Shiva Kumar Rai (1919-1995) was a

Nepali language Nepali (; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Himalayas region of South Asia. It is the official, and most widely spoken, language of Nepal, where it also serves as a '' lingua franca''. Nepali has official status in the Indian st ...

writer and politician from

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...

, India. 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 ...

in 1978 for his collection of short stories ''Khaharey''. He was the first

Gorkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas and are recruit ...

minister in the state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

after becoming a deputy minister in 1952.

Biography

Shiva Kumar Rai was born on 26 April 1919 at

Rhenock Rhenock is a town in the Pakyong District in Sikkim, India, located on the border with the Kalimpong district of West Bengal. It lies 63 kilometres east of Gangtok, and 47 kilometres north of Kalimpong on the way to Jelepla Pass at an altitude o ...

, Sikkim. His father Dhojbir Rai was post-master and because of the constant transfer of this father's post, Rai initially took his primary lessons at home. Only after coming to

Kurseong Kurseong is a town and a municipality in Darjeeling district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Kurseong subdivision. Located at an altitude of , Kurseong is from Darjeeling and has a pleasant climate throughout ...

did he have a regular education. Rai did his schooling at Pushparani Middle School in Kurseong and later at Darjeeling Government School in

, where he met notable teachers such as Dharnidhar Sharma, Surya Bikram Gyawali and

Parasmani Pradhan Parasmani Pradhan () (1 January 1898–2 February 1986) was an Indian Nepali-language writer, poet, translator, grammarian, educator and publisher. He published multiple Nepali language textbooks and played an important role in shaping the moder ...

. He passed his metric examination in 1937. He completed his B.A. from St. Joseph's College, Darjeeling in 1939 and graduated from

St. Xavier's College, Kolkata St. Xavier's College is a private, Catholic, autonomous higher education college under Calcutta University run by the Calcutta Province of the Society of Jesus in Kolkata, India. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1860 and named after St. Fra ...

in 1941. After finishing college, in 1942, Rai became a secretary of ''Burma Saranarthi Mukti Samiti'', a committee set up for helping the Burmese refugees of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. During this time, he came into contact with many Nepali refugees from Burma. While conversing with them, he felt the need to write about their turmoils in life, which took shape into his famous novel ''Dak Bangla'', published in 1957. Rai was very active in politics and was affiliated with the

All India Gorkha League Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League ( ABGL) (also called All India Gorkha League (AIGL/IGL)) is a political party working amongst the Nepali-speaking Gorkha population in Darjeeling District and Kalimpong District of West Bengal, India. The party was ...

. In 1948, he was elected as an MLA from the erstwhile Jorebungalow constituency to the West Bengal Assembly. He was the Deputy Labour Minister of West Bengal from 1952 to 1957. Rai died on 22 July 1995.

Literature

Shiva Kumar Rai started his writing career in the late 1930s when he was in college. His first work was published in a hand-written youth magazine titled ''Bansuri''. He was also the editor of this magazine. His first printed work, a poem titled ''Birahi Ko Basanta'', is found in Rup Narayan Singh-edited magazine ''Khoji''. His poems and writings were published in journals such as ''Gorkha'', ''Diyo'', ''Yug Vani'', and ''Sahitya Sroth''. His first story titled ''Prakriti Putri'' was published in ''Sharda'' journal in 1944. His landmark book ''Frontier'', a collection of stories, was published in 1956. To mark the centenary of his birth, ''Shiva Kumar Rai Janma Satvarshik Samaroha Samity (Kurseong)'' decided to publish the totality of his writings in three volumes as ''Shiva Kumar Rai Granthawali'', which was edited by Chandra Sharma and Sujata Rani Rai. His story ''Chaata'' won the prestigious ''Ratnashri Award'' in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

in 1969. In 1978, he won the

Sahitya Academy 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 his short story collection ''Khaharey''. In 1994, he was awarded the ''Agam Singh Giri Smriti Puraskaar'' by the Sikkim Sahitya Parishad and was felicitated by the Nepali Sahitya Sammelan, Darjeeling the same year.

Literary works

* ''Daafe Chari'' (1954) * ''Frontier'' (1956) * ''Dak Bangla'' (1957) * ''Yatra'' (1956) * ''Khaharey'' (1976) * ''Bara Dinner'' (1978) * ''Shivakumar Rai Ka Saat Katha'' (1994)

Biography

Literature

Literary works

References

See also