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Chandrakiran Sonrexa

Chandrakiran Sonrexa (October 19, 1920 - May 18, 2009) (Saunareksā, Candrakiraṇa) was one of the foremost and well known writers of Hindi literature. Her writings in Hindi, spanning a period of 75 years have been published and translated in several languages including Russian, Hungarian, Czechoslovakian and English and also several Indian languages. She worked as a Script writer and Editor at All India Radio, Lucknow for over two decades (1957 - 79). In 2001 she was chosen as the Best Woman Hindi Short Story Writer of the 20th century by Hindi Academy (Delhi) and was presented the award by Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi.

Biography

Early Life

Mrs Chandrakiran Sonrexa
Born	Kumari Chandrakiran 19 October, 1920 Naushera, Peshawar (Sadar), in British India (Now in Pakistan)
Died	18 May, 2009 New Delhi, India
Pen name	Chhaya, Jyotsna
Occupation	Served in All India Radio/ Akashwani Lucknow as script writer and editor from January 1956 to 1978
Language	Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati and English
Nationality	Indian
Education	Passed lower middle in 1933 from Mission Middle School, Meerut (Sadar), later studied at home and passed prabhakar, Visharad and Sahitya Ratna in Hindi. The last equivalent to BA, in Hindi
Notable works	Pinjare Ke Maina (Autobiography), Adamkhor, Den' Rozhdennii︠a︡
Notable awards	1946: Seksaria Award on "Adamkhor" by Akhil Bhartiya Sahitya Sammelan 1987: Saraswat Samman from Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Academy. 1988: Subhdra Kumari Chauhan Gold Medal by UP Sahitya Sammelan. 2001: Rs 1 lakh Hindi Sahitya Academy (Delhi) award for being the best Hindi woman writer of the century
Spouse	Shri Kanti Chandra Sonrexa, a writer journalist, photographer who later joined provincial civil service in U.P Cadre

Chandrakiran’s father was a storekeeper in the military which was a transferable job. He was posted at Naushera in Peshawar (now in Pakistan) in 1920 where Chandrakiran, his last child, was born. The date or “Tithi” according to the Hindu calendar was Saptami of Durga Navratri in the month of ‘Aashwin’ (October). By the time she was one and a half year old her father was transferred to Meerut in U.P. (United Province then and Uttar Pradesh now). At first the family rented a house in Rajman Bazar. But in 1923 shifted to Sadar Kabaadi Bazar which was a timber market. Their house was near Bholanath Temple.

Education

Chandrakiran’s first school was Sadar Kanya Pathshala where she was admitted in class one in July 1926. She studied up to class 4^th in this school and received a double promotion twice. Thus she cleared four classes in two years. For class 5^th she joined Sadar mission school, which was run by Christian missionaries.

She was a very bright student who though always the youngest in class, was exceptionally good at all subjects especially Mathematics, Hindi, Geography. The only subject she could not cope with was drawing. A favorite of all the teachers, Chandrakiran often had to face the jealousy and bullying of her older classmates.

Influence of the Indian Freedom Movement

In the year 1931, when Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement was spreading all over the country she too started to wear Khadi (hand-spun cotton cloth). At the tender age of eleven she longed to participate in the sit-ins to protest at shops selling foreign liquor or clothes, and wanted to join the congress party. She was ready to court arrest even; of course she was not allowed to do any of these by her loving father, who doted on her.

Exposure to Literature

A voracious reader, Chandrakiran devoured any printed matter she could lay her hands on - Hindi/Urdu stories, novels, poems, magazines - besides her text books. She finished ‘Ramcharit Manas’, Kabir’s 'Sakhi-Sabad Ramaini' and ‘Sukh-Sagar’ even though she couldn’t fully understand them. She read ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ in translation in a serialized form in an Urdu magazine. She finished entire works of renowned Hindi writers like Premchand, Kaushik and Sudarshan. Magazines like ‘Madhuri, Saraswati Chand’ etc, were borrowed from the neighbors. Even books which her elder sister prohibited her from reading – 'Devdas’ of Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay or ‘Hatimtaai' - were read on the sly. Because of the speed with which she finished reading entire volumes, and was a chatter box as well, her brother Kanhaiya Lal called her ‘Peshawar Mail’.

First Published Work

She wrote her first story titled ‘Achhoot’ (the untouchable) about the tough life of a village boy of low-caste (who later became an officer, having been educated and converted to Christianity by a priest), at the age of 11 only. It was sent for publication in the magazine ‘Vijay’ from Calcutta with a note to the editor to print it if found worthy otherwise to be thrown in the trash bin, but not to be sent back. It was signed by her without any address of the writer. But perhaps the editor found the city’s name from the stamp of the envelope, hence it carried her name as ‘Kumari Chandrakiran’, Meerut. Her family and neighbors guessed that it was she, since her name was a rare one. She had expected a reprimand but received praise instead. And her writing career started.

Parents' Demise

She was admitted in Class 8^th in Raghunath Girl’s High School by her father, despite her eldest brother’s opposition. But fate willed otherwise. Her mother, who was a diabetic, fell seriously ill. Since there was no other female in the house to carry the household chores or look offer her mother, her studies came to an abrupt end. On October 10, 1933, when Chandrakiran was 9 days short of her 13^th birthday, her mother left this world. Post her demise, she confined herself to the four walls of her home, pursuing whatever studies she could, while running the household. In April 1936 she lost her father too.

Body of Writing

Creative World

Chandrakiran Sonrexa has not written fiction. She has carved out slices of life from the lower and middle class strata of North Indian society. It is life lived, experienced and endured by innumerable people - men, women, children, and recreated by her sensitive genius. It is not a life seen through rose-tinted glasses; it is not a life ensconced in luxuries. Neither is it one throbbing with sensual thrills, nor does it pulsate with the sophisticated beats of elite sensibilities.

It is life in the raw, bare to the soul. Her writing partakes the deprivations of the dispossessed of the society. It mourns the miseries of the downtrodden, the suffering of the hapless creatures groaning under the crushing weight of the cruel discrimination of class and caste, of religion and convention.

The sharpness with which Chandrakiran's eye penetrates the multiple layers of societal hypocrisy is amazing. Effortlessly her gaze explores the complex world of Indian middle class of the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s, straddled with its traditions and customs, holding on to its values both true and false. Pinning its hopes and dreams on an upward mobility, trying to break out of the confines of rotten conventions that chained it down.

Craft & Style

Chandrakiran wields the pen like a surgeon's scalpel cutting open the flesh only to bring healing and health.

When she enters the grim, dark, twilight regions of the poor and downtrodden, the untouchables of our society, she internalizes their pain and suffering. It is never her voice we hear, it is always their silent shrieks that resonate in our inner most being. This is the beauty of her brush-strokes, the power of her pen which remain invisible, unobtrusive throughout. No stylistic flourishes, no ornamental bling of contrived turn of phrases. Her style, if we can call it one, consists of the language of life- spontaneous, unpremeditated, utterly natural. Its facile fluency carries us unguarded into the deepest realms of human experience within her chosen milieu.

Indeed, like Jane Austin, she etched in depth the realities of life on her very own "inch of ivory". Never stepping out of her chosen segment of society, hence never a false note in her literary symphony. The readers may not have a firsthand experience of this world, this society but the authenticity of her delineations make them live and breathe in it. The characters populating this world are imbued with every nuance of human emotions. 'Aqueela', a story penned by Chandrakiran when she was only 19 yrs, stuns us with the profundity of understanding the protagonist Aqueela. Torn between the yearning for her child on the one hand, and the guilt and shame of having failed her husband, and unbearable gratefulness for his unconditional love on the other hand - Aqueela's dilemma comes so palpably alive that it leaves the reader numb. Such living breathing characters jostle for our attention everywhere in Chandrakiran's literary cosmos.

Contribution to society

Her literary contribution is a vast body of writing which comprises hundreds of stories, several novels, poems, radio plays, children's books and dramas, etc. It can be safely said that her world of creative fiction is as, if not more, real as life itself. Many social problems which became political issues in the course of time were highlighted by this visionary writer long ago. Her autobiography 'Pinjre ki Maina' , which w​on high acclaim, records the trials and tribulations with which her life was replete. Yet her passion, her dedication, her unyielding devotion to her muse kept the flame aglow.

Her literary brilliance shines through her stories which depict the social mores of the times. She wrote about the prevalent Purdah system in her story "Mard"; farcical modernism of high society in "Birthday" and "Kiraye ki Maa"; a prostitutes daughter seeking legitimacy in genteel society in "Aur Sapna Toot Gaya" and a hard look on the ill effects of communalism after partition in "Chote Kameen, Bade Kameen", "Ye Darinde" and "Dard". Notably Chandrakiran Sonrexa wrote the world’s first story on family planning written in 1939 "Grahasti ka Sukh".

Chandrakiran Sonrexa empowered Indian womanhood with a vision and sense of moral liberty; unfettered freedom of an uninhibited mind and graceful personality. Some of her stories gave expression to the hardships faced by lower middle class Muslim women because of Purdah system and Polygamy. Many stories talked about the ill effects of a fractured society caused by the prevalent caste system and communalism. The central theme of much of her writing was education of the girl child. She highlighted the importance of family planning in 1939, when nobody was talking about it. Doordarshan asked her to write a teleplay on terrorism in Punjab, titled "Gumrah" which aired in 1989-90. She was a torch bearer of the progressive, liberal, forward-looking India that believes in taking everyone along into a glorious future.

During her long literary career spanning from 1931, when patriarchal thinking heavily restricted women, till her death in 2009, when India has become an emerging global power and actively negotiates its traditional values with globalization, she chronicled the life and struggles of Indian middle class women.

Published Works

Novels

Year	Title	Description	Length (Pages)	Publisher	ISBN	Cover Image
1962, 2008	Chandan Chandni		275	Mitra Prakashan, Samanantar Prakashan	81-86306-49-8
1972, 2008	Vanchita		120	Lokchetna Prakashan, Samantar Prakashan
2003, 2008	Kahin Se Kahin Nahin		216	Muhim Prakashan, Adiba Books	81-8164-001-2
2003	Aur Diya Jalta Raha		127	Muhim Prakashan	81-8164-004-7

Collection of Short Stories

Year	Title	Description	Length (Pages)	Publisher	ISBN	Cover Image
1946	AadamKhor		184	Saraswati Press
1962	Birthday	Translated in Russian as "Den' Rozhdennii︠a︡"	76	Moskva Izd	67056666 (LCCN)
1990	Jawan Mitti		264	Prathibha Pratishthan
2002	Jaggo Tai			National Book Trust	978-81-237-4120-8
2007	A Class Ka Qaidi		183	Literacy House	81-88435-27-9
2007	Doosra Bachcha		174	Itihas Shodh Sansthan	81-8073-064-5
2007	Saudamini		176	Sharda Prakashan	81-85023-39-5
2007	Vey Bhediye		181	Parag Prakashan	81-7468-045-4 9788180990625
2007	Hirni		174	Sharda Prakashan	81-8070-052-6
2008	Meri Priaya Kahaniyaan		350	Purvodaya Prakshan	81-7037-086-8
2011	Ferfiassag	Collection of 15 stories in Hungarian
2011	Nasamajh			DJ Publications	978-93-80786-14-8
2011	Aadha Kamra			Eastend Publications	978-93-80807-09-6
2011	Khuda Ki Den				93-80784-12-0
2011	Udhar Ka Sukh			Nalanda Prakshan	81-8073-069-7

Children Drama/Stories (2008)

Year	Title	Description	Length (Pages)	Publisher	ISBN	Cover Image
	Pashu Pakshi Sammelan	Drama Collection
2008	Jinhone Itihaas Racha	Bharat Ke Veero ki Kahaniyan		Akshay Prakshan	81-8077-023-0
2008	Shishe Ke Mahal	Novel		Antara Prakashan	81-8079-036-3
2007	Bhondu Aur Golu	Story		National Book Trust	978-81-237-5112-2
2008	Damyanti	Novel		Akshay Prakshan	81-8077-021-4

Other

Year	Title	Description	Length (Pages)	Publisher	ISBN	Cover Image
2008	Peedhiyon Ke Pul	Collection of Street Plays	128	Antara Prakashan	81-8079-035-5
2008	Pinjrey Ki Maina	Autobiography	416	Purvodaya Prakashan	81-7037-085-X

International Publications

In 1962, sponsored by Academician E.P. Chelishave, her collection of best stories was published in Russian language as "Den' Rozhdennii︠a︡" the title story being "Birthday".

Her Story on Family Planning "Grihasthi Ka Sukh" written in the fifties was selected among 10 best stories of Asia and Africa by the government of Czechoslovakia and published in collection named "Rodini Stati". It was translated by Professor Odolen Smekel (Later Czech Ambassador to India).

A collection of 19 Hindi stories has been translated into English at the University of Oxford under the guidance of Head of the Department at the Faculty of Oriental Studies (Dr Imre Bangha).

Her stories have been in the prescribed text in various universities all over the world for example University of London, University of Oxford in the UK, University of California at Berkeley.

Publications in Indian Magazines and Indian Languages

Her poems have been published in Kadambini, Naya Gyanodaya etc.

A very large number of stories have been translated in several Indian languages like Bengali magazines Basumati, Prabasi, and Mahila Mangal, Punjabi magazines Preetalahiri, Tamil magazine Kalki, Urdu magazines Saqi and Ajkal.

Research Projects

Several Doctorates have been awarded for research projects on her works.

Year	Researcher	Publisher	Title
1992	Dr. Kuntal Kumari	Aman Prakshan	Srimati Chandrakiran Sonrexa Evam Sharatchandra ke Nari Patra
2014	Santosh Subhashrao Kulkarni		Chandrakiran Sonrexsa ke kathasahitya me vyakta stri jivan ke vividh roop

Film made for TV

Gumrah, a Telefilm on Doordarshan on the topic of terrorism in Punjab

Honors and Awards

Year	Award	Description	Awarded By
1946	Seksaria Award	Awarded for collection of short stories titled "Adamkhor"	Akhil Bhartiya Sahitya Sammelan
1987	Saraswat Samman		Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Academy
1988	Subhdra Kumari Chauhan Gold Medal		UP Sahitya Sammelan
2001	Best Hindi woman writer of the century		Hindi Sahitya Academy (Delhi)

Reviews

Agyeya - Chandrakiran Sonrexa is most notable for her penetrative insights. Her incisive comments on the aspirations, hypocrisy and self-serving middle class touched a nerve with the readers.

Vishnu Prabhakar - The exalted pedestal which Mahadevi Ji occupied in the domain of poetry, Chandrakiran Ji occupied the same position in the realm of short stories.... The kind of true-to-life characterization of the middle class woman as she portrayed in her stories is rarely to be encountered in any other writer's works.

Dr. Ramvilas Sharma - All the ingredients which are required to make a novel be counted among the greatest novels in Hindi, are present in Chandrakiran's novel "Chandan Chandni". All those souls who seem destined to suffocate in dark closed enclosures, will find a ray of light as well.... The voice of the main protagonist, the heroine of the novel "Garima" - the newly-awakened, a female warrior fighting for her own rights even as she is eternally deprived, is nevertheless the voice of the perennially maligned Indian woman.

Amrit Rai - Her realistic and incisive depiction of the inner workings of the lower-middle families, especially the womenfolk, can rarely be seen elsewhere. Her study of the women's natural neglect and insignificance is widely prevalent (in her works). Among the current crop of writers, I place her in the top echelons.

Shivdan Singh Chauhan - Chandrakiran Ji's brilliance manifests itself at its very best whenever she paints a realistic and formidable picture of human condition. Her writings are of the highest quality. I pay homage to her from the bottom of my heart.

Further Reading

Chandrakiran Sonrexa

A Class ka Qaidi

Jawan Mitti

Doosra Bachcha

Ve Bhediye

Saudamini, Saudamini

Hirni

Ve Bhediye

Hiranee

Issues in Modern Hindi Literature

Saptadaśī : Hindī kī satraha pratinidhi kahāniyāṃ

External Links

Library of Congress

WorldCat Identities

The Fine Art Archive

BnF

Trove

Rajasthan Education Society

A presentation on Chandrakiran Sonrexa

Hindi Samay