Born
in a remote village of Kullu
district in Himachal Pradesh,
M.R. Thakur
had a brilliant career since
his childhood. He did his M.A.
in Political Science, Honours
in Hindi, Diplomas in Chinese
and Tibetan languages winning
gold medal. He has worked on
multifarious posts like District
Language Officer; Registering
Officer (Archaeology); Secretary,
Himachal Academy of Arts, Culture
and Languages; Curator, State
Museum; and Deputy Director,
Department of Languages and
Culture. The jobs on these posts
have helped him in strengthening
his urge for studying folk-life,
language, art and culture.
He is an eminent folklorist,
linguist and a keen observer
of the life of hill people.
He has to his credit over a
dozen of books and has edited
‘Somsi’ and ‘Himbharati’
for over a decade. His book
‘An Easy Way to Hindi
and Hindi Grammar’ was
adjudged as one of the best
books of Hindi teaching through
English medium. His book on
Pahari Language was awarded
by ‘Uttar Pradesh Hindi
Parishad Samman’ and his
two other books ‘Himachal
mein Pujit Devi-Devta’
and ‘Himachal ke Lok-Natya
and Lakanuranjan’ were
published with the grant-in-aid
by Himachal Academy. His book
‘Manoranjak Pahari Lok
Kathaen’ is a fine contribution
to children literature. He has
been awarded ‘Bhasha Samman’
by the Sahitya Akademi for his
valuable contribution to the
development of Pahari language
and literature.
