U. A. Khader
Encyclopedia
U. A. Khader is a noted India
n novelist and literary personality. He has written about fifty works in Malayalam language
, which include novels, novellas, short-stories, travelogues and non-fictions. His works have been translated to various languages including English, Hindi and Kannada.
, Kerala
, India
while his mother Mamaidi was Burmese in origin. Mamaidi died seven days after the birth of Khader infected by small pox. However, the boy was well taken care of. On the outbreak of Second World War few years later the boy and the family were forced to flee their dwelling in Burma to safer zones. At the age of seven, Khader returned to India and grew as a Malayalee at his father's native place in Koyilandi. He had his schooling from Koyilandi High School and obtained a degree in painting from the Madras College of Arts. Khader got in touch with writers such as K. A. Kodungalloor and social figures such as C. H. Mohammed Koya during his days as a student in Madras, which happened to be a turning point in his life. It was C. H. Mohammed Koya who initiated him into the world of reading by gifting him Vaikom Muhammed Basheer's Balyakalasakhi.
Khader's first story was published in Chandrika weekly in 1953. The story, based on a real life incident in which he sold his watch and bought a dinner set as a wedding present for a friend, was published in a totally different form. He had written quite harshly about his father and step-mother when he put the story to paper. He handed over the story to C. H. Mohammed Koya who published it in Chandrika, but in a totally different form. His message to Khader was that story writing was not about writing ill of others. Sooner or later a lot of his stories began to be published in almost all major literary magazines in Malayalam. He shot to fame after writing Thrikkottur Peruma (The Fame of Thrikkottur). He is now regarded as one of the major writers in modern Malayalam literature.
U. A. Khader has worked in various governmental departments: Kerala Government Health Services (from 1960), Akashavani Kozhikode (from 1967 to 1972), and Institute of Maternal and Child Health-Calicut Medical College. He retired in 1990 while working in the administration section of Government General Hospital, Calicut. In addition, he has held many major posts in various literary associations and served as the editor of many major magazines.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n novelist and literary personality. He has written about fifty works in Malayalam language
Malayalam language
Malayalam , is one of the four major Dravidian languages of southern India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India with official language status in the state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. It is spoken by 35.9 million people...
, which include novels, novellas, short-stories, travelogues and non-fictions. His works have been translated to various languages including English, Hindi and Kannada.
Biography
U. A. Khader was born in 1935, on the banks of river Airavati, in Billeen village, near Rangoon (Yangoon), Burma (Myanmar). His father Ussangaantakathu Moithootti Haji hailed from KoyilandyKoyilandy
Koyilandy is a city and a municipality in Kozhikode district in North Malabar region of the Indian state of Kerala. This town is between Calicut and Badagara and is on NH 17. It can be identified with Tyndis in Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. The freedom fighter K...
, Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
while his mother Mamaidi was Burmese in origin. Mamaidi died seven days after the birth of Khader infected by small pox. However, the boy was well taken care of. On the outbreak of Second World War few years later the boy and the family were forced to flee their dwelling in Burma to safer zones. At the age of seven, Khader returned to India and grew as a Malayalee at his father's native place in Koyilandi. He had his schooling from Koyilandi High School and obtained a degree in painting from the Madras College of Arts. Khader got in touch with writers such as K. A. Kodungalloor and social figures such as C. H. Mohammed Koya during his days as a student in Madras, which happened to be a turning point in his life. It was C. H. Mohammed Koya who initiated him into the world of reading by gifting him Vaikom Muhammed Basheer's Balyakalasakhi.
Khader's first story was published in Chandrika weekly in 1953. The story, based on a real life incident in which he sold his watch and bought a dinner set as a wedding present for a friend, was published in a totally different form. He had written quite harshly about his father and step-mother when he put the story to paper. He handed over the story to C. H. Mohammed Koya who published it in Chandrika, but in a totally different form. His message to Khader was that story writing was not about writing ill of others. Sooner or later a lot of his stories began to be published in almost all major literary magazines in Malayalam. He shot to fame after writing Thrikkottur Peruma (The Fame of Thrikkottur). He is now regarded as one of the major writers in modern Malayalam literature.
U. A. Khader has worked in various governmental departments: Kerala Government Health Services (from 1960), Akashavani Kozhikode (from 1967 to 1972), and Institute of Maternal and Child Health-Calicut Medical College. He retired in 1990 while working in the administration section of Government General Hospital, Calicut. In addition, he has held many major posts in various literary associations and served as the editor of many major magazines.
Major awards
- 1983: Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award: Story - Thrikkottur Peruma
- 1993: S. K. Pottekkattu Award - Katha Pole Jeevitham
- 1993: Abudabi Shakti Award - Oru Piti Vattu
- 1999: C. H. Mohammed Koya Award - Kalimuttam
- 2009: Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award - Thrikkottur Peruma