December 10, 2020
Famous Hindi poet and literary journalist Manglesh Dabral, 72, died of heart attack caused by COVID-19 complications on December 9, 2020. He was one of the foremost Hindi poets of the post-Raghunath Sahay, Kedarnath Sigh era, and was one of the most incisive minds in Hindi. Unshakeable in his beliefs, he was vocal in his writings. As per poet Asad Zaidi, he brought a new sensibility to contemporary Hindi poetry, a new sophistication, the way to use language in a very low key and concentrated form. He brought magic to Hindi poetry, and civilised the language of Hindi poetry to a great extent.
His Works Dabral has to his credit five collections of poetry-Pahar par Lalten, Ghar ka Rasta, Ham jo Dekhte Hain, Awaz bhi ek Jagah Hai, and Naye Yug men Shatru. He wrote two collections of prose, Lekhak ki Roti and Kavi ka Akelapan, and a travel diary, Ek Bar Iowa. His poetry was translated in Russian, German, Dutch, Spanish, Polish, and Bulgarian, etc., apart from several Indian languages. Recently, he translated novelist Arundhati Roy’s second novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness in Hindi as Apaar Khushi ka Gharana. He worked at the newspapers, namely, Hindi Patriot, Pratipaksh, and Aaspaas. He also worked as an editor for Purvagrah, published from Bharat Bhavan. Jansatta’s four-page literary magazine, published on Sundays, Ravivari, was the most popular when he was its editor.
Award He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2000 for Ham Jo Dekhte Hain.