Sumitranandan Pant

Sumitranandan Pant was a renowned writer and poet of Indian nationality. He was born on May 20, 1990, in Kausani village, Bageshwar, North-Western Provinces, British India into an educated and well-to-do off Brahmin family. His father was a landholder and the manager of a tea garden in the vicinity. Immediately after his birth, his mother died, and none of his other family members bother to care or love him. The way his immediate relatives treated him influenced his writings in a crucial way. He loved the green and scenic village he was born into and would spend a lot of time in the wild. After doing his schooling, he took admission in Queens College, Banaras. During studying there, he stumbled upon the works of Rabindranath Tagore, Sarojini Naidu and several other local and international poets.

In 1919, he shifted to Allahabad and enrolled himself at Muir College. However, he quit the college after two years as a mark of protest the British government ruling the country. In 1926, he released his first collection of poems named Pallav. It brought him sudden fame and reputation within the poor community in the country and the usual people. In Pallav, he also stressed the importance of the Hindi language. In 1931, he shifted base to Kalakankar and began to live a secluded life surrounded by nature. During this seclusion, works of Mahatma Gandhi and Karl Marx Bio coming soon... >> Read More... caught his attention and influenced him majorly. In 19941, he came back to Almora and began attending Uday Shankar Cultural Centre, a drama class. While there he read The Life Divine, Aurobindo's book and became enamored by it. In fact, some years later he shifted to Pondicherry to visit his ashram. In 1946, he returned to Allahabad and lived there until his death producing great literary works.

He has more than twenty-eight works to his credit. He wrote in pure and chaste Sanskrit and Hindi. Though his specialty was Chhayavaadi poems, he also touched upon several existing issues and progressive thoughts that a nation should emulate to get rid of its problems, in his works. He also composed Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee's Kulgeet, Jayati Jayati Vidya Sansthan. He was the first poet who won the Jnanpith Award, India's highest accolade for literature, for his poem collection named Chidambaram. He also received Sahitya Academy award from India's Academy of Letters for his stellar writing in Kala Aur Budhdha Chand. In 1961, the Indian government recognized his contribution to literature and honored him with Padma Bhushan. He died on December 28, 1977.