Swadesh Deepak
Encyclopedia
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, novelist and short-story writer. Deepak has been active on the Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
literary scene since the mid 1960s and is best known for Court Martial, a pathbreaking play that he published in 1991. Deepak's most recent book is Maine Mandu Nahin Dekha, a volume of memoirs. Deepak's work has appeared in all major literary periodicals of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and he has more than 15 published titles to his credit. Several of his works have been staged and made into television programmes.
Deepak holds masters degrees in both Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. For twenty-six years, he taught English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
at Ambala
Ambala
Ambala is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border of the states of Haryana and Punjab in India. Politically; Ambala has two sub-areas: Ambala Cantt and Ambala City, approximately 3 kilometers apart from each other...
's Gandhi Memorial College.
Writings
Swadesh Deepak found his literary expression first as a short storyShort story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
writer and then as a novelist and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
. He has experimented with many forms of prose
Prose
Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
, and is well-known for his unique style.
Short stories
Swadesh Deepak started his journey in the literary world, when he was about 14 years (factually born in 1939). After partition of India in 1947, the family settled in Rajpura Town, where Swadesh Deepak completed his matriculation and would travel by train to Ambala City and Cantt for his graduation and Post Graduation studies (in English and Hindi). The seeds of his grim, dark story telling and the characters always carrying a loaded Gun, were sown during the partition of India, in blood bath, when he watched his father, a teacher of Urdu and Persian, taking to gun to save his village from the onslaught of marauding crowds of looters; along with few friends of his, who also owned guns; thus kept the hordes of looters at bay from their roof tops, for about 7 days and nights. Swadesh and his elder sister watched many people falling dead or being maimed. It was the Gurkhas regiment from the Indian Army which saved all the Hindu families of the village and brought them to India; in a Refugee Camp of Tents in the city of Kurukshetra. After reaching India, his father suffered from tuberculosis due to the smoke of gunpowder and dust which had affected his lungs. Father was in a Sanatorium for about 5 years, where one of his lung was removed. The family was taken care of by the maternal grandfather, and brought to Ambala City(Baldev Nagar Camp, built by the displaced populace). When his father joined back,the family shifted permanently to Rajpura Town, which was constructed by the refugees from Bahawalpur, Rawalpindi, Balochistan and Multan, with the help of Indian Govt.Initially his short stories were published in the Hindi newspapers from Jalandhar. His first story in an Indian magazine, Manohar Kahaniyan, titled "Lal Pheete Ka Tukda" was published in Aptil, 1957, He was writing as "Swadesh Bhardwaj". After this story, he replaced Bhardwaj with Deepak.His first break in the Indian Hindi fiction came through a renowned literrary Hindi magazine "Gyanodaya" in 1960 or 1961, with the story "Santa Singh Ka Beta Banta Singh". The story with trace of violence and rage, where Banta Singh hits his father's truck(both are drivers) and Santa Singh dies, on a narrow bridge, to make sure that he (Son) reaches the nearest market First, to offload his products and get good value. Those were the years when Nirmal Verma,Rajendra Yadav, Mannu Bhandari, Prabhakar Machve, Agyeya, Dr Dharamveer Bharti and few more top notch authors of Hindi Literature used to be published in this Magazine. He became quite popular by his number of stories in the upcoming popular magazine "Sarika" (edited by Kamaleshwar).His story "Ashwarohi" was well received by the readers, and many more were to follow. After this, his stories were also published in "Dharamyug",a very popular and prominent weekly magazine,edited by late Dr Dharamveer Bharti. Deepak's first story in this magazine was "Aheri". Then on his stories appeared in "Saptahik Hindustan, "Nai Kahanian", "Hans", "Kathadesh" etc and all his stories have been included in different collections of his short stories,except for his initial stories namely,Lal Pheete Ka Tukda, Santa Singh Ka Beta Banta Singh, "Ek Muthee Chaval", Badaltee Rahen, to name a few.
The first collection of stories that Deepak published in the 1973 was Ashwarohi (The Rider), which is the landmark of his grim, dark story telling style on the literary scene. Over the next few years, Deepak wrote some of his most popular stories: Aheri, Jangal,Mara Hua Pakshi, Maatam, Jaihind, Kyunki Main Use Jaanta Nahin, Kisi Ek Ped Ka Naam Lo, Kyunki Hawa Padh Nahin Sakti, Tamaasha and Paapi Pet, Kya Koi Yahan Hai ?
The story "Kya Koi Yahan Hai" was published in Dharamyug, during in 1976 during the Internal Emergency in India,when every News Paper,Magazine in all the Indian Languages wer under draconian "Censor", where any news, article, poem, story received by the newspapers and magazines, were "Studied" by the Govt. agencies. When this story was received in Dharamyug,the censoring authority, just treated as trash and not worth censoring,and cleared it. Dr Bharti knew it will happen that way. The readers and intellectuals loved it, as during that dark period, readers were deprived of stabbing Editorials,Opinions, Views in any form which gave any hint about the situation in India.
Deepak also published two novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s in Hindi, Number 57 Squadron and Mayapot (The Phantom Ship). The latter evoked mixed response from readers and critics. A collection of the finest stories of Swadesh Deepak, titled Pratinidhi Kahaniyan (Representative Stories) was published in the mid-1980s.
Plays
Swadesh Deepak was widely recognized as one of the finest playwrights in the country after the publication of Court Martial. The play hits hard the roots of casteism in the Indian ArmyIndian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
. Court Martial has been staged close to 2000 times in India by well-known Indian theatre directors Ranjeet Kapoor, Arvind Gaur
Arvind Gaur
Arvind Gaur , Indian theatre director, is known for his work in innovative, socially and politically relevant theatre. Gaur's plays are contemporary and thought-provoking, connecting intimate personal spheres of existence to larger social political issues...
, Usha Ganguly
Usha Ganguly
Usha Ganguly is an Indian theatre director-actor and activist, most known for her work in Hindi theatre in Kolkata in 1970s and 1980s. She founded Rangkarmee theatre group in 1976, known for its productions like Mahabhoj, Rudali, Court Martial, and Antaryatra. Apart from thespian Shyamanand...
, Abhijeet Choudhary. It has been translated into many Indian languages and has won Swadesh Deepak many an award.
Deepak regards Court Martial as his best-known work, but not the best. His other prominent plays
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
include Sabse Udaas Kavita, Jalta Hua Rath (The Chariot
Chariot
The chariot is a type of horse carriage used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Ox carts, proto-chariots, were built by the Proto-Indo-Europeans and also built in Mesopotamia as early as 3000 BC. The original horse chariot was a fast, light, open, two wheeled...
in Flames), and Kal Kothari (The Dark Cellar). Deepak's first play, Natak Bal Bhagwan, dates back to 1988.
Memoirs
In the early 1990s, Deepak showed severe symptoms of bipolar disorderBipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
, a condition that was diagnosed only a couple of suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
attempts and many frightful months later. He was under medication for a long time, and took many years to recover. Around 2001, he began documenting those fateful years spent "in the darkroom of his mind". These memoirs were first serialized
Serial (literature)
In literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...
in Kathadesh, a leading Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
monthly, and later published as a book, Maine Mandu Nahin Dekha (Rajkamal Prakashan). Deepak's memoirs triggered widespread debate, both for their innovative form, and their depiction of the way in which mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
is perceived in India. The book won Deepak as many admirers as foes, with many putting even the suffering behind the book under the scanner.
Despite the volley of sharp-edged comments that it ensued, Maine Maandu Nahin Dekha is a work unlike any other published in recent times. It is special because it is a grotesque first-hand account of how this disorder destroys logic in a systematic fashion. And it is Deepak's precise, bare-bones language—almost poetical in most portions—that lends authenticity to the text.
The Loaded Gun
Deepak's works are characterized by their tragic, dark endings. His characters find death as a constant companion, and often succumb to it. Often, critics have suggested that Deepak walks alongside his characters with a loaded gun—recoiled and ready to fire. Maybe, one can trace the beginnings of Deepak's present mental ordeal to the dark stories that he was writing even in the early 1970s. Perhaps, it is no coincidence that Deepak's favourite authors are Sylvia PlathSylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...
and Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
, who succumbed to mental agony themselves.
The Return of the Storyteller
After a self-proclaimed abstinence from writing short stories lasting many years, Deepak returned to the form in the early 2000s. Some of his stories written during the period carry the echo of Maine Mandu Nahin Dekha. Bagugoshe was a fine story that he published a few years back.Awards and honours
Swadesh Deepak has won many awards for his powerful writings. Recently, he won the Sur Puraskar, the highest literary award conferred by the GovernmentGovernment
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
of Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
, the state of his residence. He participated in the World Hindi Conference organized in Suriname
Suriname
Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...
.
Deepak is one of the few playwrights to win the Sangeet Natak Akademi
Sangeet Natak Akademi
Sangeet Natak Akademi is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India.-History:...
Award 2004, the most prestigious award conferred to a performing artist in India. He is, undoubtedly, the best-known writer that Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
has produced, and one of finest in his generation.
Tragic developments
In early 2006, Deepak showed symptoms of acute depressionClinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
related to Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
. He had suffered a cardiac attack in 2004, but had shown considerable improvement ever since. On June 2 2006, Deepak left home for his routine morning walk, and went missing. All attempts to trace him have shown little results.
Deepak's wife, Geeta, died on 18 October, 2009 at PGI, Chandigarh.
Collections of short stories
- Ashwarohi / अश्वारोही (1973)
- Maatam / मातम (1978)
- Tamaasha / तमाशा (1979)
- Pratinidhi Kahaniyan / प्रतिनिधि कहानियां (1985)
- Bal Bhagwaan / बाल भगवान (1986)
- Kisi Apriya Ghatna Ka Samachar Nahin / किसी अप्रिय घटना का समाचार नहीं (1990)
- Maskhare Kabhi Nahin Rote / मसखरे कभी नहीं रोते (1997)
- Nirvachit Kahaniyan / निर्वाचित कहानियां (2003)
Plays
- Natak Bal Bhagwan / नाटक बाल भगवान (1989)
- Court Martial / कोर्ट मार्शल (1991)
- Jalta Hua Rath / जलता हुआ रथ (1998)
- Sabse Udaas Kavita / सबसे उदास कविता (1998)
- Kaal Kothari / काल कोठरी (1999)
Play performances and their reviews
Asmita Theatre's Arvind GaurArvind Gaur
Arvind Gaur , Indian theatre director, is known for his work in innovative, socially and politically relevant theatre. Gaur's plays are contemporary and thought-provoking, connecting intimate personal spheres of existence to larger social political issues...
has performed Court Martial all over India with well known cinema actors, such as Deepak Dobriyal
Deepak Dobriyal
Deepak Dobriyal is an Indian film and theatre actor.He worked in many films like Not a Love Story, Teen Thay Bhai, Gulaal, Delhi 6, Omkara, Maqbool, Daayen Ya Baayen, Shaurya, 1971, 13B, The Blue Umbrella, Tanu Weds Manu and Mumbai Cutting.-Ealy life and education:Deepak's parents belong to Kabra...
, Piyush Mishra
Piyush Mishra
Piyush Mishra is an Indian film and theatre actor, music director, lyricist, singer, scriptwriter.-Early life and education:He spent his early life in Gwalior, where he received his education...
, Manu Rishi
Manu Rishi
Manu Rishi is an Indian film actor, lyricist, script and dialogue writer. Manu Rishi trained under theatre director Arvind Gaur for six years. He won the Filmfare Best Dialogue Award, 2009 for Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!...
, Shakti Anand, and Shilpa Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Shilpa Shukla is an actress known for playing the role of Bindiya Naik, a member of the Indian women's national hockey team, in the sports-oriented movie Chak De India, starring Shahrukh Khan...
. Many of Deepak's plays, including Jalta Hua Rath and Kal Kothari were first directed by Arvind Gaur
Arvind Gaur
Arvind Gaur , Indian theatre director, is known for his work in innovative, socially and politically relevant theatre. Gaur's plays are contemporary and thought-provoking, connecting intimate personal spheres of existence to larger social political issues...
.
- "Tight pace of Swadesh Deepak's Court Martial... not to be missed." - Kavita Nagpal, Hindustan TimesHindustan TimesHindustan Times is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded in 1924 with roots in the Indian independence movement of the period ....
- "Arvind GaurArvind GaurArvind Gaur , Indian theatre director, is known for his work in innovative, socially and politically relevant theatre. Gaur's plays are contemporary and thought-provoking, connecting intimate personal spheres of existence to larger social political issues...
's hard hitting realism... his intelligent approach... strong play by Swadesh Deepak." - Aruna Ahluwalia (E. News) - "Kudos to Court Martial... a drama that goes beyond the limits of drama." - The Indian ExpressThe Indian ExpressThe Indian Express is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. It is published in Mumbai by Indian Express Group. After Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split in 1999 among his family members into two with the southern editions taking the name The New Indian Express, while the old...
- "The Asmita team has created a marvelous piece of theatre out of a wonderful script... don't miss it. The time spent watching the play is well worth it." - Smita Nirula, The Pioneer
- "Stealing the scene with revolt as the theme... Court Martial is an engrossing display of theatre for social awareness." - Sushama Chadha (The Times of IndiaThe Times of IndiaThe Times of India is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. TOI has the largest circulation among all English-language newspaper in the world, across all formats . It is owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd...
) - "Excellent Performance by Deepak DobriyalDeepak DobriyalDeepak Dobriyal is an Indian film and theatre actor.He worked in many films like Not a Love Story, Teen Thay Bhai, Gulaal, Delhi 6, Omkara, Maqbool, Daayen Ya Baayen, Shaurya, 1971, 13B, The Blue Umbrella, Tanu Weds Manu and Mumbai Cutting.-Ealy life and education:Deepak's parents belong to Kabra...
as Captain Vikash Roy... Swadesh Deepak's brilliant script... memorable production by the Asmita team and Arvind GaurArvind GaurArvind Gaur , Indian theatre director, is known for his work in innovative, socially and politically relevant theatre. Gaur's plays are contemporary and thought-provoking, connecting intimate personal spheres of existence to larger social political issues...
." - Romesh Chandra The HinduThe HinduThe Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40... - "Impressive Presentation: The much-talked about play Court-Martial, directed by the eminent young theatre director Arvind GaurArvind GaurArvind Gaur , Indian theatre director, is known for his work in innovative, socially and politically relevant theatre. Gaur's plays are contemporary and thought-provoking, connecting intimate personal spheres of existence to larger social political issues...
, was successfully staged here at Gandhi Bhawan Auditorium, on the first day of Shahjehanpur Theatre Festival. Court Martial is probably the first Indian play, wherein an effort to expose the rot rampant in the Indian army has been made." -Amar Ujala - "Mirror of the Society: Court Martial is not just a play, but more aptly the real picture of the Indian society that brings us face to face with the caste-based feudalism, despite the constitutional & legal objections of the democratic procedures. The Indian Army is a government institution that does not permit caste-based reservations. The play presents the truth very much prevalent in the Indian society. That, a person with merit is traumatized just because of his low-caste origins. Can we march into the 21st century with such a narrow mindset? This is an important question that seeks an answer of us. Can we answer this question in this 50th year of our independence? Perhaps not!" - Amit Kumar, Rastriya Sahara
- "Court Martial, scripted by Swadesh Deepak and directed by Arvind GaurArvind GaurArvind Gaur , Indian theatre director, is known for his work in innovative, socially and politically relevant theatre. Gaur's plays are contemporary and thought-provoking, connecting intimate personal spheres of existence to larger social political issues...
was staged at the Shri Ram Centre, on the first day of the ‘Asmita Theatre Festival’ organized by Asmita Production. The play is based on the caste-based discrimination rampant in the Indian Army. The strength of the play lies in its powerful dialogues that take it forward." -Alok Nandan - "Not Just a Play: ‘Court Martial’ is not just a play written by Swadesh Deepak, directed by Arvind GaurArvind GaurArvind Gaur , Indian theatre director, is known for his work in innovative, socially and politically relevant theatre. Gaur's plays are contemporary and thought-provoking, connecting intimate personal spheres of existence to larger social political issues...
& enacted by Asmita-artistes. It is a burning truth of the Indian Society. Sensing that Indian Army is the only government institution, which does not permit caste-based reservations, ‘Court Martial’ presents a mixture of natural and legal justice, which is not only the truth of the Indian Army, but that of the whole Indian Society. That, despite all his qualifications, an individual is traumatised because of his low-caste origins is not merely social violence, but a crime against humanity. The monotony of the long court-trial was pre-empted by the seasoned performance of the Asmita artistes. This Asmita-presentation has proved to be a soothing experience, after many years, for Swadesh Deepak who created a countrywide flutter through this play. " - Ajit Roy, Navbharat Times - "This play raises a serious question - Can we move into the 21st century with a narrow mindset?" -Renuka Suryavanshi,TNN PUNE