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{{Short description|Indian writer (1939–2025)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Use Indian English| date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gadul Singh Lama
| image = Gadul Singh Lama.jpg
| imagesize = 220px
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1939|6|15|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Gangtok]], Kingdom of Sikkim
| death_date = {{death date and age|2025|7|12|1939|6|15|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Siliguri, West Bengal]], India
| restingplace =
| restingplacecoordinates =
| othername = Sanu Lama
| occupation = Fictionist poet translator
| yearsactive =
| known for = [[Nepali literature]]
| spouse =
| domesticpartner =
| children =
| parents = Chandraman Ghising Phulmaya Ghising
| website =
| awards = [[Padma Shri]] [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] Sikkim Bhanu Puraskar Dr. Shova Kanti Thegim Smrithi Puraskar Madan Byakhanmala Puraskar
}}

'''Gadul Singh Lama''' (15 June 1939 – 12 July 2025), popularly known as '''Sanu Lama''', was an Indian fiction writer, poet and translator of [[Nepali literature]]. He was an engineer by profession. He published three short story anthologies and his stories have been translated into English, Hindi, [[Urdu]], Assamese and Oriya languages.<ref name="The Gentle Literary Giant">{{cite web | url=http://www.sikkim-culture.gov.in/Personalities/personalities_pdf/gadul_singh_lama.pdf | title=The Gentle Literary Giant | publisher=Government of Sikkim | date=2015 | access-date=3 December 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208141634/http://www.sikkim-culture.gov.in/Personalities/personalities_pdf/gadul_singh_lama.pdf | archive-date=8 December 2015 | url-status=dead }}</ref> He was a recipient of [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] (1993),<ref name="Sahitya Akademi Award winners">{{cite web | url=http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/awards/akademi%20samman_suchi.jsp#NEPALI | title=Sahitya Akademi Award winners | publisher=Sahitya Akademi Award | date=2015 | access-date=3 December 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304084937/http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/awards/akademi%20samman_suchi.jsp#NEPALI | archive-date=4 March 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> apart from other awards such as Sikkim Bhanu Puraskar, Dr. Shova Kanti Thegim Smrithi Puraskar and Madan Byakhanmala Puraskar.<ref name="The Gentle Literary Giant" /> The [[Government of India]] awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the [[Padma Shri]], in 2005, for his contributions to literature.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web |url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2015 |access-date=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 }}</ref>

== Life and career ==
Gadul Singh Lama was born on 15 June 1939 in [[Gangtok]], in what is now the Northeast Indian state of [[Sikkim]] (but then [[Kingdom of Sikkim]]) to Chandraman Ghising and Phulmaya Ghising.<ref name="The Gentle Literary Giant" /> After matriculating from the Sir Tyashi Namgyal High School (present day [[Tashi Namgyal Academy]]) in 1956 and, getting selected for the education initiative as a part of the ''7 Year Development Programme'' of the government, secured a diploma in Engineering from MBC Institute of Engineering, [[Burdwan]] in West Bengal, in 1959. Later, he joined the Sikkim State government service as an engineer and served there for 38 years before superannuating as the Chief Engineer.<ref name="The Gentle Literary Giant" />

Lama started writing from his school days and is reported to have been inspired by one of his teachers, [[Rashmi Prasad Alley]], a writer and one of the pioneers of [[Nepali language|Nepali]] education in Sikkim.<ref name="History, Culture and Customs of Sikkim">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iY4bVR9--XAC&q=Rashmi+Prasad+Allay&pg=PA177 | title=History, Culture and Customs of Sikkim | author=J. R. Subba | year=2008 | pages=177 of 463 | publisher=Gyan Publishing House | isbn=9788121209649}}</ref> His first article was published in ''Changya'', a local literary magazine.<ref name="Engineering happened by chance, writing was by choice">{{cite web | url=http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/now/pdf/NOW_2005_02_03.pdf | title=Engineering happened by chance, writing was by choice | publisher=Now | date=3 February 2005 | access-date=3 December 2015}}</ref> He published his first short story anthology, ''Katha Sampad'', in 1971,<ref name="Who's who of Indian Writers, 1999: A-M">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QA1V7sICaIwC&q=%22Katha+Sampad%22+Lama&pg=PA666 | title=Who's who of Indian Writers, 1999: A-M | publisher=Sahitya Akademi | author=Kartik Chandra Dut | year=1999 | pages=666 of 1490 | isbn=9788126008735}}</ref> composed of stories such as ''Swasni Manchey'', ''Khani Tarma Ekdin'', ''Phurbhale Gaun Chadyo'' and ''Asinapo Manchey'', which has since been selected as a prescribed text for the civil services examination of the [[Union Public Service Commission]].<ref name="UPSC Civil Services(IAS) Exam Syllabus (Pre + Mains)">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yEKqBgAAQBAJ&q=%22Katha+Sampad%22+Lama&pg=PT39 | title=UPSC Civil Services(IAS) Exam Syllabus (Pre + Mains) | publisher=Kalinjar Publications | isbn=9789351720614}}</ref> This was followed by ''Gojika'' in 1981 and ''Mrigatrishna'' in 1993, the latter winning him the [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] for the year.<ref name="Sahitya Akademi Award winners" /> He has also written an autobiographical novel, ''Himalchuli Manitira'', a travelogue, ''Aangan Paratira'', a poem anthology, ''Jahan BagcchaTista Rangit'' and two translated religious works, ''Bhagawan Bhiddha Jeewan ra Darshan'' and ''Guru Padmasambhava''.<ref name="The Gentle Literary Giant" />

Sanu Lama was one of the founders of the ''Bhartiya Nepali Rashtriya Parishad'' and served as its secretary on its inception. He was a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the [[National Book Trust]] (NBT) and served as the general secretary of the [[Nepali Sahitya Parishad Sikkim]], an autonomous literary organisation under the [[Government of Sikkim]].<ref name="The Gentle Literary Giant" /> He was associated with the Sikkim Akademi,<ref name="Engineering happened by chance, writing was by choice" /> was a onetime member of the Advisory Board for Nepali literature of the [[Sahitya Akademi]] and the president of the Himalayan Writers' Forum.<ref name="Who's who of Indian Writers, 1999: A-M" /> Besides the 1993 [[Sahitya Akademi Award]], he received awards such as Sikkim Bhanu Puraskar, Dr. Shova Kanti Thegim Smrithi Puraskar and Madan Byakhanmala Puraskar.<ref name="The Gentle Literary Giant" /> The Government of India included him in the 2005 [[Indian honours system|Republic Day Honours]] list for the civilian honour of the [[Padma Shri]].<ref name="Padma Awards" /> He lived in [[Gangtok]], the capital of [[Sikkim]], India.<ref name="Who's who of Indian Writers, 1999: A-M" />

Lama died in [[Siliguri]] on 12 July 2025, at the age of 86.<ref>[https://northeastlivetv.com/topnews/sikkim-padma-shri-awardee-sanu-lama-passes-away-at-age-88/ Sikkim: Padma Shri Awardee Sanu Lama Passes Away At Age 88]</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Nepali literature]]
* [[List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Nepali]]
* [[Tashi Namgyal Academy]]
{{portal|India|Literature}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUs2tus8Bf4 | title=Sanu Lama, Nepali writer, Indian literature | publisher=India Video | via=YouTube | date=29 May 2010 | access-date=3 December 2015}}

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Literature & Education}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lama, Gadul Singh}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:2025 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Gangtok]]
[[Category:Indian male short story writers]]
[[Category:Indian male novelists]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:Nepali-language poets]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Nepali]]
[[Category:Nepali-language Indian writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:Nepali-language Indian poets]]
[[Category:Tamang people]]

Gadul Singh Lama - Revision history

Trainscafe at 16:14, 16 October 2025