Manishankar Ratnji Bhatt, popularly known as Kavi Kant was a Gujarati poet, playwright and essayist. He is an innovator of ''Khandkavya'', a typical Gujarati poetic form and narration of one episode. His book '' Purvalap'' (1923) is a landmark in Gujarati poetry.

Life

Kavi Kant was born in ''Prashnora Brahman Family'' on 20 November 1867 in Chavand, a village in Amreli Prant of

Baroda state Baroda State was a kingdom within the Maratha Confederacy and later a princely state in present-day Gujarat. It was ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty from its formation in 1721 until its accession to the newly formed Dominion of India. With th ...

, to Motibahen and Ratnaji Bhatt. His family's influence left him with a deep interest in both education and philosophy. He was a student of both Hindu and Biblical philosophy. He took his primary education at Mangrol,

Morbi Morbi or Morvi is a city founded as a princely state around 1698 by Jadeja Thakor Saheb Shree Kayoji Ravaji. It is in the Morbi district in the States and territories of India, state of Gujarat, India. It is situated on the Kathiawar peninsula. ...

and

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 completed his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1888 from

Bombay University University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

with

Logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

and

Moral philosophy Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied et ...

subjects. He served as a teacher at

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

in 1889. From 1890 to 1898, he served as Professor and then Vice principal at Kalabhavan,

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 ...

. He was on tour to

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

in 1923. While returning to

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

from

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

in train, he died en route on 16 June 1923.

Conversion

In 1891 his first wife Narmada died. The death of his wife affected Kant deeply, and he could not find solace in his own religion. His search for answers about life and death led him to the philosophy of

Emanuel Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg (; ; born Emanuel Swedberg; (29 January 168829 March 1772) was a Swedish polymath; scientist, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, Christian theologian, philosopher, and mysticism, mystic. He became best known for his book on the ...

. His writings provided some relief for his grief and he converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

in 1898. His family and friends opposed his decision and due to public and political opposition, he had to give up his position as minister of education in the

Bhavnagar State Bhavnagar State was a princely state with 13 Gun Salutes during the British Raj. It was part of Kathiawar Agency in Saurashtra (region), Saurashtra. The State of Bhavnagar covered an area of 2,961 sq. miles and had a population of 618,429 i ...

. The community shunned both him and his family. Kant took the decision to leave the community and his family, for the sake of his wife and children. Realizing the repercussions of Kant's decision, the King of Bhavnagar along with some of his friends formed an "intervention" of sorts to ask him to change his mind. He realized that he could not stand to see his family suffer because of this decision. He missed them dearly and did not want to be apart from them.

Literary work

He wrote one poetry book called ''Purvalap'' (1923) that was released on the day he died. He invented a form of poetry called "Khand-Kavya", one type of

Narrative poetry Narrative poetry is a form of poetry that tells a story, often using the voices of both a narrator and characters; the entire story is usually written in metered verse. Narrative poems do not need to rhyme. The poems that make up this genre may ...

, in Gujarati. He also wrote the plays ''Salimshah Athva Ashrumati'', ''Roman-Swarajya'', ''Dukhi Sansar'' and ''Guru Govindsinh'' between 1908 and 1914.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kavi Kant Gujarati-language writers Indian male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Gujarati-language poets Indian male poets Dramatists and playwrights from Gujarat People from Amreli district 1867 births 1923 deaths 19th-century Indian essayists 20th-century Indian essayists Indian male essayists 20th-century Indian poets 19th-century Indian poets 19th-century Indian male writers Poets from Gujarat 20th-century Indian male writers Writers from British India