A new biography will delve into the life of one of Hindi literature's pioneers, Nirmal Verma, and open a window into his writing style and sensibilities, Penguin Random House India has announced.
Scheduled to be released later this month, the book, "Here and Hereafter: Nirmal Verma’s Life in Literature", is authored by debutant writer Vineet Gill. Verma, along with his contemporaries, is known for having started the 'Nai Kahani' movement that gave impetus to short story writing in Hindi literature.
Gill looks at the scattered elements of Verma’s life as ingredients that went into the making of the writer. The book observes and records the influence of Verma's lived experiences, the places he habited, the people he associated with, and the books he read in his stories and novels.
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"This is a work of intense analysis and considered excavation — a contemplation on Verma's oeuvre and its place in world literature. Through this book, readers will get an insider's look into the life of an eminent writer," the publisher said in a statement.
Gill said that it took him three years to finish the book, most of which was spent "trying to find a form, an approach, suitable for my purposes". "I didn't want to write a conventional biography but still wanted to engage with aspects of Nirmal Verma's life that shed some kind of light on his work. I wanted to look at Nirmal Verma as a cosmopolitan writer who was not confined to Hindi or 'Indian' tradition.
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"I wanted to view his work in relation to that of his forebears and contemporaries, and to the politics of his time. And finally, I wanted to create a personal record of sorts — about my own life as a reader and writer, and about how reading can lead to writing. I hope I have managed to bring together these disparate strands in my book," Gill said.
Elizabeth Kuruvilla, executive editor, Ebury Publishing and Vintage, Penguin Random House India, said that the "one of a kind" book is "unputdownable". "What Vineet has done is read — and investigate — the clues to his life that Nirmal Verma has left behind in his works, giving us a truly unique perspective on a man who contributed tremendously to the world of words and ideas," she said. The book is available for pre-booking on online stores.
(With PTI inputs)
