{{Short description|Indian writer (1929–2013)}} {{EngvarB|date=October 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox writer | image = Rajendra Yadav bharat-s-tiwari-photography-IMG 5624-001 February 28, 2013.jpg | caption = Yadav in February 2013 | occupation = Novelist | nationality = Indian | citizenship = Indian |birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1929|8|28}} | spouse = [[Manu Bhandari]] |birth_place = [[Agra]], [[United Provinces of British India|United Provinces]], [[British India]] |death_date = {{death date and age|2013|10|28|1929|8|28|df=y}} |death_place = [[New Delhi]], India }}
'''Rajendra Yadav''' (28 August 1929 – 28 October 2013) was a [[Hindi]] fiction writer, and a pioneer of the 'Nayi Kahani' movement of Hindi literature. He edited the literary magazine ''HANS'', which was founded by [[Munshi Premchand]] in 1930 but ceased publication in 1953 – Yadav relaunched it on 31 July 1986, (Premchand's Birthday).<ref>{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20110526093923/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2213/stories/20050701002109200.htm Journals of resurgence]}} Frontline, The Hindu, 1 July 2005.</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Swan's song: Celebrating 25 years of a landmark Hindi literary magazine|url=http://www.livemint.com/2011/12/27210710/Swan8217s-song.html |publisher=[[Mint (newspaper)|Mint]] |date=27 December 2011 }}</ref>
His wife [[Manu Bhandari]] was a notable Hindi writer and novelist.
==Biography== Rajendra Yadav was born in [[Agra]], Uttar Pradesh on 28 August 1929.{{Citation needed|date=March 2017}} He received his early education at Agra, and later also studied at Mawana, [[Meerut]]. He graduated in 1949, and later completed his MA in Hindi at [[Agra University]] in 1951.<ref name=lit>{{cite web |url=http://www.literatureindia.com/2010/08/28/rajendra-yadav/ |title=Rajendra Yadav |publisher=literatureindia.com |date=23 August 2010 |accessdate=11 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120808075127/http://www.literatureindia.com/2010/08/28/rajendra-yadav/ |archivedate=8 August 2012 }}</ref>
His first novel was ''Pret Bolte Hain'' (''Ghosts Speak''), published in 1951 and later retitled as ''[[Sara Akash]]'' (''The Infinite Cosmos'') in the 1960s. It was the first Hindi novel to try to shock orthodox [[Culture of India|Indian cultural]] traditions. It was adapted into a movie of the same title, ''[[Sara Akash]]'', by [[Basu Chatterjee]] in 1969<ref>{{IMDb name|1408315}}</ref> and which along with [[Mrinal Sen]]'s ''[[Bhuvan Shome]]'', launched [[Parallel Cinema]] in Hindi.<ref>[http://passionforcinema.com/script-of-basu-chaterjee%E2%80%99s-debut-film-sara-akash/ Sara Akash] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080904224416/http://passionforcinema.com/script-of-basu-chaterjee%E2%80%99s-debut-film-sara-akash/ |date=4 September 2008 }}, passionforcinema.com.</ref> The films were shot at the Yadav's ancestral home in [[Raja Ki Mandi]], Agra.<ref>{{cite web| title = Eminent Hindi writer Rajendra Yadav passes away| url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Eminent-Hindi-writer-Rajendra-Yadav-passes-away/articleshow/24887036.cms|date= 29 October 2013| accessdate = 2013-10-30| work = The Times of India}}</ref>
''Ukhre Huey Log'', ('The Rootless People) his next novel, depicts the trauma of a couple arising out of socio-economic condition which forced them to desert the conventional path – and, still they failed to acclimatise themselves to a corrupt and devilish world. This novel envisages "living in" concept for the first time.
He wrote two more novels, ''Kulta'' (The Wayward Wife), and ''Shaah aur Maat'' (Check and Mate). He also wrote several stories and translated into Hindi many works of [[Russian language]] writers like [[Turgenev]], [[Anton Chekhov|Chekhov]], and [[Lermontov]] (A Hero of Our Times), as also [[Albert Camus]] (The Outsider).
''Ek Inch Muskaan'' (A Little Smile), which Rajendra Yadav and wife [[Mannu Bhandari]] wrote together, is a love tragedy of [[schizophrenic]] individuals.
Besides being a writer, Rajendra Yadav was also a nominated board member of Prasar Bharti in 1999–2001. He was awarded [[Yash Bharati Award]] of year 2013 by Government of [[Uttar Pradesh]].
Yadav died in New Delhi on 28 October 2013. He was 84 years old when he died. Before his death, he had been admitted to hospital as he was ailing .<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/north/story/renowned-hindi-author-rajendra-yadav-passes-away-215804-2013-10-28|title = Renowned Hindi writer Rajendra Yadav, pioneer of Nayi Kahani movement, dies at 84| date=29 October 2013 }}</ref>
== Career ==
=== Writing === Yadav, along with fellow Hindi writers [[Kamleshwar (writer)|Kamleshwar]] and [[Mohan Rakesh]] was one of the early pioneers of the ''Nayi Kahani'' (New Story) movement in [[Hindi literature]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Priyadarshan|date=2013-01-01|title=The Crime and Punishment of Being Rajendra Yadav|jstor=43856476|journal=Indian Literature|volume=57|issue=6 (278)|pages=23–27}}</ref> His early fiction focused on the lives of the middle class, and often touched upon political issues.<ref name=":0" />
=== Editing === As editor of ''[[Hans (magazine)|Hans]]'', a monthly literary magazine in Hindi, Yadav encouraged writing on themes surrounding questions of inequality and poverty.<ref name=":0" /> In his editorials for ''Hans'', he often wrote about issues concerning feminism and [[Dalit]] empowerment, and encouraged contributions to the magazine from Dalit and women writers.<ref name=":0" /> His frank style occasionally courted controversy and he was once the subject of litigation after statements made by him were alleged to offend religious sentiments.<ref name=":0" /> He was a strong advocate of freedom of expression and expressed the opinion that the refusal of Hindi writer-editors to publish good, but controversial, literature, had directly led to the flourishing of little magazines that would publish such works.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Yadav|first1=Rajendra|last2=Kohli|first2=Suresh|date=2013-01-01|title=Custodians of Literature: A Note on Writer-Editors in Hindi|jstor=43856477|journal=Indian Literature|volume=57|issue=6 (278)|pages=28–41}}</ref>
==Selected bibliography== * ''Sara Akash'', 2006 * ''Randua'', 2015 * ''Ukhre Huey Log'', (The Rootless People) * ''Kulta'' (The Wayward Wife) * ''Shaah aur Maat'' (Check and Mate). * Strangers on the Roof, tr. by Ruth Vanita. 1994, Penguin, {{ISBN|0-14-024065-9}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indiaclub.com/shop/AuthorSelect.asp?Author=Rajendra+Yadav |title=Indiaclub.com |publisher=Indiaclub.com |accessdate=19 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019170155/http://www.indiaclub.com/shop/AuthorSelect.asp?Author=Rajendra+Yadav |archivedate=19 October 2013 }}</ref> * ''Ek Inch Muskaan'' (A Little Smile), with Manu Bhandari.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20121022044443/http://hansmonthly.in/about_rajender.php About Rajendra Yadav, at Hans magazine website] * [http://www.shabdankan.com/search/label/Rajendra%20Yadav Rajendra Yadav, at E-Magazine Shabdankan] *{{IMDb name|1408315}} * [http://www.pucl.org/jp/jp-lecture99.htm In search of roots, by Rajendra Yadav] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103111641/http://www.pucl.org/jp/jp-lecture99.htm |date=3 November 2013 }} * [http://www.littlemag.com/reservation/rajendrayadav.html Two in the next world, by ''Rajendra Yadav''] * [http://www.shabdankan.com/2014/09/rajendra-yadav-kahani-roushni-kahan-hai.html Roushni Kahan Hai, A Story by ''Rajendra Yadav''] * [http://www.shabdankan.com/2014/08/poems-of-rajendra-yadav.html Poems by ''Rajendra Yadav'']
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Yadav, Rajendra}} [[Category:Hindi-language Indian writers]] [[Category:Indian magazine editors]] [[Category:Indian male essayists]] [[Category:1929 births]] [[Category:2013 deaths]] [[Category:Writers from Agra]] [[Category:Novelists from Uttar Pradesh]] [[Category:People from Noida]] [[Category:Translators from Russian]] [[Category:Translators from English]] [[Category:Translators to Hindi]] [[Category:Indian male novelists]] [[Category:20th-century Indian novelists]] [[Category:Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University alumni]] [[Category:20th-century Indian translators]] [[Category:20th-century Indian essayists]] [[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]