1. Purushottama Lal, commonly known as P Lal, was an Indian poet, author, translator, professor and publisher.
10 Facts About Purushottama Lal
1. 2.
Purushottama Lal was the founder of publishing firm Writers Workshop in Calcutta, established in 1958.
3.
Purushottama Lal was Special Professor of Indian Studies at Hofstra University from 1962 to 1963, and held Visiting Professorships at many colleges and universities throughout America.
4.
Purushottama Lal married Shyamasree Devi in 1955, and had a son, Ananda Lal, and a daughter, Srimati Lal.
5.
Purushottama Lal wrote eight books of poetry, over a dozen volumes of literary criticism, a memoir, several books of stories for children, as well as dozens of translations from other languages, chiefly Sanskrit, into English.
6.
Purushottama Lal was awarded the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship in 1969.
7.
Purushottama Lal is perhaps best known as the translator and "transcreator" of the epic poem Mahabharata in English.
8.
Purushottama Lal's Mahabharata is the most complete in any language, comprising all the slokas.
9.
Purushottama Lal translated modern writers such as Premchand and Tagore.
10.
Purushottama Lal's publishing enterprise was unusual in that he personally served as publisher, editor, reader, secretary, and editorial assistant.