Surendra Verma (born 7 September 1941) is a leading

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 ...

litterateur and playwright. He started out as a playwright, when his play ''Surya Ki Antim Kiran Se Surya Ki Pahli Kiran Tak'' (From sunset to sunrise, 1972) became quite well known; it has been translated into six Indian languages. He has had a long association with the

National School of Drama National School of Drama (NSD) is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India. It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and became an in ...

.and has published about fifteen titles of short stories, satires, novels and plays. He has won the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

in 1993 and 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 1996

vyas samman The Vyas Samman is a literary award in India, first awarded in 1991. It is awarded annually by the K.K. Birla Foundation and includes a cash payout of Rs 4,00,000 (as of 2019). To be eligible for the award, the literary work must be in the Hi ...

in 2016.

Early life and education

Born in

Jhansi Jhansi (; Hindi: झांसी, Urdu: ) is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme south of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative head ...

, he is an M.A. in linguistics. He has 4 brothers and a sister. One of his brothers, Ravindra Verma, also writes. So does his sister-in-law.

Career

He started his career as a teacher and soon started writing stories. His first play, ''Surya ki antim kiran sesurya kipahli kiran tak'' (From the Sun's Last Ray to the Sun's First Ray`) was premiered in Marathi by

Amol Palekar Amol Palekar (born 24 November 1944) is an Indian actor, director and producer of Hindi and Marathi cinema. Career Palekar studied fine arts at the Sir JJ School of Arts, Mumbai, and commenced his artistic career as a painter. As a painter, h ...

in 1972. ''Nind Kyon Rat Bhar Nahin Ati'' (`Why Doesn't Sleep Stay the Whole Night) published in 1976, anthologizes his short plays. ''Qaid-e-Hayat'' talks about the personal life of poet

Mirza Ghalib ) , birth_date = , birth_place = Kala Mahal, Agra, Maratha Confederacy , death_date = , death_place = Gali Qasim Jaan, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, Delhi, British India , occupation = Poet , language ...

, including his financial hardships and his tragic love for Katiba, a woman calligraphist, who was working on his ''diwan''.

Works

Novels

* ''Do Murdon Ke Liye Guldasta'' (2000) * ''Mujhe Chand Chahiye'' (1993)- Won Sahitya Academy Award * "Katna Shami Ka Vriksha Padmapankhuri Ki Dhar Se"(2010)

Plays

* ''Surya Ki Antim Kiran Se Surya Ki Pahli Kiran Tak'' (From Sunset to Sunrise, 1972) * ''Athwan sarg'' (Eighth Chapter), 1976, * ''Chhote Saiyad bade Saiyad'' (Junior Saiyad and Senior Saiyad), 1978 * ''Qaid-e-hayat'' (Imprisonment of Life), 1983 * "Rati Ka Kangan," 2011 The play ''Surya ki antim kiran se...'' was translated as ''From sunset to sunrise'' by Jaya Krishnamachari. * "Dropadi" * "shakuntala ki anguthi" English playyyy "Shakespeare In Love With the Mughal Princess Jahan Ara" and it's Urdu version "Shakespeare Giraftaar Princess Jahan Ara Ke Pyyaar Mein"

Kannada translations

Plays

* Suraystadinda Suryodayadavarige by Siddhaling Pattanshetti (1979, 1981, 2017) (''Surya Ki Antim Kiran Se Surya Ki Pahli Kiran Tak'' (From Sunset to Sunrise, 1972))

Awards and recognition

He is also noted as a novelist and won the

1996 for his novel ''Mujhe Chand Chahiye'' (I want the moon), given by

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. Also the recipient of

, 1992 for Playwright in Hindi, given by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music Dance and Drama.

Adaptations

His historical play, ''Surya Ki Antim Kiran Se Surya Ki Pahli Kiran Tak'', about female sexuality, man-woman relationships, gender equality, has been staged by numerous theatre directors.

Repertory Company presented it for the first time in 1974.

who had already directed his stage version in 1972, later was adapted it into Marathi film '' Anahat'' (2003). ''Chhote Saiyad bade Saiyad'' (Junior Saiyad and Senior Saiyad) (1978) was directed by

B. V. Karanth Babukodi Venkataramana Karanth (Kannada: ಬಾಬುಕೋಡಿ ವೆಂಕಟರಮಣ ಕಾರಂತ) (19 September 1929 – 1 September 2002) widely known as B. V. Karanth was an Indian film director, playwright, actor, screenwriter, co ...

in 1980, and ''Qaid-e-hayat'' (Imprisonment of Life) (1983) was directed by

Ram Gopal Bajaj Ram Gopal Bajaj is an Indian theatre director, academician, and a Hindi film actor. He has also been a faculty member and a former Director of National School of Drama, New Delhi (1995 – September 2001). He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2003 a ...

in 1989 at the

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Verma, Surendra Indian male dramatists and playwrights 1941 births Living people People from Jhansi Hindi dramatists and playwrights Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Hindi Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Hindi-language writers Indian male novelists 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Dramatists and playwrights from Uttar Pradesh 20th-century Indian novelists Novelists from Uttar Pradesh 20th-century Indian male writers