Jyotindra Hariharshankar Dave (1901-1980) was a

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

humourist writer from India. Born and educated at

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 now ...

, he is regarded as a great humourist writer in

Gujarati literature The history of Gujarati literature ( gu, ગુજરાતી સાહિત્ય) may be traced to 1000 AD, and this literature has flourished since then to the present. It is unique in having almost no patronage from a ruling dynasty, othe ...

Life

He was born in

on 21 October 1901. He completed matriculation in 1919, BA in 1923 and MA in 1925 from Surat. He joined

K. M. Munshi Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi (; 30 December 1887 – 8 February 1971), popularly known by his pen name Ghanshyam Vyas, was an Indian independence movement activist, politician, writer and educationist from Gujarat state. A lawyer by profession, ...

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

to write history of Gujarati literature from 1926 to 1933. He taught at Kabibai highschool in Mumbai for brief period when Munshi was in jail. He also co-edited ''Gujarat'' monthly. From 1933 to 1937, he taught Gujarati language at MTB College, Surat. On Munshi's request, he returned to Bombay in 1937 and worked as a translator in Oriental office of Bombay Government until his retirement in 1956. He later taught Gujarati in various colleges of Bombay and later served as a principal in college at

Mandvi Mandvi is a Beach town with municipality in the Kutch district in the States and territories of India, Indian state of Gujarat. It was once a major port of the region and summer retreat for Maharao (king) of the Cutch State. The old city was enc ...

, Kutch. He also served as a president of

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 an ...

in 1966. In later years, he co-edited the fortnightly ''Samarpana''. He spent his later years in Bombay and died there on 11 September 1980. His house is located in Amliran area of Surat.

Works

Dave used all forms of humor in his writing including satire, parody, wit, conceit. He is considered as one of the best humorists in Gujarati literature. Dave's first humorous sketches were published in literary journals from 1927 to 1932 under the pseudonym of Gupta. It was well received by the readers and was published later as ''Mari Nondhapothi'', followed by ''Rangatarang'' Vol. 1-6 (1932 - 1946), which contains humorous essays, short plays, verse prosodies and other miscellaneous writing. He is known for his humorous novel '' Ame Badha'' (1936), co-written with

Dhansukhlal Mehta Dhansukhlal Krishnalal Mehta was a Gujarati writer from Gujarat, India. He is considered a pioneer of Gujarati short stories. He is known for his humorous novel '' Ame Badha'', co-written with Jyotindra Dave. He received the Gujarati literary aw ...

. It depicts the humorous account of the life of Surat, the native city of both authors. The plotline consists of events in the life of the protagonist Vipin from his birth to the marriage.

Selected works

* ''Hasya-tarang'' (1945) * ''Pan na Beeda'' (1946) * ''Alpatma nu Atmapuran'' (1947) * ''Ret ni Rotli'' (1952) * ''Jya Tya Padey Najar Mari'' (1965)

Awards

He received

Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, also known as the Ranjitram Gold Medal, was founded by Gujarat Sahitya Sabha and is considered the highest literary award in Gujarati literature. The award is named after renowned Gujarati writer Ranjitram Mehta. It is ...

in 1941. He also received

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 ...

in 1940.

Personal life

Dave married Karsukhben in 1929, and they had a daughter Rama, and two sons, Pradip and Asit.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dave, Jyotindra Writers from Gujarat Indian humorists Gujarati-language writers People from Surat district 1901 births 1980 deaths 20th-century Indian short story writers Recipients of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak