Surendra Verma (English: Surendra Verma, born- 7 September, 1941) is one of the leading writers of English. His play ‘Surya Ki Antim Kiran Se Surya Ki Pehli Kiran Tak’ (1972) became very famous. This play was translated into six Indian languages. In Surendra Verma’s plays, along with the depiction of sexual consciousness, at some places, people’s aspirations, irony and ugliness have also been used, in which there is the presence of thought and system discussion. He is such a playwright who did not understand the depth of life by sitting on the sidelines, rather he goes deep and describes the dark darkness within the superficial glamour of life very well.
Surendra Verma started out as a playwright. He has had a long association with the National School of Drama. About fifteen titles of his short stories, satires, novels and plays have been published. Surendra Verma has been awarded the ‘Sangeet Natak Akademi Award’ in 1993 and ‘Sahitya Akademi Award’ in 1996 and ‘Vyas Samman’ in 2016.
Surendra Verma has played a major role in developing the sensibility of Jaishankar Prasad and Mohan Rakesh in the English drama tradition. Surendra Verma is a master playwright of contemporary times. From “Teen Natak Sangrah” published in 1972 (which includes Setubandh, Nayak Khalnayak Vidushak and Draupadi) to “Rati Ka Kangan” (2011), he has made the changed sexual consciousness the subject matter through mythological and historical stories. In the 1970s, Surendra Verma had established the value of love by breaking the limits of sexual relations after marriage, but some conservative people found this dishonesty. Now, in their eyes, it is also being shaken that in order to further sharpen the tool of love, feminist discourse has started to go to the trend of body for body in search of femininity. However, Surendra Varma received as much criticism for his portrayal of sexual consciousness as he gained immense popularity. Opposing the mentality that considers the description of “sexuality” to be inferior, he created such a language of theatre that establishes the greatness of “sexuality” in the field of theatre.[1]
In Surendra Verma’s plays, along with the depiction of sexual consciousness, at some places, its public desire, irony and ugliness have also been used, in which there is presence of thought and system discussion. He is such a playwright who did not understand the depth of life by sitting on the sidelines, rather he goes deep and describes the dark darkness within the superficial glamour of life very well. In the play “Setubandh”, when Prabhavati tells her mother – “Physical intercourse without feelings is rape and I am the result of that”. In the play “Setubandh”, the tension, restlessness and tragedy arising out of the undesirability and antisocial nature of the mutual love and sexual relations between Kalidas and Prabhavati has been highlighted. Prabhavati marries an unwanted man, the Vakataka king, under the pressure of her father, but in her heart she remains her lover Kalidas’s.
Even after becoming Pravarsen’s mother, she is unable to become his wife. In such a situation, if another man becomes her husband and the husband becomes another man, then what is the surprise! The equation of marriage related to “kaam” in modern life is like this – “If the man is unmarried, then the woman is married, if the man is married, then the woman is unmarried”. This is the irony of the play “Setubandh”. The heroine of his plays is not a woman who ignores life like a mute doll and sacrifices all her subtle feelings. Surendra Verma is the standard of protest against the open game of arbitrary pleasure of modernism in the play. The character of the play, Mallinag, goes to receive higher education and becomes a victim of unwanted sexual exploitation by the research director Lavangalata. Verma ji has exposed the immoral activities going on in universities and the distorted form of Guru-disciple relations.
Novels: Beyond the Darkness, I Want the Moon (1993), Bouquet for Two Dead Men (2000), Cutting the Shammi Tree with the Edge of a Lotus Petal (2010).
Story Collection: Love Talks, What a beautiful couple.
Satire collection: Where there is no rain.
Plays: From the last ray of the sun to the first ray of the sun (1972), Draupadi (1972), Hero, villain, jester (1972), Eighth Canto (1976), Chhote Sayyed, Bade Sayyed (1978), Qaid-e-Hayat (1983), Ek Dooni Ek (1987), Shakuntala’s Ring (1990), Rati’s Bangle (2011), three plays.
Collection of one-act plays: Why can’t I sleep all night (1976)
Central Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 1993
Sahitya Akademi Award, 1996
Vyas Samman, 2016