Gagan Gill

Nirmal Verma (1929-2005) pioneered the Nayi Kahaani movement in Hindi literature in the late 1950s with his iconic story ‘Parinde’. He developed a characteristic style which used rich, realistic description as a mirror of the inner life. He wrote five novels, eight collections of short stories and nine volumes of essays and travelogues. Following his work at the Oriental Institute in Prague in the 1960s, he undertook direct translations of contemporary Czech writers such as Milan Kundera, Bohumil Hrabal and Václav Havel into Hindi, much before their work became popular internationally.
A much-loved and well-decorated writer, his honours include India’s highest literary award, the Jnanpith (2000); India’s third-highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan (2003); and the Sahitya Akademi Award for lifetime achievement (1985).