Dr Vrindavan Lal Verma, the celebrated Hindi litterateur, was born on January 9, 1889, in Mauranipur (Jhansi).
History was his first love from his early childhood. Despite his various pursuits for a living, he continued to take an abiding interest in the study and writing of literature. He has as many as 70 published books to his credit, and many of his literary works remain unpublished. Though he contributed to Hindi literature through his writings across almost all streams, viz., novels, stories, plays, one-act plays, biographies, etc., he was at his best as a historical novelist. It is generally said that in a historical novel, either the History or the novel itself is the casualty. But Dr Verma belied this belief. In his historical novels, all the elements of history and novel have remained vibrant and unimpaired. His all-time-famous novels, Jhansi Ki Rani, Mrignayani, Garh Kundar, Kachnar, Virata Ki Padmini, Toote Kante, Madhavji Scindia, etc., are part of the invaluable treasure of Hindi literature. A good number of his novels have been translated not only into the main regional languages of India but also into Russian, English, Czech, Spanish, German, and Chinese. Two of his novels, namely Jhansi Ki Rani and Mrignayni have already been serialised on TV, and films have also been made.
Dr Verma’s style of writing was so lucid and engrossing that it took the readers to a rapturous height, and he is appropriately called ‘Sir Walter Scott’ of Hindi literature.
His literary services won him numerous awards and degrees. He has been honoured with ‘Padma Bhushan’, and the Agra University conferred on him the honorary degree of D.Lit. Sahitya Sammelan, Prayag, adorned him with the title of ‘Sahitya Vachaspati’. He was also honoured with several other prestigious awards, such as the ‘Soviet Land Nehru Puraskar’. The President released a postal stamp in Dr Verma’s honour on 9th January, 1997.
This titan of Hindi literature breathed his last on 23rd February, 1969, in Jhansi.