Manmohan Kumar Tamanna was born on December 6, 1935 in North Punjab. Though, he began his studies at Nankana Sahib in Punjab, he went on to complete his education in Panipat, Morena, Shimla and Delhi.

His Journey into the world of penmanship began with Sunday Bhajans. Soon enough his repertoire expanded to include Stories, Novels and Plays. His first story was published in 1957 in a magazine called "Samaj". Then followed a spate of works in a number of other magazines too. His novels have been serialized in leading publications of the country in Hindi, Urdu and Marathi. His works have also been translated in English and prominently carried in newspapers like "The Times of India" "The Hindustan Times" and "The Mail"

Tamanna was associated with the respected Prithvi Theater, Mumbai for a short while and then with the Professional Hindustani Theater, Delhi.

A Comedy "Ser Ko Sava Ser", written and directed by him was staged at Morena in 1962. Such was its popularity that it was picked up by Radio Ceylon, which was quite the rage during those days, and was played to appreciative audiences.

In 1964, he became an approved poet with the All India Radio and wrote a number of songs and ghazalas. A collection of his songs and ghazals was published as 'Majhi' in 1968.

However, his biggest contribution to society had been his writing on the Dacoit problem. Not only was he instrumental in highlighting the problem but also achieved tremendous success in persuading dacoits to surrender before the police.

It all began while Tamanna was in Morena. He was approached by Hind Pocket Books to write on the dacoit problem. This was a huge honor in itsef because the publication was at its peak then and well-known writers were eager to write for it. Tamanna agreed. Thus began an interesting journey that saw him traverse the hazardous terrain of Chambal. The task was not only physically challenging but also brought him face to face with dreaded dacoits.

Among his first few encounters were those with dacoits 'Tehsildar Singh Thakur' and 'Thakur Nawab Singh', whom he interviewed in jail. Through his interactions with the duo, he realized that dacoits may be ready for surrender.

When his interview was published in the 'Saptahik Hindustan' in 1964 expounding the idea of surrender, no one took him seriously and he became laughing stock. However one of the Tamanna's stories so touched the late J.P.Narayan that he agreed to negotiable surrender. J.P.was specially moved by Tamanna's story 'Jahan Beti Bikti Hai'.

Tamanna's biggest success came when 511 dacoits in Morena Distirct in April 1972 agreed to give themselves up. Dreaded dacoits like Zor Singh, Machkund Singh and Jabar Singh read his works and were inspired to surrender. The path has not been easy and Tamanna has been through life threats and jeopardous rendezvous with the dreaded

tribe.

Tamanna's writing touched every aspect of the dacoit problem. He talked about the dacoits themselves, the forgotten victims as well as the police personnel and their families who had been killed or maimed by the dacoits. He was also successful in drawing the attention of the authorities to plight these people and many benefited from Government Compensation. One of his stories "Dakuon Ne Meri Aankhen NIkal Di" in "Kadambari" fetched the victim about 10 beeghas of land and Rs.500 in compensation. Another story "Chambal Jahan Nirdoshan ke Haath Kaate" got the victim a life long pension Rs.500 P.M.

Due to his prolific to his profile writings Tamanna had become a Celebrity in his own right. Japan Broadcasting Corportion's M.O. Koda has interviewed him. Japanese writer YamaGiva got his books translated in English then in 'Japanese', which were sold the world over.

A German crew also interviewed him, Back home he was appeared in Kamleshwar's program 'Parikrama' on the Doordarshan in 1981 and also in Vinod Dua's Parakh'. His stories have appeared in well-known Magazines including 'Kadambini','Saptahik Hindustan' and 'Dharmyug'. He has 48 books in Hindi to his credit along with some more in other languages. His works have been translated into 14 languages including Japanese and English. His novel "Hamara Lahoo Pukarega" was picked by the Government of India for translation in Braille, 40 lakhs copies of this book were made in Punjabi, Sanskrit, English and Hindi, and Tamanna didn't accept any royalty for them.

A number of awards have also come his way including 'Chamanlal Bhikshu Puraskar' and the 'Shriomani Kathanar Samman' So realistic and interesting were his writing, that Bollywood came calling too. The Lives and shenanigans of dacoits offered more than enough masala to make great racy potboilers. Tamanna has to his credit the story lines of

seven such films including 'Chambal ki Kasam','Kasam Bhawani Ki', 'Daku Aur Mahatma', 'Vidrohi' and 'Putlibai' in Hindi and Bangla langurage. Many of these films went on to become box office wonders.

Tamanna has settled down in Morena which is Head-Quarter of the Chambal Division (MP) and the settings for many of his famous works and is still actively contributing to Hindi Literature.

His address is:-

M.K. Tamanna

Saraswati Sadan, Sabzi Mandi, Morena.

mail id:- aktamanna@yahoo.com, tamannamanmohankumar@gmail.com

PHONE:- 07532-226201.

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