Mohan Rakesh
Mohan Rakesh (मोहन राकेश; 8 January 1925 – 3 December 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 organised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi. He made significant contribution to novel, short story, travelogue, criticism, memoirs and drama.
He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1968.
Early life and education
Born as Madan Mohan Guglani on 8 January 1925 in Amritsar, Punjab. His father a lawyer died when he was sixteen. He did his M.A. in English and Hindi from Punjab University, Lahore.
Career
He started his career as a teacher, and he taught in two colleges and a school, and edited a short story magazine before deciding to write full-time. His noted novels are Andhere Band Kamare (Closed Dark Rooms) and Na Aane Wala Kal(The Tomorrow That Never Comes). His plays Ashadh Ka Ek Din (One Day in Aashad) (1958), play a major role in reviving Hindi theatre in the 1960s 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) and subsequently by Ebrahim Alkazi at National School of Drama Delhi in 1962, which established Mohan Rakesh as the first modern Hindi playwright. His plays continue to be performed and receive acclaim worldwide. One Day in the Season of Rain, Aparna Dharwadker and Vinay Dharwadker's authorised English translation of Ashadh Ka Ek Din, premiered at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA in 2010 and travelled to the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (Region 3) in 2011.
