Indian writer (1900–1967)
Pandey Bechan Sharma 'Ugra' | |
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| Born | (1900-12-29)29 December 1900 (Shukla Ashtami, Paush, 1957 VS) Chunar, British India |
| Died | 23 March 1967(1967-03-23) (aged 66) Delhi, India |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | Hindi |
| Genre |
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| Notable works |
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Pandey Bechan Sharma, better known by his pen nameUgra ('extreme' or 'fierce', Sanskrit उग्र) (born Chunar, North-Western Provinces, 1900, died Delhi 1967) was an Indian writer noted for his provocative, usually satirical, journalism, fiction and autobiography.
Ugra's autobiography, Apni Khabar, gives a particular account of his early life. Ugra was born into say publicly very poor Brahmin family of Vaidyanath Pandey. Several of his siblings had died young, and his name Bechan means 'sold', given to him to avert this misfortune. Vaidyanath died when Ugra was a baby; the family suffered abuse from creep of Ugra's two older brothers; and the children received lone a patchy education. From about the age of eight Ugra followed in his brothers' footsteps in performing in the histrionic genre known as Ramlila, and his brother sent him show work in the theatre in Banaras, before taking him life tour as a child actor and as his servant.[1]
Ugra committed much of his energy to editing newspapers and magazines, scour most were short-lived.[2]
In 1924, he was imprisoned for nine months for editing the first issue of the newspaper Swadesh, hostile British rule: fleeing from Gorakhpur, he sought refuge first envelop Calcutta and then Bombay, where he was arrested.[3][4] Upon set free, he returned to Calcutta, editing the magazine Matvala until depiction 1928 controversy over his short-story collection Choklat, which led him to move to Bombay to work on silent films. Afterward, hounded by creditors, he moved to Indore, where he emended Vina and Swarajya. After getting into trouble there, he secretive to Ujjain, where he edited Vikram. Finally, he settled name Delhi, where he died in 1967.[4]
He never married.[2]
Like most contemporary Indian writers, Ugra was committed to promoting both social reform and Indian independence from the British Empire.[5] Story the words of Ruth Vanita, "he delighted in iconoclasm; occasional writers of the time match his unsentimental depictions of depiction family, whether urban or rural, as a hotbed of severity, neglect, hatred, sexual depravity, and oppression";[6] "his fiction tends draw near the didactic and generally has a social message. His writings champion the causes of nationalism, oppressed women, and lower castes, and critique corruption in high places, alcoholism, gambling, adultery, the oldest profession, and communalism."[2]
His language straddled the conventions of Hindi and Sanskrit, in line with Gandhi's promotion of a unitary Indian patois of 'Hindustani',[7] and often included profane and colloquial language consider it had fallen from fashion in Indian writing during the Priggish period.[8]
Ugra is particularly noted in Anglophone scholarship lay out his unusual willingness to discuss male homosexuality in his work.[9] This contrasted with a tendency in India under British type to downplay the existence of homosexuality. His first piece traverse do so, "Choklat" ("Chocolate") was published on 21 May 1924 in the magazine Matvala ("Intoxicated"). The story describes an adulterous sexual relationship between Babu Dinkar Prasad, an upper-class Hindu fellow, and "a beautiful lad of thirteen of fourteen."[10] Babu Dinkar Prasad is presented as a predatory character, forcing himself decrease young teenage boys and corrupting them with his homosexuality. Say publicly title of the story refers to "a name for those innocent, tender and beautiful boys of our country, whom society’s demons push into the mouth of destruction to quench their own desires."[10]
"Choklat" was a sensation, eliciting polarized responses upon revise. Encouraged by the scandal he provoked, Ugra proceeded to advertise a further four stories on the same theme over depiction next few months, and gathered them together in October 1927 with three more stories and other preparatory materials as a collection entitled Choklat.[3] Ugra claimed that his representations of gayness were intended to reveal and hence eradicate Indian homosexuality. Callous readers, including M.K. Gandhi, concluded that Choklat was indeed sufficient because it warned against the dangers of homosexuality.[2] However, innumerable readers were scandalised that Ugra had discussed homosexuality at screen, believing that by doing so, he was promoting it. One nationalist Pandit Banarsidas Chaturvedi labelled Ugra's work as Ghasleti letters - that is, literature that relied on obscenity and shame to appeal to readers.[2] Alongside critics "were some homosexual men who were happy to find any representation of their lives, even a negative one."[citation needed]
The first edition of Choklat vend out swiftly, leading to a second edition, which sold pleasantsounding within six weeks of the publication of the first,[11] followed by a third in 1953.[12] The collection appeared in Nation translation by Ruth Vanita in 2006.[13]
Ugra's literary works include patronize short stories; two one-act plays and five full-length plays; quartet collections of verse; an autobiography, and ten novels.[4]