Devendra Satyarthi (28 May 1908 – 2003) was an Indian folklorist and writer of
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 ...
,
Urdu
Urdu (;"Urdu" '' Punjabi literature. Born at Bhaduar ( Barnala) he did not complete his education and started travelling from 1927 collecting folk songs which he published in his first folk song anthology in 1935 under the name ''Giddha'', which is considered by many as a seminal work.
Satyarthi published over 50 books composed of novels, short stories, poems, essays and folksong anthologies in
Urdu
Urdu (;"Urdu" '' 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 ...
and Punjabi languages, but reportedly on advice from
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
, he wrote mostly in Punjabi language towards the end. ''Mere Saakshatkaar'', ''Miss Folklore'', ''Meet My People - Indian Folk Poetry'', ''Pañjābī loka-sāhita wica sainika'', ''Lanka Desa hai Kolambu'', ''Brahmaputra'', and ''Rath ke Pahiye'' are some of his notable works.
A winner of the Hindi Sahitya Sadhna Samman, Satyarthi was awarded the fourth highest Indian civilian award of
Padma Shri
Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...
by the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...
in 1977. He died on 12 February 2003, at the age of 94, succumbing to old age illnesses. ''Pancham'', a monthly magazine published from
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...
, brought out a 300-page special issue on him in April 2003 and his life has been documented in a biography, ''Satyarthi – Ik Dant-katha'', written by Nirmal Arpan.
See also
*
Folklore of India
The folklore of India encompasses the folklore of the nation of India and the Indian subcontinent. India is an ethnically and religiously diverse country. Given this diversity, it is difficult to generalize the vast folklore of India as a unit.
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