Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh

Works

His first individual book was published in 1964, when he was on his death-bed: (Chand Ka Muh Teda Hai (चाँद का मुहँ टेढ़ा है). In literary criticism, he wrote a critical work on Jaishankar Prasad's Kamayani titled: Kamayani, Ek Punarvichar.

Media (चाँद का मुहँ टेढ़ा है)

नगर के बीचों-बीच आधी रात-- अंधेरे की काली स्याह शिलाओं से बनी हुई भीतों और अहातों के, काँच-टुकड़े जमे हुए ऊँचे-ऊँचे कन्धों पर चांदनी की फैली हुई सँवलायी झालरें। कारखाना-- अहाते के उस पार धूम्र मुख चिमनियों के ऊँचे-ऊँचे उद्गार--चिह्नाकार--मीनार मीनारों के बीचों-बीच चांद का है टेढ़ा मुँह!! The wind's sari border quivers bullets pierce empty nests on the fig-tree Bald detective of pale moonlight wander the city streets penetrating its many secret woes in multiangular corners... and further on: Her lips turn dark Suspended on a sculpted torso in a harijan temple greying thatch-roofs gnarled banyan roots misty ghosts of lime-smeared rags arrested in blouses, petticoats tattered bedsheets The lustful eye of the bald crooked moon... – Muktibodh

A Hindi feature film, Satah Se Uthata Aadmi (Arising from the Surface), with script and dialogues by him, was directed by veteran film director, Mani Kaul, and shown at Cannes Film Festival in 1981. In 2004, "Brahmarakshas ka Shishya", a dramatization of Muktibodh's story, was presented in New Delhi by Soumyabrata Choudhury.

His novel, Vipatra has also been made into an audio book for the blind.

Legacy

His brilliance was recognized by the literary world after the posthumous publication of Chand Ka Munh Tedha Hai, the first collection of his poems, in the early 1960s. Ever since, the book has run into several editions, and is recognized as a modern classic. In his memory, Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Parishad, has instituted the annual MuktiBodh Puraskar.

In 2004, 'Muktibodh Smarak', a memorial was set up at the 'Triveni Sangrahalaya' in Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh, along with fellow poets of Chhattisgarh, Padumlal Punnalal Bakshi and Baldeo Prasad Mishra.