Keki N. Daruwalla (born 24 January 1937
[History of Services of Indian Police Service as on 1st January 1960](_blank)
Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, 1961, page 108) is an Indian poet and short story writer in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
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Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
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.
[ Keki N. Daruwalla]
The South Asian Literary Recordings Project. Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
. He is also a former
Indian Police Service
The Indian Police Service ( IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became independent from the British Raj.
Along with the Indian Administrative Service (IAS ...
officer.
He was awarded the
Sahitya Akademi Award
The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...
, in 1984 for his poetry collection, ''The Keeper of the Dead'', by the
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 of ...
, India's National Academy of Letters. He was awarded
Padma Shri
Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...
, the fourth highest civilian award in India, in 2014.
Early life and education
Keki Nasserwanji Daruwalla was born in
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. ...
to a
Parsi
Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...
family in 1937. His father, N.C. Daruwalla, was an eminent professor, who taught in
Government College Lahore
The Government College University, Lahore (colloquially known as GCU), is a public research university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Opened as Government College, Lahore, in 1864, it became a university in 2002.
Overview
In 1864, Gov ...
. Before the
Partition of India
The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
, his family left undivided India in 1945 and moved to Junagarh and then to
Rampur in India. As a result, he grew up studying in various schools and in various languages.
He obtained his master's degree in
English Literature
English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...
from Government College,
Ludhiana
Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 Indian census, 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the ...
,
University of Punjab
The University of the Punjab (Urdu, pnb, ), also referred to as Punjab University, is a public, research, coeducational higher education institution located in Lahore, Pakistan. Punjab University is the oldest public university in Pakistan. ...
spent a year at
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
as a Queen Elizabeth House Fellow in 1980–81
He joined the Police Service in 1958. Working as a police officer offered him various opportunities to work in different parts of the country. He witnessed the harsh realities of life from which he drew the substance for his literary pursuits. He has written twelve books and his first novel for Pepper and Christ was published in 2009. He received
Commonwealth Poetry Prize The Commonwealth Poetry Prize was an annual poetry prize established in 1972, for a first published book of English poetry from a country other than the United Kingdom. It was initially administered jointly by the Commonwealth Institute and the Nat ...
for his collection of poems, Landscape in the year 1987.
Career
He was appointed in the Uttar Pradesh cadre of the
Indian Police Service
The Indian Police Service ( IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became independent from the British Raj.
Along with the Indian Administrative Service (IAS ...
(IPS) on 24 October 1958 after competitive examination.
On his first central deputation, he worked as Area Organiser,
Chamoli
Chamoli district is a district of the Uttarakhand state of India. It is bounded by the Tibet region to the north, and by the Uttarakhand districts of Pithoragarh and Bageshwar to the east, Almora to the south, Pauri Garhwal to the southwest, Ru ...
, in
Joshimath
Joshimath, also known as Jyotirmath, is a city and a municipal board in Chamoli District in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Located at a height of 6150 feet (1875 m), it is a gateway to several Himalayan mountain climbing expeditions, trekki ...
in the erstwhile Special Service Bureau (now,
Sashastra Seema Bal
Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB; ) is a border guarding force of India deployed along its borders with Nepal and Bhutan. It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The fo ...
) till 1965. On subsequent central deputation, he worked as Special Assistant on International Affairs to the Prime Minister,
Charan Singh
Chaudhary Charan Singh (23 December 1902 – 29 May 1987) served as the 5th Prime Minister of India between 28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980. Historians and people alike frequently refer to him as the 'champion of India's peasants.'
Charan S ...
from 2 August 1979 to 19 January 1980. Subsequently, he resigned from the IPS to join the ''Research and Analysis Service'' (RAS),
[Gazette of India notification](_blank)
/ref> the internal cadre of R&AW
The Research and Analysis Wing (abbreviated R&AW; hi, ) is the foreign intelligence agency of India. The agency's primary function is gathering foreign intelligence, counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, advising Indian policymakers, an ...
. Within R&AW he rose to the rank of Special Secretary. When his batchmate, Ajit Singh Syali, was promoted to Secretary, R&AW, Daruwalla was shifted as chairman, Joint Intelligence Committee, in the rank of Secretary
A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...
, on 29 July 1993. He retired as chairman, JIC in 1995. Post-retirement, he was a member of National Commission for Minorities
The Union Government set up the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. Six religious communities, viz; Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians (Parsis) and Jains have been no ...
from 3 February 2011 to 2 February 2014.
His first book of poetry was ''Under Orion,'' which was published by Writers Workshop
Writers Workshop is a Kolkata-based literary publisher founded by the Indian poet and scholar Purushottama Lal in 1958. It has published many new Indian authors of post-independence urban literature. Many of these authors later became widely kn ...
, India in 1970. He then went on to publish his second collection ''Apparition in April'' in 1971 for which he was given 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 ...
State Award in 1972. His poems appeared in many poetry anthologies such as ''Anthology of Contemporary Indian Poetry'' edited by Menka Shivdasani, and ''The Dance of the Peacock
''The Dance of the Peacock: An Anthology of English Poetry from India'' is a 2013 anthology of poems written by one hundred and fifty-one poets; edited by Dr Vivekanand Jha. The one hundred and fifty-one poets include Indians and diasporic Indian ...
'' edited by Dr Vivekanand Jha.
He won the Sahitya Akademi Award
The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...
, given by the 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 of ...
, India's National Academy of Letters, in 1984 and returned the same award in October, 2015 in protest and with a statement that "The organisation 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 of ...
has failed to speak out against ideological collectives that have used physical violence against authors". Daruwalla did not take back his award even after 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 of ...
passed a resolution condemning the attacks on rational thinkers. In an interview to The Statesman
A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level.
Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to:
Newspapers United States
* ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a n ...
, Daruwalla expanded on why he did not take back his award, saying "what you do, you do once and you can’t be seen as giving back an award and then taking it back." He received the Commonwealth Poetry Prize The Commonwealth Poetry Prize was an annual poetry prize established in 1972, for a first published book of English poetry from a country other than the United Kingdom. It was initially administered jointly by the Commonwealth Institute and the Nat ...
for Asia in 1987. Nissim Ezekiel
Nissim Ezekiel (16 December 1924 – 9 January 2004) was an Indian Jewish poet, actor, playwright, editor and art critic. He was a foundational figure in postcolonial India's literary history, specifically for Indian Poetry in English.
He was ...
commented "Daruwalla has the energy of the lion".
Books
* ''In Morning Dew''
* ''Under Orion''. Writers Workshop
Writers Workshop is a Kolkata-based literary publisher founded by the Indian poet and scholar Purushottama Lal in 1958. It has published many new Indian authors of post-independence urban literature. Many of these authors later became widely kn ...
, India. 1970
* ''Apparition in April''. Writers Workshop
Writers Workshop is a Kolkata-based literary publisher founded by the Indian poet and scholar Purushottama Lal in 1958. It has published many new Indian authors of post-independence urban literature. Many of these authors later became widely kn ...
, 1971.
* ''Sword & abyss: a collection of short stories''. Vikas Pub., 1979.
* ''Winter poems''. Allied Publishers, 1980.
* ''The Keeper of the Dead''. Oxford University Press, 1982.
* ''Crossing of rivers''. Oxford University Press, 1985.
* ''Landscapes''. Oxford University Press, 1987.
* ''A summer of tigers: poems''. Indus, 1995. .
*
The Minister for Permanent unrest & other stories
'. Orient Blackswan, 1996. .
* ''Night river: poems''. Rupa & Co., 2000. .
*
The Map-maker: Poems
'. Orient Blackswan, 2002. .
* ''The Scarecrow and the Ghost'
*''Collected Poems (1970–2005)''. (Poetry in English). Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.[J. P. Dutta
Jyoti Prakash Dutta (born 3 October 1949) is an Indian Bollywood film producer, writer and director, best known for making patriotic action war films.
Personal life
Dutta is married to the Bollywood film actress Bindiya Goswami with whom he has ...]
's 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 ''Refugee
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. '' is attributed to have been inspired by the story of Keki N. Daruwalla based around the Great Rann of Kutch
The Great Rann of Kutch (or Rann of Kutch seasonal salt marsh) is a salt marsh in the Thar Desert in the Kutch District of Gujarat, India. It is about 7500 km2 (2900 sq miles) in area and is reputed to be one of the largest salt de ...
titled "Love Across the Salt Desert" which is also included as one of the short stories in the School Standard XII syllabus English textbook of NCERT
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India which was established in 1961 as a literary, scientific and charitable Society under the Societies Registration Act. Its head ...
in India.
Appearances in the following poetry Anthologies
* ''Ten Twentieth-Century Indian Poets'' (1976) ed. by R. Parthasarathy
Rajagopal.Parthasarathy (born 1934) is an Indian poet, translator, critic, and editor.
Early life and education
Rajagopal Parthasarathy was born on 20 August 1934 in Tirupparaiturai near Tiruchchirappalli. He was educated at Don Bosco High Sc ...
and published by Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
* ''The Oxford India Anthology of Twelve Modern Indian Poets'' (1992) ed. by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra
Arvind Krishna Mehrotra (born 1947) is an Indian poet, anthologist, literary critic and translator.
Biography
Arvind Krishna Mehrotra was born in Lahore in 1947. He has published six collections of poetry in English and two of translation †...
and published by Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
Further reading
*
Critical spectrum: the poetry of Keki N. Daruwalla
'. by F. A. Inamdar. Mittal Publications, 1991. .
* ''Keki N. Daruwalla: assessment as a poet'', by Ram Ayodhya Singh. Prakash Book Depot, 1992.
* ''The poetry of Keki N. Daruwalla: a critical study'', by Ravi Nandan Sinha. B.R. Pub. Corp., 2002. .
Online poetry
About Keki Daruwalla and his poems
Fire Hymn
See also
* Indian English Literature
Indian English literature (IEL), also referred to as Indian Writing in English (IWE), is the body of work by writers in India who write in the English language but whose native or co-native language could be one of the numerous languages of India. ...
* Indian Writing in English
Indian English literature (IEL), also referred to as Indian Writing in English (IWE), is the body of work by writers in India who write in the English language but whose native or co-native language could be one of the numerous languages of India. ...
References
External links
The Decolonised Muse
Keki Daruwala: In Conversation along with his poetry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daruwalla, Keki N
20th-century Indian poets
English-language poets from India
1937 births
Living people
Poets from Lahore
Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in English
Indian male poets
Poets from Madhya Pradesh
Parsi people
Writers from Lahore
Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education
People of the Research and Analysis Wing
21st-century Indian poets
20th-century Indian male writers
21st-century Indian male writers