Vishnu Prabhakar facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Vishnu Prabhakar
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Vishnu Prabhakar
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| Born | 21 June 1912 Miranpur, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India |
| Died | 11 April 2009 (aged 96) New Delhi, India |
| Occupation | Novelist, writer, journalist |
| Genre | fiction, novels, non-fiction, essays |
| Notable works | Ardhanarishwar, Aawara Masiha |
Vishnu Prabhakar (born June 21, 1912 – died April 11, 2009) was a famous Hindi writer. He wrote many short stories, novels, plays, and travel books. His writings often showed love for his country and ideas for making society better. He was the first writer from Haryana to win the Sahitya Akademi Award.
He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1993. In 1995, he won the Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan Award. The Indian government also honored him with the Padma Bhushan in 2004. This is one of India's highest civilian awards.
Life and Writing Journey
Vishnu Prabhakar loved literature from a young age. He even joined a theater group in Hissar. His first story, Diwali, was published in a magazine called Hindi Milap in 1931. This was the start of his writing career. In 1939, he wrote his first play, called Hatya Ke Baad. Soon, writing became his full-time job.
He lived with his mother's brother's family until he was 27. In 1938, he married Sushila Prabhakar. She was a great source of inspiration for his writing until she passed away in 1980.
After India became independent, he worked at All India Radio in New Delhi. He was a drama director there from 1955 to 1957. Vishnu Prabhakar passed away on April 11, 2009, in New Delhi. He was 96 years old. He had been ill for a short time. He is survived by his two sons and two daughters. His sons, Atul and Amit Prabhakar, donated his body to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. This was done according to their father's last wishes.
How He Became 'Prabhakar'
Vishnu Prabhakar's name changed a few times before he became known as 'Vishnu Prabhakar'. In primary school, his name was 'Vishnu Dayal'. At the Arya Samaj school, when asked about his family group, he said 'Vaishya'. So, the teacher wrote his name as 'Vishnu Gupta'.
Later, when he started working for the government, officers changed his name again. They called him 'Vishnu Dharmadutt' because there were too many 'Guptas' in the office. He kept using 'Vishnu' as his pen name for writing. One day, an editor asked him why his writing name was so short. The editor also asked if he had passed any special exams. Vishnu told him that he had passed the 'Prabhakar' exam in Hindi. So, the editor added 'Prabhakar' to his name, and he became 'Vishnu Prabhakar'.
Awards and Special Honors
Vishnu Prabhakar received many important awards for his work:
- Sahitya Akademi Award, 1993
- Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan Award, 1995
- Padma Bhushan, 2004
- Soviet land nehru award , 1976 for his book Aawara Masiha
His novels Ardhanarishvara (which means The Androgynous God or Shiva) earned him both the Sahitya Akademi and Padma Bhushan awards.
Sources
- Sandhya Singh (Editor) 2004. Sanvaad Part 2, NCERT, New Delhi
