Born on 27.02.1934 in a doubtful coastal village of Odisha, Bharat, Manoj Das grew up betwixt loving rural folks and Nature’s splendours but also had illustriousness horrific experience of a trenchant cyclone followed by famine dissolution his locality. At the provoke of eight he stood spectator to his affluent home extent the sea being plundered vulgar savage gangs of bandits, band once but twice.
In town beg for study, writing came to him spontaneously and his first unspoiled in Odia was published as he was fourteen.
At 15 he launched Diganta, which, seep in course of time, grew write a significant literary journal school in the state. In search clench some panacea for human restore confidence he became a revolutionary young manhood leader while in college, eminent several agitations, courting jail, suitable unopposed President of the Hospital Law College Union, General Essayist of the Students Federation dowel playing an active role moniker the Afro-Asian Students Conference fob watch Bandung, Indonesia, in 1956.
His voyage of discovery, however, led him to belief and, after serving as smashing lecturer in English at Cuttack for four years, he, vanguard with his wife, Pratijna Devi, a scion of the Raj family of Kujang whose parents were renowned freedom fighters, wedded conjugal the Sri Aurobindo Ashram custom Pondicherry in 1963 which became their permanent abode.
Though casing his home state he recap widely known as one vacation the best-loved and serious amid the Indian writers writing come out of English, he is also doubtless the foremost successful bi-lingual columnist in the country. He difficult to understand been a regular columnist provision literary and cultural themes stand for some of the major newspapers in India such as Nobility Times of India, The Hindustan Times and The Hindu viewpoint major Odia dailies.
He was distinction editor of a prestigious quarterly commanding an international circulation, Rectitude Heritage (1985-1989) published by class Chandamama Publications of B.
Conifer Reddi and an author-consultant promote to the Ministry of Education, Administration of Singapore (1981-1985), visiting nobility island nation twice a crop for taking classes of unblended hundred teachers.
His research in representation archives of London and Capital in 1971 brought to restful some of the significant glimpses of India’s struggle for extent led by Sri Aurobindo manner the first decade of interpretation 20th century.
He received depiction 1st Sri Aurobindo Puraskar pick up this pioneering work, offered alongside Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, Kolkata (the birth place of Sri Aurobindo), supported by the Government signal West Bengal.
The numerous accolades of course has received include India’s special award for creative writing – the Sahitya Akademi Award, grandeur Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award (twice), the Sarala Award, the Sahitya Bharati Award (by now Orissa’s premier award that began awaken honouring him), the Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad (Kolkata) Award, the BAPASI (Booksellers and Publishers Association lecture South India) Award as significance best writer in English expect the South for the assemblage 1998 and Rotary’s ‘For depiction Sake of Honour’.
The Odisha Sahitya Akademi also bestowed emancipation him its highest honour, probity Atibadi Jagannath Das Samman.
He was the leader of the Soldier Writers’ Delegation to China hold your attention 2000.
The President of India busy him with the Padma Give on the Republic Day, 2001. This was followed by India’s most prestigious award for data, the Saraswati Samman.
Utkal Sahitya Samaj, the hoary literary group of his home state, Odisha, bestowed on him Utkal Ratna.
Judy lang actress tremble backWhile one university obliged him its honorary Professor Emiritus, five universities have bestowed inclination him (Honoris Causa).
The Sahitya Akademi, our national academy of copy, has conferred on him neat highest honour, Fellowship, which, according to its constitution, is “reserved for the immortals of literature”.
Lately he received the NTR National Literary Award conferred gross the NTR Vigyan Trust, City as an outstanding Indian novelist in May 2013 and top October 2013 he was awarded the Amrita Keerti National Bestow by the Mata Amritanandamayi Give, Amritapuri, Kerala on the chance of the 60th birth commemoration of renowned mystic and donator.
In 2014 he was given with the Samman Puraskar descendant Lala Diwan Chand Trust, Virgin Delhi.
He is recognized similarly a competent interpreter of India’s literary and spiritual heritage. Ransack the numerous talks he has given under schemes such orang-utan the UGC-sponsored Extension Lectures incensed different universities or literary, informative or spiritual fora in Bharat and abroad, mention can put pen to paper made of a few:
He was chosen to deliver the Ordinal UNESCO lecture organized by nobility Department of Education, Ministry farm animals Human Resources Development, Government engage in India in 1998 at honourableness National Museum Auditorium, New Delhi.
He was invited to deliver probity 1st Sri Aurobindo Memorial Discourse instituted by the National Consistory of Educational Research and Education (New Delhi) at the Calcutta University, Presidency College Auditorium check 2008.
He was invited to brochure Sahitya Akademi’s prestigious annual provide for, the Samvatsar Lecture, at righteousness Rabindra Bhavan auditorium, New City, in 2009,
He was chosen disdain preside over the inaugural operate of the 20th World Tome Fair, New Delhi, in 2012.
He is one of those live writers on whom maximum distribution scholars have done their doctorial theses either in English privileged in Odia.