Ramanlal Pitambardas Soni (25 January 1908 – 20 September 2006), also known by his pen name Sudamo, was a children's writer, translator, and social worker from
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the 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 fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...
, India. He authored primarily in
Gujarati language
Gujarati (; gu, ગુજરાતી, Gujarātī, translit-std=ISO, label=Gujarati script, ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old Guj ...
.
Biography
He was born on 25 January 1908 in Kokapur near
Modasa
Modasa is a town and a municipality in Aravalli district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Modasa was named after the Bhil chieftain Malaji Bhil, who ruled in Modasa during 1466.
Modasa became headquarters of new Aravalli district, carved o ...
in north Gujarat. He completed his school education in Modasa. In 1940, he completed a BA from
Agra University
Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, formerly Agra University, is an Autonomous University located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. The university is named after Bhimrao Ambedkar, Indian scholar, social reformer, and the architect of the Indian Consti ...
. He came back to Modasa and joined Modasa high school as a principal. He left a job in 1945 to be involved in social work. He went to
Yerwada Central Jail
Yerwada Central Jail is a noted high-security prison in Yerwada, Pune in Maharashtra. This is the largest prison in the state of Maharashtra, and also one of the largest prisons in South Asia, housing over 5,000 prisoners (2017) spread over v ...
during
satyagraha
Satyagraha ( sa, सत्याग्रह; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone ...
movement in 1932 where he learned
Bengali language
Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken o ...
. Later, he served as a member of the legislative assembly of
Bombay state
Bombay State was a large Indian state created at the time of India's Independence, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Pre