Raghuveer ChaudhariSpelling of name is based on his signatur

Archived her

Other alternative spellings are Raghuvir Chaudhary and Raghuvir Chaudhari. is a novelist, poet and 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 India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He has also worked as a columnist for numerous newspapers, such as ''Sandesh'', ''Janmabhumi'', ''Nirikshaka'' and '' Divya Bhaskar''. He was a teacher at the Gujarat University until his retirement in 1998. His most significant contributions have been in

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 ...

but he has also written

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 ...

articles. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1977, for his novel trilogy ''Uparvas''. He received

Jnanpith Award The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian ...

, considered to be India's highest literary award, in 2015. In 2019, he was awarded a D.Lit. by Gujarat University. Raghuveer Chaudhari started his career writing novels and poetry, and later ventured into other forms of literature. He authored more than 80 books and received numerous literary awards. He also served many literary organisations.

Early life

Raghuveer Chaudhari was born on 5 December 1938, in Bapupura village near

Gandhinagar Gandhinagar () is the capital of the state of Gujarat in India. Gandhinagar is located approximately 23 km north of Ahmedabad, on the west central point of the industrial corridor between the megacities of Delhi and Mumbai. Gandhinagar ...

, Gujarat, to Dalsinh and Jeeviben, a religious farming couple. He is from Anjana Chaudhari family. He completed primary and secondary education in Mansa, Gujarat. He received a B.A. in 1960 and M.A. in

language and literature in 1962 from Gujarat University. In 1979, Chaudhari also received a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

for his ''Comparative Study of Hindi and Gujarati Verbal Roots'' at the same university. He participated in the

Navnirman Movement ''Navnirman Andolan'' () was a socio-political movement in 1974 in Gujarat by students and middle-class people against economic crisis and Corruption in India, corruption in public life. The movement focused on different issues during its durat ...

and opposed the Emergency in the 1970s.

Career

Chaudhari joined the School of Languages in Gujarat University from 1977 and retired as a professor and the head of Department of Hindi in 1998. He served for the executive council of

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of the Indian government. Its off ...

from 1998 to 2002. He was a member of the

Press Council of India Press Council of India (PCI) is a statutory and quasi-judicial body in India, re-established in 1979 by the Press Council Act, 1978. Its objective is "preserving the freedom of the press by maintaining and improving the standards of newspapers ...

from 2002 to 2004 and was also appointed a jury member of the 25th Indian Film Festival. After retirement, he returned to Bapupura and started agricultural activities. He was 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 ...

in 2001 and is currently serving as its trustee.

Works

He has written more than eighty books including novels, poetry, plays and literary criticism. He chiefly writes in Gujarati but also occasionally in Hindi.

Novels

His novel ''

Amrita ''Amrita'' (, IAST: ''amṛta''), ''Amrit'' or ''Amata'' in Pali language, Pali, (also called ''Sudha'', ''Amiy'', ''Ami'') is a Sanskrit word that means "immortality". It is a central concept within Indian religions and is often referred to i ...

'' (1965) explores the concept of

existentialism Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and valu ...

. His 1975 trilogy titled ''Uparvas'', ''Sahwas'' and ''Antarvas'' won him the

award in 1977. ''Rudramahalaya'' (1978) and ''Somtirth'' (1996) are historical novels. His other novels include ''Venu Vatsala'' (1967), ''Purvarang'', ''Laagni'' (1976), ''Samjyaa Vinaa Chhuta Padavun'' (2003) and ''Ek Dag Aagal Be Dag Paachhal'' (2009) and ''Avaran''.

Plays

His ''Trijo Purush'' is based on the life of Chandravadan Mehta, a Gujarati author. ''Sikandar Sani'' is a historical play while ''Dim Light'' is a street play.

Poetry

''Tamasa'' (1965) is an anthology which explores the idea of intelligence over feelings. Another poetry collection is ''Vaheta Vriksha Pavanma'' published in 1985.

Other works

''Akasmik Sparsh'' and ''Gersamaj'' are collections of short stories. His collections of character sketches are published as ''Sahaarani Bhavyata'' and ''Tilak Kare Raghuvir''. ''Saharani Bhavyata'' gives sketches of twenty five eminent literary figures like

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. Biography Early years Umashankar Joshi was b ...

, Jayanti Dalal, Sundaram, Yashavant Shukla, Pravin Joshi, Ravji Patel and many others. He wrote columns in several regional as well as national dailies and journals such as Sandesh, Divya Bhaskar, Janmabhoomi and Nirikshaka.

Recognition

He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award for his novel trilogy ''Uparvas'' in 1977. During 1965 to 1970 he won numerous prizes awarded annually by the State of Gujarat. He received the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak in 1975, Kumar Chandrak in 1965 and Munshi award in 1997. In 2001, he won Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar, which he shared with the renowned Gujarati author Ramanlal Joshi. He also received Sauhard Samman from Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthaan for contribution to Hindi literature in 1990, Narmad Suvarna Chandrak in 2010, and the Uma-Snehrashmi Prize for 1974–75. He received

in 2015. In 2019, he was awarded a D.Lit. by Gujarat University.

Notes and references

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaudhari, Raghuveer 1938 births Living people Recipients of the Jnanpith Award Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Gujarati Indian male novelists Gujarati-language writers People from Gandhinagar district Indian male poets Academic staff of Gujarat University Gujarati writers Indian literary critics 20th-century Indian novelists Dramatists and playwrights from Gujarat 20th-century Indian poets Poets from Gujarat Novelists from Gujarat Recipients of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak 20th-century Indian short story writers Indian historical novelists 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian male writers Gujarat University alumni Presidents of the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature and education