Khwairakpam Chaoba Singh ( mni, ꯈ꯭ꯋꯥꯢꯔꯥꯛꯄꯝ ꯆꯥꯎꯕ ꯁꯤꯡꯍ) (1895 in Uripok Sorbon Thingen leikai,

Imphal Imphal ( Meitei pronunciation: /im.pʰal/; English pronunciation: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (also known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the fo ...

– 1950) was a poet, essayist,

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...

-writer and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

. He was influenced by

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

tradition and is regarded as one of the best known writers of modern

Meitei literature , image = Numit Kappa.jpg , imagesize = , caption = The Numit Kappa, a Classical Meitei epic text written during the 1st century, based on ancient Meitei mythology and religion (Sanamahism) , alt ...

. He founded the Manipuri Sahitya Sammelini of Meitei literature along with Dr. Lamabam Kamal Singh,

Hijam Irabot Hijam Irabot (30 September 1896 – 26 September 1951), also known as Jana Neta Hijam Irabot, was a politician and leader of Communist party of India and revolutionary social activist from Manipur. He fought against the social evils of the soc ...

and Hijam Anganghal He adapted

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, classics, classical scholar, and professor at Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is widely known for his ''Elegy Written in a Country ...

's poem ''

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard ''Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard'' is a poem by Thomas Gray, completed in 1750 and first published in 1751. The poem's origins are unknown, but it was partly inspired by Gray's thoughts following the death of the poet Richard West in 1742 ...

'' into Meitei as ''Awaba ishei'' and included in his 1946 poem ''Thainagi Leirang'' (Ancient Flower), a poem which "laments the sad and poor life of country men who died unsung and unhonored".

Biography

He presented the first

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

in Meitei – Lavangalata which is considered to be an outstanding work. This is perhaps one of the greatest novels in Meitei literature. His other prose works are Wakhalgi Ichen (Thought Current), Wakhal (Thought), Phidam (Ideal), Kannaba Wa (Useful Words) and Chhatra Macha (Student). He also wrote incomplete works ''Madhu Malati'' and ''Naba-Malika'' His published work includes: * ''Chhatra Macha'', 1923 * ''Kannaba Wa'', 1924 * ''Phidam'' * ''Wakhal'' * ''Wakhalgi Ichen'' * ''Thainagi Leirang'', Poetry, 1933 * ''Lavangalata'', Novel, 1937

Recognition and reception

He was awarded the Sahitya Ratna by the

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...

Sahitya Parishad in 1948. Fellow author and poet Elangbam Dinamani Singh included Chaoba in his one of his books about criticism of poets. In Amaresh Datta's ''Encyclopedia of Indian Literature, Volume 1'', he says of Chaoba: "By use of common language and very homely image, ecould set a good example of elegy in Meitei through this single poem. In fact, many of the poems of iscontain eelegaic elements and atmosphere, as he looks upon the human life from a melancholic and tragic standpoint. This feeling comes to him from his love of everything Manipuri, the flora and fauna, the disintegrated tradition, which was once the beacon light and his deep involvement with the lot of man in his life. Therefore, when he writes about aunt ng, an elegaic feeling pervades his mind and as a result, his expression becomes melancholic and elegaic in nature".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaoba, Khwairakpam 1895 births 1950 deaths 20th-century Indian poets Indian male poets Poets from Manipur 20th-century Indian male writers