2409:4062:2D92:9E93:704C:D16B:6365:A7CF at 12:32, 20 June 2021

2021-06-20T12:32:50Z

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{{short description|Indian author|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{tone|date=August 2010}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Manoj Das
| image = Manoj_Das_Odia_Author.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name = ମନୋଜ ଦାସ
| native_name_lang = or
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1934|02|27}}
| birth_place = [[Sankhari]], [[Balasore district|Balasore]], [[Odisha]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2021|04|27|1934|02|27}}
| death_place = [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]]
| citizenship = Indian
| education =
| alma_mater = Samanta Chandra Shekhar College, Puri [[Ravenshaw College]]
| occupation = Writer, columnist, editor, professor
| notableworks = Cyclones [[A Tiger at Twilight]] [[Mystery of the Missing Cap]] [[Myths, Legends, Concepts and Literary Antiquities of India]]
| spouse = Pratijna Devi
| movement =
| awards = [[Padma Shri]] 
[[Padma Bhusan]]
[[List of Sahitya Akademi fellows|Sahitya Akademi Fellowship]] [[Saraswati Samman]]
| website = {{url|worldofmanojdas.in}}
| signature = Signature of Shri Manoj Das.jpg
| signature_alt =
| period =
| genre = Fiction, mythology, biography
| subject =
}}

'''Manoj Das''' (27 February 1934 – 27 April 2021) was an Indian author who wrote in [[Odia language|Odia]] and English.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2021/apr/27/noted-odia-and-english-writer-manoj-das-passes-away-at-87-in-puducherry-2295612.html | title=Noted Odia and English writer Manoj Das passes away at 87 in Puducherry | publisher=New Indian Express | date=27 April 2021 | accessdate=27 April 2021}}</ref> In 2000, Manoj Das was awarded the [[Saraswati Samman]]. He was awarded [[Padma Shri]] in 2001,<ref>[[Padma Shri Awards (2000–2009)|Padma Shri Awards]]</ref> the fourth-highest [[Orders, decorations, and medals of India|Civilian Award]] in [[India]], [[Padma Bhushan|Padma Bhusan]] in 2020,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://padmaawards.gov.in/PDFS/2020AwardeesList.pdf|title=Padma Awards List 2020|work=Govt. of India}}</ref> the third highest [[Orders, decorations, and medals of India|Civilian Award]] in [[India]] for his contribution in the field of ''Literature & Education.''

Kendra Sahitya Akademi has bestowed its highest award (also India's highest literary award) i.e [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] Fellowship.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/awards/akademi_awards.jsp |title=Akademi Awards |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |access-date=22 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100925203857/http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/awards/akademi_awards.jsp |archive-date=25 September 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1971, his research in the archives of London and Edinburgh brought to light some of the little-known facts of India's freedom struggle in the first decade of the twentieth century led by [[Sri Aurobindo]] for which he received the first Sri Aurobindo Puraskar (Kolkata).

His deeper quest led him to mysticism and he was an inmate of [[Sri Aurobindo Ashram]] in Puducherry since 1963 where he taught English Literature and the Philosophy of [[Sri Aurobindo]] at the Sri Aurobindo International University.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.insideorissa.co.in/eminent_persons.php |title=Famous eminent persons poets freedom fighters of Orissa. |work=insideorissa.co.in |year=2012 |quote=he has been teaching English at the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education there ever since |access-date=17 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629112916/http://www.insideorissa.co.in/eminent_persons.php|archive-date=2009-06-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/odisha-writer-manoj-das-dies-leaves-behind-a-void-in-odia-literature/articleshow/82286508.cms | title=Odisha: Writer Manoj Das dies, leaves behind a void in Odia literature | publisher=[[The Times of India]] | work=Minati Singha | date=28 April 2021 | accessdate=28 April 2021}}</ref>

==Early life==
Manoj Das was born in the small coastal village of Shankari in Bhograi, [[Balasore district]] of [[Odisha|Orissa]]. His father, Madhusudan Das,<ref name="Padhi 2007 p.10 ">{{cite book | last=Padhi | first=S.C. | title=Historians and historiography: twentieth-century Orissa | publisher=Sundeep Prakashan | year=2007 | isbn=978-81-7574-177-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HzluAAAAMAAJ | access-date=2019-07-09 | page=10}}</ref> worked under British Government. He had started writing early. His first work a book of poetry in Odia, ''Satavdira Artanada'' was published in 1949 when he was in high school. He launched a literary magazine, ''Diganta'' in 1950. He graduated high school in 1951. His first collection of short stories ''Samudrara Kshyudha (Hunger of Sea)'' was in that year.
He was active in student politics while studying BA in Cuttack College. He was a youth leader with radical views in his college days, and spent a year in jail for his revolutionary activities. In 1959 he was a delegate to the Afro-Asian students' conference at Bandung, Indonesia. He did not complete his degree in Cuttack. He ultimately finished his graduation from Samanta Chandra Shekhar College, Puri in 1955. During his college years, he kept on writing and he published a novel ''Jeebanara Swada'', a collection of short stories ''Vishakanyar Kahani'' and a collection of poems ''Padadhawani''. After graduating with a degree in English literature, he got a post graduate degree in English literature from Ravenshaw college. After a short stint as a lecturer in [[Christ College (Cuttack)]], he joined Sri Aurobindo Ashram at Puducherry.<ref name="Benson Conolly 2004 p. 338">{{cite book | last=Benson | first=E. | last2=Conolly | first2=L.W. | title=Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2004 | isbn=978-1-134-46848-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nGfMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA338 | access-date=2019-07-10 | page=338}}</ref> Since 1963, he has been professor of English Literature at Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, Puducherry.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/salrp/manojdas.html |title=Manoj Das – Odia Writer: The South Asian Literary Recordings Project (Library of Congress New Delhi Office) |work=loc.gov |year=2012 |quote=He is settled as an ashramite of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry since 1963 |access-date=17 July 2012}}</ref>

He cited [[Fakir Mohan Senapati]], [[Vyasa]], and [[Valmiki]] as early influences.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=6388 |title=Tete-A-Tete with A Wizard of the Words by Ramendra Kumar |first=Ramendra |last=Kumar |work=boloji.com |year=2012 |quote=Senapati, undoubtedly, was a consciously felt influence |access-date=17 July 2012}}</ref>

==As editor and columnist==
He edited a cultural magazine, ''The Heritage'', published from Chennai in 1985-1989.<ref name="Raja 1993 p.3 ">{{cite book | last=Raja | first=P. | title=Many Worlds of Manoj Das | publisher=B.R. Publishing Corporation | series=New world literature series | year=1993 | isbn=978-81-7018-761-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8ZlAAAAMAAJ | access-date=2019-07-10 | page=3}}</ref> The magazine is no longer in circulation.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.collaboration.org/centers/goldenchain/Magazine/Vol1No1/cover%20story.html#ManojDasAnswers |title="The Heritage Story" |access-date=18 August 2011 |archive-date=16 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916145936/http://www.collaboration.org/centers/goldenchain/Magazine/Vol1No1/cover%20story.html#ManojDasAnswers |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He wrote columns on quest for finding eternal truth in common lives in India’s national dailies like ''The Times of India, The Hindustan Times, The Hindu'' and ''The Statesman''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.batoi.com/360/odisha/infopedia/odia-personalities/manoj-das/ |title=Manoj Das |work=batoi.com |year=2012 |quote=He wrote columns in India's national dailies like The Times of India, The Hindustan Times, The Hindu and The Statesman. |access-date=17 July 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121217115206/https://www.batoi.com/360/odisha/infopedia/odia-personalities/manoj-das/ |archive-date=17 December 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.orissabarta.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6863:manoj-das-is-born-for-litreature&catid=41:articles&Itemid=27|title=Manoj Das is born for literature |first=Gargee |last=Mohapatra |work=orissabarta.com |year=2010 |access-date=17 July 2012}}</ref>

==Creative writing and story-telling==
Manoj Das is perhaps the foremost bilingual Odia writer and a master of dramatic expression both in his English and Odia short stories and novels. Das has been compared to [[Vishnu Sharma]], in modern [[Odia language|Odia]] literature for his magnificent style<ref>''narrate a story without losing the Indian charm and ethos'' [http://auroramirabilis.blogspot.com/2007/01/manoj-das-chasing-rainbow.html Mohapatra, Tusar N. (26 January 2007) "Manoj Das Chasing the Rainbow" ''Aurora Mirabilis'' ]</ref><ref>''blends realism and fantasy in the most artistic way'' [http://orissagov.nic.in/literature/stories.htm Mishra, Ganeswar "The Short Story" Government of Odisha website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070309130116/http://orissagov.nic.in/literature/stories.htm |date=9 March 2007 }}</ref> and efficient use of words{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}} and for the fact that, he is one of the best [[storytelling|story-tellers]] in India in modern times.<ref>''He could be the best storyteller after R. K Narayan,' Narang said.'' [http://auroramirabilis.blogspot.com/2007/01/manoj-das-chasing-rainbow.html Mohapatra, Tusar N. (26 January 2007) "Manoj Das Chasing the Rainbow" ''Aurora Mirabilis'' ]</ref><ref>''a group of powerful story writers has emerged ... This group includes ... Manoj Das'' [http://orissagov.nic.in/literature/stories.htm Mishra, Ganeswar "The Short Story" Government of Odisha website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070309130116/http://orissagov.nic.in/literature/stories.htm |date=9 March 2007 }}</ref> Over the years many research scholars have done their doctoral thesis on the works of Manoj Das, P. Raja being the first scholar to do so.

==National and international positions==

Among the other important positions that Das held were, Member, General Council,{{Clarify|date=March 2020}} [[Sahitya Akademi]], New Delhi 1998–2002, and Author-consultant, Ministry of Education, [[Government of Singapore]], 1983–85. He was the leader of the Indian delegation of writers to China (1999).

==Awards==

* Odisha Sahitya Academy Award, 1965 and 1987
* Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award, 1972
* Sarala Award, 1981
* Vishuba Award, 1986
* Sahitya Bharati Award, 1995
* [[Saraswati Samman]], 2000;<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.kkbirlafoundation.org/saraswati-r.html |title=K.K. Birla Foundation|work=kkbirlafoundation.org |year=2009 |quote=Year : 2000 Recipient : Shri Manoj Das Name of Book : Amruta Phala (Oriya : Novel) |access-date=17 July 2012}}</ref><ref>http://www.kkbirlafoundation.org/downloads/pdf/saraswati-2000.pdf</ref>
* [[Orissa State Film Award for Best Story]] 2001
* [[Padma Shri]], 2001
*[[Padma Bhushan]]. 2020
* [[List of Sahitya Akademi fellows|Sahitya Akademi Fellowship]],<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.hindu.com/2007/01/26/stories/2007012615980300.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080210042844/http://www.hindu.com/2007/01/26/stories/2007012615980300.htm |url-status= dead |archive-date= 10 February 2008 |title=Other States / Orissa News : Highest literary honour for Manoj Das |year=2007 |quote=Mr. Das was at his humble best when he received the country's highest literary honour – Sahitya Akademi Fellowship |work= [[The Hindu]] |access-date=17 July 2012}}</ref> 2006<ref>{{cite web |url= http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/fellows/fellows_and_honorary_fellows.jsp |title= ..:: SAHITYA : Fellows and Honorary Fellows ::.. |work= sahitya-akademi.gov.in |year= 2012 |quote= 2006: Sri Manoj Das (1934) |access-date= 17 July 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170701054145/http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/fellows/fellows_and_honorary_fellows.jsp |archive-date= 1 July 2017 |url-status= dead }}</ref>
* [[Atibadi Jagannath Das award]], 2007<ref>{{cite web |url= http://ibnlive.in.com/news/atibadi-jagannath-das-award-for-4/180205-60-117.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140504224210/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/atibadi-jagannath-das-award-for-4/180205-60-117.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 4 May 2014 |title=Atibadi Jagannath Das Award for 4- Orissa- IBNLive |work=ibnlive.in.com |year=2011 |quote=The luminaries are Manoj Das |access-date=26 January 2013}}</ref>
*NTR Literary Award, 2013<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/ntr-literary-award-for-oriya-writer/article4686069.ece |title=NTR literary award for Oriya writer – The Hindu |work=thehindu.com |year=2013 |quote=Oriya writer Manoj Das has been selected for the NTR National Literary Award for 2013. |access-date=6 May 2013}}</ref>
* Amritakeerti Puraskar, 2013<ref>{{cite news|author=Dominique, Bosco |date=18 September 2013 |title=Writer Manoj Das selected for Amrita Keerti Puraskar instituted by Mata Amritanandamayi Math |newspaper=[[The Times of India]] |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Writer-Manoj-Das-selected-for-Amrita-Keerti-Puraskar-instituted-by-Mata-Amritanandamayi-Math/articleshow/22711487.cms |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6S8ZOpyEu?url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Writer-Manoj-Das-selected-for-Amrita-Keerti-Puraskar-instituted-by-Mata-Amritanandamayi-Math/articleshow/22711487.cms |archive-date=27 August 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/amritakeerti-puraskar-for-litterateur-manoj-das-113091701013_1.html |title=Amritakeerti Puraskar for litterateur Manoj Das | Business Standard |work=business-standard.com |year=2013 |quote=Manoj Das, a towering figure of English and Oriya literature, will be conferred with the 2013 Amritakeerti Puraskar |access-date=20 September 2013}}</ref>
*Veda Vyas Samman<ref>{{cite news|title=Manoj Das conferred with Vedvyas Samman Puraskar|newspaper=Odisha Sun Times|url=http://odishasuntimes.com/47875/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140827093558/http://odishasuntimes.com/47875/|archive-date=27 August 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>
*Mystic Kalinga Literary Award (2020) <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/odisha-writer-manoj-das-receives-mystic-kalinga-literary-award/article30775418.ece|title=Odisha writer Manoj Das receives Mystic Kalinga Literary Award – The Hindu |work=thehindu.com |year=2020 |quote=Odisha writer Manoj Das receives Mystic Kalinga Literary Award |access-date=9 February 2020}}</ref>

==Selected works==
{{Div col}}
'''Novels'''
* ''The Escapist'', 2001<ref name="Das 2013 p. ">{{cite book | last=Das | first=M. | title=The Escapist | publisher=Ocean Books | year=2013 | isbn=978-81-8430-175-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6EwBQAAQBAJ | access-date=2019-07-10 }}</ref>
* ''Tandralokara Prahari'', 2000
* ''Aakashra Isara'', 1997
* ''Amruta Phala'', 1996 (Saraswati Samman)
* ''A Tiger at Twilight'', 1991
* ''Bulldozers and Fables and Fantasies for Adults'', (1990)
* ''Cyclones'', 1987
* ''Prabhanjana''
* ''Godhulira Bagha''
* ''Kanaka-Upatyakara Kahani''
* ''Amruta phala''
* ''Sesha tantrikara sandhanare''<ref name="Das 2019 p. ">{{cite book | last=Das | first=Manoj | title=Śesha tāṅtrīkara sandhānarē / Sesha tantrikara sandhanare / by Manoj Das | publisher=Jagannātha Ratha | publication-place=Kaṭaka | year=2019 | isbn=978-81-7406-035-8 | oclc=1104218976 | language=or }}</ref>

'''Short Story Collections'''
* ''Upakatha Sataka''
* ''Abu Purusha''
* ''Sesa Basantara Chithi'', 1966
* ''Manoj Dasanka Katha O Kahani'', 1971
* ''Dhumabha Diganta O Anyana Kahani'', 1971
* ''The Crocodile's Lady: A Collection of Stories'', 1975
* ''Manoj-pancha-bimsati'', 1977
* ''The Submerged Valley and Other Stories'', 1986
* ''Farewell to a Ghost: Short Stories and a Novelette'', 1994
* ''Legend of the Golden Valley'', 1996
* ''Samudra-kulara Eka Grama (Balya Smruti)'', 1996
* ''Aranyaka''; (adapted to ''[[Aranyaka (film)|Aranyaka]]'', 1994)
* ''Bhinna Manisha O Anyana Kahani''
* ''Abupurusha O Anyana Kahani''
* ''Lakshmira Abhisara''
* ''Abolakara Kahani''
* ''Aranya Ullasha''
* ''Selected Fiction'',<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.worldofmanojdas.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=417:shri-chinmay-hota&catid=57:under-the-scanner-contemporary&Itemid=112 |title=Foerever Fresh : A Book Review|access-date=29 July 2012}}</ref>
* ''Chasing the Rainbow : growing up in an Indian village'', 2004

'''Travelogue'''
* ''Kete Diganta (Part I)''
* ''Kete Diganta (Part -II)''
* ''Antaranga Bharata (Part I)'' (My Little India)
* ''Antaranga Bharata (Part II)''
* ''Dura-durantara''
* ''Adura Bidesh – 2004''

'''Poetry'''
* ''Tuma Gaan O Anyanya Kabita'', 1992
* ''Kabita Utkala''

'''History & Culture'''
* ''Bharatara Aitihya: Shateka Prashnara Uttara'',1999
* ''Manoj Das Paribesita Upakatha Shataka (Tales Told by Mystics)'', 2002
* ''Mahakalara Prahelika O Anyana Jijnansa'', 2006
* ''Jibana Jijnasa o Smaraika Stabaka''
* ''Prajna Pradeepika''
{{Div col end}}

==Commentary==

[[Graham Greene]] once said, ''I have read the stories of Manoj Das with great pleasure. He will certainly take a place on my shelves besides the stories of Narayan. I imagine Odisha is far from Malgudi, but there is the same quality in his stories with perhaps an added mystery.''<ref>{{cite web |url= http://hindu.com/2001/03/18/stories/1318017k.htm |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130125195850/http://hindu.com/2001/03/18/stories/1318017k.htm |url-status= dead |archive-date= 25 January 2013 |title=Thinking through silence |year=2001 |quote=Graham Greene, who happened to read his short stories during the last phase of his life, wrote, Manoj Das's stories 'will certainly take a place on my shelves beside the stories of Narayan. I imagine Odisha is far from Malgudi, but there is the same quality in his stories, with perhaps an added mystery.' |work= [[The Hindu]] |access-date=16 July 2012}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* [https://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/salrp/manojdas.html "Manoj Das – Oriya Writer: The South Asian Literary Recordings Project" Library of Congress, New Delhi Office];
* Raja, P. (1993) ''Many worlds of Manoj [sic] Das'' B.R. Pub. Corp, New Delhi, {{ISBN|81-7018-761-3}};

==External links==
* [http://www.worldofmanojdas.in/ Official Website:worldofmanojdas.in]
* [http://www.facenfacts.com/NewsDetails/87/face_to_face_with_manoj_das.htm facenfacts.com: Face to Face with Manoj Das]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qftpgWk0aVc On the Crest of the Horizon:Manoj Das" a film by Dr Prafulla Mohanty]
{{Odia literature}}
{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Literature & Education}}
{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 2020–2029}}
{{Saraswati Samman}}
{{SahityaAkademiFellowship}}
{{Padma Award winners of Odisha}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Manoj}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education]]
[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:Writers from Odisha]]
[[Category:People from Balasore district]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Saraswati Samman Award]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Odia]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education]]
[[Category:Odia-language writers]]
[[Category:Indian Hindus]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Indian travel writers]]
[[Category:Indian historical fiction writers]]

Manoj Das - Revision history

2409:4062:2D92:9E93:704C:D16B:6365:A7CF at 12:32, 20 June 2021