It is with deep regret that we receive the news of Krishna Sobti’s passing. She was one of the most iconic writers of her generation, full of immeasurable wit and possessing an immense sense of humour. She won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1980 for her novel Zindaginama, and in 1996 was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, the highest award of the Akademi. In 2017, she received the Jnanpith Award for her contribution to Indian literature.
Her editor Ambar Sahil Chatterjee remembers: ‘When I last visited her, Krishna Sobti expressly mentioned how excited she was about the publication of the English translation of her latest novel A Gujarat Here, A Gujarat There (originally Gujarat Pakistan Se Gujarat Hindustan) in time for her 94th birthday next month. It saddens us all that she did not live to see this happen. The novel, drawn heavily from Sobti’s own experiences as a refugee in the aftermath of Partition, is regarded as the crowning achievement of an already illustrious literary career. We wish to pay our respects to a firebrand who always lived life on her own terms.’
