The Humanist Author

Krishan Chander

Krishan Chander was an Urdu writer famous for his short stories and novels. He was also well versed in Hindi and English. He has written around 30 collections of short stories and 20 novels with many Urdu radio plays. He also wrote screen plays for several Indian movies. Some of his stories and novels have been adapted into films and television serials. His stories often depicted lives and cultures of rural Pakistanis. He frequently used rural Pakistani dialects in his Urdu stories and novels. His literary works have been translated into 16 Indian languages and also some foreign languages including English. We remember this great literary personality on his 38th death anniversary (March 8, 1977)

Krishan Chander was born on 23rd November, 1914 in Bharatpur, Rajsthan of British India.
Krishan spent his childhood in Poonch, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, where his father worked as the physician of Maharaja Poonch
In the 1930s he studied at Forman Christian College and edited the English section of the college house magazine
In 1932 he first published his Urdu short story called “Sadhu”

Krishan Chander began his writing career in Lahore where he gained fame as a writer
He often mentioned his experiences and life in Lahore in many of his short stories
Krishan with his writer and poet friends of pre-partition Lahore used to meet regularly at Nagina Bakery situated in the old city
He wrote extensively on Lahore, “For people of my generation, it is difficult to forget Lahore. It shines in our heart like jewel, like fragrance of our soul.”

Krishan also wrote on famines in Bengal and violence that took place during the partition
Through his writings he protested casteism, fanaticism, communal violence and terror
His classic masterpiece Ek Gadhe Ki Sarguzasht (Autobiography of a Donkey) has been translated into more than 20 languages
The division of Kashmir in 1948 greatly influenced his post partition works

Krishan used to work as a screen-writer for Bollywood films such as box-office hit Sharafat (1970)
His short story Annadata was made into film in 1946 by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas
Krishan Chander died working at his desk in Mumbai on 8 March 1977
At the time of his death he was writing a satirical story but before completing the first sentence he succumbed to a massive heart attack.