Swayam Prakash (English: Swayam Prakash, born- January 20, 1947; death- December 7, 2019) was a Hindi litterateur. He gained fame primarily as a storyteller. He enriched novels and many other genres of Hindi with his pen. The novels written by Prakash himself are ‘Jalte Jahaaz Par’ (1982), ‘Jyoti Rath Ke Sarathi’ (1987), ‘Uttar Jeevan Katha’ (1993), ‘Beech Mein Vinay’ (1994) and ‘Indhan’ (2004). ‘Suraj Kab Niklega’ is a story written on the floods that occurred in the Marwar region of Rajasthan in the 70s. Rajasthan itself featured frequently in Prakash’s stories.
Swayam Prakash, born on January 20, 1947 in Indore, was famous for his stories and novels. He did MA in Hindi and got PhD degree in the year 1980. Apart from this, he also obtained a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Before starting story writing, he used to write poems and also recite them on various platforms. He wrote five novels while nine of his story collections have been published.
Senior storyteller Swayam Prakash is considered an important storyteller in the tradition of Premchand. His stories have also been translated into Russian. Swayam Prakash was Vigilance Officer and Hindi Officer in ‘Hindustan Zinc Limited’. He was living in Bhopal for the last two decades. Swayam Prakash, who was the editor of the Progressive Writers Association’s mouthpiece ‘Vasudha’ and the popular children’s magazine ‘Chakmak’, had published more than a dozen story collections and five novels.
In most of his works, he brings out various aspects of middle class life and presents the contradictions, weaknesses and strengths in such a way that they become a part of our own world of experience. Communalism is another area where the creativity of Prakash himself is displayed to its full potential. Prakash himself’s personal and original use of playful language and extremely spontaneous style makes him the most popular storyteller of our times.
The novels written by Prakash himself are ‘Jalte Jahaaz Par’ (1982), ‘Jyoti Rath Ke Sarathi’ (1987), ‘Uttar Jeevan Katha’ (1993), ‘Beech Mein Vinay’ (1994) and ‘Indhan’ (2004). ‘Sooraj Kab Niklega’ was a story written on the floods that occurred in the Marwar region of Rajasthan in the 70s. While living in Rajasthan, Prakash himself edited and published the small magazine ‘Kyun’ with his friend Mohan Shrotriya and also wrote plays like ‘Phoenix’, ‘Chauboli’ and ‘Sabka Dushman’.
Apart from this, ‘Matra Aur Bhar’ (1975), ‘Suraj Kab Niklega’ (1981), ‘Aasmaan Kaise-Kaise’ (1982), ‘Agli Kitab’ (1988), ‘Aayenge Acche Din Bhi’ (1991), ‘Aadmi Jaat Ka Aadmi’ (1994), ‘Agle Janam’ (2002), ‘Sandhan’ (2006), ‘Chhotu Ustad’ (2015) His story collections have been published.[1]
There has been a lot of discussion about Prakash himself’s prose and illustrations for ‘Humsafarnama’, a collection of sketches focusing on his contemporary storytellers-poets-cultural workers. Before this, Prakash himself has been awarded ‘Rangheya Raghav Award’ and ‘Pahal Samman’ of ‘Rajasthan Sahitya Academy’. He also received ‘Vanmana Samman’, ‘Subhadra Kumari Chauhan Award’, ‘Distinguished Literary Award’, ‘Bhavbhuti Samman’. Was also awarded the prestigious ‘Anand Sagar Kathakram Samman’ for the year 2011. This honor is given every year to a writer who makes outstanding contribution in the field of story writing.
Storyteller Swayam Prakash died on December 7, 2019 in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
