Bharat Gaurav Mr Tejinder Sharma - Pravasi Hindi Story Writer

Tejinder Sharma is the best-known Pravasi Hindi story writer. His unique style of story-telling has given prominence and respectability to the Hindi literature written by the Indian Diaspora settled in the western hemisphere. He is a much-decorated writer whose stories have been prescribed in the syllabus of various universities in India.

Born in Jagraon (Punjab) on 21st October 1952 Tejinder did his schooling and higher degrees in Delhi. He obtained a Masters’s degree in English literature from the University of Delhi. His father Shri Nand Gopal Mohla was a prolific writer of literature in Urdu and Punjabi languages. It can safely be said that Tejinder had inherited the art of writing through his genes.

Tejinder had a deep influence on his mother Suraksha Sharma who taught him the art of living posh with bare minimum means. She is a God-fearing woman with a great belief in traditions and culture. While Tejinder inherited his writing skills from his father, he learned the art of singing from his mother who herself was a soulful singer in her youth.

Hard work is the hallmark of Tejinder’s entire personality. He completed his BA Honours and MA degrees while he was working full-time at the Bank of India. While working full-time in the Bank and studying in the evening college, Tejinder had a meaningful stint with the All India Radio and Doordarshan as a drama voice. He learned the art of voice modulation while acting in Radio Plays.

Tejinder has always been involved with theatre, television, and films. He has had the honour of being a part of the writing team which created the first-ever daily soap of India “Shanti” produced by UTV.

The Bank could not hold the flight of imagination of Tejinder and he decided to join Air India as a Flight Purser.

Tejinder, as a flight Purser, had a chance to see the entire world. Places that he had only heard of were now within his reach. With his charming personality, it was not difficult for him to be chosen as the best Assistant Flight Purser in Air India and soon he became a part of Prime Minister Rajive Gandhi’s VVIP select crew. As a VVIP crew member, he had a chance to visit idyllic places like Cuba, the Bahamas and Bermuda.

Mumbai gave them a chance for Tejinder to try and enjoy his passion for acting. He acted in a number of stage plays, TV dramas and in a movie “Abhay” in which he was pitted against Nana Patekar.

He was married to Indu who was a PhD. Scholar in Hindi. Naturally, the English Bard had a strong influence on his beautiful wife and he started penning stories in Hindi. She was his first reader, critic and teacher. She gave him the best gifts of life Deepti a daughter and Mayank a son. She succumbed to cancer in 1995 and Tejinder was again stranded on a crossing in life.

He decided to bring the children to the United Kingdom and start a new life. He joined the BBC World Service Radio as a newsreader in Hindi. By now he had already published three collections of short stories.

In London, he soon became an integral part of the Hindi language and literary activities. He established an award in memory of his late wife — International Indu Sharma Katha Samman. Tejinder (as the General Secretary of Katha UK) holds this award function every year in the House of Commons / House of Lords in which a writer from India and a writer from the United Kingdom are honored with Katha UK awards. Mr. Barry Gardiner MP, Mr. Tony McNulty MP, Mr. Virendra Sharma MP, Lord Tarsem King of Bromwich, Councillor ZakiaZubairi, Councillor K.C. Mohan, and the Indian High Commissioner take an active part in this award function.

Tejinder has held many events in Hindi in the Nehru Centre (The cultural wing of the Indian High Commission). He has organized book launches, story-reading sessions, one-act plays, and talks to bring the Diaspora together and understand the fundamentals of living as a cohesive part of their adopted country.

Tejinder has directed short-story writing workshops in London, Birmingham, Nottingham, Toronto (Canada), and India. He has also organized Pravasi Hindi Seminars in Yamuna Nagar (Haryana), Delhi, and Mumbai.

Tejinder’s stories have become a part of the curriculum of various universities of India. Even the UGC has made one of his stories a part of the curriculum for the BA Honours Hindi program.