Writing Beyond Applause: The Inner Calling of Videh Arvind Kumar
New Delhi [India], February 28: In the culturally resonant city of Lucknow, where refinement of language and tehzeeb shape intellectual discourse, 68-year-old ‘Videh’ Arvind Kumar stands as a steadfast custodian of disciplined literary commitment. A retired Assistant General Manager of the State Bank of India, he is, in essence, a writer by temperament and conviction — one [...]
New Delhi [India], February 28: In the culturally resonant city of Lucknow, where refinement of language and tehzeeb shape intellectual discourse, 68-year-old ‘Videh’ Arvind Kumar stands as a steadfast custodian of disciplined literary commitment. A retired Assistant General Manager of the State Bank of India, he is, in essence, a writer by temperament and conviction — one for whom literature is not a pursuit of momentary acclaim but a lifelong tapasya.
With an impressive corpus of 27 published books — 17 in English and 10 in Hindi — spanning fiction, poetry, drama, translation, and literary commentary, his journey reflects not only productivity but persistence. His long-running English fiction series, Hypocrisy & Reality, comprises nine volumes that probe societal contradictions with unsparing candour. Alongside this, works such as Chambellion (a comedietta), Brainy Beasts (short stories), Bewailing Muse (poetry), and Self-Styled Sovereign, the Judiciary (dramatic deliberation) demonstrate his comfort across genres.
Equally significant is his engagement with literary scholarship. His critical study Nagasaki: Bomb & Aftermath examines A Pale View of Hills by Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro, while Procreation, the Adorable reinterprets the Shiva Puraan through a contemporary lens. As a translator, he has rendered major Hindi poetic works into English, notably Search for Life and Reality of Invisible, thus bridging linguistic traditions.
