Manoj Das

Manoj Das Biography

Manoj Das is an acclaimed and veteran writer associated with Odia and English languages. He was awarded Padma Shri in 2001 for his contributions to Indian literature and also Sahitya Akademi Award Fellowship by the Akademy. He is also a recipient of many more awards including Saraswati Samman for the year 2000. He has been an inmate of Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry since 1973 as a faculty, when his deeper quest led him to mysticism. His research works in the archives of London and Edinburgh also gave a new direction and new bit of information related to Indian freedom struggle movement, led by Aurobindo in the early 1900s.

Manoj Das was born on 27 February 1934 in Sankhari, Balasore, Odisha. It is a small coastal village. His father was a landocracy under British Govt. Got inspired with the ideas of Aurobindo, he has been an ashramite at Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry where he served as a teacher as well. A youth leader with radical views in his college days, he played an active role in Afro-Asian students' conference at Bandung, Indonesia, in 1959. He also worked as an editor and columnist with dailies and magazines. He edited a cultural magazine of Chennai, The Heritage and wrote columns in The Times of India, The Hindustan Times, The Hindu and The Statesman.

Foremost bilingual Odia writer, he was a master of dramatic expression both in his English and Odia short stories and novels. Comparisons were often drawn with Vishnu Sharma, and he is regarded as one of the greatest story tellers from Orissa. He has been associated with politics as well, serving several distinguished positions. Chasing the rainbow, A tiger at twilight, My little India, Godhulira Bagha, The Escapist etc are some of his famous books.

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Updated: April 29, 2018