RAIPUR: Eminent Hindi writer and Jnanpith laureate Vinod Kumar Shukla passed away on Tuesday evening due to age-related ailments at a government hospital in Raipur, his family said. He was 89.
Shukla was admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Raipur, on December 2 after experiencing breathing difficulties. He breathed his last at 4.48 pm, his family said. He is survived by his wife, son and a daughter.
His son Shashwat Shukla said he was first hospitalised in October after developing respiratory problems. Though his condition improved and he was discharged, his health deteriorated suddenly earlier this month, necessitating his admission to AIIMS Raipur.
Shukla had a towering yet gentle presence in Hindi literature, and was celebrated for a literary voice that was quiet, deeply humane and profoundly original. His novels, including Naukar Ki Kameez, Khilega To Dekhenge, Deewar Mein Ek Khidki Rehti Thi and Ek Chuppi Jagah, are regarded as landmarks that reshaped modern Hindi prose through their simplicity, subtlety and emotional depth.
Widely acknowledged as one of the most distinctive writers of his generation, Shukla found extraordinary meaning in ordinary lives, transforming everyday moments into enduring literary experiences. His work resisted spectacle and favoured silence, compassion and moral clarity.
In recognition of his unparalleled contribution to Hindi literature and his singular creative vision, Shukla was awarded the 59th Jnanpith Award. The award was presented to him on November 21 this year at a ceremony held at his residence in Raipur, making him the first writer from Chhattisgarh to receive the honour.
During his visit to Chhattisgarh on November 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Shukla’s family and enquired about the writer’s health.
Shukla’s literary legacy also extended to cinema. His celebrated novel Naukar Ki Kameez was adapted into a film by noted filmmaker Mani Kaul, further underlining the quiet power and universality of his writing.
With his passing, Hindi literature loses not only a major writer but a rare sensibility — one that taught generations of readers and writers to listen closely to life’s silences and find poetry in the most unassuming corners of existence.
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