Mohan Rakesh

Mohan Rakesh
Born	Madan Mohan Guglani[1] January 8, 1925(1925-01-08) Amritsar, Undivided India
Died	January 3, 1972(1972-01-03) (aged 46) Delhi
Occupation	Novelist, Playwright

Mohan Rakesh (मोहन राकेश; January 8, 1925 – January 3, 1972) was one of the pioneers of the Nai Kahani ("New Story") literary movement of the Hindi literature in the 1950s. He wrote the first modern Hindi play, Ashadh Ka Ek Din (One Day in Aashad) (1958), which won a competition organized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi. He made significant contribution to novel, short story, travelogue, criticism, memoirs and drama.^[1]

He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1968.^[2]

Early life and education

Born as Madan Mohan Guglani on January 8, 1925 in Amritsar, Punjab. His father a lawyer died when he was sixteen.^[1] He did his M.A. in English and Hindi from Punjab University, Lahore.^[3][4]

Career

His started his career as a teacher, and he taught in two colleges and a school, edited a short story magazine before deciding to write full-time.^[1] His noted novels are "Andhere Band Kamare" (Closed Dark Rooms) and Na Aane Wala Kal. His plays "Ashadh Ka Ek Din" (One Day in Aashad) (1958), play a major role in reviving Hindi theatre in 1960s^[5] and Adhe Adhure (The Incomplete Ones or Halfway House) (1959) are highly regarded. His debut play Ashadh Ka Ek Din was first performed by Kolkata-based Hindi theatre group Anamika, under director, Shyamanand Jalan (1960)^[6] and subsequently by Ebrahim Alkazi at National School of Drama Delhi in 1962, which established Mohan Rakesh as the first modern Hindi playwright.^[1]

"Leheron Ke Raj Hans' (The Swans of the Waves), the most noted play of Mohan Rakesh,an ancient Buddhist tale on the renunciation of the Buddha, and its after affects on his close family, was first written as short story and later turned it into a radio play for All India Radio Jalandhar, and broadcast under the title "Sundri", though his struggle over different versions of the play lasted for nearly 20 years, before creating his masterpiece.^[7] Prominent Indian directors Om Shivpuri, Shyamanand Jalan, Arvind Gaur and Ram Gopal Bajaj directed this play.^[8] In 2005, this very writing process of the play, and Mohan Rakesh’s diary, writings, letters about the play, was recreated in play titled “Manuscript”, by a Delhi theater group.

His story, Uski Roti (A Day's Bread) was made into an eponymous film, by Mani Kaul in 1971, for which he also wrote the screenplay.^[9]

Literary work

Novels (Upanyas)

• Na Aane Wala Kal
• Andhere Band Kamre
• Antral
• Bakalama khuda (1974)

Plays (Natak-Ekanki)

• Aadhe Adhure (Halfway House)
• Leheron Ke Raj Hans
• Ashadh ka ek Din (One Day in Ashadha)
• Mohan Rakesh ke Sampurn Natak, 1993, Rajpal. ISBN 81-7028-152-0.
• Rata bitane taka tatha anya dhvani nataka, 1974, Radhakrishna Prakashan. ISBN 81-7119-332-3. (Radio plays)

Translation

• Mrichchkatikam, (Sanskrit play)
• Shakuntalam (Sanskrit play)

Story anthologies (Kahani Sangrah)

• 10 Pratinidhi Kahaniyan (Mohan Rakesh)
• Rat ki Bahon Mein
• Mohan Rakesh ki Sampurn Kahaniyan

Other works

• Mohan Rakesh: Sanskritik aur sahityik Drishti. 1975, Radhakrishna Prakashan.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Gabrielle H. Cody; Evert Sprinchorn (2007). The Columbia encyclopedia of modern drama, Volume 2. Columbia University Press. p. 1116. ISBN 0231144245. http://books.google.com/books?id=aQqOKWmjdQUC&pg=PA1117&dq=%22Shyamanand+Jalan%22&hl=en&ei=PtN0TfiZL8XjrAejtYDSCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%22Shyamanand%20Jalan%22&f=false. 
2. ^ Drama - Playwriting Awards Sangeet Natak Akademi Official listings.
3. ^ Mohan Rakesh Biography and Works
4. ^ Mohan Rakesh bio and books
5. ^ Mohan Rakesh
6. ^ Asha Kasbekar (2006). Pop culture India!: media, arts, and lifestyle. ABC-CLIO. p. 73. ISBN 1851096361. http://books.google.com/books?id=Sv7Uk0UcdM8C&pg=PA73&dq=%22Shyamanand+Jalan%22&hl=en&ei=PtN0TfiZL8XjrAejtYDSCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=%22Shyamanand%20Jalan%22&f=false. 
7. ^ Simona Sawhney (2008). The modernity of Sanskrit. Univ. of Minnesota Press. p. 73. ISBN 0816649960. http://books.google.com/books?id=Y1Bs-GD7yZIC&pg=PA73&dq=%22Shyamanand+Jalan%22&hl=en&ei=ycd1TaKeKsTNrQer0PW_Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=%22Shyamanand%20Jalan%22&f=false. 
8. ^ More than just a manuscript! Romesh Chander, The Hindu,November 18, 2005.
9. ^ Uski Roti (1971) New York Times

Further reading

• Aadhunik Hindi Natak Ka Agradoot: Mohan Rakesh
• Mohan Rakesh’s Halfway House: Critical Perspectives, edited by Subhash Chandra. New Delhi, Asia Book, 2001, ISBN 81-7851-004-9. (Aadhe Adhure)
• Miss Pal by Mohan Rakesh

External links

• Mohan Rakesh in Abhivyakti
• see his books at Pustak.org

Persondata
Name	Mohan Rakesh
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 8, 1925
Place of birth	Amritsar, Undivided India
Date of death	January 3, 1972
Place of death	Delhi