हिंदी मे वर्त्तमान मे विज्ञान कथा लिखने वाले प्रमुख लेखक हैं- देवेन्द्र मेवादडी, ,अरविंद मिश्र ,हरीश गोयल ,राजीव रंजन उपाध्याय, मनोज पत्तैरिया ,स्वप्निल भारतीय , जाकिर अली रजनीश ,ज़ीशन हैदर जैदी, ,शुकदेव प्रसाद , डाक्टर अरविंद दूबे ,कल्पना कुल्श्रेस्थ , युगल कुमार ,अमित कुमार ,मनीष मोहन गोरे ,आदि .
कई और लोग हैं लेकिन वे कभी कभार ही विज्ञान कथा के नाम पर कुछ लिख देते हैं और उस परिभाषा को मानते हैं कि विज्ञान कथा के नाम पर जो कुछ छाप दिया जाय वही विज्ञान कथा है।
ऐसे लोगो का मलिक तो बस फ्रंकेंस्तीन्न है जो शायद इनकी भी खोज खबर कभी लेगा ही देर सबेर।
अरविंद
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Science Fiction as a Learning Device
On the Research and Media Network Dr. Arvind Mishra writes about a study in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India that science fiction can effectively teach science to both school children and lay people. He asks if this method of teaching science is used elsewhere around the world.
As I've written about previously, I think that's a great idea. At least here in the U.S. there seem to be some teachers who are using science fiction books and movies - both with good science and with bad science - to teach basic scientific concepts. I get the impression, however, that some are reluctant to use that approach because it might seem frivolous. Is that an accurate impression? I'd love to hear from people who are actually using science fiction as a science teaching tool. (via SF Signal)
Tags:science fiction, India, education
As I've written about previously, I think that's a great idea. At least here in the U.S. there seem to be some teachers who are using science fiction books and movies - both with good science and with bad science - to teach basic scientific concepts. I get the impression, however, that some are reluctant to use that approach because it might seem frivolous. Is that an accurate impression? I'd love to hear from people who are actually using science fiction as a science teaching tool. (via SF Signal)
Tags:science fiction, India, education
Labels: teaching science with fiction
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Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Science Fiction in India;An Overview
Science Fiction in Hindi – An Overview
Arvind Mishra
Indian Science Fiction Writers' Association
16, Cotton Mill Colony,
Chowkaghat, Varanasi-221002
{Email : dr_arvind3@rediffmail .com.}
Although the roots of Hindi science fiction (sf) could be traced in the mythical mists of ancient times especially in Sanskrit scriptures, the genre in its true sense only emerged with the serial publication of 'Aascharya Vrittant' (A strange tale!), by the veteran mainstream Hindi writer, Ambika Datt Vyas in 'Piyush Pravah' - a Hindi literary magzine, during 1884-88. (Mishra, 2000; Singh, 2002; Prasad, 2004). This landmark of early Hindi sf publication seems to be inspired by Jules Verne's "Voyages extraordinaries" and narrates breathtaking story of Gopinath- main protagonist of the novellete, who undertakes an adventurous journey underneath the earth. The novellete has a happy ending as Gopinath and his two accomplices somehow emerge out from beneath the earth unharmed. There are many mind boggling scenes interwoven with the mystery and suspense in the novellete. This was a kind of writing unknown to the contemporary Hindi audience. Almost fiften years later came another adventure story 'Chandra Lok Ki Yatra' (A journey to moon), this too markedly influenced by Jules Verne's writings. The story was written by Babu Keshav Prasad Singh and was published in a renowned Hindi literary magzine, 'Sarswati' (Vol 1, part 6, June 1900). The twin stories initiated writing of an unconventional kind of fiction in Hindi which was later identified as genre sf. Many critics however consider the twin stories mere the reflection of a western literary trend and not the outcome of our own mainstream literary movement.
Proto Science Fiction
The penultimate and last decade of 19th century also witnessed the profound impact of yet another kind of hitherto unfamiliar style of writing in Hindi termed as ' Tilism Sahitya' (Talisman!) and propounder of this kind of literature was the veteran mainstream Hindi writer Devakinandan Khatri. His novels 'Chandra Kanta' (1888) and ' Chandra Kanta Santati (1896) were very popular in Hindi and people from other regions and languages learned Hindi to enjoy these classics of Hindi literature. It could be argued that these novels contained certain elements of sf and therefore might be regarded as Proto science fiction (Mishra, 1984) but opinions differ (Mishra, 1989; Mewadi, 1984; Singh, 2002; Goyal, 2004). Such 'Tilism" stories did contain the wonderment and cerrtain gadgetary descriptions often encountered in genre sf but lacked the sound scientific themes essential to sf stories. Although there were other mainstream sf writers like Swami Satyadev Parivrajak, whose 'Aascharya Janak Ghanti' was published in ' Sarswati' in 1908, only a few other mainstream authors could be credited as sf specialists.Among them, the most illustrated was famous mainstream Hindi writer Rahul Sankrityayan. He is credited for his magnum opus sf 'Baisavee Sadi' (The 22nd century) - a novel written in 1924. 'Baisavee Sadi' is excellent example of an utopia set in 22nd century A.D. in which author had beautifully described a future society which embodied the political and social reforms of 2124AD caused by technological advancements. It appears that Hindi sf wrting before 1930's was mostly the mainstream writing as sf published in the magzines were not labelled as sf. But it was certainly a period in which Hindi sf was beginning to take its shape as an identifiably distinct genere though many favourite sf themes were produced as nongenre sf. After 1930, Yamuna Datt Vaisnav 'Ashok' had a profound influence on 'genre sf' writing and wrote far and away the most interesting and readable real sf ever published. It was infact his contributions that Hindi sf began to establish its identity amongst mainstream fiction writers.
Prominent Writers
The prominent writings of Yamuna Datt Vaisnav 'Ashok' include, 'Asthi Pinjar' (1947), 'Apsara Ka Sammoohan' (1967), 'Chakshudan' (1948), Himsundari (1971) etc, all anthologies containing beautiful sf stories. It is evident that he wrote genre sf in a continuous and sustained way and on a variety of themes from technological inventions and associated impacts on political and social systems of predicted human societies. Before 1960's thus there were sporadic and isolated works of an interrupted tradition of sf writing with only exception being the contributions made by Yamuna Datt Vaisnav 'Ashoka'. He is also credited to have inculcated a sort of indianness in his stories.
Dr. Naval Bihari Mishra's noteworthy contributions to enrich the genre sf in 1960's demand a special mention. Inspired heavily by western sf writing movements he accepted the challenge of enriching Hindi literature further with this relatively new kind of fiction. His many original contributions and translated versions of Jules Verne's voyage stories appeared in 'Vigyan Jagat' (Indian Press,
Incursions though of welcome kinds into sf writing in Hindi were also made by few well known Hindi litterateurs who usually worked outside the genre, notably Dr. Sampurnanand (Prithvi Se Saptarshi Mandal, 1953), Aacharya Chatursen Shastri (Khagras, 1960). They also persuaded other contemporary Hindi litterateurs to enrich this emerging genre in Hindi but to no avail for a long time.
First Boom
The first boom in genre sf writing in Hindi took place in the 1970's with the appearance on the scene by prolific writers like Kailash Sah, Maya Prasad Tripathi, Shukdev Prasad, Rajeshwar Gangavar and Devendra Mawadi who among others regularly contributed to the enrichmentment of Hindi genre sf writing. Devendra Mewadi's contributions inspired many younger writers including the authors of this write-up to the wonder world of Hindi sf writing. His two anthologies 'Bhavisya' (1994) and Kokh (1998) are immensely popular among Hindi readers.
The sf writers of 1970's set the stage of genre sf writing and the trend now became almost a mainstay in Hindi literature. But sf writing by and large still did not enjoy the due consideration by literary Hindi circle. The scenario called for an organisied effort to popularize Hindi sf writing amongst not only the limited readers of the genre but also amongst Hindi literati and a campaign to this respect was initiated by first author in late 1980's which culminated in establishing of a full fledge sf writers' organization - Indian science fiction writers' association (ISFWA) in 1995 as an autonomous body registered under socitieis registration act, 1860. ISFWA brings out ' Vigyan Katha' a quarterly fully devoted to sf since 2002 under the main editorship of Dr. R.R. Upadhyaya.
The Second Boom
A second boom in sf writing in Hindi began in late 1980's with the publication of 'EK Aur Kraunch Vadh' in the renowned Hindi literary magzine, 'Dharmyug' by Arvind Mishra. Many more new authors appeared afterwards, most of them being the members of ISFWA . The prominent ones among them were Dr. Rajiv Ranjan Upadhyaya (President of ISFWA), Harish Goyal (Vice President of ISFWA), Kalpana Kulshrestha, Zakir Ali ' Rajnish', Zeeshan Haider Zaidi, Manish Mohan Gore, Swapnil Bhartiya, Visnu Prasad Chaturvedi, Ajai Kumar etc. The most gifted Hindi woman sf writer is Kalpana Kulshrestha, the first woman to publish a Hindi sf anthology of her own selected sf stories named 'Beesavi Sadi Ki Bat (2005). Her stories are usually concerned with social aspects of human society and she herself coined the term, 'Socifi' for that kind of stories. Lately, Yugal Kumar has also joined the bandwagon.
In 2000 a major Hindi sf writing workshop was organized in
Fiction and Fantasy
The both forms of sf writing i.e. ' fiction' and 'fantasy' (Asimov, 1981; Hollinger; 1999 ) are popular in Hindi (Mishra, 1984; 2000), but majority is skewed in favour of 'Fantasy' a kind of sf writing which encourages Hindi sf writers to express freely and more imaginatively. Hindi writers usually prefer imaginery sciences primarly to develop the plots of their stories on themes such as alternate worlds, antigravity, faster than light (FTL communication), invisibility and of course time travel etc. This growing trend of 'fantasy' elements in Hindi SF writing is often a matter of debate among Hindi sf writers and fandom (Mishra, 1990, 1992; Prasad, 2004).
The definition
Another debatable point of Hindi sf relates to its definition part and treatment of the stories accordingly. As sf gaint Issac Asimov has stated earlier " it is a measure of the richness of the field that no two of its practitioners are liable to agree on even something as fundamental as its definition..." (Asimov, 1981), the Hindi sf writers genuinely seem to be widely devided over the issue and the scope of the nature of sf writing . A largely accepted world wide definition of sf reveals that it is deliberately anachronous and deals with phenomena, gadgetary, accomplishments far off (possibly) in the future. Some critics discourage this form of sf writing in Hindi (Prasad, 2004; Rajnish, 2000; Dubey, 2006) and emphasize that contemporary social backgrounds should also be dealt in Hindi sf along with scientifie details as per requirements of the story while others do not seem to compromise with the predominant western outlook that sf should necessarily depict only those events and social backgrounds that neither existed in past nor exist in present but only in future. Notwithstanding such debates the future of Hindi sf seems bright.
References :
1. Asimov, Issac. (1981). My own view; 'Asimov on Science Fiction'. Panther Books,
2. Dubey, Arvind. (2006). Personal Communication.
3. Goyal, Harish. (2004). 'Hindi Me Vigyan Kathaon Ka Samridh Hota Itihas'. Madhumati, Dec., 2004 : 26-37.
4. Hollinger, Veronica. (1999). Contemporary trends in scifi critisism, 1980-1999, SF studies, 78, 26, 2.
5. Mewadi, Devendra. (1984). 'Vigyan Katha Sahitya', Bhavisya, National Publishing House,
6. Mishra, Arvind. (1984). 'Saras Lok Vigyan', Lalit Kathayen, Fantasi aur Bhavisya Puran', Vigyan, 71, 11-12: 4-8.
7. Mishra, Arvind. (1989). 'Hamari Vigyan Kathaon me Vaigyanikata'. Bhartiya Bhashaon Me Vigyan Lekhan. Proceedings of National Symposium, Vigyan Parishad, Prayag : 223-228.
8. Mishra, Arvind. (1990). "Hindi Kahani Ki Ek Vismrit Hoti Parampara". Navbharat Times,
9. Mishra, Arvind. (1992) ' Mahaj Manoranjan Nahin Hain Vigyan Kathayen' Avishkar, Aug., 92: 322-325.
10. Mishra, Shivgopal. (1984). 'Hindi Upanyas, Tilism Tatha Kathayen' Vigyan, 71, 11-12 : 1-4,
11. Mishra, Shivgopal. (2000) 'Aascharya Vrittant'. Vigyan, 80, 2: 31-33.
12. Prasad, Shukdev. (2004). ' Vigyan Kathaon 'Ke Uts Ki Khoj' Bhartiya Vigyan Kathayen, (Edited). Kitab Ghar Prakashan,
13. Prasad, Shukdev. (2005). Vigyan Kathaon Ke Yaksh Prasn, Indian Journal of Science Communication, Vol 4, (2) July-Dec. 2005 : 13-22.
14. Rajnish, Zakir Ali., (2006). Personal Communication.
15. Singh, Ajay. (2002). Hindi Sahitya Me Vigyan Katha, Ph.D. Thesis,
16. Upadhyaya, R.R., Mishra, Arvind. (2000). Sanchar Madhyamo Ke Liye Vigyan Katha, Indian Science Fiction Writers' Association, Publi. Faizabad.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
NOTES AND COMMENTS
"sci fi in hindi"
10 Comments - Show Original Post Collapse comments
- arvind said...
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Chandralok ki yatra is not written by Kishorilal as mentioned but by Babu Keshav Prsad Singh.
- arvind said...
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popular themes in hindi sci fi writing include memory transfer,planetary travels,mass transportation ,gm items etc.its very feretile field and writers are trying on many themes of their choice.
- arvind said...
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Mr.Yugal kumar has also lately join the team of sf writers in india.
- arvind said...
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sci fi writing is now gearing up in India,but writers are not often very certain of this genere's central idea.SF is basically an anachronous literature.So it should always be remembered that a sf story should not only depict the cotemporary world istead it should try to extrapolate the future of humanity.
- Comment deleted
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This post has been removed by the blog administrator.
- arvind said...
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No one seems interested in sf written in Hindi the official language of India,as no comments have been put on this page sice the post got published.IS ANY ONE ON EARTH interested in Indian sf?
- santosh said...
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its really surprising that there is no taker of sf in hindi which is official language of India.Any explanation?
- arvind said...
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still not any taker of Hindi sf!Its really surprising.come on please!
- Zakir Ali 'Rajneesh' said...
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Badhayi.
Agar ise thoda aur vistar se de saken, to achcha ho.
Zakir Ali Rajneesh
zakirlko@gmail.com - arvind mishra said...
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thaks zakir. please help me to expand it.
arvind
scifi as mainstream literature
Science fiction is still not considered as a mainstream literary genre while it contains almost all necessary elements needed for a literary expression.This state of affairs could perhaps be attributed to snobbery of so called mainstraem literaty worldwide which do not relish invasions of a more potential literary venture into their territory.Apathy of publishers towards this emerging field on other hand is another reason why sf is not getting its deserved status amongst common readers.
Its really very unfortunate that a genre which is genuinely concerned directly with the very existence of man on the planet earth or even beyond is stiill in a state of neglect and apathy.A wholehearted sincere effort from all those who are interested in the welbeing of human species on this planet is needed to boost the present sorry state of sf not only in India but in other countries of world including those where this literay genre is said to have originated and evolved from ie Britain and USA.
arvind
definition of science fiction
There is a lot of debate and discussions amongst Indian sci fi writers over such a basic issue as what sci fi is realy about?In what best way it could be defined?There is no consensus as yet on the issue but I think that Asimov's views on the genre is crystal clear.I fully endorse his opinion that
Scifi is an imagined literary response to the impacts of science and technologoy on man himself and the society in days to come.It has nothing to do with our contemporary world but deals with a world not familiar to us but may become a reality some day.This is infact a deviding line between contemporary social fiction which is full of man's miseries of his present world and saga of future societies of the world.Fiction and fantasies both contribute to enrich this genre but they must have some science background.That is why despite all the fantastic elements
our many mythological stories especially stories in Hindu mythology depicting heavens and hells can not be grouped under sci fi genre,though they beautifully illustrates enchanting settings of worlds not familiar to us.They appear so unfamiliar that no amount of scientific and technological pregress can convert them into realities for us.More next.
Arvind
Science fiction in Hindi which is official language of India has now come of age.There are almost a dozen sf writers in Hindi including the author of this blog who are actively and regularily contributing to enrich this literary genre of west in India despite an apathy from traditional Hindi litteraty.Any suggestion to impress Hindi litterateurs?Or they should not be taken any notice of their continued apathy at all?
Arvind Mishra
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We have tried to introduce following to lay people using tableaux based on sf stories.
A. Cloning :Along with a mythological story sf dpictions on cloning very well explained the process and implications of the emerging technology to lay people.
B. Biotechnology : The science fictional biotech tree[very akin to mythological 'wishing tree'] demonstrated the potential of biotechnology.
C. Internet : Various parts of internet were displayed using sf themes.
D. Aforestation : The exhibits based on sf stories demonstrated the role of forests in human life .
E. Non conventional energy :Promotion and Use of non conventional energy sources.
F. Water harvesting : Traditional techniques of rain water harvesting and its necessity as narrated in many sf stories.
G. Rational use of pesticides : Promoting bio-pesticides instead of chemical pesticides ON THE BASIS OF PICTORIAL DEMONSTRATION OF RACHEL Carson's famous story'SILENT SPRING'.
H. Bio diesel :TAKING HELP OF OF STORIES ON ENERGY CRISIS OF NEAR FUTURE the use of Indian Jatropha plant was promoted for production of bio diesel.
I. Tsunami : Awareness and preservation of natural mangroves is the key was demonstrated after demonstrating many catstrophe models as described in sf stories.
THANKS PEGGY FOR GIVING ROOM TO OUR MODEST EFFORTS IN INDIA INSOFAR SF IS CONCERNED.