Eminent Writers

Literature is one of the major contributory factors in the nation building. It acts a cultural binding force and works as an evocative medium to touch the soul of the people in the time of crisis. Literature is the vehicle through which people’s culture is transmitted. Process of its bringing arms touch on five such authors who have contributed significantly in this area.

Krishan Chander is considered as one of the great pillars of the Progressive Writers’ Association and one of the leading short story writers of the Indian subcontinent in the second half of the 20th century. Krishan Chander belonged to a family originally hailing from Wazirabad, now in Pakistan Punjab. He was born in Bhanuprur, Rajasthan in 1914. His father was a doctor, who later shifted to Jammu and Kashmir as physician of Maharaja of Poonch. His story “Mittī ke Sanam” recounts his childhood memories of Kashmir. Krishan Chander not only produced an astonishing oeuvre of about 30 collections of short stories and 20 novels, but was also a brilliant essayist and involved in the film industry.

Chander was also one of those few to realize the progressive ideals in literature. He believed in the ascendancy of a socialist society and throughout his life dedicated his efforts to help the marginalised, the peasants and the workers, as well as writers and artists.

Krishan Chander’s creative life can be understood as having passed through three phases. In 1939 he was in the grip of romantic ideas; from 1940 onwards he makes it a priority to encapsulate the realities of life in his work and from 1945, he begins to be influenced by the great waves of national liberation against colonialism in India and across the world.

He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1969 and the most prestigious Soviet literary award. He was also honoured with “Soviet Land Nehru Award” by the Soviet Government for his contribution to literature. He passed away on 8th March 1977 in Mumbai.

Another author on which the stamp is being brought out is Bisham Sahni. Bisham Sahni was one of the most prolific writers of Hindi literature. He was born on 8 August 1915 in Rawalpindi. His immense popularity was owed to his literary merits—his sharp wit, his gentle irony, his all-pervasive humour, his humane temper and his clear sight. His literary output and his probing of some of the realities of the human heart, with his high-spirited and passion for the common people, as he travelled through villages and towns of Punjab with the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) theatre group in 1948, he began to teach and earn a living. After living in the USSR for seven years as a Hindi translator, his compulsive reservoir of experience collected in the hustle-bustle of various occupations naturally altered down into his stories and novels. The simplicity of his work comes from his layers of experience.

He is known as a progressive writer, influenced by Marxism, and yet he does not seem to be so engrossed with political themes. He explores the human condition with kindness and understanding.

Bisham Sahni’s last published book, was an autobiography with the title Aaj Ke Ateet (The Past as the Present). He was associated with several literary and cultural organizations. He was General Secretary of the All India Progressive Writers’ Association (1975–85) and Acting General Secretary of the Afro-Asian Writers’ Association and was also associated with the editing of the Hindi journal Naya Safar.

He was awarded the Padma Bhushan for literature in 1998 for his contribution to literature. He passed away on 11 July 2003.

The third stamp is being brought out on Pandit Shri Amrit Lal Nagar. Born on 31 December 1916 in Atrauli, Uttar Pradesh, Shri Nagar was a famous Hindi novelist, author of stage, satire. He wrote over 25 books, including Rang Raat, Mahaka, Sooni Ghat Ka Sooraj, Pehla Paap and Bismillah and he also worked in the Provincial Civil Services (PCS) officer for the state government of Uttar Pradesh, a later inducted into the IAS.

Post-Independence he was highlighting the major values inherent in the society in the post-Independence era through his novels. His writings express deep insight in facets of life in rural and urban India in a realistic manner. His book on novelist Raag Darbari has been translated into English and 15 Indian languages. One of those books whose books popularity and literary status continues to go up with the passage of time. A television serial based on this continues for upward six months on the national network and is still read in institutions and colleges and the detective novel entitled “Katra Be Aarzoo” which was later serialised in weekly Hindi magazine “Hindustan”.

He was also honoured with the Jnanpith Award, the highest Indian literary award, in 2011. His first major award was the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Raag Darbari in 1969. He received the Vyas Samman award in 1999 for the novel Bisrampur ka Sant. In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to Indian literature and culture. He passed away on 28 October 2018.

The fourth stamp is on K V Puttappa, Kuvempu! Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa (29 December 1904 – 11 November 1994), popularly known by the pen name Kuvempu or by K. V. Puttappa, was an Indian Chikmagaluru district of Karnataka. He was a Kannada novelist, poet, playwright, critic and thinker, who penned the Kannada State Jana Bharata Jananiya Tanujate. He is widely regarded as the greatest Kannada poet of the 20th century. Kuvempu began his literary in English and later shifted to Kannada. His major work in English is a collection of poems titled “Beginner’s Muse”. He was the forerunner of the present Kannada literature and he provided in children’s mother tongues and in his pursuit he opened the Institute of Kannada Studies in Mysore University.

Kuvempu was actively against the caste system and many of his writings reflected his views. He is considered to be one of the major contributors to the modernist literary movement in Kannada literature. His writings and his contribution to “Universal Humanism” gives him a unique place in modern Indian literature. His major achievement was extremely different take on the characters of Ramayana written by Valmiki, which fetched him the honour of being the first Kannada writer to be decorated with the prestigious Jnanpith Award. His epic narrative Sri Ramayana Darshanam, is regarded as the revival of the genre of Mahakavya (Great Epic poem) in contemporary Kannada. Besides Jnanpith, Kuvempu has also won the Padma Bhushan, Sahitya Academy Award, and several honorary doctorates and the Karnataka Ratna award.

The Department is bringing a stamp on the novelist Balwant Gargi. Shri Balwant Gargi, playwright, director, theater personality, novelist, teacher and chronicler of modernism, was one of the pioneers of playwriting in Punjabi. He was born on 4 December 1916 in Bathinda Punjab. He was founder Professor Director of the Department of Indian Theatre which was founded in 1972 by the Punjab University Chandigarh. The establishment of the Department was the culmination of the years of creativity that began from Gargi’s years of study at Government College Lahore. He completed his H.A. (English) and M.A. (Political Science) from FC College of Lahore. He also traveled widely where he enriched the personal rich network of theatre in Kangra Valley often mingling with emergent famous names of Punjab drama, including Krishna Chander, Madan Gurcharan Singh and Giani Harinder Singh. His interaction with the Irish Theatre gave him an insight into the theatre of Henrik Ibsen as well as the Irish playwright Synge. From studying and reflections of these two masters, he got an understanding of the principles and motivations to how to create living and palpable characters for the stage.

For subject matter Gargi moved freely over social milieu, mythology, history, and folklore. In one of the most apt performance of his dozen Hindi short-stories and two collections of one-act drama, he travelled from the realistic to the mythic dimension. Balwant Gargi taught two years (1966–67) at the University of Washington where he met Joe Henry. He brought into being the first book of anthropology The Naked Triangle. The Naked Triangle brought to him the forefront of composition and attention. Balwant Gargi was among the pioneers of playwriting in Punjabi and Hindi. Some brilliant and televised plays like Rangila Chuha on Doordarshan created countrywide appreciation.

Gargi was honoured with the Sahitya Academy award, the highest Indian award, in 1962 for his book Rang Manch. This was followed by the Padma Shri and the Soviet Land Nehru and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Punjabi playwriting. Gargi is one of the few authors to win both the Akademi awards and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards. He passed away on 22 April 2003.