Narendra Kohli (6 January 1940 – 17 April 2021) was an Indian author. Writing in

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 de ...

-language, he is credited with reinventing the ancient form of epic writing in modern prose. He is also regarded as a trendsetter in the sense that he pioneered the creation of literary works based on the Puranas.Learning lessons from mythology, The Hindu. http://www.hindu.com/lf/2004/12/05/stories/2004120500640200.htm Because of the large impact of his body of work on Hindi literature, not only is this era of contemporary modern Hindi literature, since about 1975, sometimes referred to as the Kohli Era, his birth anniversary of January 6th is celebrated as Litterateurs' Day or Writers' Day in the Hindi literature world. He died on 17 April due to complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

after he was on a ventilator.

Life

Narendra Kohli was born to Parmananda Kohli and Vidyavanti, a Punjabi Hindu couple in

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 ...

province of

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 ...

.डॉ. कृष्णकुमार,लेखक करता है परकाया प्रवेश , Madhumati:Rajasthan Sahitya Acadami, (2006).http://www.lakesparadise.com/madhumati/show_artical.php?id=648 His first school was the Dev Samaj High School 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. ...

. Then he attended the Ganda Singh High School in Sialkot for a few months. In 1947, after 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: ...

, the family moved to

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (, ) or Tatanagar is the largest and most populous city in Jharkhand and the first planned industrial city in India. It is a Notified Area Council and Municipal Corporation and also the headquarter of the East Singhbhum district. It ...

(

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

). He resumed his schooling in third grade at Dhatkidih Lower Primary school. He spent fourth to seventh grade (1949–53) at New Middle English school.

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Brief Introduction, www.narendrakohli.org. http://www.narendrakohli.org/person.html For higher education, he joined the Jamshedpur Co-operative College. He took the IA exams in 1959 from Bihar University with Compulsory English, Compulsory

, Psychology, Logic, and special Hindi as his subjects. He completed his BA (Hons.) in 1961 from Jamshedpur Co-operative College (

Ranchi University Ranchi University is a public state university in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India. It was established in 1960 by an Act of the Bihar legislature. Ranchi University offers degrees in undergraduate, post-graduate, M.Phil. and doctorate programs. History ...

) in Hindi. He completed his MA in 1963 at Ramjas College (

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...

), and in 1970, received his PhD from the University of Delhi. He died on 17 April 2021, aged 81 of

Early writings

His first story was in sixth grade for the handwritten class magazine. In eighth grade, his Urdu story ''Hindostan: Jannat Nishan'' was published in the school's printed magazine. As a child author, some of his first Hindi stories were published by ''Kishore'' (

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

) and ''Avaaz'' (

Dhanbad Dhanbad is the second-most populated city in the Indian state of Jharkhand after Jamshedpur. It ranks as the 42nd largest city in India and is the 33rd largest million-plus urban agglomeration in India. Dhanbad shares its land borders with Pa ...

). During his IA years, ''Sarita'' (

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

) published his story ''Paani ka Jug, Gilas aur Ketli'' in its ''Nae Ankur'' ("New Sprouts") column. After February 1960 his works started getting published regularly. He considered ''Do Haath'' published by Kahani (

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 ...

) as his first published work. He wrote a few novels based on the life of families and societies as well. But just portraying the society, or ridiculing its flaws and dilemmas was not going to satisfy him. He realised, that literature cannot reach its ultimate goal just by a narrow, partial and limited display of society, nor can the society benefit from such literature. The demonstration of poor human qualities will only encourage the evil and the foul. Therefore, it must be the goal of literature to demonstrate the great, honourable and moral aspect of life, he believed.

Bibliography

''Todo, Kara Todo'' is a novel based on the life of

Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...

. One reviewer called it the best on this topic in any of the languages so far.Swami Videhatmananda, ''Contemporary Hindi Literature'', ''Vedant Kesari'',(June 2006), pg.22 ''Vasudeva'' is a novel describing the life and times of

Vasudeva According to Hindu scriptures, Vasudeva (Sanskrit: वसुदेव, IAST: ''Vasudeva''), also called Anakadundubhi, (''anakas'' and ''dundubhis'' both refer to ''drums'', after the musicians who played these instruments at the time of his b ...

, the father of

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

; it describes his virtues and draws parallels between that era and the present day. It has been described by critics as a manifesto of a cultural revolution and an epic of human endurance and endeavour.

Work

* Ek aur lal tikon – 1970 * Paanch absurd upanyas – 1972 * Aashriton ka vidroh – 1973 * Jagane ka apradh – 1973 * Pareshaniyan – 1986 * Gantantra ka ganit – 1997 * Aadhunik ladki ki peeda – 1978 * Trasidiyan – 1982 * Mere mohalle ke phool – 2000 * Samagra vyang – 2002 * Sabse bada satya – 2003 * Woh kahan hai – 2003 * Aatma ki pavitrata – 1996 * Meri shreshth vyang rachnayen – 1977 * Samagra natak – 1990 * Samagra vyang (part 1, 2, 3) – 1998 * Samagra kahaniyan (Part 1, 2) – 1991, 1992 * Abhyuday (2 parts) – 1989 * Narendra kohli: Chuni hui rachnayen – 1990 * Narendra kohli ne kaha – 1997 * Meri ekyavan vyang rachnayen – 1997 * Meri terah kahaniyan – 1998 * Na bhuto na bhavishyati – 2004 * Swami vivekanand – 2004 * Das pratinidhi kahaniyan – 2006 * Premchand ke sahitya sidhhant – 1966 * Premchand (aalochana) – 1976 * Parineeti – 1969 * Kahani ka aabhav – 1977 * Drishti desh me ekaek – 1979 * Shatal – 1982 * Namak ka kaidi – 1983 * Nichale flat me – 1984 * Sanchit bhookh – 1985 * Punarambh – 1972 * Aatank – 1972 * Saha gaya dukh – 1974 * Mera apna sansar – 1975 * Deeksha – 1975 * Awsar – 1976 * Jangal ki kahani – 1977 * Sangharsh ki oor – 1978 * Yuddh (2 parts) – 1979 * Abhigyan – 1981 * Aatmadan – 1983 * Preetikatha – 1986 * Mahasamr 1 (Bandhan) – 1988 * Mahasamr 2 (Adhikar) – 1990 * Mahasamr 3 (Karm) – 1991 * Todo kara todo 1 (Nirman) – 1992 * Mahasamr 4 (Dharm) – 1993 * Todo kara todo 2 (Sadhana) – 1993 * Mahasamr 5 (Antaral) – 1995 * Kshama karna jiji – 1995 * Mahasamr 6 (prachhanna) – 1997 * Mahasamr 7 (Pratyaksh) – 1998 * Mahasamr 8 (Nirbandh) – 2000 * Todo kara todo 3 (Parivrajak) – 2003 * Todo kara todo 4 (Nirdesh) – 2004 * Ganit ka prashna – 1978 * Aasan rasta – 1985 * Ek din mathura me – 1991 * Abhi tum bachche ho – 1995 * Kukur – 1997 * Samadhan – 1997 * Shambook ki hatya – 1975 * Nirnay ruka hua – 1985 * Hatyare – 1985 * Gare ki deewar – 1986 * Kishkindha – 1998 * Agastya katha – 1998 * Hatyare – 1999 * Kise Jagau – 1996 * Pratinaad – 1996 * Nepathya – 1983 * Majra kya hai – 1989 * Baba nagarjun – 1987 * Smarami – 2000 * matsyagandha

References

External links

Official site

Official Facebook Page for Narendra Kohli's Literature

Read ''Mahasamar'' online

Basic details of his books
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kohli, Narendra Novelists from Punjab, India Hindi-language writers 1940 births 2021 deaths People from Sialkot Indian male dramatists and playwrights Indian satirists Delhi University alumni Ranchi University alumni 20th-century Indian novelists Hindi dramatists and playwrights Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian male writers Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in India