Vidyabhushan Shrirashmi

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Vidyabhushan Shrirashmi (11.12.1930-25.08.2016) was a writer of Hindi short stories and novels in the Nineteen Fifties and Sixties. He also translated some English books into Hindi.

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Early Life and Education

Vidyabhushan Shrirashmi was born on December 11, 1930 in his home at Bihta in the Patna district of Bihar. His mother, Jagat Rani Devi, died while he was still a child. His father, Kamta Prasad, a civil overseer by profession, was a follower of Arya Samaj, which believes in the remarriage of widows. He married a widow after the death of Jagat Rani Devi. Shrirashmi used to participate in the freedom processions, including the Quit India Movement in Patna in August 1942.

Shrirashmi passed his matriculation examination from the Thakur Prasad High School , Bihta, of the Patna University in March 1947. Shrirashmi found it difficult to continue studies in Patna. He shifted to Delhi, landing with a clerical job in the Delhi branch of the Hindi Daily, Dainik Vishwamitra. He was soon inducted into the editorial team. Working in the night and studying during the day, he passed Visharad in 1950 from the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Prayag. In another eleven years he acquired the degrees of intermediate (1955, Bihar University), Sahityaratna (1956, Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, BA (1958, Bihar University), and MA (1961, Ranchi University).

Career

After his job at the Hindi Daily, Dainik Vishwamitra in Delhi, Vidyabhushan Shrirashmi served as a sub-editor (1952) at the Hindi daily Rashtravani in Patna and as Assistant Editor in the monthly Navneet (1952 and 1957). He also published a newspaper, ‘Filmi Duniya’, apart from working in some other publications. He joined Government service in 1959 at the Publications Division as an Assistant Editor (1959-1965). He retired in 1988 as Principal Information Officer from the Press Information Bureau. He also served other Government departments such as the Directorate of Field Publicity , the Border Security Force, and Doordarshan. He was a member of the Central Information Service or CIS, now known as IIS. Shrirashmi continued writing stories while serving the government. He had an unconventional style of writing. He used to start abruptly, bringing the reader straight to the scene of action without any introduction or preliminaries. His sentences were structured according to the way they were likely to be spoken in the real world. Almost all his stories ended with a twist. His favorite topics included man-woman relationship, social hypocrisy, and struggles typical of the middle class. He had an inter-state marriage with a Bengali girl, Geeta, in 1951. Geeta's death led to Shrirashmi taking voluntary retirement in 1988 and settling down in Khagaul. He started writing spiritual books, and published them under his own philanthropic company, Geetanjali Prakashan. He devoted his life to charity. He breathed his last on August 25, 2016 at the Ruban Memorial Hospital in Patna.

Literary Works

Shrirashmi wrote a novel based on his own life, Divyadham, which went on to win the Delhi Government's Hindi Academi award in 1987. His other novels are Dhoo Dhoo Karti Aag, To Sun Lo, and Pyaasa Panchhi Khaara Pani. Vidyabhushan Shrirashmi was a regular contributor to popular magazines in the Sixties and the Seventies such as Neeharika, Saptahik Hindustan , Sarita , Navneet , etc.

Novels

• Divyadham (Geetanjali Prakashan)
• Anand Leela (Geetanjali Prakashan)
• To Sun Lo (Geetanjali Prakashan)
• Pyaasa Panchhi Khaara Pani (Neeharika)
• Dhoo Dhoo Karti Aag (Roopasi Prakashan)
• Utopia Realised (Geetanjali Prakashan)
• The Pleasure Play (Geetanjali Prakashan)

Stories

A collection of his favourite stories was published by Geetanjali Prakashan with the name, 'Munh Chidhaata Aeena'. Vidyabhushan Shrirashmi was a regular contributor to popular magazines in the Sixties and the Seventies such as Neeharika

• Saptahik Hindustan
• Kadambini
• Tripathaga
• Sarita
• Mukta
• Navneet
• Maya
• Manohar Kahaniyan
• Parag
• Jagriti
• Rani

Translations

• Dr Einstein Aur Brahmand (Translation)
• Hamaara Parmanu Kendrik Bhavishya (Translation)
• Swaatantrya Setu (Translation)
• Bhoodan Yagya: Kyaa Aur Kyon (Translation)
• Sarvodaya Aur Shaasanmukt Samaaj (Translation)
• Hamaara Rashtriya Shikshan (Translation)
• Vinoba Ki Pakistan Yaatra (Translation)

Compilation of Humorous Anecdotes

Vihanste Phool: Nukeeley Kaantey (Geetanjali Prakashan)

Awards and Honours

Shrirashmi was handed over the Hindi Academy Sahityik Kriti Pursakar in 1987 by Jag Pravesh Chandra , a member of the Delhi Vidhan Sabha, Chairman of the Interim Metropolitan Council and Chief Executive Councillor of Delhi. Shrirashmi won this award for his Hindi novel 'Divyadham'.

References

This article "Vidyabhushan Shrirashmi" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Vidyabhushan Shrirashmi. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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