Manohar Shyam Joshi

Manohar Shyam Joshi born August 9, 1933 at Ajmer in Rajasthan, was a Hindi writer and is often called “the Father of Indian Soap Operas”. His popular creations Hum Log and Buniyad have influenced an entire generation of Indians. When the first soap opera Hum Log started in 1982, Television was still a luxury item for majority of Indians. This serial that dealt with the everyday lives of people, so engrossed the majority of Indians that every Indian could identify with it.

Manohar Shyam Joshi is also known for his novels which have dealt with varied topics ranging from (Kasap), described as one of the greatest love stories in Hindi, to devastating political satire like Netaji Kahin.

He was one of the first and clearly the most outstanding of post-modernist authors in modern Hindi Literature, as evidenced in his cult novel Kuru kuru Swaahaa and his novel Hariya Hercules ki Hairaani. He was awarded the prestigious Sahitya Academy award in 2005 for Hindi, for his novel Kyaap, an allegory of modern India.

He had a long stint as a journalist, both in the broadcast and the print media. He served as the editor of the Hindi Saptahik Hindustan and the English Weekend Review. His journalistic writings have covered a wide range of topics from popular science to political intrigues. Until his death, he wrote an opinion column for Outlook Saptahik, Hindi magazine from Outlook India.

Mr. Joshi, at the age of 73, died March 30, 2006 in Delhi, India. He was survived by his wife and three sons.