Abid Surti or Aabid Surti (born 5 May 1935) is a painter, author, cartoonist, journalist, environmentalist, playwright and screenwriter from India. He was given a National Award by the government of India in 1993 for writing a series of short stories called the "Teesri Aankh".
Life
Abid Surti was born in a
Gujarati Muslim
The term Gujarati Muslim is usually used to signify an Indian Muslim from the state of Gujarat in western coast of India. Most Gujarati Muslims have Gujarati language as their mother tongue, but some communities such as the Momin Ansari, Memons ...
family on 5 May 1935 at Vavera, near
Rajula
Rajula is a city and municipality in Amreli district in the Indian state of Gujarat. City was known as Rajgadh at the time of local ruler daha dhakhda.
Originally Rajula spread between Dholio Dunger and Piriyo Dungar, but has expanded beyond th ...
,
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
, India to Gulam Hussain and Sakina Begum. In his childhood, at the age of 5, he almost got carried away by flood in the
Tapti river
The Tapti River (or Tapi) is a river in central India located to the south of the Narmada river that flows westwards before draining into the Arabian Sea. The river has a length of around and flows through the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat ...
near
Surat
Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...
. The family later shifted to
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
and he spent his childhood in Dongri area of
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
. His father was follower of
Sufism
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
. He joined the
J. J. School of Art
The Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy School of Art (Sir J. J. School of Art) is the oldest art institution in Mumbai, India, and is affiliated with the University of Mumbai. The school grants bachelor's degrees in fine art and sculpture, and Master's de ...
in 1954 and obtained a Diploma in Arts. He was greatly influenced by the writings of 20th-century Bengali novelist,
Sharat Chandra Chatterji
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, alternatively spelt as Sarat Chandra Chatterjee ( bn, শরৎচন্দ্র চট্টোপাধ্যায়; 15 September 1876 or ৩১ শে ভাদ্র ১২৮৩ বঙ্গাব্দ ...
. Besides being a writer in Hindi and Gujarati, he is also an expert in
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
and
Gujarati
Gujarati may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India
* Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat
* Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them
* Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...
newspapers and magazines for over 40 years and received a National Award for his short-story collection ''Teesri Aankh'' in 1993. He became an author by accident. When his first love broke down due to family pressure, the teenaged Aabid had no one to confide in – so he began putting his story on paper. The story was published in Gujarati in 1965 as ''Tootela Farishta'' (Fallen Angels) and proved to be an unexpected success.Abid Surti an Introduction ( Gujarati ) /ref>
He has written more than 80 books, including 45 novels, 10 short story collections and 7 plays.
The autobiographical novel ''Musalman'' was an account of his childhood in the poverty-ridden Dongri area of Mumbai. His latest novel, ''Sufi'', describes the parallel lives of two friends: the author himself and a man called Iqbal Rupani, who rose to become the kingpin of the Mumbai underworld in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1975, his fictional version based on the '' Devil's Bible'', entitled ''The Black Book'', created a nationwide controversy. Even amidst critical acclaim, it was translated into seven languages and voted Book of the Year in
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
. He earned the nickname the "
Salman Rushdie
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Wes ...
of India" after his ''Black Book'' was published. He has together with his son Aalif Surti and Chandrika Vyas, Rima Kashyap also penned a controversial and hard-hitting novel called ''In Name of
Rama
Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...
'' inspired by a true incident during the
demolition of the Babri Masjid
The demolition of the Babri Masjid was illegally carried out on 6 December 1992 by a large group of activists of the Vishva Hindu Parishad and allied organisations. The 16th-century Babri Masjid in the city of Ayodhya, in Uttar Pradesh, had ...
.
In 2007, he was awarded the ''Hindi Sahitya Sanstha Award'' by the
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
government, and was given an award by the
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
government for his children's literary work ''Rangat''. Among his other novels are ''Canal'' and ''Daagh''. He has also worked as a television and film script-writer. He was the editor of the Gujarati annual magazine ''Dayaro'' for many years.
Recently, he has sued the makers of the
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
film ''
Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge
''Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?'' () is a 2010 Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed by Ashwni Dhir, and produced by Amita Pathak. Loosely based on the short story ''Tum Kab Jaoge, Athithi?'' by Sharad Joshi, the film stars Ajay Devgn, Paresh Rawal ...
'', which he says used his Gujarati novel ''Bauter Varas No Babo'', published in 1976 and later translated into Hindi as ''Bahatar Saal Ka Baccha''.
He has written graphic children's novels in Hindi, including ''Buddh kyun muskuraye 2500 saal baad'' (Why did the
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...
smile after 2500 years).
He has also written satirical
gazal
The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...
with common English words.
Works
Gujarati
* Tootela Farishta (1965)
* Dhutro
* Aabh ma khilelu phool
* Kapurush Mahapurush
* Pagle Pagle Pyar
* Soofi
* Kundali
* Fokatlalno Varghodo
* Adhura anek
* Vasant avyano mane vahem
* Nana Nana Rakshash
* Aathmo akash
* Kala gulab
* Pāpana pārano pradeṡa
* Ram asrey
* Rang badalti Roma
* Radata Gulmohar
* Boter varasno babo
* Mari shreshth vartao
* Alag Matina Marad
* Baraf na chhera
* Ek zalak Japan ni
* Dagh
* Sukhano relo same par
* Musalman (translated into Eng. as Sufi)
* Jaldi Kar, Juliet (play)
Hindi
Collections
* 10 Pratinidhi Kahaniyan
* 21 Shreshtha Kahaniyan
* 365 Kahaniyan (collection of stories of the well-known author)
Novels
* Kathavachak
* Adhi Stri
* Bahata Paani
* Bahattar Saal Ka Bachcha (translated from Guj)
* Besabab
* Biswin Sadi Ka Aakhri Dashak
* Aadmi aur Chuhe
* Chamatkari Ladaki
* Cabaret Dancer
* Charitraheen
* Daag
* Dastoor
* Kale Gulab
* Kapurush Mahapurush
* Khoya Hua Chehra
* Kokh Se Kabra Tak Sati
* Kora Canvas
* Labangi
* Maan
* Mere Papa Ki Shadi
* Soonsaan
* Tanha
* Vasak Sajja
Stories
* Atankit
* Bijliyan
* Dhup Chhaon
* Gujrati Ki Shreshtha Vyangya Kathaen
* Teesri Aankh
Travel
* Awara Abid
Satire
* 365 Chutkule (selection of jokes)
* Bundabandi
Plays
* Munchon Wali Begam
English
Novels
* The Black Book (Kaali Kitaab)
* In name of Rama
* The Golf Widow
* Little nino and his secret beard.
Plays
*He is Radha
Paintings
Surti has been acclaimed as a painter, credited with using creative and original techniques to paint with oil and watercolours. His use of acrylic colours applied to Italian art paper is also said to be out of this world. An accomplished painter, he has held 16 exhibitions in India and abroad. In his early years, he invented an innovative technique called "mirror collage" which won critical acclaim in Japan. In 1971, the Indian government commissioned a short film to showcase his creative work.
Cartoons and comic-books
The first cartoon characters he created were in 1952–53 for a
Gujarati
Gujarati may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India
* Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat
* Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them
* Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...
magazine ''Ramakadu''. It consisted of a comic feature of four pages in colour with three prominent characters – a boy, a girl and a monkey, entitled ''Rang Lakhudi''. As a cartoonist, he later created the lovable simpleton ''Dhabbuji''. The original and popular cartoon strip has been one of the longest-running comic strips in India, running without a break for over 30 years. It was the weekly comic strip that first appeared in Hindi magazine ''
Dharmyug
''Dharmyug'' was a Hindi pictorial weekly published by The Times Group, The Times of India Group from year 1949 till 1993.
History
The magazine was originally published by a Dalmia Group, Dalmia press in Bombay from 1949, just after independen ...
''. He also created another comic book character, '' Bahadur'', which achieved a large fan following, when the comics started to be published in
Indrajal Comics
Indrajal Comics was a comic book series in India launched by the publisher of ''The Times of India'', Bennet, Coleman & Co in March 1964. The first 32 issues contained Lee Falk's ''The Phantom'' stories, but thereafter, the title alternated betwe ...
Raj Kapoor
Raj Kapoor (pronunciation: aːd͡ʒ kəpuːɾ born Shrishti Nath Kapoor; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered one of th ...
once wanted to make a film based on ''Inspector Azad'', showing that the popularity of his comic strips were high. Further, his famous comic strips ''Doctor Chinchoo Ke Chamatkar'', which was published in the Hindi magazine '' Parag'' from 1963 to 1965 is being serialised by the
National Book Trust
National Book Trust (NBT) is an Indian publishing house, which was founded in 1957 as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. The activities of the Trust include publishing, promotion of books and reading, ...
as ''Doctor Chinchoo Ke Kaarnamein''.
As an environmentalist
Abid Surti founded Drop Dead, a water conservation initiative in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
in 2007. Every Sunday, along with a plumber and an assistant, he visits houses in and around Mira Road and fixes dripping taps. He simply replaces old O-ring rubber gaskets with new ones. The idea struck him in 2007 when he noticed the dripping tap in his friend's house. "A tap that drips water once every second wastes about 1,000 litres of water every month so imagine how much we all waste," he points out. Surti and his assistants raise awareness through posters and pamphlets. He pays for all expenses from his pocket.
Documentary
Pramod Pati has directed a documentary on the life of Abid Surti.
Awards and recognition
Abid Surti is featured as Indian comics legend creative in the Legend Calendar 2019 released by Comix Theory as featured legendary artist for the month of January. He has been awarded National Award 1993, Hindi Sahitya Sanstha Award, Gujarat Gaurav.
Penguin India
Penguins ( order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...