Background
Kashinath Singh was born in 1937 in the village of Jiyanpur, in Chandauli district of north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in a peasant family.
Kashinath Singh was born in 1937 in the village of Jiyanpur, in Chandauli district of north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in a peasant family.
He continued his education at Banaras Hindu University from where he obtained Bachelor, Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy.
He was formerly a professor of Hindi literature in Banaras Hindu University. His early schooling was done at Jiyanpur village school. He started his career as a lecturer in Banaras Hindu University in 1965 and retired from there as professor and the head of the Hindi department.
Kashi Ka Assi, published in 2008, is considered his most significant work.
lieutenant is written from an insider’s portrait of life on the ghats, the oddball characters and the student politicians from the 1970s. The novel is considered to be unique in its detailed portrayal of the colourful life of Varanasi.
Kashinath Singh is also known for his unique style of writing biographies of literary personalities. Parts of Kashi ka Assi have been adapted to theatre by eminent director Usha Ganguly and the novel is also being adapted into a feature film, Mohalla Assi, by Chandraprakash Dwivedi.
In recent times, Kashinama, a play based on Kashi Ka Assi has been staged 125 times in India and abroad.
