Manoj Das (27 February 1934 – 27 April 2021) was an Indian author who wrote in Odia and English.[1] In 2000, Manoj Das was awarded the Saraswati Samman. He was awarded Padma Shri in 2001,[2] the fourth-highest Civilian Award in India, and Padma Bhusan in 2020,[3] the third-highest Civilian Award in India for his contribution to the field of Literature & Education.
Kendra Sahitya Akademi has bestowed its highest award (also India's highest literary award) i.e Sahitya Akademi Award Fellowship.[4]
In 1971, through extensive research conducted in the archives of London and Edinburgh, he uncovered lesser-known aspects of India's freedom struggle during the early 1900s, led by Sri Aurobindo. This significant contribution earned him the inaugural Sri Aurobindo Puraskar in Kolkata.
His pursuit of deeper understanding eventually led him to mysticism, becoming a resident of Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry since 1963. During his time there, he imparted knowledge in English Literature and the Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo at the Sri Aurobindo International University.[5][6]
Early life
Das was born in the small coastal village, Balasore of odisha. His father, Madhusudan Das,[7] worked under British Government. He had started writing early. His first work a book of poetry in Odia, Satavdira Artanada was published in 1949 when he was in high school. He launched a literary magazine, Diganta in 1950. He graduated high school in 1951. His first collection of short stories Samudrara Kshyudha (Hunger of Sea) was in that year.
He was active in student politics while studying BA in Cuttack College. He was a youth leader with radical views in his college days, and spent a year in jail for his revolutionary activities. In 1959 he was a delegate to the Afro-Asian students' conference at Bandung, Indonesia. He did not complete his degree in Cuttack. He ultimately finished his graduation from Samanta Chandra Shekhar College, Puri in 1955. During his college years, he kept on writing and published a novel Jeebanara Swada, a collection of short stories Vishakanyar Kahani and a collection of poems Padadhawani. After graduating with a degree in English literature, he got a post-graduate degree in English literature from Ravenshaw college. After a short stint as a lecturer at Christ College (Cuttack), he joined Sri Aurobindo Ashram at Puducherry.[8] Since 1963, he has been professor of English Literature at Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, Puducherry.[9]
Das edited a cultural magazine, The Heritage, published from Chennai in 1985-1989.[11] The magazine is no longer in circulation.[12]
He wrote columns on quest for finding eternal truth in common lives in India’s national dailies like The Times of India, The Hindustan Times, The Hindu and The Statesman.[13][14]
Creative writing and story-telling
Das is perhaps the foremost bilingual Odia writer and a master of dramatic expression both in his English and Odia short stories and novels. Das has been compared to Vishnu Sharma, in modern Odia literature for his magnificent style[15][16] and efficient use of words[citation needed] and for the fact that, he is one of the best story-tellers in India in modern times.[17][18] Over the years many research scholars have done their doctoral thesis on the works of Manoj Das, P. Raja being the first scholar to do so.
National and international positions
Among the other important positions that Das held were, Member, General Council,[clarification needed]Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi 1998–2002, and Author-consultant, Ministry of Education, Government of Singapore, 1983–85. He was the leader of the Indian delegation of writers to China (1999).
Chasing the Rainbow : growing up in an Indian village, 2004
Travelogue
Keta Diganta (Part I)
Keta Diganta (Part -II)
Antaranga Bharata (Part I) (My Little India)
Antaranga Bharata (Part II)
Dura-durantara
Adura Bidesh – 2004
Poetry
Tuma Gaan O Anyanya Kabita, 1992
Kabita Utkala
History & Culture
Bharatara Aitihya: Shateka Prashnara Uttara,1999
Manoj Das Paribesita Upakatha Shataka (Tales Told by Mystics), 2002
Mahakalara Prahelika O Anyana Jijnansa, 2006
Jibana Jijnasa o Smaraika Stabaka
Prajna Pradeepika
Commentary
Graham Greene once said, "I have read the stories of Manoj Das with great pleasure. He will certainly take a place on my shelves besides the stories of Narayan. I imagine Odisha is far from Malgudi, but there is the same quality in his stories with perhaps an added mystery."[32]
^"Manoj Das". batoi.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 17 December 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012. He wrote columns in India's national dailies like The Times of India, The Hindustan Times, The Hindu and The Statesman.
^"K.K. Birla Foundation". kkbirlafoundation.org. 2009. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2012. Year : 2000 Recipient : Shri Manoj Das Name of Book : Amruta Phala (Oriya : Novel)
^"Thinking through silence". The Hindu. 2001. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2012. Graham Greene, who happened to read his short stories during the last phase of his life, wrote, Manoj Das's stories 'will certainly take a place on my shelves beside the stories of Narayan. I imagine Odisha is far from Malgudi, but there is the same quality in his stories, with perhaps an added mystery.'
