A Name for Every Leaf

Ashok Vajpeyi (born 1941) is an eminent Hindi poet, lover of arts and a dynamic institution-maker.  For his poetry he has received the Sahitya Akademi Award, the Dayavati Modi Kavi Shekhar Samman and the Kabir Samman.  He has published more than thirty books in Hindi and English.  Book-length translations of his Hindi poetry have appeared in English, French, Polish besides Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Urdu etc.  For his cultural contribution he has been honoured by high civilian awards 'Officier de I'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres' by Govt. of France and 'Krzyzem Oficerskim Ordrnu Zaslugi Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej' by Govt. of Poland.  Among the many institutions he founded the Department of Culture, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, the multi-arts centre Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal and the central university Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University are well-known.  A close friend of many artists, writers, musicians and dancers, he has written extensively on many masters including the legendary musician Kumar Gandharva and the painter Sayed Haider Raza.  He lives in New Delhi and, besides poetry, is working on a book in English on Hindustani Classical music and another in Hindi on Kabir anhd Ghalib.