Born on August 2, 1946 in Hyderabad Sindh, Dr. Prem Prakash was based in Ahmedabad Gujarat
From Correspondent
Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Dr. Prem Prakash, a renowned writer director, known as the pioneer of Sindhi drama, passed away on Wednesday morning January 10, 2024 in Ahmedabad. He was born on August 2, 1946 in Hyderabad Sindh.
Dr. Prem Prakash was based in Ahmedabad Gujarat where his parents had settle after migration in 1947. After having passed B.Sc., Dr. Prem had done Ph.D. in Sindh. He used to work for Life Insurance Corporation of India.
Dr. Prem Prakash was a versatile artist, writer, poet, dramatist, critic and organizer. His forte was the field of drama. He wrote many short and full length plays and directed them. A greater number of plays he had brought on the Sindhi stage.
Quite a few books of drama and short stories are to his credit. But his monumental research work is his treatise on the history of Sindhi drama, covering over a century, for which he received a doctorate from University of Bombay.
Dr. Prakash received awards for his literary achievements from different organizations including Central Hindi Directorate, Gujarat Sindhi Sahitya Academy, Akhil Bharat Sindhi Boli Ain Sahit Sabha. He also won the coveted annual award from the Central Sahitya Akedemi, New Delhi, narrative “Bhagat”.
Dr. Prem’s written work include drama ‘Picnic’ (1974), ‘Morcha Bandi’ (1975), ‘Villain’ Stories (1977), ‘Veeha’ (Twenty) Stories, 1994 and ‘Bhagat’ (Blending of traditional Dance, Song & Story telling), Poems, 1998.
As dramatist, Dr. Prem Prakash directed the following Sindhi Plays: ‘Juloos’, (Procession), 1982; ‘Vari-a-Sando Kot’ (Castle of Sand), 1980; ‘Ashyano’ (Nest), 1990; ‘Farishtan Ji Duniya’ (The World of Angels).
In addition, Dr. Prem Prakash directed 35 One Act Plays from 1976 to 2000. Some noteworthy are: ‘Undah Ji Golha’ (Search for darkness), ‘Machis Kithe Aa’ (Where is Match Box), ‘Zilzlo’ (Earth Quake), ‘Sakht Chahre Varo Manhoon’ (The Man with the hard face), ‘Jadahin Zindha’ (When alive), ‘Hun Jo Dupp’ (His fear).
Dr Prem had written and converted many stories into dramas. Among these stories some are the story of Mohan Kalpana “Farishtau Ji Duniya”, story of Mohan Kalpana “Oham ain mathine” story of Haresh Waswani “Gunti”, story at Lakshmi Khelani “Paara Khan Dharya” story of Ishwar Chandra “Sakt Chie waro Marron”. All these Plays try to portray the absurdity of human life using illogical, meaningless and deliberately confusing action and dialogue.
His Ph.D. on “Natak ji Avsar‟ (Evolution of Drama), is considered as an important contribution to Sindhi drama. His thesis has been immensely helpful for research scholars working on Sindhi theatre.
In the foreword of his thesis, Lakhmi Khilani wrote, “100 years history of Sindhi Drama is shown in just 544 pages of Dr. Prem Prakash’s Granth and compare it with Prof. Mangaram Malkhani’s Sindhi Nasar Ji Twarikh.
Lakhmi Khilani writes about Dr. Prem Prakash: He is short, small and looks like a poor person. But his inner skill and his new art is shocking to us.
“Drama is what he drinks and eats. He lives for drama. Drama is first and last love in his life. He feels happy from this kind of hard work. He feels that life is full. He feels that he recognize himself with this Name, fame property is zero,” Lakhmi Khilani wrote.
___________________
Biodata source: Sindhi Sangat, Sindhu World and Episteme
