Madhur Kapila (15 April 1942 – 19 December 2021) was an Indian novelist, journalist, art critic and a reviewer of

Hindi literature Hindi literature ( hi, हिन्दी साहित्य, translit=hindī sāhitya) includes literature in the various Hindi language which have writing systems. Earliest forms of Hindi literature are attested in poetry of Apabhraṃś ...

. Some of her published works included ''Bhatke Raahi'' (

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 ...

: भटके राही; ), ''Satwan Swar'' (

: सातवाँ स्वर; ) and ''Saamne ka Aasman'' (

: सामने का आसमान; )''.'' She was a recipient of the Chandigarh

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 ...

for lifetime contributions to literature and the Cultural Representative Award from the Punjab

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and ...

Early life

Kapila was born in

Jalandhar Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

, in what was then

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, on 15 April 1942. She was introduced to ''Hindustani'' classical music in her childhood at the Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan.

Career

Kapila started her writing career early when she was aged 12. Her first novel ''Bhatke Rahi'' (

: भटके रही) told the story of a woman through her experiences during the Partition of India and following the country's independence in 1947. She moved to

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which a ...

in 1977 after her marriage to journalist Ramesh Kapila. During this time she emerged as an art critic and contributed to many newspapers and magazines as a freelance journalist and an art critic. The ''

Dainik Tribune ''Dainik Tribune'' (Hindi: दैनिक ट्रिब्यून) is an Indian Hindi-language daily newspaper that is being currently published from Chandigarh, New Delhi, Jalandhar, Dehradun and Bathinda. It was first established in 19 ...

'', ''

Dinaman ''Dinaman'' was a Hindi language weekly magazine founded in 1965. It was published in New Delhi. The newsweekly was started by Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan 'Ajneya', a pioneer of modern Hindi poetry and writing. His Assistant Editors were ...

'', the ''

Punjab Kesari Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

'', the '' Jansatta'', Hindi Hindustan newspapers and various literary journals and magazines such as ''Hans'', ''Vartamaan Sahitya'', ''Vaagarth'', ''Naya Gyanodaya'' (

Bharatiya Jnanpith Bharatiya Jnanpith a literary and research organization, based in New Delhi, India, was founded on February 18, 1944Encyclopaedia of Indian literature vol. 1, p. 298 1987, Sahitya Akademi, by Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain of the Sahu Jain family and ...

), ''Dastak'', ''Irawati'', ''Harigandha'', ''Jaagriti'' and many more have published her short stories and literary columns, including the Kala Kshetraya – a weekly art and literature column in the ''Dainik Tribune'' which also serialized and published her first novel ''Satwan Swar'' (

: सातवाँ स्वर). In a later interview, Kapila would note that an interview of the Hindi author and playwright,

Bhisham Sahni Bhisham Sahni (8 August 1915 – 11 July 2003) was an Indian writer, playwright in Hindi and an actor, most famous for his novel and television screenplay '' Tamas'' ("Darkness, Ignorance"), a powerful and passionate account of the Partition of ...

, was her first journalistic assignment. Kapila's first story was published in 1960 in the ''Veer Pratap'', a newspaper from Jullundur. She subsequently published three novels, including ''Bhatke Raahi'' (

: भटके राही; ), ''Satwan Swar'' (

: सातवाँ स्वर; ) and ''Saamne ka Aasman'' (

: सामने का आसमान; ); three short story collections – ''Beechon Beech'' (

: बीचों बीच; ), ''Tab Shayad'' (

: तब शायद; ) and ''Ek Muqadama Aur'' (

: एक मुक़दमा और; ). Her published novel ''Saamne ka Aasmaan'' (''

:'' सामने का आसमान) told the story of three individuals from different strata of the society coming together and living a shared experience at a theater. She also wrote a book on Indian classical singer,

Pandit Jasraj Pandit Jasraj (28 January 1930 – 17 August 2020) was an Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the '' Mewati gharana'' (musical apprenticeship lineage). His musical career spanned 75 years resulting in national and international fame ...

. Her works were noted for narratives in simple language, often written with central women characters and their experiences and emotions in a male-dominated society. Kapila was a member of the Chandigarh

for over three decades. Her stories have been translated into Indian and foreign languages including Punjabi, Telugu and English. English translations of her stories have been included in the anthology ''"Flowing like a River"''. Her last novel ''Nishesh'' (''

:'' नि:शेष) was published posthumously in January 2024 by

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertelsmann announced the completion of its purchase ...

India.

Awards

In 2011, Kapila received the Chandigarh

for her outstanding contribution to literature. She was also a recipient of the Cultural Representative Award from the Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi and was noted as one of 111 Hindi female writers of the 21st century by ''The Sunday Indian''.

Personal life

Kapila was married to journalist Ramesh Kapila, who worked with ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split be ...

''. The couple had three children; two daughters and a son. Her daughter Shruti Kapila is a published author and an associate professor of history at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

. Kapila died from a cardiac arrest on 19 December 2021, at the age of 79 at her home in Chandigarh.

Bibliography

Sources:

Novels

* * * *

Short story collections

* * *

References

External links

''Indian Literature, Sahitya Akademi Journal, Vol. 57, No. 1 (273) (January/February 2013), pp. 170-175'' - Flowing like a Riverː Madhur Kapila and Jaswant Singh Saini

''The Sunday Indian (22 Aug - 4 Sep, 2011)'' - 111 Female Hindi writers of the 21st century (''द सनडे इंडियन - 21वी सदी की 111 हिन्दी लेखिकाएँ'')

''Madhur Kapila''
-

Penguin Random House India Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertelsmann announced the completion of its purchase o ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapila, Madhur 1942 births 2021 deaths Writers from Chandigarh Indian women novelists Indian women short story writers Hindi-language novelists Hindi-language writers Women writers from Chandigarh 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian novelists Punjabi people Indian women journalists Women writers from Punjab, India Hindi-language journalists 21st-century Indian journalists Novelists from Punjab, India Writers from Jalandhar