Keki N. Daruwalla
| Keki N. Daruwalla | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1937 Lahore, British India |
| Occupation | poet, writer |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Ethnicity | Parsi |
| Period | 1957–present |
| Notable awards | Sahitya Akademi Award (1984) |
Keki N. Daruwalla (born 1937) is a major Indian poet and short story writer in English language. He has written over 12 books and published his first novel For Pepper and Christ in 2009.[1][2] He is also a former Indian Police Service officer, who retired as Additional Director in the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).[3]
He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award, in 1984 for his poetry collection, The Keeper of the Dead, by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters.[4] He was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India, in 2014.[5]
Contents
Early life and education
Keki Nasserwanji Daruwalla was born in Lahore in 1937. His father N.C. Daruwalla, was an eminent professor, who taught in Government College Lahore. Before the Partition of India, his family left Pakistan and moved to Burhanpur in Madhya Pradesh, India and then to Rampur in India. As a result, he grew up studying in various schools and languages.[6]
He obtained his master's degree in English Literature from Government College, Ludhiana, University of Punjab.
Career
He joined the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1958, and eventually becoming a Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on International Affairs. He subsequently was in the Cabinet Secretariat until his retirement.[1]
His first book of poetry was Under Orion, which was published by Writers Workshop, India in 1970. He then went on to publish his second collection Apparition in April in 1971 for which he was given the Uttar Pradesh State Award in 1972.
He won the Sahitya Akademi Award, given by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, in 1984 and returned the same award in October, 2015 in protest and with a statement[7] that "The organisation Sahitya Akademi has failed to speak out against ideological collectives that have used physical violence against authors". Daruwalla did not take back his award even after Sahitya Akademi passed a resolution condemning the attacks on rational thinkers.[8] In an interview to Saket Suman of The Statesman, Daruwalla expanded on why he did not take back his award, saying "what you do, you do once and you can’t be seen as giving back an award and then taking it back."[9] He received Commonwealth Poetry Prize for Asia in 1987. Nissim Ezekiel comments "Daruwall has the energy of the lion". He is president of The Poetry Society (India), and is based in Delhi.
Books
- In Morning Dew
- Under Orion. Writers Workshop, India. 1970
- Apparition in April. Writers Workshop, 1971.
- Sword & abyss: a collection of short stories. Vikas Pub., 1979.
- Winter poems. Allied Publishers, 1980.
- The Keeper of the Dead. Oxford University Press, 1982.
- Crossing of rivers. Oxford University Press, 1985.
- Landscapes. Oxford University Press, 1987.
- A summer of tigers: poems. Indus, 1995. ISBN 81-7223-201-2.
- The Minister for Permanent unrest & other stories. Orient Blackswan, 1996. ISBN 81-7530-004-3.
- Night river: poems. Rupa & Co., 2000. ISBN 81-7167-480-1.
- The Map-maker: Poems. Orient Blackswan, 2002. ISBN 81-7530-048-5.
- The Scarecrow and the Ghost. Rupa & Co., 2004. ISBN 81-291-0422-9.
- A House in Ranikhet. Rupa & Co, 2003. ISBN 81-7167-961-7.[10]
- Collected Poems (1970–2005). (Poetry in English). Penguin Books India., 2006. ISBN 978-0-14-306200-4
- For Pepper & Christ. New Delhi: Penguin, 2010. ISBN 0143065815
In popular culture
J. P. Dutta's Bollywood film Refugee is attributed to have been inspired by the story by Keki N. Daruwalla based around the Great Rann of Kutch titled "LOVE ACROSS THE SALT DESERT"[11] which is also included as one of the short stories in the School Standard XII syllabus English text book of NCERT in India.[12]
Further reading
- Critical spectrum: the poetry of Keki N. Daruwalla. by F. A. Inamdar. Mittal Publications, 1991. ISBN 81-7099-313-X.
- Keki N. Daruwalla: assessment as a poet, by Ram Ayodhya Singh. Prakash Book Depot, 1992.
- The poetry of Keki N. Daruwalla: a critical study, by Ravi Nandan Sinha. B.R. Pub. Corp., 2002. ISBN 81-7646-294-2.
Online poetry
- About Keki Daruwalla and his poems
- The South Asian Literary Recordings Project
- His Poetry from Landscapes
- Fire Hymn
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Keki N. Daruwalla The South Asian Literary Recordings Project. Library of Congress.
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- ↑ LOVE ACROSS THE SALT DESERT; by Keki N. Daruwalla. Pdf of full story posted at Boston University at [1]. Bollywood connection – J. P. Dutta's "Refugee" is said to be inspired by this story; learnhub, University of Dundee
- ↑ (iii) Supplementary Reader; Selected Pieces of General English for Class XII; English General – Class XII; Curriculum and Syllabus for Classes XI & XII; NCERT. Also posted at [2] / Archived 2 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine, [3]
External links
- EngvarB from August 2014
- Use dmy dates from August 2014
- Indian poets
- English-language poets from India
- 1937 births
- Living people
- Poets from Lahore
- Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in English
- Male poets
- Indian writers
- Parsi people
- Writers from Lahore
- Recipients of the Padma Shri
- People of the Research and Analysis Wing
- Writers who have returned the Sahitya Akademi Award
