Upendranath Sharma "Ashk", (14 December 1910 – 19 January 1996)[2][3][4] was an Indian novelist, short story writer and playwright.
[6] In 1933 he wrote his second short story collection in Urdu called Aurat Ki Fitrat, the foreword of which was written by Munshi Premchand.
After graduating from college in 1931, Ashk taught at his alma mater for a few months before leaving for Lahore with the poet-journalist Mela Ram "Wafa".
In a state of profound grief, Ashk abandoned his plan to enter the legal profession and resolved to become a full-time independent author.
[13] In 1941, after living for two years at the commune Preetnagar near Amritsar, where he edited the Hindi-Urdu journal Preet Lari, Ashk was hired at All India Radio (AIR) as a playwright and Hindi adviser.
[citation needed] Other writers associated with AIR at that time included Sa'adat Hasan Manto, Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, Meeraji, Noon Meem Rashid, Krishan Chander and Rajinder Singh Bedi.
While in Bombay, Ashk became involved with IPTA and wrote one of his most noted plays, Tūfān se Pahale, which was produced for the stage by Balraj Sahni.
Ashk remained in the sanatorium for two years, during which time Girtī Dīvārẽ was first published, in 1947, and he also composed his well-known poem "Barghad kī Beṭī".