Upendranath Ashk

Upendranath Ashk was a novelist, poet, and story writer born on 14th December 1910 in Jalandhar, Punjab. He was born to a middle-class family, and he dreamed of becoming a Teacher, Lawyer, and Writer. After finishing his BA degree, he worked as a teacher in his school for a short duration. After that, he left the school and worked as an editor for the weekly newspaper ‘Bhunchal.’ He initially wrote in Urdu. Still, upon the advice of Premchand(a famous Hindi writer), who advised him to write in Hindi, he started writing in Hindi. During this time, he got married. During the same time, Uperdanath Ashk faced many financial troubles, so he tried to switch to a more stable career and started studying LLB, and completed it. But during this time, his wife fell ill with Tuberculosis and passed away.

This has left a big impact on Ashk’s life and career, as he has chosen not to continue LLB and remain an independent writer. After two years, he got a job at All Air Radio as a playwright. After some years, he moved to Bombay and worked as a screenplay writer for the company Filmistan. His work often revolves around the social struggles of the middle class. He wrote about the joy and sorrow experienced by the middle class. He mainly wrote about the struggle faced by women. Because of this style of writing, many people were able to connect to his story, and he rose to popularity. He was also the first Hindi dramatist to win the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. Ashq in 1948 moved to Allahabad, where he lived his final years he died on 19 January 1996.