Shekhar Joshi


Shekhar Joshi is a Hindi author, who is also known for his insight into the culture, traditions and lifestyles of people of Uttarakhand. With Shailesh Matiyani, he created a composite image of ethos of Kumaon. His best-known works are Dajyu and Kosi Ka Ghatwar. Along with Sumitranandan Pant, he is considered to be the most influential writer of Uttarakhand. His story Dajyu is considered to be in league with the work of Tolstoy, O. Henry, Chekhov, Premchand and other great literary figures. He writing has the particular innocence associated with the hill people of Nepal and Uttarakhand and critics have praised him continuously for being the most authentic author to portray the culture of Kumaon and the Himalayan mountains. In a poll conducted by BBC at the start of 20th century, his seminal work Dajyu beat works of Gorky, Premchand, O. Henry, Saki, Murakami, Tolstoy, Roald Dahl, Garcia Marquez and hundred of other literary giants to be voted as the greatest story on family and relationships.

Biography

Shekhar Joshi was born in September 1932 in the village of Oliyagaon, Almora district, Uttarakhand. His family were farmers and he received his early education at Dehradun and Ajmer. While studying in intermediate school, he was selected for entry to the Defense Institute of E.M.I. He worked there from 1955 to 1986, when he resigned to take up full-time writing.
His acclaimed story, Dajyu has been made into a children’s film by the Children's Film Society of India. Kosi Ka Ghatwar and many other stories have been translated into English, Russian, Czech, Polish and Japanese