litterateur nirmal verma
– Photo: Social Media
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The birth anniversary of storyteller and Jnanpith awardee litterateur Nirmal Verma is on 3rd April. Had Nirmal, a unique writer of his kind, been alive, he would have turned 95. Senior litterateur of Aligarh, Dr. Prem Kumar had a close relationship with him. Premkumar shared the memories of his meeting with Nirmal Verma through an article. The interesting thing is that in the last phase of his literary career, Nirmal Verma, who was known for his immense love for Indian culture, had once served the Left.
Prem Kumar says that as long as he (Nirmal Verma) remained in the world, he used to keep talking to him. In the words of Nirmal himself, “I wrote the first story when I was a student at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. No, don’t remember his name now. After Partition, where we lived in Karol Bagh, I also studied there. Used to teach History and Political Science in a private college. In those days, some English newspapers wanted me to write on Hindi in them. Reviews of many Hindi books were written in English then. But my main work was in the Communist Party. I was a party member then. From 1950-54, a lot of time was spent in party work. Wrote a lot in the initial years, but wrote everything without planning. Then in 1957, he got the job of translator in Rajya Sabha. First smooth job – 10 to 5 work. I used to translate the debates in Rajya Sabha into Hindi.
Went to Czechoslovakia in 59. Was invited by Oriental Institute. Stayed there for eight years and translated the works of many Czech writers – Milan Kundera, Ivan Klina, Baslam, Harvil etc. into Hindi. My first novel, ”Those Days”, was set against a Czech background. It was written here in Delhi. Then he came on leave for two years. “Parinde” came in 58 before going to Czechoslovakia. Among contemporary Hindi writers, Naresh Mehta, Manohar Shyam Joshi, Shrikant Verma were my friends. Lived with them only. When Naresh ji started “Kriti”, he wrote articles and stories for it. The first story published in “Kalpana” magazine was “Rishtey”. My mother or father did not insist that I take up a job. He had no financial difficulties and had given me free rein to do or not do anything. After Partition, where we lived in Karol Bagh, I also studied there. He used to earn his pocket money by teaching in a private college.