Doodhnath Singh (17 October 1936 – 12 January 2018) was an Indian

Hindi language 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 ...

writer, critic and poet. Born in

Ballia district Ballia district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ballia district is a part of Azamgarh division situated in the east of Uttar Pradesh. The main economic activity is agriculture. City is the district headquarters and commercial ...

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 ...

, Singh studied Hindi at the

University of Allahabad , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...

and served as a Professor there until 1994. In 2014, the

government of Uttar Pradesh The Government of Uttar Pradesh (ISO: Uttar Pradesh Sarkār; often abbreviated as GoUP) is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the governor as its appointed constitutional head of the state by the President of I ...

honoured him with their Bharat Bharti Samman. Some of Singh's well known works were ''Sapaat Chehre Wala Aadmi'', ''Aakhri Kalaam'', ''Nishkaasan,'' ''Bhai Ka Shok Geet'', ''Dharmakshetra-Kurukshetra'' and ''Surang se Lautate Huye''. He was also a literary analyst and critic, poet and playwright.

Early life

Born on 17 October 1936 in Sobantha village of

to Devkinandan Singh, a farmer, Doodhnath Singh was the eldest of three brothers. His was a family of limited means and after completing his primary schooling from a government school in a nearby village, Singh attended the Merchant Inter College in Chitbara Gaon. At an early age, he developed a keen interest in reading and kept books with him while taking his cattle for grazing. When other shepherds teased him, he climbed on the branches of trees to read his books. With the support of his uncle he completed his graduation and on the recommendation of the then

district magistrate A District Collector-cum-District Magistrate (also known as Deputy Commissioner in some states) is an All India Service officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre who is responsible for ''land revenue collection'', ''canal reven ...

of Ballia, Singh later shifted to

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 ...

and received his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in

Hindi literature Hindi literature ( hi, हिन्दी साहित्य, translit=hindī sāhitya) includes literature in the various Hindi language which have writing systems. Earliest forms of Hindi literature are attested in poetry of Apabhraṃ� ...

from

Allahabad University , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...

Career

Singh was the principal of Rangoota High School, Kolkata before becoming the sub-editor of a Hindi literature magazine. Here he came in contact with

Sumitranandan Pant Sumitranandan Pant (20 May 1900 – 28 December 1977) was an Indian poet. He was one of the most celebrated 20th century poets of the Hindi language and was known for romanticism in his poems which were inspired by nature, people and beauty wit ...

and was appointed an assistant professor of Hindi language in Allahabad University, a post he held till his retirement in 1994. Some of Singh's well known works were ''Sapaat Chehre Wala Aadmi'', ''Aakhri Kalaam'', ''Nishkaasan,'' ''Maai Ka Shok Geet'', ''Dharmakshetra-Kurukshetra'' and ''Surang se Lautate Huye''. He also authored three collections of poems, ''Ek Aur Bhi Aadmi Hai'', ''Agli Shatabdi Ke Naam'' and ''Yuva Khusboo''. He was also a literary critic and published his analysis of the works of Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala',

Mahadevi Varma Mahadevi Varma (26 March 1907 – 11 September 1987) was an Indian Hindi-language poet, essayist, sketch story writer and an eminent personality of Hindi literature. She is considered one of the four major pillars of the '' Chhayawadi'' era in ...

and

Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh (गजानन माधव मुक्तिबोध) (13 November 1917 – 11 September 1964) was one of the most prominent Hindi poets, essayists, literary and political critics, and fiction writers of the 20th cen ...

. Singh was a recipient of and , highest literary honours of Uttar Pradesh and

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

respectively. He was also the national president of Janwadi Lekhak Sangh. Along with ,

Kashinath Singh Kashinath Singh ( hi, काशीनाथ सिंह, born 1937) is an Indian writer and scholar of Hindi language and known for writing novels and short stories in Hindi. He was formerly a professor of Hindi literature in Banaras Hindu Uni ...

and , he was known as the "Four friends of Hindi".

Personal life and death

Singh was married to Nirmala Thakur. In October 2017, while he was admitted at

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

All India Institutes of Medical Sciences The All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is a group of autonomous government public medical universities of higher education under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare , Government of India. These institutes h ...

, Singh was diagnosed with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

. On 26 December, he returned to Allahabad. However, after his condition worsened, Singh was admitted to Phoenix hospital where he suffered

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

and was placed on

life support Life support comprises the treatments and techniques performed in an emergency in order to support life after the failure of one or more vital organs. Healthcare providers and emergency medical technicians are generally certified to perform basic ...

. He died on 12 January 2018. He was survived by two sons and one daughter. As per his wishes his eyes were donated. Singh's death was condoled by the former

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

Akhilesh Yadav Akhilesh is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Akhilesh Das (1961–2017), educationist, professor, Indian politician and philanthropist * Akhilesh K. Gaharwar (born 1982), Indian academic and Professor at Texas A&M University * ...

and he was cremated at Rasulabad Ghat, where as per traditions, his elder son Animesh Thakur performed his funeral rites.

Bibliography

''Source'':

Stories

* ''Sapaat Chehre Wala Aadmi'' (') * ''Sukhant'' (') * ''Premkatha Ka Ant Na Koi'' (') * ''Mai Ka Shokgeet'' (') * ''Dharmakshetra-Kurukshetra'' (') * ''Too Foo'' (') * ''Jalmurgiyon Ka Shikar'' (')

Novels

* ''Aakhri Kalaam'' (') * ''Nishkashan'' (') * ''Namo Andhkaar'' (')

Poetry collections

* ''Apni Shatabdi Ke Naam'' (') * ''Ek Aur Bhi Aadmi Hai'' (') * '' Yuva Khusboo'' (') * ''Tumhare Liye'' (') * '' Surang Se Lautte Huye'' (')

Play

* ''Yamgatha'' (')

Criticism

* ''Nirala: Atmahanta Aastha'' (') * ''Mahadevi'' (') * ''Muktibodha: Sahitya Mein Nayi Pravittian'' (')

Editor

* ''Tarapath'' (') * ''Bhuveneshwar Samagra'' (') * ''Do Sharan'' (') * ''Ek Shamsher Bhi Hai'' (') * ''Ot Mein Khada Mai Bolta Hoon'' (') * ''Saat Bhoomikayein'' (')

Memoir

* ''Laut Aa o Dhar'' (')