Rajendra Yadav
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Hindi author Rajendra Yadav
PTI | Oct 29, 2013 The Times of India
Avijit Ghosh TNN The Times of India
Noted Hindi author Rajendra Yadav was a pioneer of the literary movement 'Nayi Kahani'.
Born on August 28, 1929, Yadav edited the literary magazine 'HANS', which was founded by Munshi Premchand in 1930. The magazine had ceased publication in 1953 but Yadav relaunched it on 31 July, 1986. Rajendra Yadav will also be remembered as the feisty editor of literary magazine ‘Hans’, who helped democratize literature by providing voice to the under-represented and the marginalized. He was 84.
“Yadav was an intellectual activist who was vocal and assertive in highlighting dalit and gender issues that have now become central in Hindi literature. He enjoyed raising issues, engaging with them and creating debates,” says writer Uday Prakash.
The Left-leaning Yadav had a gift for conversation and an ability to engage with the young without letting age become a barrier. “He was the most alive individual of contemporary Hindi literature. And he worked to promote causes at the cost of his own writing,” says poet Kedarnath Singh.
Along with Mohan Rakesh and Kamleshwar, he was one of the pillars of the ‘nai kahani’ movement which ushered change in both the content and style of Hindi short stories. Yadav’s style was simple and direct; his stories sought to capture the shifting sands of social and moral values in post-independent India. ‘Jahan Lakshmi Qaid Hai’ is one his best-remembered stories.
His first novel was 'Pret Bolte Hain', which was published in 1951 and later retitled as 'Sara Akash' in 1959. It was adapted into a film of the same title by Basu Chatterjee. The novel was, about a young married couple who are victims of patriarchy and ego, and who did not speak with each other for a year after marriage, was turned into a film by Basu Chatterji. The award-winning effort became a lodestar for the fledgling New Cinema movement in the 1970s.
He was a pioneer of the Hindi literary movement 'Nayi Kahani' along with Mohan Rakesh.
He also translated into Hindi many works of Russian language writers like Turgenev, Chekhov, and Lermontov (A Hero of Our Times), as also Albert Camus (The Outsider).
Besides being a writer, Yadav was also a nominated board member of Prasar Bharti during 1999-2001.
Yadav is survived by his wife Mannu Bhandari, who is also a Hindi writer, and daughter Rachna.
