Dharamvir Bharati was a renowned Hindi poet, author, playwright and a social thinker of India. He was the chief editor of the popular Hindi weekly magazine Dharmayug, from 1960 till 1987. Bharati was awarded the Padma Shree for literature in 1972 by the Government of India. His novel Gunaho Ka Devta became a classic. Bharati's Suraj ka Satwan Ghoda is considered a unique experiment in story-telling and was made into a National Film Award-winning movie by the same name in 1992 by Shyam Benegal. Andha Yug, a play set immediately after the Mahabharata war, is a classic that is frequently performed in public by drama groups. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Playwriting in 1988, given by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama.
Early life
Dharamvir Bharati was born on 25 December 1926 in a Kayastha Family of Allahabad to Chiranji Lal and Chanda devi. The family underwent considerable financial hardships after his father died early. He had a sister, Dr. Veerbala. He did his MA in Hindi from Allahabad University in 1946 and won the "Chintamani Ghosh Award" for securing highest marks in Hindi. Dharamvir Bharati was the sub-editor for magazines Abhyudaya and Sangam during this period. He completed his PhD in 1954 under Dr. Dhirendra Verma on the topic of "Siddha Sahitya" and was appointed lecturer in Hindi at Allahabad University. The 1950s were the most creative period in Bharati's life: He wrote many novels, dramas, poems, essays, and critical works during this phase.
Journalism (Mumbai)
In 1960 he was appointed as chief-editor of the popular Hindi weekly magazine Dharmayug by the Times Group and moved to Bombay. He remained the editor of Dharmayug till 1987. During this long phase the magazine became the most popular Hindi weekly of the country and reached new heights in Hindi journalism. As a field reporter, Bharati personally covered the Indo-Pak war that resulted in the liberation of Bangladesh.
Personal life
Dr Bharati married in 1954 and later divorced Kanta Bharati with whom he had a daughter: Parmita. A few years later he remarried and had a son Kinshuk Bharati and a daughter Pragya Bharati with Pushpa Bharati. Bharati developed heart ailments and died after a brief illness in 1997.
Kanupriya, Thanda Loha, Saat Geet Varsh, Sapana Abhi Bhi and Toota Pahiya are amongst his most popular works of poetry. Toota Pahiya tells a story of how a broken wheel helped Abhimanyu in the Mahabharata war.
