Khwairakpam Chaoba
Khwairakpam Chaoba Singh l was a poet, essayist, prose-writer and novelist. He was born in 1895 in Uripok Sorbon Thingen leikai, Imphal.He was influenced by Sanskrit tradition and is regarded as one of the best-known writers of modern Meitei literature. He founded the Manipuri Sahitya Sammelini of Meitei literature along with Dr. Lamabam Kamal Singh, Hijam Irabot and Hijam Anganghal. Biography He presented the first historical novel in Meitei – Lavangalata which is considered to be an outstanding work. This is perhaps one of the greatest novels in Meitei literature. His other prose works are Wakhalgi Ichen (Thought Current), Wakhal (Thought), Phidam (Ideal), Kannaba Wa (Useful Words) and Chhatra Macha (Student). He also wrote incomplete works Madhu Malati and Naba-Malika His published work includes: Chhatra Macha, 1923 Kannaba Wa, 1924 Phidam Wakhal Wakhalgi Ichen Thainagi Leirang, Poetry, 1933 Lavangalata, Novel, 1937 Recognition and reception He was awarded the Sahitya Ratna by the Manipur Sahitya Parishad in 1948. Fellow author and poet Elangbam Dinamani Singh included Chaoba in his one of his books about criticism of poets. In Amaresh Datta's Encyclopedia of Indian Literature, Volume 1, he says of Chaoba: "By use of common language and very homely image, [he] could