Nirmal Verma (English: Nirmal Verma, born: April 3, 1929; death: October 25, 2005) was one of the modern Hindi litterateurs. Nirmal Verma, the main flag bearer of the new story movement in Hindi literature, has a leading place among the storytellers who brought a sense of modernity to the story. ‘Raat Ka Reporter’, ‘Ek Chithra Sukh’, ‘Lal Tin Ki Chhat’ and ‘Ve Din’ are the famous novels of Nirmal Verma. His last novel ‘Antim Aranya’ was published in 1990. More than a hundred of his stories were published in many story collections.
Nirmal Verma was born on 3 April 1929 in Shimla. The hilly shadows of Himachal can be recognized from a distance on the sensitive texture of Nirmal Verma, the fifth of eight siblings born to Shri Nand Kumar Verma, a high official in the Defense Department of the British Indian Government. He has written less but because of the amount he has written, he has been successful in gaining fame. He has not only modified the prevalent art of storytelling, but has also tried to reach within it by penetrating the apparent reality. Among the great Hindi litterateurs, there have been only a few litterateurs like Agyeya and Nirmal Verma who, on the basis of their direct experiences, thought deeply and comprehensively about the conflict between Indian and Western cultures.[1] M.A. in History from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. After completing his studies, he taught for a few days. Between 1959 and 1972, he got the opportunity to travel to Europe. He remained for seven years at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the University of Prague. His story ‘Maya Darpan’ was made into a film in 1973, which received the Best Hindi Film Award.[2]
He was a Fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies (Shimla) (1973), President of Nirala Srijanpeeth, Bhopal (1981-83) and Yashpal Srijanpeeth (Shimla). In 1988, his collection of stories ‘The World Elsewhere’ was published by the English publisher Readers International. At the same time, a documentary film on him was also broadcast by BBC.[1]
‘Raat Ka Reporter’, ‘Ek Chithra Sukh’, ‘Lal Tin Ki Chhat’ and ‘Ve Din’ are the famous novels of Nirmal Verma. His last novel ‘Antim Aranya’ was published in 1990. More than a hundred of his stories were published in many story collections. Nirmal Verma, who gained fame with the story ‘Parinde’ in 1958, also wrote the travelogues ‘Dhund Se Uthti Dhun’ and ‘Chidon Par Chandni’, which gave new meaning to his writing style.[2]
Nirmal Verma died on 25 October 2005 in New Delhi.
