Hasmukhray Vrajlal Yajnik (12 February 193810 December 2020), better known as Hasu Yajnik, also spelled Hasu Yagnik was an Indian

Gujarati language Gujarati ( ; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old Western Rājasthāni, Old Gujarati (). In India, it is one of the 22 Languages with ...

novelist, short story writer, critic, editor, folklorist and children's writer. Born and educated in

Rajkot Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the Indian state of 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 ...

, he served as a professor of Gujarati in various government colleges in Gujarat. He had written twenty novels, three short story collections, two jail stories, four medieval story collections, criticism of four medieval works, and edited twelve folk works and six works of children's literature.

Biography

Yagnik was born on 12 February 1938 in

(now in Gujarat) to Vrajlal Yajnik and Pushpaben (Prasannaben). He was their eighth child. His father was clerk in British Agency in Rajkot while his grandfather Govindalal was a survey officer in

Palitana State Palitana was a princely state in British India until 1948. The capital was the city of Palitana. It ceased to exist when India became independent. History Palitana was a princely state in British India. It formed a part of the Kathiawar Agen ...

. He was raised by his grandfather and was heavily influenced by him. He completed his primary and secondary school education from Rajkot. Frem 1950 to 1954, he studied in

Dhrangadhra Dhrangadhra () is a town, taluka headquarters and a municipality in Surendranagar district in the state of Gujarat, India. During the period of the British Raj, the city was the capital of Dhrangadhra State, one of the eight first-class prince ...

. He completed BA in 1960 and MA in Gujarati-Sanskrit in 1962 from Dharmendrasinhji Arts College in Rajkot. He received PhD for his thesis on ''Madhyakalin Gujarati Kamkatha'' in 1972. After MA, he joined M. P. Shah College in

Surendranagar Surendranagar is Municipal Corporation in Surendranagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Climate Surendranagar Dudhrej, in common with most of Gujarat, has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen ''BSh'') with three seasons. The hot season l ...

as a professor of Gujarati in 1963. He moved to M. N. College in

Visnagar Visnagar is a city and a municipality in Mehsana district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Visnagar is also a taluka capital. History "Visnagar" named after its founder king Visaladev from Ajmer Dynasty was founded in 953 on the auspicious day ...

in 1964 and later joined Gujarat College in

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 ...

in 1965 and served there till 1973. He also served as a professor with DKB College in Jamnagar from 1965 to 1979. He then moved to M. P. Shah College in Surendranagar in 1979 to 1982. He served as the registrar of the

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 ...

Gandhinagar Gandhinagar () is the capital of the state of Gujarat in India. Gandhinagar is located approximately 23 km north of Ahmedabad, on the west central point of the industrial corridor between the megacities of Delhi and Mumbai. Gandhinagar ...

from 1982 to 1996 and retired. He was a founder and managing trustee of the Meghani Lokvidya Sanshodhan Bhavan, Ahmedabad from 1996 to 2005. He died on 10 December 2020 in Ahmedabad due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Works

Yajnik had written under various pen names: Upamanyu, Pushpadhanva, B. Kashyap, Vajranandan Jani and Shridhar. He had written twenty novels, three short story collections, two jail stories, four medieval stories, criticism of four medieval works, edited twelve folk works and six works of children's literature. His first short story "Lapsi" was published in 1954. His populist novels with simple themes and language include ''Dagdha'' (1968), ''Highway Par Ek Rat'' (1981), ''Biji Savarno Sooraj'' (1982), ''Sol Pachhi'' (1986), ''Neera Kausani'' (1987). ''Diwal Pachhalni Duniya'' is a collection of 28 semi-fictionalised true stories. ''Mandani Maya'' (1985), ''Ek Jubanimanthi'' (1985) and ''Pachhitna Paththaro'' (1985) are his short story collections. ''Madhyakalin Gujarati Premkatha'' (1974), ''Madhyakalin Kathasahitya'' (1987), ''Shamal'' (1978, on Shamal Bhatt) and ''Sanskrit Kathasahitya'' (1997) are his research works. ''Kamkatha'' (1987) includes stories of Gujarati females from medieval Sanskrit Prakrit works while ''Kamkatha:Suda Bahontari'' (1987) has stories of female characters. ''Futati Pankhono Pahelo Fafadat'' (1972) is co-edited by him. ''Gujarati Lokkathao'' (1996), ''Saurabh Vratkathao'' (1996), ''Saurabh Navrat Garba'' (1996), ''Saurabh Lagnageet Sangrah'' (1999), ''Saurabh Padabhajanavali'' (1999), ''Lagnollas'' (2001) are folk literature collections edited by him. He had notated traditional devotional songs edited by Harivallabh Bhayani in ''Hari Ven Vay Chhe Re Ho Vanma'' (1988). He has also notated ''Gokulma Tahukya Mor'' (1989) and ''Jharmar Meh Jhabooke Veej'' (1989). He had also written some works on music: ''Violin-vadan'' (1992), ''Ragdarshan'' (1993), ''Harmonium-vadan'' (1997), ''Bansari-vadan'' (1998). His ''Krishnacharit'' and ''Ramkatha'' are translated in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

, Odia and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Awards

Yajnik had received a silver medal from Dharmendrasinhji College for his short stories in 1954. His ''Diwal Pachhalni Duniya'' received a prize from the

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 ...

. He also received an award from the Skylark, London (1994) and a fellowship from the Gujarati Sahitya Academy, London (1997). He was the recipient of Kavi Kag Award in 2011. He also received the first prize from the

for his work ''Gujaratni Lokvidya''.

Personal life

Yajnik married Hasumati Vanravandas Dave in 1964. Their daughter Yuva Aiyer was born in the same year. Nayan Yajnik is their son.

References

External links