Jayant Himmatlal Pathak (20 October 1920 – 1 September 2003) was a Gujarati poet and literary critic from

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the 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 fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...

, India. He was the president of 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 ...

from 1990 – 1991. He received several awards, including the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

, the Kumar Suvarna Chandrak, the

Narmad Suvarna Chandrak Narmad Suvarna Chandrak (Gujarati: નર્મદ સુવર્ણ ચંદ્રક), also known as the Narmad Gold Medal or Narmad Chandrak, is a literary honour in Gujarat, India. It is bestowed by the organisation known as Narmad Sahitya Sa ...

, the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak and the

Uma-Snehrashmi Prize Uma-Snehrashmi Prize, also known as Uma-Snehrashmi Paritoshik ( gu, ઉમા-સ્નેહરશ્મિ પારિતોષિક) is a literary award in Gujarat, India founded by Snehrashmi Jhinabhai Ratanji Desai (16 April 1903 – 6 ...

. The Jayant Pathak Poetry Award is named after him.

Early life

Pathak was born into a Gauda Brahmins family on 20 October 1920, at Goth, a village now in the Rajgadh taluka of

Panchmahal district Panchmahal, also known as Panch Mahals, is a district in the eastern portion of Gujarat State western India. ''Panch-mahal'' means "five tehsils/talukas" (5 sub-divisions), and refers to the five sub-divisions that were transferred by the Maharaj ...

, Gujarat, India, to Ichchhaba and Himmatram Joitaram Pathak. "Bachudo" (Lit. Small Child) was his childhood nickname. Pathak was raised by his grandfather Joitaram, because his father Himmatram died when he was about ten years old. He completed his preschool education in Rajgadh. Then, he moved to Motabahen's (a.k.a. Pushpabahen) home in Kalol in 1930, and joined the N.G.S. High School in Kalol and completed

matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...

there in 1938. He completed a Bachelor of Arts from M.T.B Arts College in 1943 and a Master of Arts in Gujarati and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

subjects from

Vadodara Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capita ...

college in 1945. He received a Ph.D. in 1960, under

Vishnuprasad Trivedi Vishnuprasad Ranchhodlal Trivedi (4 July 1899 – 10 November 1991) was a Gujarati language, Gujarati literary critic from India. Early life Trivedi was born in Umreth, Bombay Presidency on July 4, 1899. After his education at institutions inc ...

, for his research thesis, ''1920 Pachhini Gujarati Kavitani Sanskrutik Bhoomika: Paribalo Ane Siddhi''. He married Bhanubahen.

Career

From 1943 to 1945, he served as a teacher at different schools including the New Era School in Vadodara, the Katapitiya School, and a school at Karjan village. From 1948 to 1953, he lived in Mumbai, Pune, and Delhi, and worked in different fields, including journalism. He joined the MTB Arts College in Surat in 1953 as a professor and retired from there in 1980. He was appointed president of the

from 1989 to 1991. He also served as the president of the Narmad Sahitya Sabha in 1992 and of the Kavi Narmad Yugavarta Trust in 1992. His literary works had been published in ''Gujaratmitra'', ''Loksatta'', '' Kumar'', '' Buddhiprakash'', ''Granth'', ''Vishwa Manav'', ''Kavita'' and '' Kavilok''. He died on 1 September 2003 at his home in Nanpura,

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is no ...

Works

The ambiance of his birthplace, Panchamahal, a tribal forest region of Gujarat, strongly influenced his poetry. He was also acquainted with literary personalities and was influenced by them when he was young. This included first, his cousin Ushnas, who later became a renowned Gujarati poet, and his school teacher, Pranshankar Bhatt. He was also influenced by the Gujarati poets

Umashankar Joshi Umashankar Jethalal Joshi () (21 July 1911 – 19 December 1988) was an Indian poet, scholar and writer known for his contributions to Gujarati literature. He wrote most of his works in Gujarati. Biograpy Early years Umashankar Joshi was ...

and Sundaram. ''Marmar'', is his first collection of poems, published in 1954, followed by ''Sanket'' (1960), ''Vismay'' (1964), ''Sarga'' (1969), ''Antariksha'' (1975), ''Anunaya'' (1978), ''Mrugaya'' (1983), ''Shooli Upar Sej'' (1988), ''Be Akshar Anandna'' (1992), and ''Drutvilambit'' (2003). His poems are characterized by nostalgia for his lost childhood spent in his village, as he finds city life uneasy and unbearable. ''Anunaya'', a collection of his poems was translated and published by Brajendra Tripathi in 1993. His critical works are: ''Aadhunik Kavita Pravah'' (1963), ''Aalok'' (1966), ''Tunki Varta: Swaroop ane Sahitya'' (1968), ''Jhaverchand Meghani: Jivaan ane Sahitya'' (1968), ''Ramnarayan V. Pathak'' (1970), ''Kavyalok'' (1974), ''Arthat'' (1997), and ''Tunki Varta ane Bija Lekho'' (2000).

Recognition

He received the

(1964) for his book ''Vananchal'', the

(1980) for ''Anunaya'', the

(1982 - 1983) for ''Mrugaya'', and the Dhanji Kanji Gandhi Suvarna Chandrak for ''Shooli Upar Sej''. He is also a recipient of the Kumar Suvarna Chandrak (1957) and the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak (1976). The

Jayant Pathak Poetry Award Jayanta ( sa, जयन्त, "victory"), is a character who appears in Hindu literature. He is the son of Indra, the king of the devas (gods), and his wife, Shachi (Indrani). He has a sister called Jayanti. He appears in various Hindu scri ...

is named after him. He shared the Premanand Suvarna Chandrak (2001) with

Raghuveer Chaudhari Raghuveer ChaudhariSpelling of name is based on his signaturArchived herOther alternative spellings are Raghuvir Chaudhary and Raghuvir Chaudhari. is a novelist, poet and critic from Gujarat, India. He has also worked as a columnist for numerou ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pathak, Jayant 1920 births 2003 deaths 20th-century Indian journalists Gujarati-language writers Gujarati people Journalists from Gujarat People from Panchmahal district Recipients of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Gujarati