About Chandradhar Sharma Guleri and Prasenjit Gupta

About Chandradhar Sharma Guleri

Chandradhar Sharma Guleri (from Guler, whence his father came) was born in Jaipur in 1883 into a family that valued learning. He grew up to be a scholar of Hindi, Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, and other Indian languages; he also knew English and Greek. He graduated from Allahabad University in 1903 and served as the editor of the journal Samalochak from that year until 1906. From 1904 he taught Sanskrit at Mayo College in Ajmer and was later appointed head of their Sanskrit department. In 1922, he was appointed to the Manindrachandra Nandi Chair in Ancient History and Religion at Benares Hindu University and became the head of the department of Oriental Learning. He passed away later the same year at a young age. Guleri was a writer and critic known for his ability to find humor in the most serious subjects. Guleri, whose short stories in Hindi are available in Usne Kaha Tha Aur Anya Kahaniyan (New Delhi: Kitab Ghar, 1987), wrote only three complete stories in his lifetime: "Sukhmay Jivan" (originally published in Bharat Mitra in 1911 and translated here as "The Happy Life"), "Buddhu Ka Kanta," and what is perhaps one of the most famous short stories ever written, "Usne Kaha Tha."

About Prasenjit Gupta

Prasenjit Gupta is a graduate of the University of Delhi, IIM Kolkata, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. A former Fulbright scholar, he writes fiction in English and translates fiction and poetry from Hindi and Bengali into English. His short stories have appeared in A Brown Man and Other Stories and his translations of several of Nirmal Verma's stories in Indian Errant: Short Stories by Nirmal Verma. Some of his translations from Bengali are available at Parabaas. He was recently awarded an NEA fellowship to support the translation of a collection of Ashapurna Debi's short fiction, to be called "Brahma's Weapon and Other Stories."

Read "The Happy Life" here.

Discuss it here.

(Biographical notes by Prasenjit Gupta. Bicycle photograph on front page courtesy thehat.net.)


home about contact policies submissions feature archives audio visual writing reviews forums art film & television food literature music society & culture elsewhere desilit parabaas sasialit sawnet upper stall	About Chandradhar Sharma Guleri Chandradhar Sharma Guleri (from Guler, whence his father came) was born in Jaipur in 1883 into a family that valued learning. He grew up to be a scholar of Hindi, Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, and other Indian languages; he also knew English and Greek. He graduated from Allahabad University in 1903 and served as the editor of the journal Samalochak from that year until 1906. From 1904 he taught Sanskrit at Mayo College in Ajmer and was later appointed head of their Sanskrit department. In 1922, he was appointed to the Manindrachandra Nandi Chair in Ancient History and Religion at Benares Hindu University and became the head of the department of Oriental Learning. He passed away later the same year at a young age. Guleri was a writer and critic known for his ability to find humor in the most serious subjects. Guleri, whose short stories in Hindi are available in Usne Kaha Tha Aur Anya Kahaniyan (New Delhi: Kitab Ghar, 1987), wrote only three complete stories in his lifetime: "Sukhmay Jivan" (originally published in Bharat Mitra in 1911 and translated here as "The Happy Life"), "Buddhu Ka Kanta," and what is perhaps one of the most famous short stories ever written, "Usne Kaha Tha." About Prasenjit Gupta Prasenjit Gupta is a graduate of the University of Delhi, IIM Kolkata, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. A former Fulbright scholar, he writes fiction in English and translates fiction and poetry from Hindi and Bengali into English. His short stories have appeared in A Brown Man and Other Stories and his translations of several of Nirmal Verma's stories in Indian Errant: Short Stories by Nirmal Verma. Some of his translations from Bengali are available at Parabaas. He was recently awarded an NEA fellowship to support the translation of a collection of Ashapurna Debi's short fiction, to be called "Brahma's Weapon and Other Stories." Read "The Happy Life" here. Discuss it here. (Biographical notes by Prasenjit Gupta. Bicycle photograph on front page courtesy thehat.net.)