Dharamvir Bharati (25 December 1926 – 4 September 1997) was a renowned Hindi poet, author, playwright and a social thinker of India. He was the chief editor of the popular Hindi weekly magazine ''

Dharmayug ''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 ...

'', from 1960 till 1987.The Illustrated weekly of India: Volume 108, Issues 39–50, 1987. Bharati was awarded the

Padma Shree 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 conferred ...

for literature in 1972 by the Government of India. His novel '' Gunaho Ka Devta'' became a classic. Bharati's '' Suraj ka Satwan Ghoda'' is considered a unique experiment in story-telling and was made into a National Film Award-winning movie by the same name in 1992 by

Shyam Benegal Shyam Benegal (born 14 December 1934) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received ...

. '' Andha Yug'', a play set immediately after the Mahabharata war, is a classic that is frequently performed in public by drama groups He was awarded the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

in Playwriting (Hindi) in 1988, given by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama.

Early life

Dharamvir Bharati was born on 25 December 1926 in a Kayastha Family of

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

to Chiranji Lal and Chanda devi. The family underwent considerable financial hardships after his father died early. He had a sister, Dr. Veerbala. He did his MA in Hindi from Allahabad University in 1946 and won the "Chintamani Ghosh Award" for securing highest marks in Hindi. Dharamvir Bharati was the sub-editor for magazines ''Abhyudaya'' and ''Sangam'' during this period. He completed his PhD in 1954 under Dr. Dhirendra Verma on the topic of "Siddha Sahitya" and was appointed lecturer in Hindi at Allahabad University. The 1950s were the most creative period in Bharati's life: He wrote many novels, dramas, poems, essays, and critical works during this phase.

Journalism (Mumbai)

In 1960 he was appointed as chief-editor of the popular Hindi weekly magazine ''

'' by the Times Group and moved to Bombay. He remained the editor of ''Dharmayug'' till 1987. During this long phase the magazine became the most popular Hindi weekly of the country and reached new heights in Hindi journalism. As a field reporter, Bharati personally covered the Indo-Pak war that resulted in the liberation of Bangladesh.

Personal life

Dr Bharati married in 1954 and later divorced Kanta Bharati with whom he had a daughter: Parmita. A few years later he remarried and had a son Kinshuk Bharati and a daughter Pragya Bharati with Pushpa Bharati. Bharati developed heart ailments and died after a brief illness in 1997.

Prominent works

Novels

*'' Gunaho Ka Devta'' (गुनाहों का देवता) (1949) *'' Suraj ka Satwan Ghoda'' (सूरज का सातवां घोड़ा, 1952) (The Seventh Steed of the Sun) — A short novel published in 1952 that may be viewed as a set of connected mini-narratives can be called one of the foremost instances of

metafiction Metafiction is a form of fiction which emphasises its own narrative structure in a way that continually reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and story ...

in 20th century Hindi literature. The protagonist is a young man named Manik Mulla who recounts these tales to his friends. The name of the work is an allusion to Hindu mythology according to which the chariot of the Sun-God

Surya Surya (; sa, सूर्य, ) is the sun as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchayatana puja and a m ...

is said to be drawn by seven horses. (viz. seven days in a week). This novella has been translated into Bengali by poet Malay Roy Choudhury of

Hungry generation The Hungry Generation ( bn, হাংরি জেনারেশান) was a literary movement in the Bengali language launched by what is known today as the Hungryalist quartet, ''i.e.'' Shakti Chattopadhyay, Malay Roy Choudhury, Samir Royc ...

fame, for which he was bestowed with the Sahitya Academy Award.

's film by the same name (1992), based on the novel, won the National Film Award for Best Actor. *''Giyara sapno ka desh'' (ग्यारह सपनों का देश) *''Prarambh va Samapan'' (प्रारंभ व समापन)

Poetry

Kanupriya, Thanda Loha, Saat Geet Varsh, Sapana Abhi Bhi and Toota Pahiya are amongst his most popular works of poetry. Toota Pahiya tells a story of how a broken wheel helped Abhimanyu in the Mahabharata war.

Play in poetry

'' Andha Yug'' (The Age of Blindness) is a poetic play. Structured on events in the Mahabharata, '' Andha Yug'' focuses on the last day of the Mahabharata war. It is a powerful metaphorical work. It has been directed by Ebrahim Alkazi, Raj Bisaria, M.K. Raina, Ratan Thiyam, Arvind Gaur, Ram Gopal Bajaj, Mohan Maharishi,

Bhanu Bharti Bhanu Bharti (born 1947) is an Indian theatre director and playwright, and the founder-director of ''Aaj Rangmandal'' theatre group. Most known for his theatre productions and choreographies with tribal and folk artists, including ''Pashu Gayatr ...

ravin kumar gunjan Ravin may refer to: *Idan Ravin, basketball coach *Emilie de Ravin (born 1981), Australian-American actress *Ravin Bay, bay in Antarctica *A spelling variation of Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus' ...

nd many other Indian theatre directors.

Story collections

Drow Ka gaon (र्दों का गाव), Swarg aur Prathvhi (स्वर्ग और पृथ्वी), Chand aur Tute hue Log (चाँद और टूटे हुए लोग), Band gali Ka Aakhkri Makaan (बंद गली का आखिरी मकान), Saas ki Kalam se (सास की कलम से), Samasta Kahaniya ek Saath (समस्त कहानियाँ एक साथ)

Essays

Thele par Himalayas (ठेले पर हिमालय), Pashyanti stories: Ankahi (पश्यंती कहानियाँ :अनकही), The river was thirsty (नदी प्यासी थी), Neel Lake (नील झील), Human values and literature (मानव मूल्य और साहित्य), Cold iron (ठंडा लोहा)

Film about Bharati

''Dr. Bharati'': documentary directed by young story writer Uday Prakash for Sahitya Akademi, Delhi, 1999

Awards

* Padma Shri by the Government of India, 1972 *Rajendra Prasad Shikhar Samman *Bharat Bharati Samman *Maharashtra Gaurav, 1994 *Kaudiya Nyas *Vyasa Samman *1984, Valley turmeric best journalism awards *1988, best playwright Maharana Mewar Foundation Award *1989, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Delhi

Translations

* ''Andha Yug'': Dharamvir Bharati, translated in English by Alok Bhalla, published by Oxford University Press. ,

References

External links

Official website of Dharamvir Bharati

Dharamvir Bharti at Kavita Kosh
(Hindi)
Remembring Bharati Ji: An article by his sister Dr. Veerbala: यादें भैया की

Remembering Bharati Ji: An article by Prof. Rajiv Krishna Saxena: मामा जीः कुछ संस्मरण
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bharati, Dharamvir 1926 births 1997 deaths Writers from Allahabad University of Allahabad alumni Hindi-language writers Hindi journalists Hindi-language poets Hindi theatre Hindi dramatists and playwrights University of Allahabad faculty Indian male dramatists and playwrights Indian male journalists Indian magazine editors Indian male novelists Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 20th-century Indian novelists 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Indian male poets Poets from Uttar Pradesh Journalists from Uttar Pradesh 20th-century Indian journalists Dramatists and playwrights from Uttar Pradesh 20th-century Indian male writers