Biography
After graduating as a Civil Engineer from Benaras Hindu University, Lakhmichand Khilani joined a civil engineering firm in Calcutta (now Kolkata). He imbibed the Sufi ethos of the Sindhu and the gushing flow of the Ganges, combined with the intellectual sharpness and emotional intensity of Bengal. His first story in India was published in 1960 in Sindhu Dhara.
That story was inspired by a real incident: a teenage girl once approached him to read a letter written in Sindhi by her parents. It came as a rude shock and a wake-up call to the danger of losing the language, literature and way of life of the Sindhi community. Prof. M. U. Malkani, who had settled in Calcutta, proved a great source of inspiration, and there was no looking back thereafter.
During his literary career he penned 23 books across genres - seven collections of short stories, three novels, a biography of Satyajit Ray, four full-length plays, a travelogue and four volumes of essays titled Rachna Yatra, besides Sindhi translations of prestigious Bengali novels including Pather Panchali. His writing is rooted in contemporary society and portrays the erosion of traditional values in a globalising world.