Yashpal (1903-1976) was one of the most prolific and unusual Hindi writers of the post-Premchand generation. Yashpal studied at the National College, Lahore, where he joined the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). He began to write while serving a life sentence for his participation, as a comrade of Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad, in the armed struggle for India’s independence. What he wrote formed his first collection of short stories, Pinjare ki Udan, published in 1938. After his release Yashpal dazzled Hindi readers with the political journal, Viplava, which he founded