Manilal Haridas Patel (born 9 November 1949) is a Gujarati poet, essayist, novelist, and literary critic 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. He has won numerous awards for his work, including the 2007 Dhanji Kanji Gandhi Suvarna Chandrak literary medal for his significant contributions to Gujarati literature.

Life

Patel was born on 9 November 1949 in the village of Golana Palla near Lunavada (now in the Mahisagar district,

) to Ambaben and Haridas, an agriculturist. He had five siblings. Patel studied at a school in his village until grade four, and then attended a school in the nearby village of Madhvas. He completed his

Secondary School Certificate Secondary School Certificate (SSC), Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) or Matriculation examination, is a public examination in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Maldives and Nepal conducted by educational boards for the successful completi ...

(S.S.C.) in 1967. He completed a B. A. in Gujarati and English in 1971 and a M. A. in Gujarati and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

in 1973. In 1979, Patel received a PhD for his thesis ''Arvachin Gujarati Kavitama Pranaynirupan'' (Depiction of Love in Modern Gujarati Poetry) under the guidance of

Dhirubhai Thaker Dhirubhai Premshankar Thaker (27 June 1918 – 22 January 2014) was an Indian Gujarati writer, who was best known for creating the '' Gujarati Vishwakosh'', a 25-volume encyclopedia of the Gujarati language. Life Thaker was born on 27 June 191 ...

. He taught briefly at schools in Vadagam and Madhvas. He taught Gujarati at the Arts and Commerce College, Idar from 1973 to 1987. In 1987, Patel joined the Sardar Patel University in Vallabh Vidyanagar as the Reader of Gujarati and was later promoted to professor and head of the department. He retired in 2012. He edited the ''Dasmo Dayko'', ''Paraspar 1-2-3'', ''Sheelshrutam'' and ''Pragnya'' magazines.

Works

His poetry is a combination of

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

and

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthe ...

. He wrote poetry touching on his experiences in and around Idar, a town in Gujarat. ''Padma Vinana Deshma'' (1983) and ''Satami Ritu'' (1988), ''Dungar Kori Ghar Karya'' (1996), ''Patzar'' (1999, Hindi), ''Vichchhed'' (2006) and ''Mati ane Megh'' (2017) are his poetry collections. The novels Patel has written include: ''Tarasghar'' (1979), ''Ghero'' (1984), ''Killo'' (1986), ''Andharu'' (1990), ''Lalita'' (1995), and ''Anjal'' (2004). ''Ratvaso'' (1993) and ''Bapano Chhello Kagal'' (2001), ''Sadabahar Vartao Chayan'' (2002) and ''Sudha Ane Biji Varta'' (2007) are his story collections. ''Manilal H. Patelni Vartasrishti'' (2005) is a collection of his selected stories. Patel's essays have been collected and published in: ''Mukhomukh'' (1988), ''Vrikshalok'' (1997), ''Mativato'' (1993), ''Matina Manekhe'' (1993), ''Bhusata Gramchitro'' (2000), ''Malakni Maya'' (2002), ''Koi Saad Pade Chhe'' (1988), ''Aksharne Ajvale'' (1993), ''Vela Velani Vaat'' (2004), ''Aada Dungar Ubhi Vat'' (2006), and ''Sarjakno Samajlok'' (2007). ''Aranyoma Akash Dholay Chhe'' (1985) is a collection of narrative essays, some autobiographical in nature. ''Hu To Nitya Pravasi'' (1996) is a travelogue. ''Tarasya Malakno Megh'' (2007) is a biography of Pannalal Patel. He has translated Ramdarash Mishra's ''Apane Log'' from

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 ...

to Gujarati as ''Sagavhala''. ''Kavitanu Shikshan'' (co-written, 1979), ''Jivankatha'' (1986), '' Ishwar Petlikar'' (1984), ''Nibandhkar Suresh Joshi'' (1989), ''Parishkrut Varta Ane Bija Lekho'' (1999), ''Sarjak Ravji Patel'' (2004), ''Gujarati Prem Kavita'' (1993) are his works of

criticism Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative or positive qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the ...

. ''Parishkrut Gujarati Varta'' (1991), ''1996ni Shreshth Vartao'' (1997), ''1997ni shreshth Vartao'' (1998), ''Okhaharan'' (1998), ''Ratiragni Vartao'' (1999), '' Himanshi Shelatni Vartashrishti'' (1999), ''Raino Parvat'' are edited by him. Patel has also edited ''Gujarati Sonnet'' (with Dakshesh Thacker, 2002), '' Suman Shahni Vartashrishti'' (2003), ''Ravji Patelni Kavita Chayan'' (2005), ''Kathashrishti'' (2005), ''Navi Varta Shrishti'' (2004), ''Gujarati Bhashanu Adhyayan'' (2006), ''Rag Parag'' (2007).

Awards

Patel was awarded the Dhanji Kanji Gandhi Suvarna Chandrak literary medal in 2007 for his significant contributions to Gujarati literature. He was also awarded the Mudra Chandrak of Amreli, the Sahitya Setu Award from Kolkata for his novels, and the Critics Award for criticism. He also received an award for his works from the Gujarat Sahitya Akademi. He was awarded the Uma-Snehrashmi Prize (1994–95) for ''Ratvaso'' and the Ushnas Prize (1996–97) for ''Dungar Kori Ghar Karya'', both 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 ...

. Patel has also received the Upendra Pandya Prize, the Kaka Saheb Kalelkar Prize, the Nanabhai Surati prize, the Harilal Desai Prize and the Joseph Macwan Prize.

Personal life

He lives in Vallabh Vidyanagar. He married Gopi ( born Ganga) in 1972 and they have two sons and a daughter.

References

External links