Mannu Bhandari was a prominent name in the sphere of Hindi Literature. Having made her mark and admired by countless readers, she will be many teachers and students, particularly those at Miranda House, Delhi University where she taught Hindi literature for a long time.
Born on 3 April 1931, Mannu was recognized for her portrayal of women of changing India – the ones who were drawn to modern influences without compromising on traditions. Caught between modernity and tradition, these women find themselves burdened by various unjust and adverse situations that are queered by gender bias.
The latter aspect was later captured vividly in her own biography Ek Kahani Yeh Bhi. Stories like Nai Naukri (New job) also reflect this trend in her writing, while Trishanku is more about parents, particularly mothers, struggling to choose between tradition and modernity while bringing up children. Yahi Sach Hai (This is the truth) is a famous story of a girl living alone being very sincere to the man she loves now, but unable at the same time to get out of the sweet-sour memories of her first love. This story also is remarkable in terms of her strength of a very reader-friendly way of writing. Yahi Sach Hai, was later made into a low-budget hit film Rajnigandha (1974) by Basu Chatterjee.
At times she came out with stories very different from her normal work and these invariably turned out to be exceptionally brilliant. One such story is Akeli (Lonely), a very poignant story of a woman who revels being in groups but is increasingly left alone and neglected as she gets old and poorer. Yet another off-beat story is Teesra Hissa (Third Portion), a portrayal of a potentially fiery columnist and editor who is forced by circumstances to live a stifled existence of ordinary clerical work, waiting for opportunities.
Where Mannu scaled great heights was with her two unforgettable novels — Aap Ka Bunty and Mahabhoj. Aap Ka Bunty portrays the disrupted world of a child troubled by broken marriage of his parents and even more by the remarriage of his mother. It is hailed as one of the best works on child psychology in Indian literature.
This novel which was serialised in Dharamyug weekly magazine got wide feedback from readers who worried constantly about the fate of the troubled child. It was also adapted into a play. Unfortunately its film version Samay Ki Dhara ran into litigation. It has been translated into Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Odiya, Kannada, Tamil, English and Japanese.
Even those who had become prepared for some surprises from Mannu Bhandari could not have reckoned for her to deliver a political thriller, but she did — in the form of her widely discussed novel Mahabhoj. A young man who sincerely struggles for the poorest people in a village dies in mysterious circumstances. As a by-election is approaching, this murder takes strong political overtones. What happens subsequently exposes the many-sided corruptions of the entire political system.
Mahabhoj too was reworked into a play which was performed again and again by several theatre groups. This novel has been translated into English, French, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali and Kannada. A film version of this great novel is still awaited.
Mannu Bhandari will always be remembered for her great contribution to literature and for her fine qualities as a gentle human being. She passed away on November 15 at Gurugram, near Delhi, at 90.