Mohinder Pratap Chand
Mohinder Pratap ‘Chand’
मोहिन्दर प्रताप ‘चान्द’
چاند، مہندر پرتاپ
Background information
Birth name
Mohinder Pratap Narang
Born
1935
Origin
, Karor Lal Isan, Distt., Layyah, Pakistan
Occupation(s)
Urdu Poet, Retd. Librarian
Mohinder Pratap ‘Chand’ (Urdu: چاند، مہندر پرتاپ) (Hindi: मोहिन्दर प्रताप ‘चान्द’) is a well known Urdu writer and poet of India. He has contributed a lot towards the promotion of Urdu language and literature in India. In Kurukshetra University (India), he took up the initiative of setting up the Bazm-e-Adab (a literary body) and introducing the study of Urdu in the University Curriculum where he taught Urdu as professor in-charge for 26 years. He has been conferred with various national and international awards for his overall contribution to the promotion of Urdu language and literature. His poetic compositions show the vitality of thought and technical virtuosity and also his depth of feelings. He is the author of over a dozen Urdu and Hindi books both in poetry and prose. He has also contributed significantly to the children literature in Urdu.
Contents
- 1 Life
- 2 Family
- 3 Professional Career
- 4 Literary Career
- 5 Publications
- 6 Awards and Honors
- 7 External links
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Life
Mohinder Pratap ‘Chand’ was born on August 1, 1935 at Karor Lal Isan, Distt. Layyah (formerly Distt. Muzzaffargarh) in the Punjab state of pre-independence India (now Pakistan). At the time of the partition of the country he alongside his parents migrated to India when he was 12 years old and studying in his 7th class. There he studied at Govt. College Ludhiana and then at the University of Delhi and completed his degrees for Honors and Masters in Urdu and also Masters in Library Science all in the first class.
Family
In the year 1959, ‘Chand’ married Nirmala and they were blessed with a daughter and two sons. The elder son Vivek died in a road accident in May 1997. The daughter (Sangeeta) is married with two children and a senior lecturer in English literature in a Post Graduate college in Haryana. The youngest son (Manoj) is also married with three children and has been in the United States for the last 20 years and is the Director of software development with a Health Care company.
Professional Career
From 1964 to 1995, ‘Chand’ had been associated with the Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra(Haryana, India) where he taught Library Science for 3 years, Urdu language for 26 years and ultimately retired as University Librarian. In 1980-81, Mr. Chand had been on a foreign assignment as a library expert to the Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. He has also visited Singapore, Thailand, UK and USA.
Literary Career
‘Chand’ wrote his first poem when he was in his 7th class at Zira (Punjab, India). There-after the able guidance of his mentor Hazrat “Qais Jalandhari’ acted as a stimulus on his poetic talents and so far he has written as many as 12 books in Urdu, English and Hindi. In the year 2007, he was assigned with an important project titled ‘Role of Haryana in the evolution of Urdu language and literature’ by the prestigious Haryana Urdu Akademi. He successfully completed it and submitted a large 665-paged report to the said Akademi which is now publishing it in the book form in three volumes. Mrs. Monica Sachdeva, a lecturer at Dya Nand College Hisar (India) is writing her M-Phil dissertation based on the life and works of Mr. ‘Chand’. Apart from his achievements in his own country, he has cast his literary spell in other countries as well. During his visit to the United States in 1998, the Voice of America broadcasted a 15-minutes interview with him. Besides, he has participated and has been well received in various symposia of this country. His writings in Urdu and siraiki are frequently published in various learned journals of India and Pakistan.
To ‘Chand’ as expressed in his poetry, suffering is one long moment, a holy ground and a spring board for self examination and soul searching. He is essentially a poet of sorrow and love. His experience as translated in his verses, is not individual but universal, not leading to a blind alley but opening to a wider horizon. His poetic compositions show the vitality of thought and technical virtuosity. In particular, the poems written on the tragic death of his elder son (Vivek) are the anguished cry of a broken heart instinct with utmost sincerity and rendered into moving verses, expressing his depth of feelings.
‘Chand’ has been broadcasting his poems and other writings from various stations of the All India Radio and also from Doordarshan - the national TV network. Besides, he was twice nominated as a member of the Audition committee by the Director General of Broadcasting in India. He was also nominated twice by the Haryana Chief Minister as a special invitee to the Haryana Urdu Akademi.
Publications
- ‘Harf-e-Raaz’, ‘Harf-e-Aashna’ and ‘Aazar-e-Gham-e-Ishq’ (Anthologies of Urdu poems)
- ‘Zakhm Aarzoo-on ke’ (Anthology of Urdu poems in Devnagri script)
- Urdu Text Book (Prescribed since 1986, in the school curriculum of the 7th grade students of the Haryana state, India)
- ‘Hali Panipati ki Ghazlen’ (Devnagri script), Ed.
- ‘Laava’ (A long Urdu poem by Qais Jalandhari’), Ed.
- ‘Colon Classification; a programmed text’ (2 Editions in English and one in Hindi) - English
- ‘Desh Videsh Ki Kahaniyan’(in Hindi), ‘Doodh Ka Mulaya’ (in Hindi), ‘Doodh ki Qimat’ (in Urdu) - Folktales of the world;
Awards and Honors
- Honored by ‘Adabi Sangam’ (Kurukshetra, 1986) and ‘Akhil Bharti Tarun Sangam’ (Kurukshetra, 1997) for his overall contribution to Urdu and Hindi litrature.
- Conferred with the prestigious ‘SMH Burney Award’ by Haryana Urdu Akademi (1995) for his overall contribution to the promotion of Urdu language and literature
- Honored with ‘Naseem-e-Layyah Award’ (2004) by the International Bazm-e-Ilm-o-fun, Layyah, Pakistan, for his contribution to Urdu Language and learning
- Conferred with ‘Khwaja Altaf Hussain Hali Award’ (2006) by the Haryana Waqf Board for promoting the cause of Urdu in the state of Haryana
- Honored with the Title of ‘Mahtab-e-Sukhan’ (2006) by Navrang Adabis Idara, Ludhiana, Punjab
- Nominated for the ‘Bharat Excellence Award’ of the Friendship Forum of India for the year 2008
External links
- Biodata and 10 Ghazals
- News Article about diversities in Urdu
- News Article about Indo-Pak poets celebrate togetherness
Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohinder_Pratap_Chand”
Categories: Indian writers | Indian poets | Indian people | Indian scholars | Urdu-language writers | 1935 births | Living people | Urdu poets