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Here And Hereafter: Nirmal Verma's Life in Literature
How is a writer formed? Yes, through labour, commitment, perseverance, grit and various other things that we keep hearing about. But equally, a writer is formed through the workings of a particular kind of sensibility. As Vineet Gill attempts to understand this writerly sensibility in Nirmal Verma's life and work, he finds that the personal and the literary are, on some level, inseparable.
In this masterly deep dive into the world of one of Hindi literature's pioneers, Gill looks at the scattered elements of Verma's life as ingredients that went into the making of the writer. The places he lived in, the people he knew, the books he read are all reflected, in Gill's view, in Verma's stories and novels.
This is a work of intense readerly analysis and considered excavation—a contemplation on Verma's oeuvre and its place in world literature.
In this masterly deep dive into the world of one of Hindi literature's pioneers, Gill looks at the scattered elements of Verma's life as ingredients that went into the making of the writer. The places he lived in, the people he knew, the books he read are all reflected, in Gill's view, in Verma's stories and novels.
This is a work of intense readerly analysis and considered excavation—a contemplation on Verma's oeuvre and its place in world literature.
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Published September 30, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 15, 2022
Exceptionally well-crafted, 'Here and Hereafter' is an immersive read. Avoiding the 'gossipy and the anecdotal', Gill pieces together the crucial moments and influences that forged pioneering Hindi writer Nirmal Verma's sensibility. The places Verma lived in and visited, the books he read, the writers he revered and rejected, the people he met and befriended, the bonds he built with them and the bonds he broke, the political churnings that he witnessed and experienced--are all part of the mix.
This is not a 'hysterically researched' biography that lists the details of Verma's daily wordcount or the furniture in his writing room. It is a deeply felt and elegantly written meditation on the making of a writer, on creativity, life, death, travel, stillness, sadness, and silence. 'Above all silence.'
Verma was often called the poet of solitude. His work 'teaches us that the artist's job, before anything else, is to learn to "listen" to that inner silence, wherever it becomes audible--in libraries or ruins, in valleys or jungles...'
'Here and Hereafter' gives readers a chance to listen to that inner silence in an increasingly noisy world. This is one of the many compelling reasons that make the book a must-read.
This is not a 'hysterically researched' biography that lists the details of Verma's daily wordcount or the furniture in his writing room. It is a deeply felt and elegantly written meditation on the making of a writer, on creativity, life, death, travel, stillness, sadness, and silence. 'Above all silence.'
Verma was often called the poet of solitude. His work 'teaches us that the artist's job, before anything else, is to learn to "listen" to that inner silence, wherever it becomes audible--in libraries or ruins, in valleys or jungles...'
'Here and Hereafter' gives readers a chance to listen to that inner silence in an increasingly noisy world. This is one of the many compelling reasons that make the book a must-read.
September 29, 2022
Beautiful, not least because it eschews the urge for comprehensiveness or total comprehension and adopts the form of a reader's serious engagement with a writer, through the work - something that sounds basic but is rare.
May 19, 2025
I cannot claim to have read Nirmal Ji as extensively as Vineet Gill — the author of his literary biography — but I can claim to have loved and admired Nirmal Verma's writings just as deeply. Many years ago, when I was enchanted by Murakami's magical realism, I used to wonder what it would be like to get inside the writer's brain - to find a quiet corner and observe the pictures projected there: all the thoughts, ideas, and memories. I imagined it like a giant theatre, filled with colours, and glitter, and smoke, and stars.
Over the years, I began to find the same magic in the mundane - the everyday. That's when I read Nirmal Ji's 'Ek Chithda Sukh'. It transported me to the Delhi of 70s and 80s. It pulled me into a tight grip and wouldn't let go for days - even weeks - after I had finished reading it. Something about his writing spoke to me at a personal level. Krishna Sobti's quote in Vineet Gill's book explains this beautifully - "We begin to feel, for a delusive stretch of time, that we are him (Nirmal Verma), looking at the world as he saw it."
I agree. Each time I read a Nirmal Verma book, I begin to see the streets, the sky, the flowers, and the rain from his eyes. I begin to feel his sorrow, his melancholy. This is the kind of power his writing possesses. Gill says that Nirmal Ji's writing, at its core, is about the individual and her struggle with belonging, melancholy, and the innate loneliness of being human. Perhaps, that's why I am drawn to him. He is not trying to achieve a grand goal. He is not issuing polemics. His words do not exhaust me. Instead, they put me in a state of mental buoyancy.
Few months ago, a friend shared a social media post with me that dismissed Nirmal Verma as a writer for his alleged right wing leanings towards the end of his life. My initial reaction was defensive - I wanted to assert that the art and artist should be seen as separate. But deep down, I was troubled. Was the man I admired truly a fanatic?
Reading this book reminded me, again, that humans are complex, and they should be seen that way. A person is the amalgamation of his or her life, the billions of moments they live, decisions they make, thoughts they think, and words they speak. It is unfair and intellectually lazy to isolate one small part of them from the whole and present it as the absolute truth to serve your own bias.
This is all I have to say about Nirmal Verma. He was not a bigot. He was not a fundamentalist. He was a complex person, like all of us. He was a writer, yes - but he was also a reader, a critic, a traveller, a thinker, a feeler, a lover, and a man whose internal world was so vast and magical that it invariably spilled onto paper. He once said that his writing was his autobiography. I can say that reading this book has only intensified my desire to read everything he has written.
Over the years, I began to find the same magic in the mundane - the everyday. That's when I read Nirmal Ji's 'Ek Chithda Sukh'. It transported me to the Delhi of 70s and 80s. It pulled me into a tight grip and wouldn't let go for days - even weeks - after I had finished reading it. Something about his writing spoke to me at a personal level. Krishna Sobti's quote in Vineet Gill's book explains this beautifully - "We begin to feel, for a delusive stretch of time, that we are him (Nirmal Verma), looking at the world as he saw it."
I agree. Each time I read a Nirmal Verma book, I begin to see the streets, the sky, the flowers, and the rain from his eyes. I begin to feel his sorrow, his melancholy. This is the kind of power his writing possesses. Gill says that Nirmal Ji's writing, at its core, is about the individual and her struggle with belonging, melancholy, and the innate loneliness of being human. Perhaps, that's why I am drawn to him. He is not trying to achieve a grand goal. He is not issuing polemics. His words do not exhaust me. Instead, they put me in a state of mental buoyancy.
Few months ago, a friend shared a social media post with me that dismissed Nirmal Verma as a writer for his alleged right wing leanings towards the end of his life. My initial reaction was defensive - I wanted to assert that the art and artist should be seen as separate. But deep down, I was troubled. Was the man I admired truly a fanatic?
Reading this book reminded me, again, that humans are complex, and they should be seen that way. A person is the amalgamation of his or her life, the billions of moments they live, decisions they make, thoughts they think, and words they speak. It is unfair and intellectually lazy to isolate one small part of them from the whole and present it as the absolute truth to serve your own bias.
This is all I have to say about Nirmal Verma. He was not a bigot. He was not a fundamentalist. He was a complex person, like all of us. He was a writer, yes - but he was also a reader, a critic, a traveller, a thinker, a feeler, a lover, and a man whose internal world was so vast and magical that it invariably spilled onto paper. He once said that his writing was his autobiography. I can say that reading this book has only intensified my desire to read everything he has written.
April 2, 2025
Arvind Krishna Mehrotra's words on the blurb perfectly encapsulate what I feel: 'There is no other book quite like it.' A book of its kind, it will take me a while to process it all and articulate the brilliance of this work by Vineet Gill.
March 26, 2023
The debut of the author is praiseworthy, as he is able to document Nirmal Verma's life as a writer in a short 133 pager. The book has an interesting chronology and deals with Nirmal Verma's life through his writings. The book refuses to delve into his personal life and gives a peek into the Man behind the writer through his works and writings. As the author praises Verma for his immaculate prose writing ability, the author's own capabilities are also worth appreciating. The book gives a critique of the man's politics and his perspectives on changing circumstances in both Prague and India. Readers who are well aware of Verma's contribution to Hindi literature will be well in consensus with the author's understanding of the main theme of Verma's writings as Literature documenting Silence. It is a good short read.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews