Harsh Brahmbhatt (born 1954) is a Gujarati language poet and writer from

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He has also made significant contributions to the Urdu ghazal form. He is a recipient of several awards, including the Shayda Award,

Kalapi Award The Kalapi Award (Gujarati:કલાપી ઍવોર્ડ) is an annual award given to Gujarati language, Gujarati ghazal poets. It was founded by the Indian National Theatre, INT Aditya Birla Centre for Performing Arts and Research. The award ...

, Kumar Suvarna Chandrak and Dhanji Kanji Gandhi Suvarna Chandrak.

Early life

Brahmbhatt was born on 31 July 1954 in Mahesana,

, to Vadilal and Sushila Brahmbhatt. He completed his Bachelor of Science in 1975 and Master of Science in 1977 from the

Gujarat University The Gujarat University is a public state university located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The university is an affiliating university at the under-graduate level and a teaching university at the post graduate level. It is accredited A+ by NAAC ...

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

, with Physics as one of his subjects.

Career

He served as an additional secretary of Gujarat government and then as an additional secretary of the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

of Gujarat. He retired in July 2014. Presently, he serves as an advisor in Reliance Industries Ltd.

Works

''Ekalta Ni Bheedman'' (2012), his first anthology of

ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

, was published in 1992, followed by ''Andar Diwadandi'' (2002), ''Maun Ni Mahefil'' (2009), ''Jivavano Riaz'' (2010), ''Khud Ne Ya Kyan Malyo Chu?'' (2012), ''Jhakal Ne Tadka Ni Vachche'' and ''Aabh Doryu To Surya Ugyo'to''. His collection of Urdu ghazals includes ''Kandil'' (1998), ''Sargoshi'' (2004), ''Mera Apna Aasman'' (2011), ''Khamoshi Hain Ibadat'' (2013) and ''Manzilo Ko Hatake Chalte Hain''. ''Kodiyaman Petavi Raat'' (2015) is his collection of short poetry and

free verse Free verse is an open form of poetry which does not use a prescribed or regular meter or rhyme and tends to follow the rhythm of natural or irregular speech. Free verse encompasses a large range of poetic form, and the distinction between free ...

. Some of his Urdu ghazals have been sung by Ustad Rashid Khan, Ustad Ahmed and Mohammed Hussain, Hariharan,

Sonu Nigam Sonu Nigam (born 30 July 1973) is an Indian playback singer, music director, dubbing artist and actor. He is one of the most versatile singers and widest vocal ranges in the history of Indian music. His songs vary from romantic to break-up, cla ...

Kavita Krishnamurthy Kavita Krishnamurthy (born as Sharada Krishnamurthy), is an Indian playback and classical singer. She has recorded numerous songs in various Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Rajasthani, Bhojpuri, Telugu, Odia, Marathi, ...

Arijit Singh Arijit Singh (; born 25 April 1987) is an Indian playback singer. A leading figure in contemporary Hindi film music, he is the recipient of several accolades including two National Film Awards and seven Filmfare Awards. He was conferred the P ...

Javed Ali Javed Ali is an Indian playback singer who predominantly sings in Hindi. He has also sung in various Indian languages including Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. Early life Javed Ali was born as ...

, Anup Jalota, Bhupinder Singh, Mitali Mukherjee and the Shyamal-Saumil Munshi brothers. His Gujarati ghazals have had been sung with musical accompaniment composed by the singers Purushottam Upadhyay,

Parthiv Gohil Parthiv Gohil (born 18 February 1976) is a playback singer for Indian films including '' Devdas'', '' Saawariya'', '' Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster'', and '' Kisaan''. He is known in Gujarati Cinema for hit songs ''Aasmani'', ''Thai Jashe'', and '' ...

Sadhana Sargam Sadhana Sargam (née Ghanekar, born 7 March 1969) is an Indian singer known for her playback career in Indian cinema predominantly in Hindi, Marathi language, Marathi, Bengali language, Bengali, Nepali, Tamil language, Tamil and Telugu language, ...

, Ashit and Hema Desai, Aalap Desai, the Shyamal-Saumil Munshi brothers, Naynesh Jani and Bhupinder Singh. He has edited several books, including ''Vismi Sadini Gujarati Kavya Mudra'' (with Chandrakant Sheth, Yogesh Joshi and Urmila Thaker), ''Best of Miskin'' (2013; selected ghazals of Rajesh Vyas 'Miskin', ''Shabda Sathe Maro Sambandh'' (2013; with Anil Chavda), ''Yogesh Joshini Shreshtha Vartao'' (2008; with Urmila Thakar; selected short stories of Yogesh Joshi), ''Maru Satya'' (2006; with Ankit Trivedi), ''Prem Vishe'' (with Anil Chavda) and ''Sahityama Dariyo'' (with Praful Raval and

Rajendra Patel Rajendra Patel (born 20 August 1958) is a Gujarati language poet, short story writer and critic from Gujarat, India. He has served as Vice President of Gujarati Sahitya Parishad since 2014. His significant works include ''Jueeni Sugandha'' (2003; ...

Recognition

He received the Shayda Award (2010) and the

(2012) for his contribution and development of Gujarati ghazal.

Gujarati Sahitya Parishad Gujarati Sahitya Parishad () is a literary organisation for the promotion of Gujarati literature located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was founded by Ranjitram Mehta with the aim of creating literature appealing to all classes of society and ...

conferred on him the Dilip Mehta Award (2008-2009) for his work ''Maun Ni Mahefil'' and Uma-Snehrashmi Prize (2012-2013) for his work ''Jhakal Ne Tadkani Vachche''. His book ''Javavano Riaz'' also earned an award in 2009, given by Ghazal Sabha, a

Vadodara Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is a city situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district. The city is named for its abundance of banyan ...

based institution. He is also a recipient of the Kumar Suvarna Chandrak (2015) and Dhanji Kanji Gandhi Suvarna Chandrak (2015) and Harindra Dave Smriti Paritoshik (2015), presented by Harindra Dave Memorial Trust. In 2016, he was nominated for Urdu Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar for his book ''Mera Apna Aasman'' by

Gujarat Sahitya Akademi The Gujarat Sahitya Akademi () or Gujarat Sahitya Academy, established in 1981, is a government institution dedicated to the development of the languages spoken in Gujarat, India and their literature. Gujarati, an official language of Gujarat, i ...

but he refused to accept the award in protest against lack of autonomy in the Akademi. He said that it was being given by a 'non-autonomous' body.

References

External links