Ram Sarup Ankhi (28 August 1932 - 14 February 2010) was an Indian writer, poet, and novelist who wrote in Punjabi. He started as a poet but ended up as a fiction writer. 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 ...

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 1987 for his novel '' Kothe Kharak Singh''.

Life

Ankhi was born on 28 August 1932, in the village of Dhaula in Barnala district of

Indian Punjab Punjab (; ) is a state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the north and northeast, Haryana to the south and southeast, and ...

. After completing his education from Government Mohindra College, Patiala, Ankhi continued with his ancestral profession of farming. Later, he served as an English teacher in a government school, but wrote in Punjabi language. He died on 13 February 2010, and he was survived by his wife, three daughters and two sons. One daughter pre-deceased him Three of his wives died, and he later married a lady who spoke only broken Punjabi, leading everyone to conclude that his fourth wife was from outside Punjab, but from another Indian province.

Career

He started his career as a poet but ended as fiction writer. There are 15 novels, eight-story-books and five poem collections to his credit. He mostly wrote about the village life of

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 ...

; about farmer suicide and indebtedness and drug addiction etc. His well-known works include '' Kothe Kharak Singh'' (1985), ''Partapi'' (1993), ''Dulle Di Dhab'' (2003), ''Salphas'', ''Kanak Da Qatleam''. ''Malhe Jharhian'' (1988) and ''Apni Mitti De Rukh'' (2004) are both autobiographies. The scene of most of his writings are a cluster of 50 villages in the Malwa region, from the districts of

Mansa Mansa may refer to: Places In India * Mansa, Gujarat, a town in northern Gujarat, Western India; the capital of: ** Mansa, Gujarat Assembly constituency ** Mansa State, a princely state under the Mahi Kantha Agency in India * Mansa district, ...

Bathinda Bathinda is a city and municipal corporation in Punjab, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of Bathinda District. It is located in northwestern India in the Malwa Region, west of the capital city of Chandigarh and is the fifth l ...

, Barnala, and

Sangrur Sangrur is a city in Sangrur district of the Indian state of Punjab, India. It is the headquarters of Sangrur District. Geography Sangrur is located at . It has an average elevation of 237 metres (778 feet). Climate Health s ...

Awards

He received the

given by

, India's National Academy of Letters in 1987 for his novel '' Kothe Kharak Singh'', which was a story of three generations based on a fictional village in Punjab.Official list of Awardees

website. He received many more including, Kartar Singh Dhaliwal award of 1992 from Panjabi Sahit Akademi,

Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest city in the Indian state of Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the most densely populated urban centre in the state. I ...

and Sarb Shresht Sahitkaar award in 2009.

Notable books

;Stories Many of his books and short stories have been adapted into films. His novel ''Gelo'' was made into a Punjabi feature film directed by Manbhawan Singh in 2016. *''Sutta Naag'' (1966) *''Kachcha Dhaga'' (1967) *''Manukh Di Maut'' (1968) *''Teesi Da Ber'' (1970) *''Khaara Duddh'' (1973) *''Adha Admi'' (1977) *''Gelo'' *''Kadon Phirange Din'' (1985) *''Kidhar Jaawan'' (1992) *''Chhad Ke Na Ja'' (1994) ; ;Novels *'' Kothe Kharak Singh'' (1985) *''Partapi'' (1993) *''Dulle Di Dhab'' (2003) *''Kaidan'' ; ;Autobiographies *''Malhe Jharhian'' (1988) *''Apni Mitti De Rukh'' (2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ankhi, Ram Sarup Punjabi-language writers Punjabi-language poets Indian male novelists 1932 births 2010 deaths Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Punjabi People from Sangrur 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian novelists Indian male poets Poets from Punjab, India Novelists from Punjab, India 20th-century Indian male writers