Ashok Sharma

Born in June, 1948 in the hill city of Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh (India), Ashok Sharma's early childhood upbringing bore the indelible mark of his devout Arya Samajist parents. He had his early training in the learning of both Hindi and Sanskrit languages under the strict tutelage of his father who happened to be a teacher & scholar of Sanskrit language. Later he completed his secondary school education at Govt. Sr. Sec School, Phillaur (Jalandhar), Punjab. He obtained his master's degree in English from S.C. Dhawan Govt. post. graduate college, Ludhiana (Punjab). On the Completion of his studies, he joined as an ad hoc lecturer in English at Govt. College, Tanda Urmar (Hoshiarpur) in 1971 and in 1972, he joined the well- known D.A.V. post graduate college, sector 10, Chandigarh in the faculty of English from where he retired in 2008 as an associate professor & head, dept. of English after serving for more than 35 years. During his teaching career, he went on study leave for more than 5 years to pursue higher studies in the field of English language and literature at the university of Oslo (Norway) in 1982 and attained M. Lit. degree based on his thesis ‘Shakespeare’s Fool and its comparison with The Fool in Sanskrit Drama’ under the able guidance of Professor Kristian Smidt, an international authority on Williams Shakespeare. He has been a regular contributor to the leading journals & newspapers of India & Norway on various topics ranging from English literature to the Arya Samaj. In his mid-seventies, he has come out with his first authentic research oriented work on the life, teachings & philosophy of Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati.