Manubhai Pancholi also known by his pen name Darshak, was a

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, author, educationist and politician 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 participated in the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

and held several offices after independence.

Biography

Manubhai Pancholi was born on 15 October 1914 at Panchashiya village in Morbi district,

, India. He completed his primary education from Tithwa Lunsar. He left study to participate in Salt Satyagraha in 1930 when he was studying at Wankaner. He was jailed in Sabarmati, Nasik and Visapur. He started his career as a rector in educational institute, Dakshinamurti at Bhavnagar in 1932 and later joined as a professor in Gramdakshinamurt, Ambala in 1938. He was also arrested during Quit India Movement in 1942 was jailed at

Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city and the headquarters of Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was founded in 1723 by Bhavsinhji Gohil. It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, which was a princely state before it was merged into the Dominion ...

. He served as education minister of

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 ...

in 1948. He co-founded Lokbharti Gramvidyapith institute with

Nanabhai Bhatt Nanabhai Bhatt (12 June 1915 – 24 April 1999) was an Indian film director and producer who worked in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Gujarati cinema. He is known for making over a hundred fantasy and mythological films, including ''Mr. X'' (1957), ' ...

in 1953 at Sanosara. He married Vijayaben Patel, a daughter of

Patidar Patidar (Gujarati language, Gujarati: ), formerly known as Kunbi, Kanbi (Gujarati language, Gujarati: ), is an Indian land-owning and peasant Caste system in India, caste and community native to Gujarat. The community comprises at multiple sub ...

family from Varad village of Bardoli, who predeceased him on 25 April 1995. He was a member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly from 1967 to 1971 and served as an education minister in 1970. He was arrested during the emergency in 1975. He served as the 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 and ...

from 1981 to 1983. He also served as the chairman 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 ...

from 1991 to 1998. He died on 29 August 2001 at Sanosara, Bhavnagar, Gujarat following kidney ailment.

Works

Pancholi is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in Gujarati literature. He was influenced by

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

, and followed

Gandhian The followers of Mahatma Gandhi,one of the prominent figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians. Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environ ...

thinking and ways in his writings and life as well. The novels Pancholi has written include: ''Jher To Pidha Chhe Jani Jani'' (1952), ''Socrates'' (1974), ''Bandhan ane Mukti'' (1938), ''Bandeeghar'' (1939), ''Deepnirvan'' (1944) and ''Prem ane Pooja'' (1939), among which, ''Jher To Pidha Chhe Jani Jani'' and ''Socrates'' are regarded as classic. ''Dipnirvan'' is a historical novel about the revolt against

Magadh Magadha was a region and kingdom in ancient India, based in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, eastern Ganges Plain. It was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas during the Second Urbanization period. The region was ruled by several dynasties, which overshado ...

in ancient India. His plays have been collected and published in: ''Paritran'' (1967), ''Adharaso Sattavan'' (1935), ''Jaliawala'' (1934) and ''Antim Adhyaya'' (1983). ''Mari Vachankatha'' (1969) and ''Vagishwari Na Karnaphoolo'' (1963) are collections of his critical articles. His ''Apano Varso ane Vaibhav'' (1953), ''Triveni Tirth'' (1955), ''Dharmachakra Parivartan'' (1956), ''Ramayan No Marma'' (1963), ''Lokshahi'' (1973), ''Mahabharat No Marma'' (1978) and ''Sarvodaya Ane Shikshan'' (1974) deal with different aspects of Indian culture. His classic adapted in the Gujarati film, ''Zer To Pidhan Jani Jani'' (1972) directed by Upendra Trivedi. His novel ''Socrates'' was translated into

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 ...

by Sushila Joshi as ''Sukrat'' in 1987.

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 a ...

in 1964,

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 ...

for ''Socrates'' in 1975 and

Bharatiya Jnanpith Bharatiya Jnanpith a literary and research organization, based in New Delhi, India, was founded on February 18, 1944Encyclopaedia of Indian literature vol. 1, p. 298 1987, Sahitya Akademi, by Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain of the Sahu Jain family and h ...

Moortidevi Award The Moortidevi Award is an Indian literary award annually presented by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, a literary and research organisation. The award is given only to Indian writers writing in Indian languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Con ...

for ''Jher To Pidha Chhe Jani Jani'' in 1987. He was awarded

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

in 1991 for his work in public affairs. He also received Saraswati Samman in 1997 for his book ''Kurukshetra'' and Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 1996.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pancholi, Manubhai 1914 births 2001 deaths 20th-century Indian novelists Gujarati-language writers People from Surendranagar district People from Bhavnagar district Gujarat MLAs 1967–1971 Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in public affairs Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Gujarati Indian independence activists from Gujarat Novelists from Gujarat Recipients of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak Gandhians Recipients of the Moortidevi Award Presidents of the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad

Biography

Works

Awards

See also

References

Further reading

External links