Ramesh Singh Matiyani 'Shailesh'

Ramesh Singh Matiyani ‘Shailesh’

Born: 14 October 1931

Died: 24 April 2001

He was a Hindi writer, poet, essayist from Uttarakhand, India.
He became most known for his short stories, depicting the struggles and the fighting spirit of the Indian lower and lower-middle-class, which he embodied himself and expressed through his writings all through his life, and which gave him the title – People’s Writer or ‘Jankathakar’.
Hindi Littérateur, Pankaj Bisht puts it, “how intimate was his depiction of the displaced people from the villages in the urban slums, and those compelled to live and die on footpaths.
You won’t find this kind of intimacy in any other language.
His protagonists are beggars, pick-pockets, lumpens, drop-outs, marginalized characters.
Fatedness – the lopsided policies of progress – they were its victims; and yet, their inner life was so full of humanism and faith.”.
Today, many writers view his work, second to none other than Premchand himself, though some like Giriraj Kishore, even consider his story writing, beyond him as well.
He wrote over 30 novels, including Ramkali and Suryaasth Kosi, over 17 collections of stories including his most popular stories Mahmood, Yada Kada and Ardhangini, 28 collections of stories, seven collections of folk tales, apart from writing numerous essays and over 16 books for children.
In 1994, he was awarded an honorary degree of D.Litt. by Kumaun University, Nainital.