Krishna sobti Biography:- (18 February 1925 – 25 January 2019) was an Indian Hindi-language fiction writer and essayist. She won the sahitya akademi award in 1980 for her novel Zindaginama and in 1996, was awarded the sahitya Akademi fellowship. In 2017, she received the Jnanpith Award for her contribution to Indian literature.
Her first short story ‘Lama’ was published in 1944. Her early novels Channa (1954) and Dar Se Bichchuri (1958) marked Sobti as one of the voices in contemporary Hindi prose that could not be ignored. She won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1980 for Zindaginama and in 1996, she was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship. In 2005, the English translation of her novel Dil-o-Danish won the Hutch-Crossword Award. Neer Kanwal Mani has translated a variety of literary and non-literary texts. Her twelve books in translation include the comic Du-Rex ke Jalwe for the United Nations Development Programme, four books from The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis, two novels by Paulo Coelho along with folk narratives and oral epics for IGNCA, New Delhi.
Krishna Sobti, a renowned Hindi fiction writer and essayist, passed away on January 25, 2019, this morning, at the age of 93. Her work is well known for the bold and daring characters portrayed in her books.
She is best known for her novel– Mitro Marajani, released in 1996. This book is an unapologetic portrayal of a married woman’s sexuality.
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Literature and Krishna sobti Biography
Renowned writer Krishna Sobti died at the age of 93. She was famously known for her outstanding contribution to the Hindi literature
Sobti’s writing has a hint of Punjabi, Urdu, and later, Rajasthani as well. Her ability to adapt to the dialect of different languages has been praised by critics.
Most of her work closely deals with the issues of female identity and sexuality. Krishna initially established herself as a writer with her short stories. Initially, she published Lama and Nafisa in the year 1944, followed by the story of the Indian partition-Sikka Badal Gaya.
Awards won by Krishna sobti Biography
Renowned writer Krishna Sobti died at the age of 93. She was famously known for her outstanding contribution to the Hindi literature Sahitya Akademi Award for Zindaginama in 1980
In 1996, she was appointed as a fellow of Sahitya Akademi, India’s National Academy of Letters. In 2010, she was offered the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India, which she did not receive, saying, I am a writer, I have to keep a distance from the establishment. I think I did the right thing. She received Jnanpith Award in 2017 for her path-breaking contribution to Indian literature known for her outstanding contribution to the Hindi literature
Born on February 18, 1925, in Gujarat province of British India (now in Pakistan), Krishna Sobti moved to New Delhi after partition and have been providing exceptional piece of work since then
She is known for experimenting with new writing styles and creating bold and daring characters in her stories. Her language is highly influenced by the blend of Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi cultures
Her writings deal with a plethora of issues ranging from partition, relationships between man and woman, changing dynamics of Indian society, and slow deterioration of human values
Notable works of Krishna sobti Biography
*Zindaginama
*Mitro Marajani
*Daar Se Bichchuri
*Surajmukhi Andhere Ke
Notable awards of Krishna sobti Biography
*Sahitya Akademi Award (1980)
*Sahitya Akademi *Fellowship (1996)
*Jnanpith Award (2017).
Sobti is best known for her 1966 novel Mitro Marajani, an unapologetic portrayal of a married woman’s sexuality. She was also the recipient of the first Katha Chudamani Award, in 1999
In 2005, Dil-o-Danish, translated into The Heart Has Its Reasons in English by Reema Anand and Meenakshi Swami of Katha Books, won the Crossword Award in the Indian Language Fiction Translation category. Her publications have been translated into multiple Indian and foreign languages such as Swedish, Russian, and English.
Novels of Krishna sobti
*Zindaginama
*Mitro Marjani
*Daar Se Bichchudi
*Surajmukhi Andhere Ke
*Yaaron Ke Yaar (Friend of Friends)
*Samay Sargam (Time’s Musical Notes)
*Ai Ladaki
*Zindaginama
*Dil-o-Danish
*Badalon ke Ghere (Circles of Clouds)
*Gujarat Pakistan Se Gujarat Hindustan (From Gujarat in Pakistan to Gujarat in India)
*Hum Hashmat
*Tin Pahad
*Muktibodh: Ek Vyaktitva Sahi Ki Talash Mein, (Muktibodh: A Personality in Search of Right)
*Shabdon Ke Alok Mein, (In the Light of Words),
Sobti Ek Sohbat, (Sobti: A Company),
*Lekhak Ka Jantantra, (A Writer’s Democracy)
Marfat Dilli, (C/O Delhi)
Jaini Meharban Singh
Buddha ka kamandal Laddakh
Translations
*To hell with you Mitro! (Mitro Marjani)
*Memory’s Daughter (Daar Se Bichchudi)
*Listen Girl (Ai Ladki)
*Zindaginamah – Zinda Rukh (Urdu)
*The Heart Has Its Reasons (Dil-O-Danish)
Short stories by Krishna Sobti
- Nafisa
- Sikka Badal Gaya
zindaginama by Krishna Sobti
It is sometime in the first decade of the 20th century. The British Imperialists have been in India for over 150 years. However, life in the small village of Shahpur in undivided Punjab has remained largely unchanged. The menfolk look to the wealthy and worldly-wise Shahji and his benevolent younger brother Kashi for support and advice, while it is Shahji’s wife’s home and hearth that is the center of all celebrations for the women. Local disputes, trade, politics, and a trickling of news from the Lahore newspaper are all discussed every evening at Shah’s haveli. But as the Ghadar Movement gains momentum elsewhere in Punjab and in Bengal, bringing into focus the excesses of the British, the simple village of Shahpur cannot help looking at itself. The discontent has set in. Krishna Sobti’s magnum opus, Zindaginama brilliantly captures the story of India through a village where people of both faiths coexisted peacefully, living off the land. Detailing the intricately woven personal histories of a wide set of characters, she imbues each with a unique voice, enriching the text with their peculiar idiom. First published in Hindi in 1979, this is a magnificent portrait of India on the brink of its cataclysmic division.
Which is the Krishna sobti Biography?
Sobti has also written a novel that is a fictionalized autobiography, titled Gujrat Pakistan Se Gujarat Hindustan Taq (From Gujrat, Pakistan, to Gujarat, India). Her most recent novel is Dil-o-Danish (Heart and Mind).
Sobti’s use of idiomatic Punjabi and Urdu while writing in Hindi has expanded over time to include Rajasthani as well. The intermingling of Urdu, Punjabi, and Hindi cultures, influenced the language used in her works. She was known for using new writing styles. The characters in her stories were ‘bold’, ‘daring’, and ready to accept challenges. Her ability to adapt dialect and language specific to the region she is writing about has been praised by critics for lending authenticity to her characters
Sobti initially established herself as a writer of short stories, with her stories Lama (about a Tibetan Buddhist priest), and Nafisa being published in 1944. In the same year, she also published her famous story about the Partition of India, called Sikka Badal Gaya, which she sent to Sachchidananda Vatsyayan, a fellow writer and the editor of the journal, Prateek, who accepted it for publication without any changes. Sobti has cited this incident as confirming her choice to write professionally.
Litigation against Amrita Pritam
Soon after Zindaginama was republished, the poet, novelist, and essayist Amrita Pritam published a book titled Hardatt Ka Zindaginama. Sobti filed a suit in 1984 for damages against Pritam, claiming that Pritam had violated her copyright through the use of a similar title. The suit was litigated for 26 years and was ultimately decided in favor of Pritam, six years after Pritam’s death, in 2011. Part of the delay was caused by the disappearance of a box of evidence containing original manuscripts of both, Pritam’s and Sobti’s novels, from the court. Sobti has since expressed disappointment at the outcome of the suit, noting that her original plan of writing Zindaginama as part of a trilogy was interrupted by the litigation.
Other works
Sobti published several other novels to acclaim. Dar Se Bichhadi (Separated from the Door of the House), published in 1958, was set in pre-Partition India and concerned a child born from a marriage that crossed religious and social boundaries. This was followed by Mitro Marjani (To Hell with You Mitro!), in 1966, a novel set in rural Punjab that concerned a young married woman’s exploration and assertion of her sexuality. HomeCommon GroundIndia FixEco IndiaLatestThe ReelThe FieldMagazineVideoTrending
FICTION PICK of Krishna sobti
Krishna Sobti lost a childhood friend in the Partition riots and wrote about her in fiction – twice
A short story from 1950 and an excerpt from Sobti’s final novel from 2017, translated by Daisy Rockwell.
Krishna Sobti
Jan 29, 2019 · 08:30 am
Krishna Sobti. | Daisy Rockwell
Krishna Sobti was haunted throughout her life by the death of her childhood friend, who was murdered during the Partition riots on her wedding night. In her last novel, A Gujarat Here, A Gujarat There (Gujarat Pakistan se Gujarat Hindustan, 2017), she describes her younger self circa 1948, being visited in a dream by her friend (here called Beembo). Here is an excerpt from the 2017 novel and her 1950 short story on the same topic, “Fear Not, I Will Protect You”, both translated by Daisy Rockwell.
Krishna Sobti: The original feminist
Krishna sobti’s is not a directionless, impetuous rebellion but a well-thought-out revolt against the prevailing social, cultural, and literary norms
This is a time for celebration of life and literature. Krishna Sobti, who was unable to personally receive the prestigious Jnanpith Award on February 10, 2018, owing to indisposition, celebrated her 93rd birthday eight days later at her East Delhi home in the company of relatives, friends, and admirers. A living legend, Sobti is as much known for her gutsy, fighting spirit, as she is known for her literary accomplishments. She is one of those rare writers who never cease to evolve.
she wrote two short novels “Daar se Bichhudi” (1958) and “Mitro Marjani” (1966) – later translated as “Memory’s Daughter” and “To Hell with You Mitro” respectively – and presented the quest for a woman’s identity in a most creative manner.
Struggle for identity
Hers was the first attempt by a Hindi fiction writer to search, define and establish the independent identity of a woman. These short novels also drew the attention of the literary world because of another striking characteristic. Sobti displayed the rare gift of sculpting her own creative language, idiom, tone, and tenor, and thus imbued Hindi with the earthy, at times even risqué flavor of her mother tongue Punjabi.
Moreover, these two short novels also denoted a real point of departure in Hindi fiction writing, as never before was the women’s situation looked at from a woman’s viewpoint. In these novels, she attempted a poignant portrayal of women’s lives in rural Punjab. In 1972, her next novel “Surajmukhi Andhere Ke” (Sunflowers of the Dark) came as a bombshell because it made a foray into a no-no world of an abused woman’s psychology. It’s a veritable case history of a woman who was raped in her childhood and, as a result, became frigid, cruel and intolerant. She returns to normalcy and sheds her complexes after having a relationship with a kind and humane man. The way Sobti dealt with the man-woman relationship in this novel was truly unprecedented. Therefore, it was but natural that her novels were accorded a very warm welcome by discerning readers and critics. In her novel, “Ae Ladki” (Listen Girl), we find the culmination of this trend.
Published in 1993, “Dil-O-Danish” (The Heart Has Its Reasons) offers a total contrast to the earlier novels as it tells the love story in an urban setting. Although a mistress, Naseem Bano asserts her independence and identity to face her married lover Kripashankar. Its language too is an admixture of chaste Urdu and urbane Hindi devoid of any traces of Punjabi language.
Seminal work
What strikes us most about Krishna Sobti’s writings is the artistic freedom that she employs in full measure with her couldn’t-care-less attitude. Hers is not a directionless, impetuous rebellion but a well-thought-out revolt against the prevailing social, cultural, and literary norms. Her three-volume “Ham Hashmat” (I Hashmat) is a testimony to her wit and satire as she uses a male pseudonym Hashmat to write profiles of her contemporaries. “Jaini Meharban Singh”, “Tin Pahad”, “Badalon Ke Ghere” (Circles of Clouds), “Muktibodh: Ek Vyaktitva Sahi Ki Talash Mein” (Muktibodh: A Personality in Search of Right), “Yaaron Ke Yaar” (Friend of Friends), “Shabdon Ke Alok Mein” (In the Light of Words), “Samay Sargam” (Time’s Musical Notes), “Sobti Ek Sohbat” (Sobti: A Company), “Gujarat Pakistan se Gujarat Hindustan” (From Gujarat in Pakistan to Gujarat in India), “Lekhak Ka Jantantra” (A Writer’s Democracy) and “Marfat Dilli” (C/O Delhi) are some of her other important works. Almost all of her books in Hindi have been published by Rajkamal Prakashan.
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