Mannu Bhandari passed away on Monday due to age-related diseases after an abundant life.
Mannu Bhandari, a well-known Hindi writer, died on Monday in Gurugram of age-related diseases after a long and fruitful life. While her death was not anticipated (she was 91 in April), it was a terrible blow to the Hindi literary community, which had become more cognizant of her importance.
She decided to make her presence felt via her short stories, novels, plays, and memoirs. She was a self-effacing person who communicated through her short stories, novels, sports, and biographies.
Unlike many subsequent generations of women authors, she did not seek recognition as a “woman writer,” and the Hindi world welcomed her as a “writer,” just as Mahadevi Verma and Subhadra Kumari Chauhan had done before her.
Mannu Bhandari was taught to feel inferior because of her dark skin, although coming from a strict Marwari family that was progressive in its own way – solid conviction in need for women’s education being one of the hallmarks.
Even now, Indian culture feels the need for fairness creams, which is a harsh fact.
Mannu, on the other hand, conquered her difficulties by channelling them into inner creative energy, eventually establishing herself as a notable writer.
Mannu filled her paintings with an unusually objective aesthetic observation, analysis, and imaginative depiction of everyday situations that, despite their appearance, define our life.
Mannuji, as she was affectionately known in the Hindi literary community, will be remembered as a delicate yet creative solid voice, a writer who communicated what she felt and portrayed reality in her works as she saw it, not as she thought it should be.
Her enormous popularity mainly stemmed from her appealing lack of pretence.
She and Rajendra Yadav were maybe the first writer couple in Hindi literature, and they broke new ground when they declared collaborating on the experimental novel Ek Inch Muskan (One-inch Smile).
In her autobiography, she revealed her connection with Yadav, one of the cornerstones of the nayi kahani (new narrative) movement in Hindi literature, in a transparent manner. Rachana Yadav, a well-known Kathak performer, is her only surviving child.
Bhandari’s debut novel, Aapka Bunty (Your Bunty), was released in 1971 and cemented her reputation as a novelist by depicting the sorrow of a kid whose parents had split and attempted to re-establish their relationship with each other and with him.
Her novel Mahabhoj (The Great Feast), released in 1979, was a creative writer’s response to the Belchhi anti-Dalit slaughter. It exposed the corruption, hypocrisy, and criminalization of politics post-independence India.
It was then adapted into a play, which has been produced — and continues to be performed — hundreds of times around the United States. So far, the work has been published in 31 editions, which is quite a feat.
Basu Chatterjee’s Rajnigandha, based on her short storey Yahi Sach Hai, was released in 1974 and became an instant hit (Only this is the Truth).
Mannu was the chair of Premchand Srijanpith at Vikramshila University in Ujjain, and her autobiography earned her the renowned Vyas Samman from the K. K. Birla Foundation.
Ek Plate Sailab, Main Haar Gayee, Teen Nigahon Ki Ek Tasveer, Yahi Sach Hai, Trishanku, and Sampoorna Kahaniyan are some of her short storey collections. Her piece Bina Deevaron Ke Ghar, in addition to Mahabhoj, has become reasonably successful.
“Mannu Bhandari was an excellent writer.” I’m not going to categorize her just as a “feminist” author. Rajendra Yadav, another writer with whom she was married, was a demanding and, at times, challenging spouse.
A gifted duo with two distinct writing approaches. Mrinal Pande, an author and journalist, remarked, “She was a lot more successful, and her work was also spread a lot more via diverse mediums like cinema.”
