basis in a particular city. A literary festival usually features a variety of presentations and readings ...

s held in national and international seminars. His first poetic collection titled ''Tazad'' became one of prominent poems in both India and Pakistan. He later published another poem titled ''Subah Kithe Ahe'' (Where is the Morning). In 1977, he was awarded Sahitya Akademi Award in Sindhi for his poem ''Barf jo Thahyal''.

Early life and education

He was born on March 2, 1944, in

Mirpur Khas Mirpur Khas (Sindhi language, Sindhi and ; ''meaning "Town of the most-high Talpur, Mirs"'') is a city in Sindh province, Pakistan. The city was built by Talpur rulers of Mankani branch. According to the 2017 Census of Pakistan, its population w ...

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 ...

(in modern-day Pakistan). Following the partition of the Indian subcontinent, his family migrated to

Jodhpur Jodhpur () is the second-largest city of the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, after its capital Jaipur. As of 2023, the city has a population of 1.83 million. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Jodhpur district and ...

in 1947. They later moved to

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

in 1950. He married Janki in November 1964. He did his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

from the

Gujarat University The Gujarat University is a public state university located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The university is an affiliating university at the under-graduate level and a teaching university at the post graduate level. It is accredited A+ by NAAC ...

and joined

Life Insurance Corporation The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is an Indian public sector life insurance company headquartered in Mumbai. It is India's largest insurance company as well as the largest institutional investor with total assets under management wo ...

(LIC) in 1966. He later went to UAE and started teaching English at

The Indian High School, Dubai The Indian High School is a CBSE-affiliated Indian school in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was established in 1961 to provide education to the children of Indian expatriates and was the first expatriate educational institution in the UAE. The ...

in 1987 until he retired in 2004 as the lecturer. Prior to his retirement, he also served as the head of English department.

Career

He started his career around 1976 when he published his first poetry ''Tazad''. In 1979, he appeared in

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

's symposium. He has been engaged in various writing genres such as criticism, playwright, short stories and poem in particular. He introduced new form of poetries such as ''Mankoo'', a type of traditional poetry usually written to express author's anguish against

social discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sexu ...

which was awarded Gujarati Sahitya Akademi Award in 1995. He also introduced another form of

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 ...

called ''Hyku Ghazal'', which uses Japanese language combination alongside

Sindhi language Sindhi ( ; or , ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by more than 30 million people in the Pakistani province of Sindh, where it has official status, as well as by 1.7 million people in India, where it is a Scheduled languages of India, schedu ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohi, Vasdev 1944 births Living people Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Gujarati Recipients of the Saraswati Samman Award Recipients of the Gangadhar National Award Sindhi-language poets 21st-century Indian poets Indian male poets 21st-century Indian short story writers Indian male short story writers 21st-century Indian translators Indian literary critics Writers from Ahmedabad Indian Sindhi people Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Sindhi