The New Homophobia: Ugra’s Chocolate

Abstract

Pandey Bechan Sharma, better known by his pen-name “Ugra” (Extreme) was a nationalist, a social reformer and a Hindi writer and journalist. His fiction tends toward the didactic and generally has a social message. His writings champion the causes of nationalism, oppressed women, and lower castes, and critique corruption in high places, alcoholism, gambling, adultery, prostitution, and communalism. He remained unmarried all his life, had a reputation for inciting controversy, and edited a very large number of newspapers and magazines, most of which folded within a short time. In 1924 Ugra became associated with the Hindi weekly Matvala, which had been first published in Calcutta in 1923 under the editorship of the famous poet Suryakant Tripathi “Nirala” (see p. 270). Matvala was a nationalist paper whose style tended to the comical and satirical.