Sunday, January 28, 2007

Eminent Hindi litterateur Kamleshwar passes away

کملیشور 

One after the other so many literary giants have passed away. Just a month back I had met him. It was my first meeting with Kamleshwar. He was so warm and cordial.

Today he also departed. You go to wikipedia, you'll find just 3 lines about him. Yes, that's what we have reduced everybody to. Whoever doesn't write in English is a nobody in this nation.

People like Rajkamal Jha [just an example, I ain't have any problem with Jha] write an ordinary novel and earn millions [again not that important] but great writers of other regional languages hardly get the respect, which they deserve.

For the so-called national English dailies, Kamleshwar is barely a single column news even in his demise. We may produce lots of Ambanis and Indira Nooyis in future but we are surely going to become a nation of pygmies, who we'd look up to!...sab baune hi bachenge
Jitne qaddaavar the unke sar to ghutnoN me.n gaye

Ab tamaasha yeh hai baune aasmaaN chhuune lage
Kamleshwar was born in Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh on January 6, 1931. After graduation from Allahabad in 1954, he started writing scripts for TV. He has left several collections of stories and travelogues apart from major literary works.

Apart from his association with the national television channel Doordarshan, he worked as a journalist also. He was associated with Dainik Jagran and later with Dainik Bhaskar. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award and Padma Bhushan.

Kamleshwar, a humanist person, embodied secular values. He wrote scripts for TV serials Darpan, Ek Kahani and Chandrakanta. Also, he directed many programmes. He wrote movie scripts for Hindi films like Aakash, Andhi, Mausam, Rajnigandha, Chhoti Si Baat and Mister Natwarlal.

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