Sushil Siddharth (2 July 1958 – 17 March 2018) was a Hindi prose and poetry writer, critic, editor, and satirist. He was a journalist and columnist and the co-editor of several periodicals. He was awarded the Madhuban Vyanga Shri Samman in 2017 for his satirical works.

Career

Born in the village of Bheera,

Sitapur district Sitapur district is one of the districts which is situated in Uttar Pradesh state of India, with Sitapur town as the district headquarters. Sitapur district is a part of Lucknow division. History Sitapur was first constituted as a district ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

, on 2 July 1958, Sushil Siddharth did his Ph.D. from the

University of Lucknow The University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is a public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Founded in 1920, the University of Lucknow is one of the oldest government owned institutions of higher edu ...

. After finishing his higher education, Siddharth became involved in the literary circles of

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

while continuing as a freelance writer for newspapers and magazines. He considered Gyan Chaturvedi the father of satire, and his personal mentor. He also co-edited the Hindi periodicals ''Tadbhav'' and ''Kathakrama''. His column in the latter, titled ''Raag Lantrani'', brought him recognition. During 1988–90, Siddharth and Ram Bahadur Mishra jointly edited and published ''Birwa'', a quarterly magazine dedicated to promoting the

Awadhi language Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in North India, northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to ...

. Siddharth was additionally a guest faculty at the Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University, and also wrote plays for television and radio. Since its inception, he had been a regular contributor to ''Indraprastha Bharti'', a magazine of the Hindi Academy in New Delhi, where his column ''Kataaksh'' was highly popular. He wrote four collections of satire: ''Preeti Na Kariyo Koy'', ''Mo Sam Kaun'', ''Naarad Ki Chinta'', ''Maalish Mahapurana''; and contributed two anthologies of poems: ''Eka'' and ''Bagan Bagan Kahe Chiriya'' in Awadhi. The twice nominated Siddharth for its Best satire and Best Awadhi poem awards. In 2017, he was awarded the Madhuban Vyanga Shri Samman for his satirical works. Siddharth worked as an editor for the

Rajkamal Prakashan Rajkamal Prakashan is a noted publishing house of Hindi literature as well as English book publication. Established in 1947, the publishing house is headquartered in New Delhi, with branches in Patna, Ranchi, Prayagraj, Kolkata and some other loc ...

group before joining Kitabghar Prakashan, where he served till his death. He edited the book series ''Vyanga Samay''. For his work in

literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

, Siddharth was awarded by

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

's Spandan Sanstha.

Personal life

Siddharth stayed alone in Delhi while his family lived in Lucknow. He died on 17 March 2018 from complications arising after a heart attack. His body was

cremated Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre i ...

the following day in Lucknow's Bhainsakund Crematorium. A condolence ceremony in his memory was held at 's residence. Fellow writer Dayanand Pandey said that satire was the oxygen in Siddharth's life. Novelist

Maitreyi Pushpa Maitreyi Pushpa (Hindi: मैत्रेयी पुष्पा; born 30 November 1944), is a Hindi fiction writer. An eminent writer in Hindi, Maitreyi Pushpa has ten novels and seven short story collections to her credit She also writes p ...

was of the view that Siddharth's talent was never properly treasured in his lifetime, and that publishers for whom he worked took advantage of his financial condition.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siddharth, Sushil 1958 births 2018 deaths People from Sitapur district Hindi-language writers Poets from Uttar Pradesh Indian satirists Indian literary critics Indian columnists University of Lucknow alumni