Sudhanshu Chaturvedi is a writer, translator and academic from

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 ...

, India. He has authored or translated over 120 books in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

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 ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

and English. Even though his mother tongue is Hindi, he has written most of his books in Malayalam. He is a former member of the Official Language Committee of the Ministries of Defense, Railways, Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation and is currently the Director of the National Literary Academy. He has received many awards including

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 translation (1995, for ''Rassi'', translation of Malayalam novel ''Kayar''),

Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award is given each year, since 1958, by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Kerala Literary Academy), to Malayalam writers for their outstanding books of literary merit. The awards are given in various categories.

for Scientific Literature, Indian Council for Child Education Award for children's literature, Rangeya Raghav Paryatan Puraskar and

Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan also known as UP Hindi Sansthan is an autonomous organisation in Uttar Pradesh, working for the promotion of Hindi language. It is run under the Department of Languages, Government of Uttar Pradesh. Apart from organiz ...

Souhard Samman. ''Nilayilekkozhukiya ganga'' is the biography of Sudhanshu Chaturvedi written by E. Jayachandran and published by

Kerala Bhasha Institute The Kerala Bhasha Institute is an academic publishing house in India that was established on 11 March 1968 as a part of the fourth five-year plan. Twelve years later, on 1 November 1980, a regional center was set up in Kozhikode. It is located ...

Biography

He was born on 15 February 1943 in Madho Nagar, near Kanpur in

Kannauj district Kannauj district is an administrative district of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India, along the river Ganges. The historic town of Kannauj, northwest of Kanpur, is the administrative center. The district was carved out of Farrukhabad distric ...

of Uttar Pradesh. In 1962, Sudhanshu met

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

, the first Prime Minister of India, to demand that Hindi be made the national language of India. He told Nehru that, speakers of other languages should be strictly instructed to learn Hindi by 1965. In response, Nehru rejected his proposal and said that he had to satisfy the entire people of India. Nehru then asked him to study one of the difficult

Dravidian language The Dravidian languages (or sometimes Dravidic) are a family of languages spoken by 250 million people, mainly in southern India, north-east Sri Lanka, and south-west Pakistan. Since the colonial era, there have been small but significant i ...

Malayalam. He took up Nehru's challenge and joined the

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) ...

for his master's degree in Malayalam and from there graduated in 1964. He also holds Masters in Sanskrit and Hindi. After completing his MA in 1964, he came Kerala and was appointed Hindi Lecturer at Sri Kerala Varma College, Thrissur. He remained there and retired as department head and college principal. He holds a doctorate in Hindi and Malayalam from the

University of Kerala University of Kerala, formerly the University of Travancore, is a state-run public university located in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chit ...

. He is the first D.Lit graduate from the University of Kerala. Sudhamshu, who spent 43 years in Kerala, has settled in

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 ...

after his retirement.

Literary contributions

He has authored or translated over 120 books in

and English. His first translation was a book on Russian Constitution written by Dr. V. R. Sahni, which he translated to Hindi. In 1964 he translated first Malayalam novel to Hindi, which was ''Odayil Ninnu'' by

P. Kesavadev P. Kesava Pillai (20 July 1904 – 1 July 1983), better known by his pen-name P. Kesavadev, was a novelist and social reformer of Kerala, India. He is remembered for his speeches, autobiographies, novels, dramas, short stories, and films. ''Oday ...

(Hindi title ''Nale Se''). His book named ''Sankshiptam Balakandam'' was a prescribed text for

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

and B.A. (Hons.) degree. He also published two dictionaries, Hindi-Hindi-Malayalam and Malayalam-Malayalam-Hindi.

Translated from Sanskrit to English

* Kalidasa Sahityasarvaswam - Complete works of

Kalidasa Kālidāsa (''fl.'' 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on the Vedas, the Rāmāyaṇa, the Mahābhārata and ...

* Bhasa Nataka Sarvaswam -Complete works of Bhasa

Translated from Sanskrit into Malayalam

* Kalidasa Sahityasarvasvam - Complete Works of Kalidasa * Bhasa Nataka Sarvasvam - Complete Drama Works of Bhasa * Srimad Valmiki Ramayana (4 volumes) Literal Translation

Translated from Hindi to Malayalam

He has translated many works from Hindi to Malayalam, including ''Akannupoya chithrangal'', ''Ara divasam'' and ''Amruthum vishavum''.

Translated from Malayalam to Hindi

He has translated over forty best Malayalam works into Hindi, including ''Chinthavishtayaya seetha'' (

Kumaranasan Mahakavi Kumaran Asan (Malayalam: എൻ. കുമാരൻ ആശാൻ) (12 April 1873 – 16 January 1924) was a poet of Malayalam literature, Indian social reformer and a philosopher. He is known to have initiated a revolution in Malayalam ...

), Sandhya, ''Balyakalasakhi'' (

Vaikom Muhammad Basheer Vaikom Muhammad Basheer (21 January 1908 – 5 July 1994), popularly referred to as Beypore Sulthan, was a writer of Malayalam literature. He was a writer, humanist, freedom fighter, novelist and short story writer, noted for his path-breaking, ...

), ''

Odayil Ninnu ''Odayil Ninnu'' () is a Malayalam novel written by Indian author P. Kesavadev in 1942. The protagonist of the novel is a rickshaw-puller named Pappu. The novel is one of the best-known works of Kesavadev. Dev was in the forefront among the writ ...

'' (

), ''Ayalkkar'' (P. Kesavadev), ''Himagiri Viharam'' (Tapovanaswamy), ''Enippadikal'' (

Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai (17 April 1912 – 10 April 1999), popularly known as Thakazhi after his place of birth, was an Indian novelist and short story writer of Malayalam literature. He wrote over 30 novels and novellas and over 7 shor ...

), ''

Sundarikalum Sundaranmarum ''Sundarikalum Sundaranmarum'' (''The Beautiful and the Handsome'') is a 1958 Malayalam novel written by Uroob (P. C. Kuttikrishnan). ''Sundarikalum Sundaranmarum'' along with ''Ummachu'' are considered the best works by Uroob and are ranked amon ...

'' (

Uroob Parutholli Chalappurathu Kuttikrishnan, popularly known by his pen name Uroob ( ml, ഉറൂബ്; 1915 – 1979) was an Indian writer of Malayalam literature. Along with Basheer, Thakazhi, Kesavadev, and Pottekkatt, Uroob was counted am ...

), ''Professor'', ''Kanyaka'', ''

Kanchana Sita ''Kanchana Sita'' (''Golden Sita'') (Malayalam :കാഞ്ചന സീത) is a 1977 Indian Malayalam feature-length film scripted and directed by G. Aravindan. A mythological film, its story was adapted from C. N. Sreekantan Nair's play of t ...

'' (

C. N. Sreekantan Nair C. N. Sreekantan Nair (1928–1976) was an Indian independence activist, a Malayalam writer, short story writer, playwright and screenwriter, best known for his ''Ramayana'' trilogy – ''Kanchana Sita'', ''Saketham'' and ''Lankalakshmi''. He wrot ...

), '' Indulekha'' (

O. Chandhu Menon Oyyarathu Chandu Menon (popularly known as O. Chandu Menon) (1847–1899) was a Malayalam language novelist. He is the author of '' Indulekha'', the first major novel in Malayalam published in 1889. Life Chandu Menon was born on 9 January 1847 in ...

), '' Agnisakshi'' (

Lalithambika Antharjanam Lalithambika Antharjanam (March 30, 1909 – February 6, 1987) was an Indian author and social reformer best known for her literary works in Malayalam language. She was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and social reform movements among the Nambuthir ...

), ''

Kayar ''Kayar'' (English: ''Coir'') is a 1978 Malayalam epic novel written by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai. Widely considered one of the most seminal works in Malayalam literature, ''Kayar'' received many major literary awards, including the Vayalar ...

'' (Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai), '' Tathvamasi'' ( Sukumar Azhikode), Mayyazhippuzhayude Theerangalil ( M. Mukundan), ''Veluthampi dalava'' (

Kainikkara Padmanabha Pillai Kainikkara Padmanabha Pillai (1898–1976), popularly identified as Swathithirunal Kainikkara Padmanabha Pillai after his magnum opus, ''Swathithirunal'', was an Indian author of Malayalam literature, actor, speaker, teacher and thinker. He was ...

Other works

* ''Nadi samdrathilekk thanne'' (His first independent Malayalam novel) * ''Theerabhoomi''(Malayalam novel) * ''Janmaantharam'' (Malayalam novel) * ''Navabharatha shilpikal'' * ''Bharatheeya prathibhakal'' * ''Anthyabhilasham''(Malayalam novel) * ''Chinnichithariya Mohangal''(Malayalam novel) * ''Karmadheerante kaalppadukal'' (Biography of

Lal Bahadur Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...

) * ''Sumaanjali'' (Hindi poetry collection) * ''Kavithayute Kallukal'' (Malayalam poetry collection)

Awards

Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize or Sahitya Akademi Prize for Translation is a literary honour in India, presented by Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, given to "outstanding translations of creative and critical works" in 24 m ...

(for his translation ''Kayar'' to Hindi) * Rangeya Raghav Paryatan Puraskar *

for Scientific Literature * Dr. Gargi Gupta Anuvad Shree Award for Outstanding Contribution to Translation * Indian Council for Child Education Award for children's literature *

Souhard Samman * Vachaspati Award * Rashtrabhasha Ratna Rashtriya Samman * Manumitra Award * Sahitya Ratnam * Vidyavaridhi Puraskaram

References

{{reflist

External links

Nilayilekkozhukiya Ganga: ''Review'' by Padmadas
Writers from Uttar Pradesh Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Hindi Hindi-language writers Malayalam-language writers Sanskrit–English translators Recipients of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award Translators to Malayalam Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Prize for Translation