Born on December 25, 1926 in Allahabad to Chiranji Lal (an architact) and Chanda Devi (Later Principal Kanya Gurukul, Hatharas). The only other sibling he had was his younger sister, Dr. Veerbala. The family underwent considerable financial hardships after the father died early.
Dr. Dharamvir Bharati did his M.A. in Hindi from Allahabad University in 1946 and won the ‘Chintamani Ghosh Award’ for securing highest marks in Hindi. He was the sub-editor for magazines ‘Abhudaya’ and ‘Sangam’ during this period. Later he completed his Ph.D. in 1954 under Dr. Dhirendra Verma on the topic of ‘Siddha Sahitya’, and was appointed lecturer in Hindi in Allahabad University. 1950s were the most creative period in the life of Dr. Bharati and he wrote many novels, dramas, poetry, and criticisms during this phase.
In 1960 he was appointed as Chief-Editor of the popular Hindi weekly megazine ‘Dharmayug’ brought out by the Times of India Group, and moved to Bombay. He remained the Editor of Dharmayug till 1987. During this long phase the magazine became the most popular Hindi weekly of the country and established new hights in Hindi Journalism. As a field reporter, Dr. Bharati personally covered the Indo-Pak war that resulted in the liberation of Bangladesh.
In 1972, Dr. Bharati was awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India. He was also honoured by ‘Rajendra Prasad Shikhar Samman’, ‘Bharat Bharati Samman’, ‘Maharashtra Gaurav’, ‘Kaudiya Nyas’ and ‘Vyasa Samman’.
He married (1954) and later divorced Mrs. Kanta Bharati with whom he had a daughter Parmita. Few years later he remarried and had a son Kinshuk Bharati and a daughter Pragya Bharati with Mrs. Pushpa Bharati. Dr. Bharati developed heart ailment and after a brief illness, left for his heavenly abode on 4 Sept. 1997.
Dr. Bharati made a deep impect on Hindi literature and is considered to be one of the most renowned Hindi poet and writer of India. His novel ‘Gunahon Ka Devtaa’ became an evergreen classic. ‘Andha Yug’, his drama set in the time immediately after the Mahabharata war, is another classic that is enacted very often in public by various drama groups. Dr. Bharati’s ‘Suraj Ka Satwaan Ghoda’ is considered a unique experiment in story telling and was made into a national award winning movie of the same name. ‘Kanupriya’, ‘Thanda Loha’, ‘Saat Geet Varsh’ and ‘Sapana Abhi Bhi’ are amongst his most popular works of poetry.
