CHATTISGARH DIARIES

Prachi Barapatre
Vinod Kumar Shukla

• Vinod Kumar was on born 1 January 1937 is a modern

Hindi writer known for his style that often borders on
magic-realism.

• His works include the novels Naukar ki Kameez which has

been made into the film Naukar Ki Kameez by Mani Kaul
and Deewar Mein Ek Khirkee Rahati Thi A Window lived
in a Wall, which won the Sahitya Akademi Award for the
best Hindi work in 1999.
• He was born on 1 January 1937 in Rajnandgaon,
Chhattisgarh ,then Madhya Pradesh.

• Vinod Kumar Shukla was a guest litterateur at the Nirala

Srijanpeeth in AGRA from 1994 to 1996 during which he
wrote two novels Khilega To Dekhenge and the refreshing
Deewar Mein Ek Khirkee Rahati Thi
• Vah Aadmi Chala Gaya Naya Garam Coat Pehankar Vichar
Ki Tarah was his second collection of poems, published in
1981 by Sambhavna Prakashan. Naukar Ki Kameez The
Servant's Shirt was his first novel, brought out in 1979 by
the same publisher. Per Par Kamra Room on the Tree, a
collection of short stories, was brought out in 1988, and
another collection of poems in 1992, Sab Kuch Hona Bacha
Rahega.
The latter has been translated into English by Prof. Satti Khanna of
Duke University as A Window Lived in a Wall (Publisher : Sahitya
Akademi, New Delhi, 2005)
Poem
• A street in the bazaar,
A busy shopper,
Carrying a soiled
Slightly torn bag
In each hand,
One empty, one full.
Inside it, potatoes, leafy
Vegetables, a small packet
Of garam masala, and chillies,
Red or green.
• How I wish I could've been
A ten-rupee note
And found shelter
In his bag.
But I was holed up
Inside my own.
Awards

He was awarded the Padma He was awarded the Padma

Shri in 1999 Bhushan in 2014