Krishan Chander

Krishan Chander Biography

Krishan Chander was an Urdu and Hindi short story writer, who concentrated on Urdu most. This prolific writer wrote over 20 novels, 30 collections of short stories and several radio plays. He was well-versed in Hindi and English and concentrated on Hindi after Indian independence. He has authored several satire stories and film scripts also like Sarafat in the year 1970. His masterpiece work - Ek Gadhe Ki Sarguzasht has been translated into over 16 Indian languages and some foreign languages. His short story "Annadata" was made into the film Dharti Ke Lal, by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas in 1946.

He was born in Lahore, where he completed his education. He was born in Wazirabad in the district Gujranwala of British India. Chander spent his childhood in Poonch, in the state of Jammu & Kashmir where his father worked as a physician. He studied at Forman Christian College in the 1930’s. During this time, he edited the English section of the college house magazine and was attached to English writings. Mehr Lal Soni Zia Fatehabadi was instrumental in publishing his written books. Chander's first Urdu short story, "Sadhu" got published in the year 1932.

Chander was against the Hindu-Muslim conflicts and remained as an atheist and believer of communist party. He used Pahari dialect of people while writing in Urdu. His novel Shakast is related to Kashmir's partition and his popular novel, Mitti Ke Sanam is about the childhood memories of a boy who lived in Kashmir. Ek Gadhe Ki Sarguzasht is his most popular work. His collection of short stories titled Afsane tells the stories of Kashmiri villages. Krishan Chander died in Mumbai on 8 March 1977. Krishan Chander Park Poonch in Poonch of Kashmir has been named after him.

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Updated: February 20, 2014