Shukla, who was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award in 1999 and the Bhartiya Jnanpith in 2025, was admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Raipur on December 2 after breathing difficulties. He breathed his last at 4.48pm, his family said. He is survived by his wife, son and a daughter.
According to the family, his mortal remains will be taken to his residence in Raipur, where details of the last rites will be announced shortly. His son said that Shukla was first hospitalised in October after developing respiratory problems. Though his condition improved and he was discharged, his health deteriorated suddenly earlier this month, necessitating his admission to AIIMS Raipur.
“I am deeply saddened by the demise of the renowned writer Vinod Kumar Shukla ji, honored with the Jnanpith Award. For his invaluable contribution to the world of Hindi literature, he will always be remembered,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X.
A towering presence in Hindi literature, the mild-mannered Shukla was celebrated for a literary voice that was quiet, humane and profoundly original. His novels, including Naukar Ki Kameez, Khilega To Dekhenge, Deewar Mein Ek Khidki Rehti Thi and Ek Chuppi Jagah, were regarded as landmarks that reshaped modern Hindi prose through their simplicity, subtlety and emotional depth.
In an interview with HT this April, Shukla espoused his theory of literature and social change.
“Literature can play a role in resolving political and social tensions... The real question is - where and how much space does literature have in society?” he said.
Born in 1937 in a nondescript area in the Rajnandgaon district of present-day Chhattisgarh, Shukla rose to become one of the most loved and respected contemporary Hindi writers. Widely acknowledged as one of the most distinctive writers of his generation, Shukla wrote about ordinary lives, transforming everyday moments into enduring literary experiences. His work resisted spectacle, favouring instead silence, compassion and moral clarity.
“I was born and began writing in Rajnandgaon. My home environment was nurturing. My mother’s childhood was in Jamalpur, now in Bangladesh. She married in Rajnandgaon. She used to recall Bengali authors and encouraged me to read,” he had told HT.
A rare writer whose oeuvre spanned stories, novels, poems, and children stories, Shuka refused any categorisation of his work – clearly reflected in the title of some of his poems (“Woh aadmi naya garam coat pahenkar chala gaya vichaar ki tarah”). His characters never appeared in haste, refused to make noise and promised radical change. It was difficult to separate his poetry from his magical prose, which was full of living symbols and the realities of ordinary lives.
“His demise is a setback for the Hindi literature fraternity. His poems would come across very simple, but the meaning would be very difficult to decipher, nobody was like him... He wrote simple poems... It was a treat to read him,” Delhi University professor Harish Trivedi told PTI.
In recognition of his unparalleled contribution to Hindi literature and his singular creative vision, Shukla was awarded the 59th Jnanpith Award, India’s highest literary honour, for 2023. The award was presented to him on November 21 at a ceremony held at his residence in Raipur, making him the first writer from Chhattisgarh to receive the prestigious honour.
Shukla’s literary legacy also extended to cinema. His celebrated novel Naukar Ki Kameez was adapted into a film by noted filmmaker Mani Kaul, further underlining the quiet power and universality of his writing.
In 2024, Shukla became the protagonist of a film, titled Chaar Phool Hai Aur Duniya Hai, on his life by Achal Mishra. In an interview to HT earlier this year, Mishra had said, “One thing that definitely came across was that there was no separation between Shukal’s writing and his way of being.”
He was actively contributing to literature till a few months ago.
The protagonists in his stories were local school teachers, college lecturers, village administrative officers (known as Kotwaar in a number of his stories), police havildars, and government clerks. His life and work were seen as a “celebration of insignificance”. His characters prepared for life’s challenges by chewing paan, riding bicycles, teaching mathematics, strolling across the fields, washing dishes,and erasing one’s memory by performing daily chores as a holy ritual. His characters brought the stark material realities of everyday lives to the surface, sometimes appearing meek and frail to the administrative apparatus, yet refusing to struggle and lay bare the realities.
With the passing away of Vinod Kumar Shukla, Hindi literature has become poorer today.