Binod Bihari Verma

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Dr. Binod Bihari Verma

Binod Bihari Verma(1937 - 2003) was a maithili literateur by soul, medical doctor by profession and a defence officer by career. He was born on 3 Dec 1937 in the village Baur, by the river Kamla Balan, in Madhubani District (then undivided Darbhanga District) of Bihar. He was the second son in a maithil Karna kayastha landlord family of three sons and two daughters. His father, Rameshwar Lal Das, was a freedom fighter, a prominent Gandhian and tireless worker for the upliftment of the poor, and he inculcated these values in his children as well. These values are also reflected in the writings of Dr. Verma. He had command over a number of languages including Urdu, Sanskrit and Bengali and scripts of India some of them close to extinction now, e.g., old Maithili and Nepali.

1 Biography
2 Pen Names
3 Marriage & Children
4 Major Influences
5 Life time interests and Researches
6 Places where posted while in Army
7 Places where stayed in civilian life
8 Major works
9 Articles
10 External links

[edit] Biography

After finishing his primary school, which was at the Rasiyari village (across the mighty Kamla Balan) - there being no primary school in his village, he moved with his father and uncle to various places in South Bihar (now Jharkhand) who were trying to spread Gandhiji's message of achieving freedom through self reliance and nonviolence in the remote tribal areas of Chaibasa, Ranchi, and Singhbhum areas of South Bihar. He developed a close bonding with the tribal children of these places which gave him a rare understanding of the lot of the poor and the underpriviledged and which is depicted so picturesquely in his writings. Hi sojourn in th villages and the tribal areas also gave him an insight into the diversitites of human nature which was reflected in his writings. He finished his secondary schooling at the missionary school of St. John's at Ranchi. Subsequently he joined the Darbhanga Medical College and graduated in 1961. Those were the heady days of Chinese invasion (Sino-Indian War) and he joined the Indian Army and was commissioned into the Army Medical Corps in 1963. The service life gave him ample opportunity to visit remote far flung border areas and gave him a rare insight into the lives of the people of Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Punjab, Assam and Goa among others. He was in effect, a life long student of the culture and language of all the various peoples he came in contact with. He tried to understand their language and read their folk tales and poetry. All these issues are vividly imbibed in his writings. He took part in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and the IPKF operations in Sri Lanka in 1988-1990. His dynamic leadership and clinical skills in these conflicts won him respect both from the men he commanded and from his seniors. He was greatly admired for his integrity and honesty. He took premature retirement from active army service in 1990, partly disillusioned with the war in Sri Lanka. He settled in Bhubaneswar where he started his clinical practice and undertook literary tasks with renewed vigour. Post 1990 was his most prolific literary phase with regular publishing of novels, biographies, and contributions to Maithili magazines. He died on 09 November 2003 at Bangalore, fighting a long battle with cancer.

[edit] Pen Names

Vinod
Vinod Gopal

[edit] Marriage & Children

Married to Pratibha Verma at Patori Village (Saharsa Distt), Bihar on 4 July 1965 in a traditional Maithil wedding
Children: Three daughters and Two sons
- Archana Verma:Daughter, born 4 April 1967, Saharsa
- Sharad Verma:Son, born 17 September 1969, Saharanpur
- Varuna Verma:Daughter, born 7 June 1972, Saharanpur
- Savita Verma:Daughter, born 14 May 1976, Saharsa
- Rohit Verma:Son, born 9 December 1977, Saharsa

[edit] Major Influences

George Abraham Grierson - British administrator of Darbhanga in 19th century, lover of maithili folklore and literature, writer of grammar of modern maithili
Radha Krishna Choudhary - Noted historian, president of ICHR, leftist thinker, and Maithili writer
Shriram Sharma Acharya - Saint and yogi based at Haridwar, spread the message of Gayatri Mantra

[edit] Life time interests and Researches

Life and works of Sir George Abraham Grierson
Folklore of Dalits and other backward castes and their contribution to modern maithili
Buddhist Studies with the special relation of Ancient Mithila with Tibet
Astrology
Madhubani paintings and depiction of modern village life in Madhubani Paintings
Study of Maithili Literature

[edit] Places where posted while in Army

Panjim
Ambala
Shimla
Sugar Sector (Indo - China Border)
Saharanpur
Allahabad
Varanasi
NorthSikkim
Varanasi(Second Tenure)
Kapurthala
Jalandhar
Tezpur
Vavuniya

[edit] Places where stayed in civilian life

[edit] Major works

Maithili Karna Kayathak Panjik Sarvekshan- a Survey of the Panji of the Karan Kayasthas of Mithila.1973.Madhubani.[1]

Nayanmani A novel describing the rural scene in Post Independence bihar.Initially published in parts in "Mithila Mihir" from February 1968 to April 1968.1997.Bhubaneswar.

Balanak Bonihar O Pallavi - Short Story collection on the village life of Mithila on the banks of the Kosi and its tributaries.1994.Bhubaneswar.[2]