Kiran Nagarkar (2 April 1942 – 5 September 2019) was an Indian novelist, playwright and screenwriter. A noted drama and film critic, he was one of the most significant writers of post-colonial India. Sanga, p. 177 Amongst his notable works are ''Saat Sakkam Trechalis'' (tr. ''Seven Sixes Are Forty Three'') (1974), ''Ravan and Eddie'' (1994), and '' Cuckold'' (1997) for which he was awarded the 2001

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 English 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. His novels written in English have been translated into German. In 2012, he was awarded the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

Personal life

Nagarkar was born on 2 April 1942 in Bombay, now

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

, in a middle-class Maharashtrian family, the younger of two sons to Sulochana and Kamalkant Nagarkar. His grandfather, B. B. Nagarkar, was a

Brahmo Bengali Brahmos are those who adhere to Brahmoism, the philosophy of Brahmo Samaj which was founded by Raja Rammohan Roy. A recent publication describes the disproportionate influence of Brahmos on India's development post-19th Century as unpa ...

and had attended the 1893

Parliament of the World's Religions There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World's Religions, the first being the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893, which was an attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. The event was celebrated by another c ...

in Chicago. He studied at

Fergusson College Fergusson College is an autonomous public-private college offering various courses in the streams of arts and science in the city of Pune, India. It was founded in 1885 by the Deccan Education Society. Professor Vaman Shivram Apte was its fir ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

and the S.I.E.S. College in

. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1964 and a master's degree in English literature in 1967. After that, he worked as an advertising copywriter for 15 years. From June to November 2011 he was 'writer in residence' at the Literaturhaus Zurich and the PWG Foundation in Zurich. He was married to Tulsi Vatsal, sister of industrialist Anand Mehta. Nagarkar was a life-long critic of the establishment and stood by his political views throughout his literary career. He was admitted to hospital on 2 September 2019, after suffering a

brain haemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

at a friend's place during celebrations for the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. He remained in coma for two days and died on 5 September 2019.

Novels

Nagarkar is notable among Indian writers for having written acclaimed novels in more than one language. His first novel, ''Saat Sakkam Trechalis'' published in Marathi in 1974, was translated into English by Shubha Slee in 1980 and published in 1995 as ''Seven Sixes Are Forty Three''. It is considered a landmark work of Marathi literature. His novel ''Ravan and Eddie'', begun in Marathi but completed in English, was not published until 1994. Since ''Ravan and Eddie'', all Nagarkar's novels have been written in English and also translated into German. His third novel, ''Cuckold'', based upon the mystic

Meerabai Meera, better known as Mirabai and venerated as Sant Meerabai, was a 16th-century Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna. She is a celebrated Bhakti saint, particularly in the North Indian Hindu tradition. Mirabai was born into a Rathore ...

's husband,

Bhoj Raj Bhojraj Singh Sisodia (c. 1495–1526) was the eldest son of Rana Sanga, ruler of Mewar in western India. He is best known as the husband of the reputed bhakti poet-saint Meerabai. Biography Bhojraj Singh was born the eldest of the seven sons ...

, was published in 1997 and won the 2001

. It took him nine years to write his next, ''God's Little Soldier'', a tale of a liberal Muslim boy's tryst with religious orthodoxy, which was published in 2006, to mixed reviews. In 2012, he published ''The Extras'', a sequel to ''Ravan and Eddie'' that traces the adult lives of Ravan and Eddie in Bollywood. The third and last book in the series, ''Rest in Peace'', was written in 2015. His 2017 novel, ''Jasoda'', is the story of a young women and mother, trying to raise her children in the arid lands of Kantagiri. Jasoda shows every lamentable tradition in the hinterlands in stark clarity. It is a testimony, according to the author, to the millions of women in the parched and scorched regions of India and find themselves between a rock and a husband. His 2019 novel, ''The Arsonist'', is a re-imagining of the life of Kabir, the 15th-century Indian mystic poet and saint. It also critiqued the rise of Hindu majoritarianism in India.

Plays and screenplays

In 1978, Nagarkar wrote the play ''Bedtime Story'', based partly on the Mahābhārata. Its performance was extra-legally banned for 17 years by

Hindu nationalist Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of social and political thought, based on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" or the correct term ''Hindū rāṣṭ ...

fundamentalist Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishi ...

parties, including the Shiv Sena, a far-right political party;

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family ...

(RSS) and Hindu Mahasabha. He warned about censorship faced by India in his introduction to the play: "Legal censorship in India can often be gauche, club-footed and hyper-protective of anything and everything but the freedoms of speech and expression. Extra-legal censorship in the country, however, is fearless and effective. It successfully prevented Bedtime Story from being performed for seventeen years." In a 2018 interview, Nagarkar did not appear to be concerned about

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

in the country. He recalled past incidents when radical groups in Mumbai had threatened to prevent his play from staging. Nagarkar stated, "these things happen from time to time, and only then can we be assured that art is still living." Nagarkar's theatre work also includes ''Kabirache Kay Karayche'' and ''Stranger Amongst Us'', and his screenplay work includes ''The Broken Circle'', ''The Widow and Her Friends'', and ''The Elephant on the Mouse'', a film for children. He played the role of Brother Bono as a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

in Dev Benegal's Movie ''

Split Wide Open ''Split Wide Open'' is a 1999 Indian film directed by Dev Benegal. It is his second feature film after '' English, August'' (1994). The film primarily deals with the Water conflicts in the slums of Bombay, and paedophilia, and also looks at the s ...

''.

Awards and honours

Kiran Nagarkar, Marathi and English writer, India

Kiran Nagarkar was awarded the

and Sahitya Akademi Award among others. He also received the Rockefeller grant and a scholarship from the city of Munich. * 2001:

, winner, '' Cuckold'' * 2012:

. It is described as the 'highest tribute Germany can pay to individuals'. * 2013:

The Hindu Literary Prize ''The Hindu'' Literary Prize or ''The Hindu'' Best Fiction Award, established in 2010, is an Indian literary award sponsored by ''The Hindu Literary Review'' which is part of the newspaper ''The Hindu''. It recognizes Indian works in English and ...

, shortlist, ''The Extras''

Works

Novels * 1974: ''Seven Sixes are Forty Three'' (tr. of ''Saat Sakkam Trechalis''). Translated by Shubha Slee. Pub. Heinemann, 1995. . * 1994: ''Ravan and Eddie'' * 1997: '' Cuckold'' * 2006: ''God's Little Soldier'' * 2012: ''The Extras'' * 2015: ''Rest in Peace'' * 2017: '' Jasoda: A Novel'' * 2019: ''The Arsonist'' Kiran Nagarkar, Marathi and English language writer, India 2

Kiran Nagarkar, Marathi and English language writer, India 2

Plays and screenplays * 1978: ''Bedtime Story'' * ''Kabirache Kay Karayche'' * ''Stranger Amongst Us'' * ''The Broken Circle'' * ''The Widow and Her Friends'' * ''The Elephant on the Mouse'' * ''Black Tulip''

Notes

References

* Yasmeen Lukhmani, ed. ''The Shifting Worlds of Kiran Nagarkar's Fiction'', Indialog Publications, New Delhi, 2004 *
Kiran Nagarkar on Extras, sexual repression & humourless Indians

External links

Kiran Nagarkar The Unofficial Website

On Sanity Hazards of Being an Indian Writer at Tehelka

;Interviews

*

Arts.21 Between Berlin and Bombay â The Indian Writer Kiran Nagarkar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagarkar, Kiran Marathi-language writers 1942 births 2019 deaths Savitribai Phule Pune University alumni Indian male dramatists and playwrights Indian male novelists English-language writers from India Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in English Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Writers from Mumbai International Writing Program alumni 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian novelists 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Indian critics Indian male screenwriters 21st-century Indian novelists Indian historical novelists Novelists from Maharashtra Dramatists and playwrights from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian male writers 21st-century Indian male writers Prarthana Samaj Marathi people